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Turn Left—But Not Yet!

by Paul Bass | Aug 13, 2010 11:12 am

(13) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Transportation, Westville

Paul Bass Photo Nervous neighbors like Dick Margulis succeeded in convincing government to reconfigure a killer intersection. Then they noticed cars turning the wrong way at that same corner—and got worried again.

That’s the latest development at the corner of West Elm Street and Forest Road in Westville, a corner that has bedeviled neighbors and government planners.

Call it the law of unintended consequences—a solution that created a new problem.

Dick Margulis (pictured above) called it “the law of not doing an adequate design study.”

Whatever you call it, the city has a new solution.

The saga began in 2008. Neighbors had always been concerned about traffic whipping around a blind curve on Forest Road, a main state throughway connecting Fountain Street to West Haven, at West Elm. West Elm ends at Forest. The fast traffic and low visibility make it a treacherous intersection to enter. In 2008 Jerry Gross started to drive across that intersection on his way home from morning prayers at his synagogue. An oncoming car slammed into him and killed him.

Neighbors pressed officials for a solution. The search for a fix proved complicated. The state owns Forest Road (aka Route 122), the city, West Elm. So two sets of officials had to work together. And each proposal sparked new concerns about safety or convenience.

Then, after another crash at the intersection sent a cop to the hospital, city officials announced a plan: Don’t allow any left turns from West Elm onto Forest, into the maw of the blind high-speed curve.

They completed the plan in mid-July. (They couldn’t paint during the winter.) They erected a “No Left Turn” sign and painted a triangular island at the end of West Elm, with a curved mini-lane directing westbound drivers (approaching Forest) into a dedicated right-turn lane. The lane is pictured above.

Dick Margulis has a direct view of that striped island from the window of an office in his West Elm Street home two doors down from Forest. He works there during the day as a book editor.

Dick Margulis Photo Looking out the window at the new intersection, he noticed a new hazard, caused unintentionally by drivers headed southbound on Forest Road from Fountain and turning left onto West Elm. (Pictured is the view of drivers headed that way on Forest.)

The new striping confused those drivers. It looked like they were supposed to turn left onto West Elm through the curved mini-lane. In fact, that put them heading against traffic, direct into the lane meant for West Elm drivers turning onto Forest.

“I’m looking at it and saying, ‘Everybody’s going the wrong way!” Margulis recalled. “So I drive up Forest [to investigate] and say, ‘No wonder everybody’s turning wrong. It looks like you’re supposed to turn that way.”

He did an informal count; 50 percent of the drivers making left turns entered that wrong lane, he said. He saw a commercial carting truckdriver do it. He saw a UPS driver do it. He saw a school bus driver do it.

“Did you see what you did at that intersection?” Margulis asked when the busdriver made a stop on the block.

“No. What?” she responded.

“You went the wrong way.”

At that point she checked her rear view mirror and proclaimed, “Oh my God!”

“These are not careless drivers,” Margulis said. “These are not kids. These are not people hot-rodding. These are not people talking on their cell phones. These are ordinary people pulling up, turning on their turn signals, and going the wrong way.”

Margulis and his neighbors, who also noticed the new hazard, told city transportation chief Mike Piscitelli about it. Piscitelli came to investigate. Piscitelli got right on the case, ordering a “Keep Right” sign placed on Forest Road to direct southbound drivers passed the incorrect lane.

Margulis estimated that in its first week the new sign has cut the percentage of drivers making the wrong turn about in half—still too many, but still too early to judge. Drivers who regularly turn left onto West Elm have noticed the sign and started entering the proper lane. He said he hopes other drivers will catch on soon.

Piscitelli promised to keep track of whether that happens.

“We’re monitoring it now,” he said. “Let’s see how this performs. There has to be some time to see.”

Margulis said he appreciated the swift action but would also like longer-term fixes, including warnings painted in the turn lane and on Forest.

“They’re looking for ways to mollify citizens without spending money,” he said.

Then he acknowledged, “We understand that. We’re taxpayers too.”

The district’s state representative, Pat Dillon, said she’s looking into how the state and city can work together better on a longer-term solution. She previously communicated with officials from both sides as they tried to work out a plan. “We should get the city and DOT [the Department of Transportation] together with us to present what they plan to do, and if that doesn’t work, what they will do next. This is only one corner in the state of Connecticut and they can’t agree or take responsibility? Neither city government nor the state come off well.”

Click on the play arrow to watch a previous report by Leonard Honeyman about the intersection’s problems, before the fix.

Comments

posted by: anon on August 13, 2010 12:22pm

There is simply no way to make this intersection even remotely “safe” when speeds are so high.

Either reduce the average travel speeds in the area, or accept the fact that people are going to die and be injured here on a regular basis.

posted by: concernedwestvilleres on August 13, 2010 12:46pm

Here’s a simple solution: Block off the intersection so no one can make turns on to or from West Elm to Forest Road. Then you won’t have people making wrong turns from Forest and you won’t have people turning right onto Forest in a bad blind spot. It may inconvenience a few residents, but safety is more important than convenience.

posted by: Jon-Jay Tilsen on August 13, 2010 1:31pm

Oddly, apparently two different crews came to paint the intersection. One crew came and painted white. Another crew came on a different day and painted the yellow. I guess these are highly-specialized jobs. Is that a management or a union policy?

posted by: alexey on August 13, 2010 1:58pm

Well, how about Do Not Enter signs to the left and right of the wrong-way-curve, just like you see posted on either side of highway off ramps to make sure people don’t enter the highway the wrong way? Seems simple enough.

posted by: nfjanette on August 13, 2010 3:39pm

The hacked solution that was implemented at the intersection of The Blvd and S. Frontage is another example of poorly planned/plotted road markers. The farthest left turn lane is a sharp curve from which many vehicles overshoot during the turn into the other turn lane to the right. So close, yet so far.

posted by: Edgehood on August 13, 2010 4:05pm

alexey has the right idea. Another curved arrow in the entry lane (beyond the stop mark) would help, too.

posted by: Jefferey on August 13, 2010 8:16pm

Block it off.
Simple. Effective
It is not an inconvenience either.
It’s just plain smart.

posted by: Hmmm on August 14, 2010 9:02am

Alexey has a great idea about the “do not enter” highway signs!!! Is “keep right” the same as “no left turn”? I travel that route daily and have also noticed the multiple sign and paint changes…the most recent seems better as the sign placement is moved over closer to the center. The first striping and sign placement was way too narrow as you came down forest and attempted a sharp right turn onto west elm. There should be some warning like flashing lights that say” slow curve ahead” or some speed bumps painted yellow. Also, cars are often parked on West elm near the corner and are at risk of getting rear ended by cars turning from Forest.

posted by: Ned on August 14, 2010 9:23am

Maybe drivers are distracted by the real estate disaster,300 West Elm St. (third photo, looking South on Forest Rd.) - the now bank owned, blighted property.

SAVAGLI HOMES LLC
SAVALGI COMMUNITY LLC
various other names
[SavaGli, SavaLgi]

All the following are, were or have been in various states of foreclosure:

9 GARDEN STREET
300 WEST ELM ST

73-75 LILAC STREET
93-95 LILAC STREET

227 STARR STREET

UNIT 425 BLAKESTONE 425 BLAKE STREET
UNIT 423 BLAKESTONE 423 BLAKE STREET

39 STEVENS STREET

160 IVY STREET

16 ADELINE STREET

80-82 THOMPSON STREET

4 BUTTON STREET

866 EDGEWOOD AVE

40 LAUREL ROAD

17-19 VICTORY DRIVE

Really gets your head turned around…

posted by: raised road structure on August 14, 2010 10:25am

Instead of a “keep right” sign and painted surface, why not curb off the painted wedge in the middle and raise it up? drivers won’t be able to jump the curb, it’ll present a physical barrier (perhaps with flowers/shrubs), and it will slow drivers down because of the reduced travel area.

narrow roads are slow roads. drivers don’t want to damage their $30,000 investments.

posted by: anon on August 14, 2010 10:11pm

This is a residential area, not an interstate highway ramp. Geometry changes to the entrance or signs will do little to nothing to improve safety when speeds are as high as they currently are.

The only way to make this road safe is to reduce speeds through measures such as narrow lanes, raised intersections, chicanes, roundabouts, etc.

Either do what the rest of the world does in situations like this, or stop being surprised when people die on a regular basis.

posted by: flower pots on August 15, 2010 1:36pm

neighbors who want to see more concrete action should deposit potted plants on the painted wedge, with reflectors on them.

there’s a company in Hamden called Warning Lights- they make the blinky lights on construction barrels and might be a good investment for a concerned resident to put on the planters.

want to keep motorists in line? put up obstacles they can’t easily drive over!

posted by: concerned citizen on September 1, 2010 3:49pm

I have a novel idea…..why not install a traffic light. Last week I came across a pedestrian standing in the middle beyond the triangle toward Forest trying to cross Forest. I was heading southbound on Forest and stopped like I often do when a pedestrian is in the middle of a road. As the pedestrian started crossing I realized that might not have been the best thing to do. My intention was to let him cross safely and I could see no cars were coming from the other direction. However, he probably couldn’t and just took my stopping as an absolute ok to cross. As he was getting further into Forest I could see a car coming in the distance. It worked out ok but I thought my trying to do the right thing wasn’t the best decision and not sure there was one at this point.

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