State of PA does not allow speed bumps. Nobody seems to want to discuss the simplest and cheapest option: a four way stop sign. The identical situation exists at the intersection of Ivy Street and Walnut Street in nearby Shadyside and there is a 4 way stop there with crosswalks. Same layout: the beginning of a dense shopping district with traffic coming up a hill with limited sight lines (on westbound Walnut) through a residential block. Why is a 4 way stop defensible there but not at Sanders and Braddock?
Traffic is not just a problem at the Sanders intersection -- anyone who has tried to park their car along those blocks of Braddock in the commercial district knows that it is taking your life into your hands to try to time exiting the vehicle with a steady stream of cars flying up the hill from the parkway exit complex. I was hurrying out of my car a couple of years ago (after having checked what was coming) when a car that must have been going at least 40 flew by and hit the bag I had over my left shoulder, almost ripping it off me. Even trying to parallel park there is dicey since approaching traffic coming up the hill seems often oblivious to your intentions. If the northbound cars had to stop at Sanders you would have a reasonable expectation of a break in time to start backing into a space,
Traffic flies up that hill and I hope the traffic study that is underway collects data on the average speed of vehicles entering the Sanders crosswalk. I lived in Regent Square for 13 years and still drive through there daily and patronize the businesses. I see how motorists approach that block. I also know that even if cars rush through Sanders, at least half the time they are going to have to stop for the light at Hutchinson, the next block, anyway. I seriously doubt a stop sign at Sanders would impact congestion much at all and might even decrease it, since more restrictions on traffic on Braddock might make it a less attractive short cut for people who don't have patience for the Parkway.
Neither Edgewood nor Swissvale is shy about restricting pass-through traffic severely with stop signs and speed limits in other parts of their respective boroughs. Swissvale has lights and all-diretion stops on other portions of Braddock Ave with far less pedestrian traffic. Edgewood clearly tries to discourage pass through traffic on Maple by an absurd 24 hour 15 MPH speed limit and multiple stop signs (doubt it is a coincidence that it is a street of half million dollar homes).
Braddock Avenue has seen steady increases in traffic in successive decades due to the growth of development -- Edgewood Town Center in the 1980's, Waterfront in the late 1990's -- and the various diversions due to closures of the Squirrel Hill tunnel and the Greenfield Bridge reconstruction. There is now a large sign at Braddock and Penn directing traffic onto Braddock as a major artery.
The only argument I have heard against a stop sign at Sanders is that it would "inconvenience motorists" and create more traffic congestion. The boroughs need to decide if their priority is the convenience of commuters who want to fly through their neighborhood unobstructed, or if it is to protect the lives and property of the residents and business patrons of the district. Bear in mind that that stretch of Braddock from the Parkway to Penn Avenue includes not just a business district and residential zone with sidewalks on both sides, but two schools, a Community Center and a huge playground and sports fields.
Recent Comments
Traffic is not just a problem at the Sanders intersection -- anyone who has tried to park their car along those blocks of Braddock in the commercial district knows that it is taking your life into your hands to try to time exiting the vehicle with a steady stream of cars flying up the hill from the parkway exit complex. I was hurrying out of my car a couple of years ago (after having checked what was coming) when a car that must have been going at least 40 flew by and hit the bag I had over my left shoulder, almost ripping it off me. Even trying to parallel park there is dicey since approaching traffic coming up the hill seems often oblivious to your intentions. If the northbound cars had to stop at Sanders you would have a reasonable expectation of a break in time to start backing into a space,
Traffic flies up that hill and I hope the traffic study that is underway collects data on the average speed of vehicles entering the Sanders crosswalk. I lived in Regent Square for 13 years and still drive through there daily and patronize the businesses. I see how motorists approach that block. I also know that even if cars rush through Sanders, at least half the time they are going to have to stop for the light at Hutchinson, the next block, anyway. I seriously doubt a stop sign at Sanders would impact congestion much at all and might even decrease it, since more restrictions on traffic on Braddock might make it a less attractive short cut for people who don't have patience for the Parkway.
Neither Edgewood nor Swissvale is shy about restricting pass-through traffic severely with stop signs and speed limits in other parts of their respective boroughs. Swissvale has lights and all-diretion stops on other portions of Braddock Ave with far less pedestrian traffic. Edgewood clearly tries to discourage pass through traffic on Maple by an absurd 24 hour 15 MPH speed limit and multiple stop signs (doubt it is a coincidence that it is a street of half million dollar homes).
Braddock Avenue has seen steady increases in traffic in successive decades due to the growth of development -- Edgewood Town Center in the 1980's, Waterfront in the late 1990's -- and the various diversions due to closures of the Squirrel Hill tunnel and the Greenfield Bridge reconstruction. There is now a large sign at Braddock and Penn directing traffic onto Braddock as a major artery.
The only argument I have heard against a stop sign at Sanders is that it would "inconvenience motorists" and create more traffic congestion. The boroughs need to decide if their priority is the convenience of commuters who want to fly through their neighborhood unobstructed, or if it is to protect the lives and property of the residents and business patrons of the district. Bear in mind that that stretch of Braddock from the Parkway to Penn Avenue includes not just a business district and residential zone with sidewalks on both sides, but two schools, a Community Center and a huge playground and sports fields.