The Bay Rd. and Gloria Way intersection is one of the most dangerous in East Palo Alto. Two months ago, a second-grader was struck and killed while walking to school. An 8-year old was also struck 6 months prior. The intersection also had a head-on crash and a bike-car collision within the past year.
In response to the community outcry over the fatality, consultants were hired to recommend safety improvements. The firm (CHS Consulting Group) has given their initial report. I am gobsmacked by their recommendations:
A stop sign is not needed at an East Palo Alto intersection where a 6-year-old girl was struck and killed by a vehicle in September and an 8-year-old boy hit in April, a transportation engineer hired to suggest traffic improvements at the crossing told the city council Tuesday.
[...]
State guidelines for traffic control devices require five collisions within a 12-month period to justify installing a stop sign, according to the consultant’s report. CHS Principal Transportation Engineer Paul Krupka, who discussed the report with the council, said the bike and vehicle accidents did not qualify for the collision count because they involved right-of-way violations not correctable by a stop sign.
To make matters worse, the consultants suggest parking removal on Bay Rd. — a residential arterial — to “improve” visibility. Without bulb-outs or other measures, this could effectively widen the intersection, leading to increased traffic speeds.
I have a solution.
Purchase a $500 clunker.
Purchase a 2nd $500 clunker.
Drive vehicle A
Have friend drive vehicle B
Engage in 5 collisions over the course of the year. Minor, of course. No need for bruises.
Enjoy fruits of labor with shiny new stop sign. Then sell clunkers for scrap.
This is a good instance of employing solutions which improve the perception of safety at an individual driver level, but at the same time decrease the overall systemic safety. US traffic engineers have made an art of this, which is why our roadways are the most dangerous in the developed world.
Ironically enough, the consultants’ recommendation would increase the likely accident count to the point where a stop sign would be justified.
Another option would be the installation of a tactical stop sign. Where the authorities fail, sometimes the citizenry must do by themselves.
Unwarranted stop signs suck.
The correct approach would be to provide small landscaped islands to create a median refuge, allowing two-stage crossings. These are incredibly cheap – plop out some extruded curb (same as in parking lots), jackhammer the asphalt inside the curb, and put down some topsoil. Bada bing, bada boom.