Safety of crosswalks, traffic light questioned at Rimrock and Muriel

During our study seesion on June 11, 2007 I asked staff to research the above inset crosswalk for the Monterrey and Rimrock intersection across from Crestline Elementary School.

By AARON AUPPERLEE Staff Writer BARSTOW - Safety measures sometimes backfire. In the ongoing discussion about how to improve safety along Rimrock Road and at the intersection of Rimrock and Muriel Drive, the city has decided to consider its options. Concerned citizens have asked the city to take safety measures such as installing a traffic signal or painting crosswalks at the intersection. However, City Engineering Michael Stewart and others have questioned whether that is the right course of action. "A crosswalk doesn't make you safe; it doesn't protect you," Stewart said. "Now that's there not one there, a person has to make a conscience decision." People obtain a false sense of security when crossing a street at crosswalk, Stewart said. They cross dangerously and contradicting the safety intentions of the crosswalk. Stewart cited a 1972 study that found an increase in automobile and pedestrian collisions at crosswalks in San Diego. This study started a trend in urban centers to remove crosswalks, a logic traffic engineers still operate under, Stewart said. A recent study published in the Institute of Traffic Engineers Journal revisited the c ro s sw a l k q u a n d a r y a n d reached a similar conclusion to the 1972 study: Crosswalks do not equal safety. "Marked crosswalks alone (without other substantial treatments) are not recommended at uncontrolled crossing locations on multi-lane roads (four or more lanes) where traffic volume exceeds approximately 12,000 vehicles per day," the study concluded. The Rimrock Road and Muriel Drive intersection is uncontrolled, meaning without a traffic light, but Stewart said the traffic volume does not exceeded the study's 12,000 vehicles per day threshold and the width of Rimrock would make a crosswalk dangerous. Stewart said the city would consider painting a crosswalk at the intersection only after the installation of a traffic signal. That safety precaution, however, presents dangers of its own. "The problem with the signal is you see that green light and you see that green light turn to yellow, and what do you do?" Stewart asked. "People have a tendency to race the light." West from the Rimrock and Muriel intersection in question, 32 collisions have occurred at the intersection of Barstow Road and Rimrock Road since 2000. That intersection has a traffic light. The intersection of Muriel Drive and Rimrock Road does not and has only had 10 collisions since 2000. "My main concern is that whatever we do, we be safe," Stewart said. "That we not create another concern or another hazard addressing this one." The community focused a critical eye on the traffic on Rimrock Road after the death of 10-year-old Kayla Crawford on March 11. A truck struck Kayla as she tried to ride a bike across Rimrock Road. Though the police's investigation of the collision determined that the driver was not at fault and not speeding, concerned citizens have asked the city to make Rimrock Road safer. City Manager Hector Rodriguez said the city is going to consider other options, such as increasing markings and using the police to target speeders. The traffic volume at the intersection does not support putting a light there, Rodriguez said, but future growth may change that. With a housing development planned for near the Robert A. Sessions Sports Park and increased growth in the area, the intersection will need some sort of signal. At an estimated $250,000 to put a signal at Muriel and Rimrock, the city could set aside some of the new development impact fees for the light and other safety improvements, Rodriguez said. "If we really want to create a safe boulevard," he said, "then somewhere down the line we're going to have to put in medians." Crosswalks, traffic lights, stepped up enforcement and even medians may not make difference in the end, through. Both Rodriguez and Stewart said the real key to preventing traffic collisions involving people is safety education. David Finch, the principal at nearby Crestline school, said the school teaches children how to safely cross the street. A city employee recently told Stewart that he saw a group of children crossing in the middle of Rimrock Road, talking on phones, texting friends and playing with their iPods, near where Kayla was killed. "I don't know when the kids in Barstow are going to learn," he said. "You don't tangle with a car."