This is a constant chicken-and-egg problem. Why would there be much foot traffic if pedestrians perceive that the local government thinks so little of them that it won't put down paint to remind the giant high-speed metal boxes not to kill them?
To be clear, it was a very low-traffic (both car and foot) location - neither would expect to encounter each other almost ever. I thought the decision to not encourage pedestrians into a false sense of security was a sensible one.