AlamitosWheelchair

AlamitosWheelchair

Eastside of alamitos at 17th street along Alamitos.

There was a tragic, fatal accident on Alamitos Avenue October 29 near the convergence of Orange Avenue and 16th Street, close to Long Beach City College’s Pacific Coast Campus. 72-year-old resident Bong Kim was struck by an oncoming car as he attempted to cross the street in his wheelchair.

An important piece of information in this story that had gone misreported or implied—likely because of the authoritative source of information—is that Mr. Kim had been crossing the street illegally from a driveway near Orange Avenue.

On the other hand, it could very well be there was an error in the police report given that, on the side of the street that he was attempting to cross from, there are no “driveways” within a half-block radius of the intersection. Instead, there are three uncontrolled intersections on Alamitos at 16th Street, the cottage lane Barcelona Court, and a public alley.

The significance of this is revealed in an earlier post: pedestrians are generally legally afforded the right to cross streets at unmarked intersections. California Vehicle Code Section 21950 states that “the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.” But “this section does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for his or her safety.”

Instead of the presumption derived from earlier reports that Mr. Kim might have been entirely responsible for the accident, the fact that he is provided the legal right to cross if done safely should provide some greater context to the incident. This is not to cast guilt on this accident but to provide the foundation for attempting to prevent it from happening again—a topic covered in that same column.

Another consideration related to this accident is that the sidewalks along Alamitos Avenue are extremely narrow; five feet to be precise. While this is wide enough for most people to navigate it can become an obstacle course for someone in a wheelchair or pushing a cart or stroller. Between constant obstructions like power poles, street lights, trash cans, benches and newspaper stands, there are cases where the path is not navigable. Occasionally there are driveways across the narrow sidewalk that create more treachery because of the uneven cross-slope that can actually tip a wheelchair or cart over.

It would not be hard to believe that Mr. Kim’s street crossing was necessary or even unintentional because of obstacles or extremely uneven surfaces. These are important things to consider not only when trying to determine what in fact happened on that morning but also what can be done in the name of prevention.

For those living and driving down Alamitos Avenue through Central Long Beach recently will have noticed the significant amount of construction taking place along the corridor. Southern California Edison is currently in the process of moving electrical lines underground—first digging a trench, then burying the conduit—in order to remove the existing power poles and lines above ground. The City of Long Beach will be following up that project with a street resurfacing project, smoothing out SCE’s work while addressing decades of pot holes.

With the significant amount of public and private investment taking place along Alamitos Avenue between 7th and 17th Street, there is also the opportunity to improve the pedestrian infrastructure. Alamitos is a dreadful pedestrian experience as the sidewalks are narrow, there are no trees, landscaping elements, or amenities, and the opportunities to safely cross the street are spare and far apart. All the while, the street is over-engineered to carry large amounts of automobiles and do so with great speed.

Alamitos Avenue through Central Long Beach carries the same amount of traffic as—if not less than—4th Street, 10th Street and Magnolia Avenue; yet Alamitos is designed with twice as many car travel lanes. Within a limited right-of-way (75-feet wide) this wider street comes at the expense of area for comfortable sidewalks, safe bike facilities, and proper bus stops. It is difficult to picture Alamitos in another way, but if originally designed with just the single travel lane in either direction like those other streets few would raise questions because traffic would not likely be negatively impacted.

Redefining the character of Alamitos Avenue to better serve people has already been determined by city policy makers in the recently adopted Mobility Element of the Long Beach General Plan. Within the blueprint for the future of transportation throughout the city, Alamitos Avenue is to become a pedestrian-priority area with broad sidewalks, street trees, and other amenities, in addition to have improved transit service, bike facilities, and traffic calming measures. With policy in hand and significant resources already being invested, the time is now to act, to improve Alamitos Avenue for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, drivers as well as local residents.

To alter the width of a street for two miles would be worthwhile on a number of levels yet is likely considered to be cost-prohibitive, especially due to local government funding constraints. Given the existing investment, there are still many things that can be done to improve safety and comfort for those using and living along Alamitos Avenue: curb extensions at intersections, sidewalk widening where available, new street trees, and additional crosswalks with traffic signals are all components that can be added to the project with more modest costs implications.

The addition of a traffic signal and crosswalk on Alamitos at 16th—the only four-way intersection on the entire length of Alamitos Avenue without one—would have significantly reduced the distance that Mr. Kim would have had to travel to reach a safe opportunity to cross the street.

Retrospect often has 20/20 vision but there is now the opportunity to avoid similar safety hazards along this corridor.

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