On November 15 th 2017, The Eagle Rock Association (TERA) sent a letter to Council District 14 requesting the City address known and on-going traffic safety issues on Yosemite Drive. That letter was prompted by a horrific car crash one month prior that sent a student to the hospital. It is now seven months since that letter and no indication the City will do anything to substantially improve conditions along the corridor for the thousands of residents and students that interact with the street every day. The fundamental issue on Yosemite – a street design that favors car speeds over pedestrian safety – remains unchanged. As the one year anniversary of the aforementioned crash approaches, TERA urges immediate action so that students and residents alike need not fear being struck during the simple act of crossing the street or exiting one’s driveway.
Identified as part of the City’s Vision Zero High Injury Network (HIN), dangerous conditions on Yosemite are well-known and documented. However, if the City cannot make Yosemite Drive (a residential corridor lined with churches, public housing, schools, and a public park) a safe street, then initiatives such as Vision Zero are meaningless. There are low-cost and proven measures the City should implement without hesitation while engaging the community in crafting a long-term vision for the street. Such low-cost, immediate measures must be present throughout the corridor and could include:
Upgrading all marked crosswalks to high-visibility continental crosswalks
Reconfiguring the wider portion of Yosemite Drive from Algoma Avenue to Wiota Avenue with bike lanes by repurposing the existing center turn lane
Adding additional marked crosswalks and stop signs in the long gaps between traffic control devices
Reconfigure traffic signals to have “Lead Pedestrian Interval” (LPI) phasing which give pedestrians a green light about 5 seconds before a light turns green for cars at traffic signals
This request is not unreasonable. In roughly a year, the City went from kick-off community meeting to implementing a package of safety improvements on a 1.2 mile stretch of Alhambra Avenue in El Sereno. If the City had acted with similar urgency on Yosemite Drive in the wake of last year’s high-profile crash, the community at this stage would be eagerly anticipating long overdue improvements. Instead, TERA is sending another letter asking that safety, particularly of school children, be taken seriously and prioritized over speed. Meaningful safety improvements on Yosemite Drive need a path forward and the time for action is now.