Editor’s Note: Kathy Griswold is the Chair of The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board.

THE WASHTENAW BIKING and Walking Coalition, a small local alternative transportation advocacy group, recently launched an online petition drive to save Ann Arbor’s Pedestrian Crosswalk Ordinance from repeal through the site Change.org.

Kathy Griswold, a local school and pedestrian activist who has been lobbying for safe crosswalks near schools in her Ward 2 neighborhood for the past several years, has also been pressing elected officials to have the city’s crosswalk ordinance evaluated by outside traffic engineers.

In this week’s issue of The Ann Arbor Independent, we revealed that the city’s crosswalk ordinance change was done without a report from a PE, or a professional engineer. PEs sign off on the safety of changes to traffic laws, such as Ann Arbor’s pedestrian crossing ordinance.

That discovery, coupled with deaths of residents attempting to use city crosswalks to cross busy roads, has City Council members calling for the repeal of the 2010 ordinance and for Ann Arbor to rely on state laws that protect pedestrians.

It is state law that Kathy Griswold wants to see changed.

“I’m currently working with Adam Zemke on this,” said Griswold, “and Jeff Irwin has said he won’t come out against my efforts.”

Griswold’s online petition reads, in part: “Michigan does not have a state crosswalk law, only a section in the

MUTC, which the State Police recommend that local communities adopt. A state law would supersede any local ordinances. A state law, based on the MUTC, would be consistent with the state laws and codes of most other states, further improving consistency.  Pedestrians and drivers would know what to expect: pedestrian safety would be improved and driver ambiguity would be reduced.”

Her petition includes a section titled, “Problems With Ann Arbor’s Local Ordinance.” She writes, “Ann Arbor’s local crosswalk ordinance was adopted based on citizen advocacy and without the involvement or support of the city traffic engineers.”

The Washtenaw Biking and Walking Coalition has posted its own petition to Change.org. On the group’s webpage, visitors read that: “The answer to making Ann Arbor safer isn’t to take away one of the stronger tools we have–a law that requires motorists to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks. In 2010, Ann Arbor City Council differentiated itself from other communities in Michigan by passing a strengthened pedestrian ordinance.”

The WBWC Change.org petition reads, in part, “Ann Arbor City Council is considering repealing Ann Arbor’s pedestrian crossing ordinance. This ordinance provides BASIC legal protections for pedestrians by requiring motorists to stop for pedestrians waiting to cross or within a crosswalk. Instead of removing basic legal protections for pedestrians, City Council should take this ordiance seriously and allocate appropriate resources towards education aimed at motorists and pedestrians regarding their responsibilities at crosswalks, consistently and clearly marked crosswalks across the city, and visible enforcement of dangerous driving behavior (e.g. speeding, distracted driving, failure to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks).  Without our current ordinance, individuals with disabilities, seniors, kids and those of us who don’t wish/are unable to dash across busy streets, will not have the legal protections we need.”

WBWC Board member Erica Briggs, who spoke multiple times before City Council in support of the 2010 ordinance change, did not respond to requests for comment.

Council is expected to vote on whether to repeal the 2010 crosswalk ordinance sometime in November.