City Tackles Dangerous Intersections

Seventy-five intersections in Rohnert Park are unsafe — that's according to a study released this week by the Santa Rosa-based engineering firm W-Trans, which over the last six months studied dangerous pedestrian crossings citywide.

The study was commissioned by City Manager Gabe Gonzalez following the , who was run over in what some call a on Snyder Lane, near Sunrise Park. 

City officials reported students crossing at the intersection of Medical Center Drive and Snyder Lane, where Calli and her mother Ling were run over, skyrocketed after the closure of Mountain Shadows Middle School — a move that forced many of those students to transfer to Lawrence E. Jones Middle School. The closure also spurred an increase of motorists traveling at peak times on the two-lane road. However, the city's adopted report stated that Snyder Lane is generally safe.

The adopted study calls for the city to install better crosswalks on Snyder, where over the last 10 years there have been 157 total collisions, most of them car accidents resulting from unsafe speeds. According to the report, four accidents over the last 10 years have involved a pedestrian and 11 involved bicyclists. Calli Murray's death was the only fatal collision, the report stated. 

The top 10 most dangerous intersections on Snyder, according to the report, are: 

• Snyder Lane at Camino Corto: 25 collisions.
• Jasmine Circle at Snyder Lane: 20 collisions.  
• Snyder Lane at Southwest Boulevard: 19 collisions.
• Snyder Lane at RPX: 17 collisions.
• Snyder Lane at Medical Center Drive: nine collisions.
• Snyder Lane Keiser Avenue: six collisions.
• RPX at Snyder Lane: five collisions.
• Parkway Drive at Snyder Lane: four collisions.
• Snyder Lane at Lawrence E. Jones Middle School: four collisions.
• Snyder Lane at Copeland Creek: four collisions.

The W-Trans report also recommended a crossing guard be posted at the intersection near Sunrise Park during the school year and said a streetlight needs to be installed — but the latter amendment was postponed at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, until Snyder Lane is widened — a project called for in the city's General Plan.

The widening is expected to begin in the next two to three years, according to the report, but is subject to "economic factors."

Three findings that stood out on Snyder Lane include:

• "Pedestrian facilities are generally adequate, with few gaps in the system."
• "Statistically, collisions involving pedestrians are comparatively low, indicating that pedestrians are experiencing generally safe conditions in the city."
• "Some minor signal timing changes are suggested."
• "Pedestrian behavior is generally acceptable with some education recommended."
• "Some bicyclists were traveling the wrong way in marked on-street bike lanes."

The details of the improvements to the intersection are:

• "Change to continental crosswalk markings across Snyder Lane, to convert the standard crosswalk signing and to assign a crossing guard after school lets out."
• "Install a continental crosswalk and associated signing to cross Medical Center Drive."
• "Install a streetlight for the Medical Center Drive crossing and expand the landing area on the northeast corner."

"Many of the long-term recommendations can be implemented with the widening of Snyder Lane," said Darrin Jenkins, the city's development services director in a report. "To do the long-term improvements at this time would result in inefficient use of funds, as the improvements would be removed and constructed along the new alignment at the time of the widening."

W-Trans also studied other intersections and streets in Rohnert Park, and according to the report, there are $510,000 worth of improvements that need to be made on upgrading crosswalks throughout the city, making Snyder Lane safer and fixing signal timing on some stoplights. Citywide during 2009, the most recent data available, there were 92 accidents resulting in injury or fatality (including Calli Murray), according to the report.

Two unsafe pedestrian crossings pointed out in the traffic study are along Southwest Boulevard and Rohnert Park Expressway; specifically at RPX and Rancho Verde Circle, where many residents cross from the mobile home complex to the adjacent shopping center or Vida Nueva, according to the report.

"Crossing in this area appeared uncomfortable due to the number of travel lanes and total crossing width and approach speeds typically exceeding 40 mph, together with a lack of guidance on good crossing locations," the report stated.

The City Council Tuesday night praised W-Trans for shining light on this dangerous area, and voted in favor of installing signage alerting motorists to be aware of the crossing and directing pedestrians where to cross.

The crosswalks will also be striped in bolder. View the report in full by clicking on the PDF to the right.

What do you think? What are the most dangerous intersections in Rohnert Park?