Corona installs HAWK pedestrian signals on 6th Street to improve crosswalk safety

Aaron, identified in the meeting as a traffic engineer with the City of Corona, described the cityinstalled HAWK signals on 6th Street and at Main & 5th and explained how they work.

"A HAWK signal stands for high intensity activated crosswalk," Aaron said, then walked through the driver-facing sequence: a flashing yellow to get drivers' attention, a solid yellow to "prepare to stop," then dual solid to "come to a full stop" while pedestrians enter the crosswalk. After the pedestrian interval, lights transition to alternating flashing red and yellow to warn drivers to watch for pedestrians; when pedestrians are clear a driver may stop and then proceed like at a stop sign. Aaron said the signals then go to a dark mode when inactive, allowing drivers to proceed as if the device were not present.

City staff said the installations replaced legacy in-pavement warning lights that were harder to see and more difficult to maintain. Aaron named the intersections where the city installed the devices: 6th & Merrill, 6th & Victoria, 6th & Harris and 6th & Joy, and noted an additional HAWK at Main & 5th. "We hope you like the increased safety and the increased reliability of these HAWK signals," Aaron said.

Why this matters: HAWK signals are intended to increase pedestrian visibility at marked crossings while reducing the maintenance burden of in-pavement systems. City officials presented the sequence of driver and pedestrian indications and said the installations are part of broader street-safety work on 6th Street.

The presentation on HAWK signals preceded a longer discussion at the meeting about the downtown and 6th Street transformation; council members and staff described the HAWK installations as one component of that streetscape program.