New Crossing Signal At Mass Ave and Swan Place In Arlington

ARLINGTON, MA — In case you missed, there's a relatively new crossing at Mass Ave. and Swan Place. The Arlington Police Department dug up the video the department of public works posted about a month ago explaining how the "pedestrian hybrid beacon" works.

The pedestrian hybrid beacon, according to Joe Szafarowicz of the DPW engineering division, is part of the Arlington Safe Travels project. "What the heck is a pedestrian hybrid beacon? It's a good question," he says. "A pedestrian hybrid beacon is a new type of traffic signal for crosswalks that is safer for pedestrians while providing less delays for drivers."

• (Stop now and sign up for more things Arlington via the Arlington Patch Newsletter)

Szafarowicz then goes into pretty extensive detail on just how the signal works. It boils down to: push the traffic signal button wait for the light, and cross when the walk symbol shows. If you're a driver and you see flashing red, go slow. If you see flashing yellow, someone is about to cross so get ready to stop. And the solid red means stop, just like a normal traffic signal.

No word yet whether Joe from DPW has behind the camera experience, but he seems pretty good at his gig, noted one person who posted to the video on vimeo when it first went up.

"As a pedestrian and cyclist, not only am I looking forward to this safety feature — but Joe has good on-screen presence! The DPW should put him in front of the camera more often. :)" wrote someone named Ken Gagne who posted under the vimeo.

Check out the post below with the link to one of the town's 13 Vimeo videos.

Image of Joe via Vimeo screen shot.