ACHD's Road Wizard
Sunday, June 4, 2017
"No Thru Trucks" sign requested for Everett Street near Fairview Avenue; timing of the traffic signal at Emerald Street and Curtis Road fixed after malfunctions; hairpin turn on Seamans Gulch Road to remain
The Road Wizard Replies
Dear Road Wizard: Who would I contact about requesting a "No Thru Trucks" sign to be put up on our street? We are located on Everett Street behind Q's Billiards & Eatery. Our street is used by semis and service trucks delivering food, alcohol and gas by those who wish to avoid using Fairview Avenue after making deliveries at Q's and the gas station on the corner of Liberty Street and Fairview. This is a problem since our street is crowded with cars, limiting it to one lane, and the vehicles are often speeding or incredibly heavy, causing our house to shake when they drive by.
Nicole
Road Wizard:
It's hardly a homeowner's dream come true, but it could be worse. In fact, it would need to be significantly worse to warrant a "No Thru Trucks" sign.
ACHD handles these types of requests and recently observed vehicle traffic in this area for six hours in the middle of the day. However, the number of large vehicles destined for Everett Street was only a small percentage of overall traffic. Because of that, posting a sign to keep larger vehicles off that road, and expecting police to enforce the rule isn't the best use of resources.
"No Thru Trucks" signs are typically posted on streets with documented high numbers of large/heavy vehicle traffic that is overwhelming enough to justify enforced redirecting.
Dear Road Wizard: The timing of the signal at Emerald Street and Curtis Road seems to be off. In the morning between 5 and 7 a.m., which is when I'm consistently going through this intersection, this light seems to default for Emerald traffic while Curtis is on red. Even when there is no traffic of any kind on Emerald, Curtis traffic will sit for several minutes. Could you look into this?
Glenda
Road Wizard:
This signal was behaving as badly as an underage person trying to buy alcohol, and as a result, the signal was "carded."
The signal controller is programmed to give busier Curtis Road the resting green, not Emerald. Except the video card wasn't working correctly. The card is the device that receives images from the traffic detection cameras and tells the intersection computer/brain who gets the next green light. The card was replaced and everything should be working properly again.
Dear Road Wizard: Is the hairpin turn on Seamans Gulch Road ever going to be removed? Several years ago tons of dirt was moved to straighten out the road. When will this road be made safer?
Anonymous
Road Wizard:
Way back when the narrow two-lane route leading to Hidden Springs was originally constructed, a straighter road wasn't built because moving earth to make way for roads through hilly terrain is expensive. Going with the tight curve cut the cost.
The pricy pursuit of the straight and narrow was evident in 2006 when ACHD worked on removing a hill north of the Seamans Gulch curve to make way for a less-severe turn. Much of the hill was slowly taken to the Ada County Landfill and used as a cover for the garbage. It was a good partnership, but it was expensive and time-consuming, so the project was left unfinished.
More recently, ACHD leveled the shoulders, cut slopes, and created ditches along the road to reduce sand erosion from covering the street surface. But there are no other plans to straighten the road.
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