Neon-bright flags will be available to pedestrians crossing Kaahele Street in front of the Newtown Recreation Center in Aiea in a safety pilot project.
The six-month pilot was launched Thursday when the new pedestrian crossing flags made their debut.
Pedestrians can pick up a flag from a container before entering the crosswalk, then leave it in another container on the opposite side once they have crossed the street.
Kaahele is used by motorists as they make their way through Aiea and Pearl City neighborhoods.
Residents began pedestrian safety efforts after a Pearl City woman was fatally struck at the crosswalk in 2009. Her family joined with state Rep. Mark Takai, the Honolulu Police Department and other concerned residents to form the Community Traffic Awareness Program.
Group members have held sign-waving events every other month to raise awareness, but with speeding still an issue, Aiea resident Carmille Lim contacted Takai earlier this year with a proposal for the pedestrian flags. The city approved the pilot project in March.
Funding for the initial purchase of 25 flags came from Takai, who also made the flag containers.
"We hope the flags will prevent accidents and make pedestrians feel safer while crossing," Takai said.
"If this six-month pilot project is successful, we hope to do the same in the other areas of our community."
Takai said that proposals to install a traffic light at the site were turned down because the cross streets are private roads.
"Kaahele is a dangerous stretch of road and this pilot project is another step to try and save someone else’s life," he said.
Although Aiea’s pilot project is the first to be government-sponsored, it is not the first time Oahu residents have used pedestrian flags for safety.
After an 81-year-old Nuuanu woman was killed while crossing Pali Highway at Dowsett Avenue in 2010, Kailua resident Virginia Kawauchi, who had never met the victim, took matters into her own hands and set out pedestrian flags at the crosswalk.
Thirty flags made up of colorful streamers attached to candy canes, sat out on each side of the road for pedestrians.
Two years later, Kawauchi still stops along the road to fix existing flags and sometimes add more.
Kawauchi said she knows people take notice because when she stops, people honk, wave and sometimes yell, "good job."
"It’s a labor of love and I’m hoping what I’m doing is making that area safer," she said.
