Getting Answers : Can’t We Protect Kids From Traffic?

Our past studies of the need for all-way stop control at Clinton Street and Van Ness Avenue showed that none of the nationally based guidelines indicating a need for all-way stop signs was satisfied and that there were no extenuating circumstances that would justify a variance from these guidelines. The guidelines are issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the State of California. The Department of Transportation follows these guidelines, which provide for uniformity in the visible features, functioning and warranting of traffic-control devices.

The fact that the Francis Blend School serves visually impaired children was carefully considered. Our inquiries revealed that these students do not make to-and-from school trips crossing Clinton and Van Ness as schoolchild pedestrians. They are bused or driven to school by responsible adults and accompanied by teachers and aides during school hours when crossing streets for orientation mobility sessions and class excursions.

Pedestrian movements to the adjacent Van Ness Elementary were also carefully reviewed. The school should encourage use of the recommended routes to school that take advantage of the safest street crossing point by using the pedestrian tunnel and locations where traffic controls have assigned the right-of-way. Efforts are under way to provide a locked tunnel enclosure controlled by the school to alleviate concerns of unsafe or unsanitary conditions.

In the City of Los Angeles, stop signs are not utilized for speed control, since experience has shown that they do not have the desired effect. Stop signs are effective when properly placed, when properly enforced by the Police Department and when motorists are properly educated with regard to the meaning of these devices.

We are re-investigating traffic conditions at Clinton and Van Ness to see if any traffic patterns have changed sufficiently to indicate a need for all-way stop-sign control. Our investigation will also determine if large trucks parked in the vicinity of the schools limit visibility of traffic movement. If this is found to be the case, additional parking controls will be placed to foster the safest physical traffic environment.