Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – Jonesboro’s Public Safety Council Committee forwarded a resolution Tuesday that aims to install new pedestrian safety infrastructure in downtown Jonesboro.

According to the resolution, pedestrian all-stops would be installed at three intersections along Washington Avenue in downtown Jonesboro. Each all-stop is estimated to cost $100,000, bringing total project costs to $300,000.

Craig Light, director of engineering for the City of Jonesboro, told committee members the three all-stops would be connected to each other, so that if a pedestrian activates one all-stop, traffic would be paused at all three intersections. The all-stops would be installed at the following intersections:

  • Union Street/Washington Avenue
  • Main Street/Washington Avenue
  • Church Street/Washington Avenue

“The reason that’s the case is because there’s so much traffic at the peak hours [through those intersections] that if you allow all the intersections to move, you’ll cause backups in the system,” Light said.

He added: “We had a consultant to make sure that the system could recover after a pedestrian did push the button, that it wouldn’t take a half hour to recover from something like that. And it will recover very quickly from it, but it will create delays to motorists.”

Light said once an all-stop is activated, traffic in all directions pauses, allowing the pedestrian “free flow to go across the intersection.” This includes right turns on red lights, of which Light said signage would be posted telling motorists such turns were not permitted when an all-stop had been activated.

Pending the full city council’s approval, Light said ordering the parts required for the improvements would take about 16 weeks.

“The sooner we get something ordered, the sooner we can actually see it happen,” Light said.

The idea of pedestrian all-stops at various downtown Jonesboro intersections has been in the works since March, after a fatal pedestrian accident in which the driver had a green light to make a left turn.

The resolution will be considered at the next city council meeting, scheduled for Oct. 8 at 5:30 p.m.

The committee’s decision on Tuesday was part of a broader conversation regarding pedestrian safety across the city. During the meeting, Jonesboro Police Department Chief Rick Elliott presented a report on pedestrian traffic incidents from January 2023 to August 2026 in Jonesboro.

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According to the report, there have been a total of 94 incidents regarding pedestrians, of which eight were fatal. Elliott presented another report that reviewed 79 pedestrian incidents over the past three years in which citations were not issued.

Of those incidents, Elliott said 33 involved the pedestrian being a contributing factor. Sixteen of those incidents were hit and runs, of which six were turned over for prosecution. Some incidents resulted in no tickets being issued, such as when a juvenile fell off a float during the Jonesboro Christmas Parade.

Elliott added that three incidents saw pedestrians fleeing or becoming uncooperative with officers, and police were unable to determine an explanation from 12 other cases.

Elliott said certain areas of concern had been mapped out, such as on Johnson Avenue, around University Loop, and Main Street. The city has completed various pedestrian safety measures near these areas, such as installing a HAWK (high intensity activated crosswalk) light on Johnson Avenue, or reducing Main Street down to one lane.

The crux of the issue, several committee members noted, was educating pedestrians on safety and on traffic changes.

“We can only do so much as a city as far as putting mechanisms in place, but I can’t make people walk and cross where they’re supposed to cross,” Elliott said.

Ideas for pedestrian education included partnering with local EAST (Education Accelerated by Service and Technology) classes to produce educational videos and materials, as well as additional signage at pedestrian-heavy intersections. Elliott said educational materials must be reissued every three to four months.

“Pedestrians sometimes see the little walking man [on pedestrian traffic lights] and feel good about it,” said committee member L.J. Bryant. “You’ve got yield on greens, and you’ve got rights on reds, and so there’s some little nuances that you don’t really think about unless you’re a frequent walker, frequent runner, whatever.”

He added: “But if you’re [an] occasional [pedestrian], you might feel really good about that white walking man, and it’s not as safe as you think.”

City attorney Carol Duncan added that ordinances could be passed where citations for turning right on red at certain intersections that are more dangerous to pedestrians could be issued.

As city leaders continue to make and execute plans to make Jonesboro more pedestrian- and biker-friendly, committee members said they wanted to “get ahead” of any more safety issues.

“We really need to get ahead of this instead of behind it,” Elliott said. “It’s important now that we start on this, get a practical approach to deal with this problem because we’re laying down infrastructure for walkability in town, which is a good thing. But we want to keep the walkers and our cyclists safe in what they do.”

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