 Over the past week, Highway 197 in Bemidji received some street improvements for some beautiful bituminous for three of its intersections. The crosswalks at 2nd, 3rd and 5th Street received a thermoplastic crosswalk design that features pavers and diamonds imprinted directly into the roadway. 80% of the $220,000 project was paid for through grants with the City of Bemidji paying the remainder of the cost. Overall, the key focus of the project was pedestrian safety. Traffic calling was essentially the starting point of this whole thing. It's designed to essentially kind of give the motorists a little bit better idea of where the crosswalks are at and try to draw a little more attention. It's not supposed to be so distracting, but yes, it's supposed to bring more awareness to where the intersections are. While these crosswalks are still considered a new technology, if they maintain, well, more crosswalks like these could be in the city's future. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.