17 Comments

  1. By suswhit
    January 12, 2010 at 9:52 pm | permalink

    Has anyone been keeping a tally of the number of times this has happened!?!?

  2. By Rod Johnson
    January 12, 2010 at 10:31 pm | permalink

    I’m getting the sense that there might be some kind of problem here. :)

  3. By Eric Boyd
    January 13, 2010 at 5:55 am | permalink

    I would phrase it this way.

    The number of times the sign has been run over (4 by my count) in the number of months since it was erected (4 months) suggests exactly how dangerous this intersection is for pedestrians and bicyclists.

    It also suggests that additional traffic calming steps (e.g. a traffic light, lowered speed limit, or traffic island) is critically necessary.

  4. By Spencer
    January 13, 2010 at 3:36 pm | permalink

    Eric: There IS a traffic island! (see [photo] ) I’m thinking it needs a big water-filled crash barrier at each end of the island. Maybe something like item 42C-50 from this page: [link]

  5. January 13, 2010 at 4:25 pm | permalink

    Again, as much as I hate them, this might be the place for a traffic hump, bump, or whatever.

    There is a flashing yellow light on 7th and a flashing red light on Washington. I don’t think putting a full signal there would be very practical with the one on Huron so close.

    Any sense of whether it is 7th or Washington traffic doing the destruction? Maybe this is an artifact of the YMCA’s location further down the street.

  6. By Rod Johnson
    January 13, 2010 at 6:42 pm | permalink

    It needs lighting.

  7. January 13, 2010 at 7:02 pm | permalink

    That’s an interesting point. Wonder how feasible a street light or other mounted light might be.

  8. By Rici
    January 13, 2010 at 11:27 pm | permalink

    As a frequent crosser of that street, I don’t think it’s due to YMCA traffic – it’s more likely the people who come barreling south on 7th and continue going south on 7th, not people turning on or off of Washington.

  9. By trevor
    January 14, 2010 at 7:43 am | permalink

    At least two of the times the sign was hit, it was from people turning from Westbound Washington onto Sounthbound Seventh.

  10. By suswhit
    January 14, 2010 at 9:50 am | permalink

    @Trevor — Does that turn require a wide swing? Meaning if you cut sharply left off Washington onto 7th (like perhaps people were used to) you’d drive across the island? I was driving north on 7th the other night and thought the spot wasn’t very well lit and is so small that a person not paying attention could easily miss it. (Or NOT miss it, as the case may be.)

  11. By Eric Boyd
    January 14, 2010 at 11:20 am | permalink

    Sorry, I didn’t mean to say traffic island. I meant to say “mini roundabout.”

    Something like this: [link]

  12. By Eric Boyd
    January 14, 2010 at 11:21 am | permalink

    It would have to be very visible of course, with physical massing and appropriate signage.

  13. By Rod Johnson
    January 14, 2010 at 11:58 am | permalink

    There are mini-roundabouts on Easy St. that are kind of interesting to think about there.

  14. By Eric Boyd
    January 14, 2010 at 7:36 pm | permalink

    This is a nice post about options: [Link]

  15. By Anne
    January 14, 2010 at 9:44 pm | permalink

    How about a stop sign on 7th?

  16. By Nick Beeson
    February 17, 2010 at 3:07 pm | permalink

    As of Feb 3 the count was ten times since it was installed Oct 8, 2009, FOUR months ago.
    October: 16, 19
    November: 4
    December: 11, 16, 21, 23
    January: 4, 13, 20

  17. March 3, 2010 at 11:10 am | permalink

    I’ve now got a webcam pointed at this intersection, so we can see exactly what is happening in these accidents. [link]

    I’ve already caught one accident on camera: [link]