Test Solution To Broadside Sunset Blvd. Crashes
Posted by Daniel Antolin on Dec 7, 2011 - 7:52:08 PM
Beverly Hills City Hall. Photo by Kibiwot Limo.
BEVERLY HILLS—On Tuesday, December 6, the Beverly Hills City Council agreed to direct city staff to look further into a temporary driving test scenario suggested by Mayor Barry Brucker. The scenario is aimed at reducing accidents that occur when southbound drivers try to cut across Sunset Boulevard at Roxbury, Bedford and Camden drives, which lack signals.
After a discussion that lasted about an hour and 30 minutes, Brucker suggested putting up signs that would prohibit vehicles from cutting across Sunset Boulevard but still allow them to make right turns, in addition to installing signs warning east-west traffic to slow down. To further prevent the troublesome north-south vehicle movements, Brucker mentioned having delineators put into place to act as island barriers while at the same time allowing vehicles to make left turns.
Brucker's scenario would be a test of Alternative A (suggested by the Traffic & Parking Commission (TPC) and favored by the council), which would involve the physical installation of barriers on the Sunset Boulevard intersections in question. In total, this option would cost approximately $750,000, which does not include the cost of an environmental impact report. If warranted, the EIR would cost $50,000. Aaron Kunz, deputy director of transportation, said there is $2 million available for this alternative, which was the least expensive of two others suggested by the TPC.
About 80 percent of collisions on the Sunset Boulevard intersections are broadside in nature and occur after southbound vehicles cross into the far side of medians, states a report prepared by Iteris, Inc., a traffic management marketing firm. Iteris, Inc. Vice President Michael Meyer said the high frequency of the accidents in the middle of the day suggests that drivers unfamiliar with the area miscalculate their ability to safely cross through. High-speed driving on Sunset Boulevard was also mentioned as a possible secondary factor.
Movement through the area is attributed to there being no commercial streets that connect West Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley, which forces passing vehicles to use residential streets. Alternative A would shift traffic to Whittier Drive and Benedict Canyon/Rodeo, Meyer said. Another option, Alternative B, was preferred by city staff but disliked by residents of Bedford Drive because they claimed it would add traffic to their street.
Bedford and Roxbury drives at Sunset Boulevard, through which about 35,000 vehicles pass per day, experienced 49 broadside accidents from 2005-2010, which is more than those experienced on adjacent streets with about the same volume of traffic, the Iteris, Inc. report states.
Benedict Canyon/Rodeo, which has a volume of about 55,000 vehicles, experienced 25 such accidents. These numbers represent accidents reported to the Beverly Hills Police Department as having resulted in injuries, but anecdotal information reported to the council suggests that fender benders occur more regularly.
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