Reply to River Road speed limit change to 35 mph

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Reply to "River Road speed limit change to 35 mph"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This was entirely due to some neighbood retired busybodies, and not as a result of the thorough analysis SHA did.

SHA produced a report of over 200 pages basically saying the speed limit was fine. Then SHA had an open public forum to present some different ideas for the intersection on the hill near Whitman. None of them involved lowering the speed limit.

River Road was designed as an arterial connector road from an interstate. That's why it's a divided highway, with good visibility and no driveways or entrances directly onto it. There's a reason they built those service roads next to it for driveways to back onto.

There have been two fatal crasshes there in 30 years. One was 2 years ago with the family where the driver made a left turn and failed to yield. The car that hit him was going over 100mph. That driver is in jail. The other was nearly 30 years ago when 4 Whitman students were speeding and the driver was intoxicated, and lost control just after the light at Wilson Lane (going towards the Beltway) and smashed into a tree.

Lowering the speed limit to 35mph from 45mph would not have prevented either crash.

There is already a simple solution that the Whitman principal refuses to implement, and it's also a free solution: close the back gate entrance to Whitman during school hours. Then students driving to school will have to make a left  at Wilson or Whittier, both of which are controlled (traffic light) intersections. Problem solved.

If they want to go one step further, add a HAWK signal (traffic light that only goes red when pedestrian pushes the walk button) at the crosswalk at the crest of the hill. A pedestrian bridge would be ideal, but history has shown pedestrians don't use them -- look at the pedestrian bridge where the CCT is by McDonalds just down that same road --[b] they still have an at-street-level crosswalk despite a pedestrian bridge directly over it, because pedestrians were too lazy to climb up to the bridge.
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There's no need to lower the speed limit starting at the Beltway all the way in to DC. This is what happens when politicians get involved in road engineering decisions that should be left to career highway engineers.[/quote]

pedestrians will avoid bridges because its added effort walking and longer - especially issues for elderly, disable, people with young children.  and sometimes if no one else is using it, it feels unsafe vis a vis crime.

I see people wanting to remove peds (onto a bridge) and even other drivers, to preserve a speedway.

The tired argument that collisions would still happen at lower speeds - forgetting that said collisions would be less likely to kill at lower speeds.

All to save a seconds time.   [/quote]

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