CATC to Consider ending Left Turns from Royvonne south onto Commercial

The Advisory Traffic Commission meets Wednesday the 8th, and they'll consider a request to ban left turns from Royvonne Street southbound onto Commercial Street.

To ban a left-hand turn from Royvonne?
Note crosswalk and median on left

A formal public hearing to ban a left turn

The intersection here has a troubled history. Commercial Street is signed for 40mph, which is much too fast for the concentration of shopping and people on foot. Winco, Goodwill, a BottleDrop are all right here. Until the City installed the crosswalk, signalized intersections were inconveniently distant and people froggered across the street. Taking cues from the 40mph posted speed, drivers routinely flouted the legal unmarked crosswalks.

In 2017 one of them struck and killed a child. The City responded with a new enhanced crosswalk, which makes left turns from Royvonne more difficult. The City addressed this a little in a 2022 Staff Report to Council on some new housing nearby.

• "Driver Struck and Killed Teenager on South Commercial Yesterday Afternoon" (2017)
• "New Crosswalk Takes Shape on Commercial at Royvonne Avenue SE" (2019)
  
• "New Crosswalk on Commercial and Royvonne Dedicated Today; Safety Demonstration and Memorial to Follow" (2019)
  
• "Sauntering through the New Crosswalk" (2019)
  
• "City Council, August 8th - Crowley and Royvonne Avenues" (2022)

Now apparently there is a formal request to the City to ban those left turns from Royvonne onto Commercial.

This should be reasonable. But for those who live on Royvonne and must drive, southbound access to Commercial Street may be difficult. Left turns from Boone Road (via Textrum) have already been ended, and there is in fact a deficit of ways by car to make a safe left turn from the east side of Commercial here. 

Back in 2022 the City had resisted a light for controlled left turns:

Additionally, the TIA evaluated traffic signal warrants at the intersection of Commercial Street and Royvonne Avenue. The analysis showed the intersection did not meet the traffic signal warrant. Public Works would not support a traffic signal at this location because of the proximity to the existing signal at Keglers Lane SE that is located approximately 650 feet to the north. Traffic signals need to be spaced approximately ¼-mile (1320 feet) apart in order to be able to time them properly and achieve vehicle progression along the corridor.

But there was nothing in it about walking safety. Only about achieving proper car flow and speed. This is the wrong set of priorities!

It will be interesting to see how CATC balances autoism with the need for better pedestrian safety.

And the request doesn't at all address the fact that the signed speed is too high. CATC could also step in with a recommendation for lower legal speed here.

Back in March, CATC also considered closing a path during nighttime hours across Glen Creek between Sunburst Terrace NW and Ptarmigan Street NW. An immediate neighbor had made the

request in November 2023 to close the pedestrian walkway at night. The requestor stated that his dogs would bark at those using the walkway. He explained this is a bigger problem at night. He was trying to look at ways to reduce their barking and be a better neighbor.

In a unanimous vote CATC did not support the request.