Eighth Street at University Avenue in Hillcrest (By Frank Sabatini Jr.)

Risky Street Intersections to Receive Some TLC

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

Yay for safety! The City of San Diego is pressing ahead with making improvements to urban intersections that pose a risk to drivers and pedestrians, per collision data collected over the past couple of years.

The safety-enhancement project focuses on 14 locations where five or more injuries or fatalities have occurred. Most are in busy areas such as the Gaslamp Quarter, East Village, Hillcrest, Little Italy and other neighborhoods. They include Eighth Avenue and Broadway; 10th Avenue and A Street; 15th and F streets; Eighth Avenue at University; and Kettner Boulevard at Sassafras Street.

Reducing risk to the intersections could mean adding additional crosswalks and flashing beacons as well as upgraded traffic lights, re-calibrated speed limits, and extending the length of red curbs on streets that lead up to the intersections.

“Being able to carry out these projects with our in-house teams is important so the work can be completed as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said the city’s Transportation Department Interim Assistant Director Margaret McCormick in a public statement.