Tourism oversight: broken Tumon crosswalks force visitors & families to dodge traffic

In Guam’s busiest tourist district, instead of waiting for the walk sign, families are forced to run across traffic.  Broken pedestrian signals in Tumon have been down for weeks, and now lawmakers are demanding answers. 

Tourists wait at the curb, parents hold tight to their children, and when traffic slows, they hurry across. Along the heart of Tumon, crosswalk signals near the the Westin Resort Guam and Dusit Place have been out since January 30.  During Tuesday’s tourism oversight hearing, Senator Jesse Lujan called the situation unacceptable and dangerous.

"Are you aware of this? And what coordination has occurred with DPW or GPD or the hotel or others to be able to rectify this because that's a dangerous intersection," he stated to officials from the Guam Visitors Bureau.

Regine Biscoe Lee, president and CEO of the agency, responded by saying, "It's my understanding, senator, that they're waiting on a part. And then this is also another issue for that crosswalk right in front of the Dusit Place."

GVB says they reported the issue to the Department of Public Works since January 30.  Lee says repairs are delayed while DPW waits for parts.

In the meantime, she says visitor safety officers have been stationed in front of Dusit Place helping pedestrians cross since the outage began, though KUAM News did not see any VSOs on Wednesday during the lunch rush hour.

Officials say the risk spikes when crowds grow, especially during the weekly Tumon Night Market, or when roads are wet.

Lee said, "These are a number of issues that we're working on with both DPW and GVB members on just to make sure that we're providing that pedestrian safety." Senator Lujan replied, "Okay. Yeah. Because you know again going up going up that hill I mean that's a dangerous turn and you know you're looking all over the place."

KUAM News reached out DPW on an estimated date for repairs, but have not heard back as of newstime. Until repairs are made, crossing here comes down to timing and luck as visitors and residents are left to judge traffic for themselves.