For pedestrians in the village of Williamsville, getting around and crossing Main Street will now become a whole lot easier — and safer.

As Elyse Burgher — who walks on Main Street every day — says, that hasn't been the case.

"Main Street is always really busy so crossing the street can be kind of annoying and dangerous, so I'm excited for anything that's going to come in here and make it a little safer to walk," said Burgher.

Now, thanks to the new HAWK pedestrian beacon that will be activated on Monday, pedestrians and drivers will have a new way of sharing the road.

"It looks a little different bit different than a traffic signal, a HAWK is set up with two red lenses above one yellow lens and it's pedestrian activated," said Susan Surdej, NYSDOT regional public information officer and engineer.

The HAWK signal, standing for High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk, is designed to warn drivers that someone is waiting to cross, and alert pedestrians when it's safe to. 

When pedestrians hit the HAWK's button, the signal will flash, then change to a steady yellow to warn drivers to slow down. Drivers will then see a steady red light as pedestrians are given the signal to cross. Once the red light is flashing and the crosswalk is clear, drivers can continue.

"So it's not going to be a traffic signal, it's not going to be lit all the time, the only time you're going to see the HAWK in operation is when a pedestrian pushes the button. Otherwise it's no indication it's a dark signal and traffic can proceed as normal," said Surdej.

If this seems familiar, you may have seen the HAWK signal on Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda that was installed in 2016.

"It took a little bit of getting used to because it was the first one in Western New York on a state highway but really we're seeing that it works very well," said Surdej.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, a crosswalk with a HAWK signal could have up to 69 percent fewer accidents than one without any traffic control.

The new HAWK signal in Williamsville follows a $4.2 million project along Main Street to make the village more walkable. 

"When Main Street was rehabilitated this past year, it was really looked at from not only a motorist point of view but also from the point of view of pedestrians and bicyclists and all those considerations were taken into account," said Surdej.

Leaving walkers like Burgher, optimistic.

"Whenever I walk around Williamsville I feel like you always stick to one side of the street because it can be annoying to go out of your way in order to cross at a cross light, so I think having this to be able to access Island Park or the Irishman or anything on that side of Main Street is going to be really helpful," said Surdej. 

Both drivers and pedestrians are advised to use caution with the new change.