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We all have one or more in the neighborhoods that we live in. It’s that one place that makes us crazy and our pulse race when we pass by it or even think about it. Most of us don’t do anything about it other than mumble under our breath as we pass it or complain about it with a group of friends who share our annoyance.
In some places it takes the form of an abandoned house that has been transformed into a crack den or a flophouse for transients. It could be that one wall or piece of real estate that for whatever reason attracts every graffiti tagger within a twenty-mile radius. (While we are on that topic, the overpass on Rosemead Boulevard, between Pentland and Lower Azusa Road, was hit again this past weekend. To whichever local agency is in charge of covering up graffiti, it’s time to get out the paint can once again.) Or that house on your block that doesn’t understand the concept of yard work. We all have those spots that make us cringe and all we can do is hope for a quick repair, a bulldozer, or the purchase of a lawnmower.
To regular readers of this column you know that one of my pet peeves is the lack of common sense displayed by our local drivers. While many people have told me there are equally bad drivers in other areas, I have yet to see anything in my travels that equals the mindless driving in this area on a day-to-day basis. Lately it seems to be getting worse. It is as though the once good drivers have just given up. I am assuming that they have adopted the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” mentality.
What I have begun noticing of late is that in addition to the long standing practice of ignoring stop signs or treating them as “slow down and roll through it” signs, that many drivers are putting up imaginary stop signs where there are none. One of these little “hot spots” is at the intersection of Encinita and Garibaldi Avenues.
This little residential intersection has stop signs on Encinita, which runs north/south, but Garibaldi, which runs east/west, has no stop signs. While neither street is what you would call a major highway, both get their fair share of traffic. It never fails though, that at least a couple of times a week, that the cars that are driving on Garibaldi will pull up to the intersection and stop where there is no stop sign. The drivers, in a further display of their ignorance, start trying to wave the cars that are stopped on Encinita through the intersection.
What makes this even more annoying is that unless you live locally you wouldn’t even be on these streets. Which means if you drive and have any concept of the surroundings in your area you should know that there isn’t a stop sign there. It is only a matter of time before one of these spaced out drivers with an overactive imagination gets plowed into from behind when they stop at their imaginary stop sign. Solution: Make it a 4 way stop. While 4 way stops don’t always work, at least at this intersection it would help since so many morons stop anyway.
The next two “hot spots” both suffer from the same malady, too many people trying to make a left turn in a limited amount of time due to the lack of a left turn light. I have dealt with these two danger zones my entire life and I can’t believe that nothing has ever been done to change it.
The first of the two is the intersection at Broadway and Rosemead Boulevard, the main problem being Broadway, which needs to have a left turn only light for the traffic going east and west The big problem here is when the traffic gets heavy, usually in the mornings and early evenings, only one, maybe two cars on both sides can make a left turn while the light is green. This of course makes a huge back up of traffic on both sides of Broadway. Another concern is how many people turn once the light turns red, creating a recipe for disaster. This one should be the easiest to fix because everything is in place with the exception of the third light for the left turn only. The lanes are already marked and there is plenty of room.
The second one is just north up the same street, Rosemead Boulevard, this time at the intersection of Longden Avenue. This intersection is a bit more dicey from the standpoint that over the years there have never been clear lane markings leading up to the intersection. It has becomes a free for all for the people trying to cross Rosemead and for those trying to make left turns.
This spot desperately needs a left turn lane and left turn only light because the drivers in this area, when left to their own devices, drive like a bunch of monkeys. Their only prowess behind the wheel seems to be the use of their horns and those that are being sounded off are usually by those making the mistakes. Anybody who wants to debate this fact can go stand at that corner any morning or evening and watch the accidents about to happen.
The next “hot spots” involve our children and are based right next to two of our schools, Oak Avenue School and Temple City High School. While driving anywhere around any school in this area when they are in session is a torture fit for the Marquis De Sade, the two following spots would make Gandhi want to kill somebody.
The first one is where Emperor Avenue goes east off of Rosemead Boulevard and comes to a stop sign at Oak Avenue, where there are no stop signs going north or south. This may sound harmless enough but when parents who don’t know how to drive are attempting to drop off their kids for school it becomes one of the most dangerous spots in town.
Add in the possibility that they are late and you have the makings of a accident or worse yet, a fatality. Most drivers seem to care less for the safety of the kids crossing the street than they do about their own agenda. I have seen driving that was more suited to a demolition derby than to a city street. Since summer school started I have only seen one patrol car anywhere in the vicinity. During the regular school year I haven’t seen many more. Stop signs must be put in on Oak Avenue to allow cars to turn left from Emperor. Again, it’s not as good as a traffic light, but at least it will get drivers to slow down.
Just south of this driving zoo is perhaps the most dangerous intersection in town when school gets out for the day, the infamous intersection of Oak Avenue and Lemon Avenue. This highly ignored pit of hell is where students from both Oak and TCHS converge along with massive amounts of cars. They meet at a four way stop where two factors come into play. One, the students’ disregard for the cars and the equal disregard by the drivers of the students. It is a deadly combination that I hope isn’t finally addressed when a student is hurt or killed.
Given the inability of most drivers to understand the concept of how a four way stop works the only solution that I can see is to put in a traffic light at this intersection. The stop signs flat out do not work; again go see for yourself when school or summer school gets out, people just don’t get it. Traffic lights don’t leave anything to the imagination. It would also force the students to cross the street on a walk sign, rather than jumping into the intersection on a whim. Again, the way the kids cross the street at this corner is another recipe for disaster. I’m also sure that if the lights were timed properly it would greatly decrease the bottleneck that forms on both Lemon and Oak Avenues.
I know that the local law enforcement can’t put somebody at all of these spots at all of the times I’ve listed. I guess that leaves it up to whatever part of our local government is in charge of these things. I’m sure there is a myriad of excuses and reasons why they can’t or won’t address these problem spots, but I may be premature there. All I am doing is pointing out problems that have been long ignored and need to finally be addressed. If for no other reasons than the safety of our inept drivers and more important our children.
Maybe we can focus on these things after our parking concerns have been addressed.
The Shrub Speaks: He's going to tax all of you. -- Dubya on John Kerry Washington, D.C., Mar. 23, 2004
B.D.’s Response: Oh boy, does this mean if you’re re-elected we won’t have to pay taxes anymore?
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