8 l6 C119- Emails dimes Most dangerous intersecf By ROSS ANDERSON traffic intersection has a capacity just like a quart bottle. Exceed that capacit . and you have trouble.?- 'l So concluded Bob Wan citv iratfic- signal engineei as he analyzed 1970 statistics" for high- -accident, 'signal- con? . trolled intersections in?? Seattle. It seems that where traffic li a 5 come together, eventually collisions occur?? traffic signals, left~turn lanes and one-way streets notwith- standing. Collisions occurred 33 times at Denny Way and Stewart Street last ye?r?_ more than any other ici?31 in- terse?ctiom . There:- men's; ntersection?? The first is baSed 0n number of- reported accidents dining lSl701' The other is based on accidents per million vehi? cles crossing each inte15e<- tion in the year The ?bi? three? by number of acci? dents, and their respective problems. are as follows: Denny Way and Stewart Street: 33 accidents: 22 inju- ries. This is where interstate 5 dumps much of its south? bound rush-hour traffic into the city center each weekday morning. ?The intersection simply can't handle the volume of traffic,? said Earl Succo, information ol'i'ici-r for the Traffic Engineering Divi? sion. Ninth Avenue North and Mercer Ill zicvidcnis: ll injuries. This intersection holds the dubious (listincuon of an all-time Seattle high of accidents in 19159. Both streets were made one?way in 1968 and there have been seven traffic revisions since then. MAJOR problem is with people southbound in Ninth,? Succo said. ?They get into the extreme left lane which is a required left turn into Mercer. The next lane over is a left?t 11 rn?o r? siraight-through option. Peo? ple. in the left lane keep going sti?ai'vlii and run into 1115 in the nerd; lane turning li?lt. The injury rate is low be.- cause most of the accidents are sideswipes or merging accidents, and they general- ly occur at low speed. Ninth Avenue South and South Dearborn Street: 30 accidents; 14 injuries. The freeway is again the culprit. With no freeway connection with 1-90 and the Lake Wash- ington Floating Bridge. traf? fic heading for the bridge pours off the Freeway exit to the ?well-signalized. high- volume" Dearborn intersec- Lion. ?Mostly right-angle colli? sions involving westbound and southbound traffic people in a hurry to get home." Succo observed. By volume. the most dan- gerous of Seattle?s signal- 1'ontrolled intersections are: Bellevue Avenue East and East Olive Way: ll; acci- dents; 3 injuries: 5.77 acci- clients per million vehicles. Notched into Capitol Hill above interstate 5, this in? tersection is plagued by nar- row streets, confused motor? ists, mid-hill stops and far too many cars. A problem intersec- tion.? Succo said. ?But the injury rate is very low so it?s not top priority." Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 80th Street: 135 . accidents: l8 accidents per million vehi- cles. The injury rule was three times that ofany other Seattle intersection. ?All we have is a single overhead signal." Succo said. ?People come barrel? ing down the 80th Street hill from the freeway and either don?t see the light or can?t stop in time. Since they?re mostly ri gh t-a e. high? speed accidents. people get hurt. Nine people were in- jured in one accident." Warr added: injuries. 4.4l ire two . dan< 1 lists. - 85th and 515111 Northwest the .sulted from left turns. Last October we prohibited left ?cidents :this year. That will; far: "There are about 350 intersections with 5 >1ngle overhead traffic sig-. nals. The money and time necessary to replace them all iust l5? . 21? ailaolc. hail Atomic North and North 851311 Street: ilS' 136 illion ehiclcs. carrie a hi; xoliz' or; of ?:fiic. Lotti 1:riis are in dc? .11 not}: streets are 1 narrow. leaving no room for "let't- turn pockets." vlisi 0115 result proper leit turns 1.3; Most from im?f ?85th is a problem all the i way from the freeway to: Modrono elects officers Roger treasurer of the Madrona Comm unity Council. has been elected president of the Central Seattle Community Council. He succeeds .lunius Rochester. Other officers Davis. vice president; Jodie McCrackin. secretary. and William Burns, treasurer. Leed. attorney and I 31?) ac-; ?14 ini. tics: 3i?? are Ollis . Sunday. April 25. l97l 15th said. ?At Greenwood," l-?Or exam- tale, we found that' 23 acci- dents in two years. had re- turns which theoretically should eliminate a dozen ac- be an theiesting one to; watch . . Just a inile to. the west. at;. city tried Changing the sig- nal sequence so that traffic in each diiection would be moved in its turn. That was in plunged} from ?32 in 51.968 to?; only, 10 ?last year. - the problem is more compleX ?We iecozd every accident above $100 damage,? Succo said. ?Three peOple work full?time at keeping c1111. 4 system of city intersections. They chart each accident (using police reports) ac- cording to angle of collision, time of day, street conditions and injuries." When a high-accident trend is spotted at a particu? lar intersection, traffic engi? neers pull the appropriate cards and study them for trends or causes. Are they merging or right-angle colli- sions? High- or low-injury? Has traffic volume increased significantly? ?We have to determine what effect any action might have on the adjacent in- Intersection Denny Wy. and Stewart St. 91h Av. N. and Mercer St. ch-Av. S. and S. Dearborn St. Wallingford Av. N, and N. Empire Wy. S. and S. Alaska St. Boren Av. and Madison St. Aurora Av..-7th Av., Denny Wy. 15th Av. NE. and NE. (35th St. tcrsectimis." Succo noted. l5lh AV andN. E. 145th St ?if we prohibit lel?t turns Empire Sand. Othello St here, people naturally arc Faiiview Av. N. and Denny Wy. l2th Av.. 3rd Av. NW. and NW. 85th St. Union By. Pl. NE, going to go to the next block to make their turns. We don't want simply to shift the problem elsewhere." Montlake Blvd. 13., Lk.Wn. Blvd.'E. E. Union. E. Madison SteNumber of 2'970 accidents (Intersections with signalsAccidents Injuries Fatalities VOLUME 0F traffic is the special purchase men?s fashion dress shirts 0 Choose from a huge selection - Luxurious blend of 65% polyester, 35% cotton Stripes are in and Budget Floor hos 'em Fashion solids' in blue, green, gold and brown Short sleeves, tosnionoble 4 long point collar Sizes l4l/2 to l7; charge 'ern now and save Men's Furnishings, Budget Floor, Seattle, Northgoi?e, Southcenter and Tacoma Moll departments ublic Ene- my No. The high- -accident- intersec- tl0ns now seem concentrated in the North End of the city center, near Aurora Avenue North and Interstate 5. This continuing trend has led to the increased push for the 3 ea 5 -w 1: Bay Freeway, skirting the south end of Lake Union, which pre- sumedly would ease the traf- 4 tic concentration. ?The South End used to be "our problem area,? Warr said. ?But the Boeing layoffs have changed that. When tral?fic volume goes down, so does the number 01 acci- dents." .. Most South End intersec- tions showed a marked de- crease in collisions from 1969. To Succo, the 3 problems 'co'nfi?onting his department might be typified by an in- Ciease in accidents at the southeast corner of Seattle Center, back in the months preceding the 1962 World?s Fair. ?Almost overnight we had a sharp increase, he re? called. ?We tried everything Changes in signal sequences, left- turn ?signals+ev_erything. Nothing seemed to work Then Space Needle was under con- structiOn and motorists ap- proaching the intersection were craning their necks t0 see?not looking at traffic signals. ?As soon as the Space Needle was completed, and people had a chance to get used to it, they started seeing the light again,? Suc- co said The accident rate dropped as fast as it: had risen.? it' hit them. 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