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PORA Traffic Committee

Residents want four-way stop at intersection

County says traffic doesn't warrant it

Posted 12/14/19

A group of residents attended the Dec. 10 Property Owners and Residents Association Traffic and Safety Committee meeting, lobbying for the intersection of 138th Avenue and Woodside Drive to have stop …

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PORA Traffic Committee

Residents want four-way stop at intersection

County says traffic doesn't warrant it

Posted

A group of residents attended the Dec. 10 Property Owners and Residents Association Traffic and Safety Committee meeting, lobbying for the intersection of 138th Avenue and Woodside Drive to have stop signs in all four directions.

Currently, traffic on 138 Avenue must stop before crossing Woodside Dive--138th  Ave is a two-lane road, and Woodside Drive is much wider with a two-way left turn center lane. The intersection is one block south of one of the exit’s of the Fry’s grocery store on R.H. Johnson Boulevard.

Don Foley, Sun City West resident, said he pushed for the traffic to stop in all directions since Sandra Ayers-McClintock was killed in a crash involving her golf car and an SUV.  However, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office reports stated the vehicle that hit her was only going about 20 mph at the time of the collision. The victim’s family sued the MCSO, stating seat belts installed by deputies were not properly installed that resulted in Ms. Ayers-McClintock receiving extensive internal injuries that caused her death.

Mr. Foley said he had been to the PORA traffic meetings before, and also previously spoken with John Counts, Maricopa County Department of Transportation traffic studies manager on earlier occasions. Mr. Counts said traffic at the intersection is not heavy enough to warrant a four-way stop. Mr. Counts said Woodside Drive would have to have 300 cars through the intersection in an eight-hour period, and 138th Avenue would require at least 200 cars in the same time frame.

Those numbers are designated in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Devices, an international standard covering such things as when and where signs should be placed, width of lanes on roadways and criteria for speed limits.

“We have done counts in the past, they have fallen considerably short of those numbers,” Mr. Counts said.

He and other representatives of MCDOT, MCSO, PRIDES, Sheriff’s Posse of Sun City West and the Bicycle Club routinely attend and participate in the PORA Traffic and Safety Committee meetings.

Other suggestions

Residents attending the meeting said some cars parked along Woodside Dr. near the intersection sometimes create a vision problem for other vehicles.

Mr. Counts said he would have a study made looking into the parking situation and possibly making a no parking zone.

Warren Convoy, a resident in the area, is blind and said he must cross Woodside Drive daily and hopes MCDOT would install a sign that said there was a blind person in the area.

Mr. Counts said normally such signs are only placed in neighborhoods where there are blind or deaf children, but he would check with other communities to see what they might be doing and if that could be done in Sun City West.

Some residents at the meeting also complained about employees, residents and visitors leaving the Heritage senior living facility near the intersection.

John Quinn, PORA committee chairman, said he would personally contact the management at the facility to share the concerns and hopes that awareness will help the situation. He said he will report on results at the committee’s next meeting, 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, at the PORA administrative offices, 13815 Camino del Sol.

Resident Dwayne Anderson said he is concerned about people who park golf cars for sale too close to intersections and they hinder visibility.

Zane Hagen, MCSO deputy, said in the future Mr. Anderson should call in the situation and write down the license number so the vehicle owner can be contacted if it is not there when deputies respond.

Meeting frequency

The PORA Traffic and Safety Committee met monthly, September through May, for several years, and recently switched to a quarterly meeting schedule.

Mr. Quinn said one reason for the change was the time required by the staff people from other agencies that had to attend the meetings.

A discussion took place about whether the meetings should remain quarterly, return to monthly or have another frequency. There was some discussion but no vote was taken.

Mr. Quinn said there would be more discussion and another vote at the committee’s next meeting.

Visit porascw.org.

Reporter Roger Ball can be contacted at rball@newszap.com and 623-876-2523.