Early evening yesterday, two young teenage cousins were badly injured while crossing the street at North Broadway and Sichel in Lincoln Heights. There is a painted crossing walk in the intersection but it seems the cars that speed along North Broadway ignore the pedestrian right-of-way. According to local store owner and Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council Vice-President Erika Gallo, this is not the first time someone has been hit by a car in this intersection. Many years ago, a good friend of hers was also hit by a car in this very same intersection and suffered through a long coma. Fortunately, her friend recovered. She and her mother, owner of Sloan’s Cleaners have comforted many a pedestrian who have been through close-calls. Screeching tires and near misses are frequent occurrences on this busy thoroughfare.
For years, Ms. Gallo has been on a campaign to get a signalized crosswalk at this frequently used intersection. She has asked neighbors to come out to tonight’s Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council meeting to discuss the issue.
Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council Meeting
February 18, 2010, 6pm
Lincoln Heights Library (community room)
2530 Workman Street
Los Angeles, 90031
I’m well acquainted with this intersection, there’s the mortuary on one side and KFC on the other. I don’t think our city planners are intent on putting a signal there because they feel it would interfere with “the flow of traffic.” Others would argue that having a stop light installed on Hancock and Broadway should take precedence over Sichel because it has more pedestrian traffic due to the number of businesses there;Mcdonald’s,Subway,Hollywood Video,AutoZone,Radioshack and the check cashing places. I have personally experienced many close calls here. Still, there has not been a major call for a signal there. Remember, North Broadway is used as an alternative to the 110 for people heading home to the Pasadenas and Alhambra from downtown and chinatown, so stoplights on Griffin,Johnston and Eastlake seem to be enough to those who make these decisions. Unfortuanately, it would have take someone dying on these intersections before “they” would even consider it.
The LADOT wanted to remove the unsignalized crosswalk at this intersection because it has been shown that intersections with no crosswalks and no signal are safer than intersections with crosswalks and no signals.
The problem with the LADOT’s analysis is that they tacitly assume that the road will never be messed with. That is to say, the road will not be narrowed, traffic will never be calmed, speeds will be never be engineered lower than 35mph+.
Broadway could function like a mini-downtown for the area (it does, in a crippled way currently), but the emphasis on pushing as many cars through to the nearby freeways and up Broadway to Mission has crippled the ability for pedestrians (shoppers, tax payers, and residents) to enjoy their own neighborhood safely. In exchange, we give people passing through (nonresidents, pass-through motorists, non-shoppers) in automobiles the highest priority and in exchange we get pollution, poor local business prospects, unsafe streets, noise, and just plain unpleasantness from the main commercial drag and geographic and cultural locus of Lincoln Heights.
The prescription is clear – N. Broadway needs to have it’s road width reflect the traffic volumes. That means shrinking the width of the road, ensuring that cars are going no faster than 25 mph through this busy commercial and residential district. That means widening the sidewalks at intersections – so abuelitas can get across faster, and moms and kids won’t have to worry for their lives.
LH is packed with people under the age of 18 – a prime demographic for both pedestrian fatalities and injuries, and chronic health problems brought on by a sedentary lifestyle. The LADOT’s policies reinforce the culture that makes it okay to trap your kids inside all day and hit them with your speeding car and call it an “accident”.
It doesn’t have to be paid for in blood. I’ve uploaded two documents that you can use as you will. The first is a survey (this will need to be translated in to other languages to work) of customers to local businesses. This will establish a baseline of data with which you can argue against the LADOT’s desire to continue to suppress healthy lifestyles and commerce in LH.
The second document is a letter for local businesses to sign and send to the mayor and the power’s that be. This will likewise need to be translated to be effective. I am ready to help in any way possible to see traffic calmed and the streets made safer in Lincoln Heights.
Recently, two curb cuts were installed near Lincoln Park on Mission – improving by 25% the number of crossing corners with handicap/disabled/burdened by age or cargo friendliness. It doesn’t take that much money to do this stuff – it takes political will.
I know I have run for my life crossing thru that intersection! Seen plenty of near misses,too !