Oppose Traffic Calming Obstructions

This blog, like all of my other existing Blogger blogs, is going to enter a hiatus - at least temporarily. I'm concentrating all of my energies on my new blog, mrontemp.

At this stage I'm not sure how much traffic calming obstruction news will appear in the new blog, but considering that I haven't posted a lot here, anything would be an improvement.

You may also want to check my newly-creating trafficalming tag for any future stories.

Why I didn't vote for Paul Vincent Avila for Ontario (California) City Council, Part One:

"Install speed bumps."

Well, Sam Crowe Ontario (not the bird guy), in his Sam Crowe for Council campaign, says a lot of stuff. Here's what he says about traffic:

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I am opposed to reaching into the City Coffers and feeding millions of tax payer dollars every year to fund a broken Convention Center complex. I am also against spending millions of dollars on a Sports Stadium designed to benefit developers, non-resident team owners, and people living outside of our city. Those funds, in my opinion, would be better spent on Soccer and Little League fields, planning for future traffic to prevent gridlock and traffic jams on our city streets, and improved recreation programs with a special focus on teen centers.

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He doesn't say whether he wants to throw more obstructions onto Ontario streets, like the one right near the Covington & Crowe offices on 6th Street. But here's what else he says about cars:

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I was instrumental in bringing the Auto Center to Ontario. It also makes a meaningful contribution to the stream of income that flows into the City.

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So this uberplanner, who opposes Wal Mart, is proud of the fact that he encouraged the sale of cars in the city of Ontario. Just shows that everyone can be bought off with enough money.

By the way, if he's so worried about urban sprawl, then you'd think that he would have resigned his position as Hesperia city attorney and his support of a casino (emphasis mine):

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Casino opponents hoping to stall or kill a proposed casino in Hesperia were dealt a serious setback last week, when the City of Hesperia settled a suit filed against them out of court.

In a settlement dated April 26 and made public last Thursday, attorney James DeAguilera, representing a group of casino opponents calling themselves Citizens to Enforce CEQA, came to terms with city attorneys Covington & Crowe. The suit was originally filed in October 2003.

Attorney Sam Crowe concedes the details of the settlement are “confusing” in a summary sent to city officials, but they essentially boil down to three elements:

First, any city projects outside the casino site proper that could have an environmental impact would be subject to a full California Environmental Quality Act review. Secondly, the Municipal Services Agreement between the city and the Timbisha Shoshone tribe remains intact. Third, $35,000 in legal fees will be paid to DeAguilera by the Rinaldo Corporation casino development company.

Both sides of the dispute are claiming the settlement as a victory.

“We agreed to follow CEQA on everything built outside of the project, which we would do anyway,” Crowe said. CEQA requires any state or municipal agency project that could have an environmental impact must go through an environmental impact review....

The CEQA suit will not be the last hurdle the city and tribe have to clear on the way to opening the doors of a casino on the 57-acre site at Interstate 15 and Main Street. Another suit, claiming the city is improperly spending Redevelopment Agency assets on a casino, in violation of applicable law, will have its day in court on May 24. And ongoing political in-fighting in the Timbisha Shoshone tribe has led to the existence of two separate tribal councils, each of which is striking deals with separate developers....

Mayor Jim Lindley characterized the CEQA suit as a last ditch effort by a disgruntled group of residents uninterested in the opinions of their fellow residents.

“We have these citizens who are against the casino, and will look for anything they can do to stop it, even if 59 percent of the city was in favor of it,” Lindley said, referring to a March 2004 ballot initiative that effectively served as a referendum on the casino. “The impediment has been removed, the casino’s moving forward again. You decide who won.”

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So perhaps if the Wal Mart opponents prevail, we can put a casino at Mountain and 5th. Hey, Crowe likes revenue...he'll love the idea. And then he can put big speed bumps in the parking lot to damage the cars and delay emergency response. Sounds good.

The engineers want to get their word in on some traffic calming proposals in East Baton Rouge:

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Metro Councilman David Boneno is pushing speed humps and other traffic-calming devices as possible ways to slow down speeding vehicles in East Baton Rouge neighborhoods, and wants to establish criteria for neighborhoods to request them....

The city-parish chief traffic engineer, Ingolf Partenheimer, said engineers should have the final say about where to put speed humps and other traffic-calming devices.

“These decisions have to be made on a case-by-case basis using engineering assessments. They cannot be political,” Partenheimer said.

Partenheimer said there’s a certain amount of liability in placing a speed hump in a roadway unless the location is based on sound engineering, Partenheimer said.

For example, Partenheimer said the city-parish will not place speed humps on roadways with open ditches for fear that someone might lose control of a vehicle and crash into a ditch.

“Everyone that I’ve talked to has said that traffic calming does not get you into liability situations. What gets you into liability situations is if it becomes political and doesn’t meet engineering standards,” Partenheimer said....

“This issue has been around for a while, and everyone throws that liability issue at us. But if that’s such an issue, why are the speed humps in Southdowns still there?” Boneno asked.

But Partenheimer said many Southdowns residents who initially requested speed humps have had a change of heart.

“That was really the wrong device. Their primary problem in that area was the volume of traffic, but speed humps aren’t really very effective at dealing with volume. They’re more effective at reducing speeding,” Partenheimer said.

Partenheimer noted that some Southdowns residents supported the idea of having a speed hump on their street, but didn’t want it in front of their homes....

While Boneno’s proposal focuses on speed humps, Partenheimer said he’s also looking at other traffic-calming devices, such as narrowing streets to force motorists to slow down.

As an example, he pointed to Glenmore Drive, where Public Works officials are responding to complaints of speeding cars and trucks by narrowing the roadway. Glenmore currently consists of two 18-foot-wide roadways separated by a median.

Partenheimer said plans call for narrowing of Glenmore to 10 feet on each side of the median, along with a flowerbox and a sidewalk, both 4 feet wide.

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News:

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A British motorist who blew up a road safety camera which had caught him speeding was jailed for four months Wednesday, Greater Manchester Police said.

Craig Moore, 28, took his revenge on the camera, which had flashed him in the Hyde area of Manchester, in August 2005.

Although the camera itself was badly damaged, images of him speeding and returning to destroy the evidence were stored in recording equipment in its unscathed base.

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Traffic calming schemes aren't only found in the First World. If you go to Ghana, a place that is definitely Cindy Margolisless, you'll find that traffic calming is discussed there also:

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Dr Richard Anane, Road Transport Minister has said that the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) in 2004, selected Apeguso, a settlement along the Accra-Ho highway, as one of the pilot sites for the implementation of the new traffic calming scheme, intended to replace rumble strips on major highways....

The Minister said Apeguso had over the years experienced a series of pedestrian-related accidents and fatalities due to excessive speeding.

The minister said out of fear and anxiety the inhabitants erected earth speed ramps across the highway, worsening the traffic safety situation in the town.

He said the GHA intervened by installing speed limit signs as a temporary measure and in 2004 implemented the new traffic-calming scheme, which involved some elements including the installation of town gate signs at both ends of the town to alert road users of the presence of a settlement.

He said the scheme also involved the "installation of reboundable delineators along the road's centre line to prevent overtaking, in addition to narrowing the carriageway."...

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