🚀 go-pugleaf

On 2011-01-13, Keith Keller <kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us> wrote:
> On 2011-01-13, Gregory Sutter <gsutter@zer0.org> wrote:
>>
>> What I would do instead (or in addition) is to turn the
>> Bosworth/Bosworth/Lyell intersection into a normal three-way "tee"
>> intersection, with stop signs all directions and a full set of
>> crosswalks.  Removing parts of the traffic islands so that southbound
>> traffic can turn left from Bosworth-that-parallels-San-Jose onto
>> Lyell would go a long way toward unfucking that whole area.
>
> My main worry with that suggestion is that eastbound traffic from
> Bosworth to Lyell would take an incredibly long time to adjust to the
> new stop sign, and barrel through it rather than stopping.

I'm sure they would adjust soon enough, just as they have to the new
stop sign where Still meets Lyell.  A nice zebra crossing would help
matters.

> Does a lot of car traffic need to make that left turn?  I'm skeptical;

Just look at the number of cars that make the right, as they're
forced to do, and then use the left for the 280 South onramp to take
the first opportunity to make a U-turn around the end of the island.
It happens all the time; during the day, I wouldn't be surprised to
measure 60 cars per hour making that U-turn.

One reason for this is that traffic from 280N exits onto San Jose,
takes the first right onto Rotteck, R on Bosworth, then wants to go S
on Lyell to Alemany, but cannot without making the U-turn.  (The only
reasonable alternative to this is San Jose --> St. Mary's --> Mission
--> Silver --> Alemany.)

> My secondary concern with the suggestion is that it doesn't address
> pedestrians getting almost hit in the crosswalk for the I-280 onramp.
> It seems at least as important to fix that as to fix crossing Bosworth
> near Lyell.

Well, I don't agree that it's as important, since there's a well
marked crosswalk across the onramp.  To cross Bosworth requires
scurrying across the road under a dark overpass while avoiding
barreling downhill traffic and, in the other direction, a stream of
cars taking turns proceeding from two stop signs, which tends to
leave insufficient gaps for getting across.

Have there been reports of pedestrians actually getting hit in
the onramp crosswalk?  I walk across it nearly every weekday, and
while some drivers are assholes about ceding the right-of-way, I've
never seen or heard of anyone being hit there.

Overall I would not prefer a full traffic light at that location,
since as things stand, pedestrians can proceed directly across the
crosswalk and approaching drivers must yield.  However, I'm not sure
the little old ladies who I also see crossing it daily would agree
with me, so I wouldn't be bothered by a light there either...

-- 
Gregory S. Sutter                       "How do I read this file?"
mailto:gsutter@zer0.org                 "You uudecode it."
http://zer0.org/~gsutter/               "I I I decode it?"