"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not. It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer
Carefree Truth
Issue #982, January 15, 2022
Issue #982, January 15, 2022
Mark Milstone said there have been some "serious volatile conditions" at this crosswalk at Ridgeview Place and Ho Road crossing Tom Darlington Drive. Carefree has been to the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) twice for funding and was denied twice even though the second submission was revised. The Town was told that the evaluation system had changed but not enough to help Carefree. "What added insult to injury is all the people who evaluated the projects, there were 15 of them, we came in at number 11, told us that our project was the most needed and the best project out there, yet because of their evaluation system we did not win funding to this project."
Mr. Milstone's number 1 priority is safety in everything he does as the Town Engineer, so he was extremely frustrated. While it is not as aesthetically pleasing as if they had the $120,000 to do it, after "brainstorming" he felt he had come up with a project that could fix most of the safety conditions with using the Public Works Department staff and existing funding. But he's excited about this because it's "seat of the pants engineering, back of the envelope engineering" to make improvements to this crosswalk.
The existing crosswalk is wide open and is about 67 feet from basic curb to basic curb. It's at the end of a curve and the crest of a vertical curve. It currently has in-pavement sensor lights. While they worked well when first installed, due to being run over by vehicular traffic, and fading lenses, they don't work very well now. Additionally, the intermittent flashing beacons on either side of the intersection are in places that are hard to see.
Rick Engineering wanted to bulb out the curbs to reduce the lane width and reduce traffic speed in this area, as well as adding a pedestrian "refuge" island for Ho Road. It would have been elevated, with triangular rapid flashing beacons, and taken down to 1 lane similar to what was done at Stagecoach Pass and Tom Darlington Drive. These plans were only at the 80% stage. No final plans had been received yet.
Mr. Milstone agrees with reducing a lane in each direction, perhaps with the use of "wheel stops" that would not allow traffic into the closed lane. He is also considering 4" button dome shaped structures with built-in reflectors prior to the stop sites to produce a warning "rumble strip" activity to warn drivers that there is a stop ahead. In the short term, he is leaning towards the buttons due to cost. The wheel stops with reflective tape would cost about $5000 as opposed to $500 for the buttons. The 6" buttons would be about $1000.
The project is using existing funds and there is a finite amount of money. This year, existing signs would be used. Next year, new blinker signs could be purchased. With the savings using the buttons, one of the blinker signs could be bought this year. Mr. Milstone negotiated with Tapco, the largest seller of these types of signs, to supply them to Carefree at his cost in order to have a showplace for people to see them at work. The signs are one sided, so 2 would be needed to meet the standards, at a cost of $6000, which Mr. Milstone thought was well worth saving on the wheel stops to get these placed now. The Public Works Department could install the signs and Tapco would supervise. The signs are solar, so there are no underground electrical requirements. Basis blinker signs could be installed 50-100 feet closer to oncoming traffic. The signs are connected via remote control once the button is pushed at the sign at the crosswalk. Both would cost about $11,000 total. He suggested placing some plants in the island to improve the aesthetics at some future date.
Councilman Stephen Hatcher pointed out the the use of the buttons on Tom Darlington Drive has been very effective. Gary Neiss agreed. Both said the buttons would look better than the wheel stops. Vice Mayor John Crane asked what provided the optimal safety for both drivers and pedestrians. Mr. Milstone said it would be a combination of the signs and the wheel stops. The Vice Mayor suggested it might be better to do it the best way the first time. Carefree is almost half way through the fiscal year. He felt the funding could possibly be found. Mr. Milstone explained that the money was coming from the Public Works Materials fund. "It's good to keep some money in there in case there is an early monsoon season and Carefree loses some pavement, which would create an emergency situation that needs to be fixed quickly." Mr. Neiss suggested taking it from the Capital Improvement budget for $16,000. Both Mr. Milstone and Mayor Les Peterson thought that sounded like a plausible option.
The Mayor said residents have come into Town Hall with suggestions about how to re-engineer the traffic lanes, but he told them that traffic engineers are required to make those recommendations, for both the sake of safety and for Town liability issues if someone is injured. Mr. Milstone went over his ideas with a consultant from Rick Engineering, who felt very comfortable with Mr. Milstone's suggestions. Rick had some funds left over in their approved budget because at the time it was approved, the Hawk System, which is very expensive, was being considered and has since been eliminated, so there is money for them to review new ideas. Mr. Milstone felt strongly that wheel stops were necessary on either side of the crosswalks where the pedestrian "refuge" islands will be placed because buttons won't work there. A curb needs to be set up in both directions to make sure vehicles don't enter those areas. It would consist of 4" high white wheel stops surrounding the island.
Councilwoman Cheryl Kroyer said she and many others are sensitive to the aesthetics and she was concerned about the look of the wheel stops. She couldn't approve it without a better idea of the final appearance. Vice Mayor Crane said the Council was reconvening the following week, and suggested maybe Mr. Milstone could come back with a little more information on the appearance. Mr. Neiss called it a balancing act, where safety and aesthetics were both part of the finished equation. Mr. Milstone said he would take his plan to Rick Engineering and have them draw something up on their CAD program. Mayor Peterson reiterated that it had to be safe and it had to be approved by a certified traffic engineer. Mr. Neiss agreed that it had to be safe and it had to look good.
https://vimeo.com/655693048
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
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Mr. Milstone's number 1 priority is safety in everything he does as the Town Engineer, so he was extremely frustrated. While it is not as aesthetically pleasing as if they had the $120,000 to do it, after "brainstorming" he felt he had come up with a project that could fix most of the safety conditions with using the Public Works Department staff and existing funding. But he's excited about this because it's "seat of the pants engineering, back of the envelope engineering" to make improvements to this crosswalk.
The existing crosswalk is wide open and is about 67 feet from basic curb to basic curb. It's at the end of a curve and the crest of a vertical curve. It currently has in-pavement sensor lights. While they worked well when first installed, due to being run over by vehicular traffic, and fading lenses, they don't work very well now. Additionally, the intermittent flashing beacons on either side of the intersection are in places that are hard to see.
Rick Engineering wanted to bulb out the curbs to reduce the lane width and reduce traffic speed in this area, as well as adding a pedestrian "refuge" island for Ho Road. It would have been elevated, with triangular rapid flashing beacons, and taken down to 1 lane similar to what was done at Stagecoach Pass and Tom Darlington Drive. These plans were only at the 80% stage. No final plans had been received yet.
Mr. Milstone agrees with reducing a lane in each direction, perhaps with the use of "wheel stops" that would not allow traffic into the closed lane. He is also considering 4" button dome shaped structures with built-in reflectors prior to the stop sites to produce a warning "rumble strip" activity to warn drivers that there is a stop ahead. In the short term, he is leaning towards the buttons due to cost. The wheel stops with reflective tape would cost about $5000 as opposed to $500 for the buttons. The 6" buttons would be about $1000.
The project is using existing funds and there is a finite amount of money. This year, existing signs would be used. Next year, new blinker signs could be purchased. With the savings using the buttons, one of the blinker signs could be bought this year. Mr. Milstone negotiated with Tapco, the largest seller of these types of signs, to supply them to Carefree at his cost in order to have a showplace for people to see them at work. The signs are one sided, so 2 would be needed to meet the standards, at a cost of $6000, which Mr. Milstone thought was well worth saving on the wheel stops to get these placed now. The Public Works Department could install the signs and Tapco would supervise. The signs are solar, so there are no underground electrical requirements. Basis blinker signs could be installed 50-100 feet closer to oncoming traffic. The signs are connected via remote control once the button is pushed at the sign at the crosswalk. Both would cost about $11,000 total. He suggested placing some plants in the island to improve the aesthetics at some future date.
Councilman Stephen Hatcher pointed out the the use of the buttons on Tom Darlington Drive has been very effective. Gary Neiss agreed. Both said the buttons would look better than the wheel stops. Vice Mayor John Crane asked what provided the optimal safety for both drivers and pedestrians. Mr. Milstone said it would be a combination of the signs and the wheel stops. The Vice Mayor suggested it might be better to do it the best way the first time. Carefree is almost half way through the fiscal year. He felt the funding could possibly be found. Mr. Milstone explained that the money was coming from the Public Works Materials fund. "It's good to keep some money in there in case there is an early monsoon season and Carefree loses some pavement, which would create an emergency situation that needs to be fixed quickly." Mr. Neiss suggested taking it from the Capital Improvement budget for $16,000. Both Mr. Milstone and Mayor Les Peterson thought that sounded like a plausible option.
The Mayor said residents have come into Town Hall with suggestions about how to re-engineer the traffic lanes, but he told them that traffic engineers are required to make those recommendations, for both the sake of safety and for Town liability issues if someone is injured. Mr. Milstone went over his ideas with a consultant from Rick Engineering, who felt very comfortable with Mr. Milstone's suggestions. Rick had some funds left over in their approved budget because at the time it was approved, the Hawk System, which is very expensive, was being considered and has since been eliminated, so there is money for them to review new ideas. Mr. Milstone felt strongly that wheel stops were necessary on either side of the crosswalks where the pedestrian "refuge" islands will be placed because buttons won't work there. A curb needs to be set up in both directions to make sure vehicles don't enter those areas. It would consist of 4" high white wheel stops surrounding the island.
Councilwoman Cheryl Kroyer said she and many others are sensitive to the aesthetics and she was concerned about the look of the wheel stops. She couldn't approve it without a better idea of the final appearance. Vice Mayor Crane said the Council was reconvening the following week, and suggested maybe Mr. Milstone could come back with a little more information on the appearance. Mr. Neiss called it a balancing act, where safety and aesthetics were both part of the finished equation. Mr. Milstone said he would take his plan to Rick Engineering and have them draw something up on their CAD program. Mayor Peterson reiterated that it had to be safe and it had to be approved by a certified traffic engineer. Mr. Neiss agreed that it had to be safe and it had to look good.
https://vimeo.com/655693048
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.