On March 17, a teen girl was killed by a motorist on Naranja Drive. Her dog was also killed and another teen was injured in the accident. The location of the incident is where Naranja Drive intersects with Pomegranate Drive. That is at the entrance to Naranja Park. The Police Department is working on their investigation. That report will be available this week. We will publish it for all to read.
The town does not consider that road and that area imminently dangerous to bicyclists and pedestrians
According to town Public Works Director, Paul Keesler, that road does not pose an imminent risk to bicyclists and pedestrians. Note, that Keesler is referring to Naranja Drive in total and not to the entrance to Naranja Park, which is where the accident happened:
“Naranja drive, much like many other two lane arterials and collectors within Oro Valley (Shannon, Moore, west Lambert, Buena Vista, for example) does currently provide safe and separate pedestrian travel corridors via paved and soft shoulders. In fact, Naranja Drive between La Canada to First Avenue offers more paved shoulder than many other similar roads within Oro Valley, as well as providing the maximum soft shoulder the surrounding terrain allows. Combined with State Statute 28-735 Overtaking bicycles; civil penalties where vehicular traffic must exhibit caution and space passing a bicycle, these two-lane collectors and arterials do not exhibit a history of frequent pedestrian versus automobile collisions. Yes, providing separated multi-use paths is even safer and better for the traveling pedestrian community, but to make the claim that Oro Valley streets without adjoining MUP’s [Multi-Use Path] or sidewalks pose an imminent risk to the public is not supported by data."
Public Works Director Keesler: Town acted immediately to address situation
"This incident was immediately addressed within the Town’s internal Traffic Safety Committee (TSC). The TSC is a consortium that is composed of members from Engineering, PD, Planning, Legal, GRFD, and Safety Management."
According to Keesler, the town has initiated the following actions:
Site of the incident is the entrance to Naranja Park.. inherently dangerous to pedestrian travel
Finally, there is no cross walk nor is there a pedestrian controlled traffic light. Nor are there any signs to alert drivers to pedestrians going to and from the park. Add to this a 45mp speed limit, which is far too fast for this section of Naranja Drive.
Pomegranate Drive residents want more action now
- Increased Police patrol
- Added this section of Naranja to the Police traffic complaint hotline – the traffic unit has added it to their list of complaints that they actively work
- Speed trailer present next week
- Increased speed enforcement stops to provide education to motorists
- Continue to work on the MUP, processing this through the Federal system to get under construction
- Will be conducting a speed study next week to confirm the proper posted speed limit. Posting an artificial speed limit that is too high or too low for the design of the street can actually pose additional hazards/problems. That is why the Town adheres to setting speed limits that correspond to the use and design of a particular street.
We don't know the details of the accident. We are awaiting the police report to learn that. However, we do know that the accident occurred east of the entrance to Naranja Park. The panel at right is a picture of that area, viewed from Pomegranate.
As you can see from the panel, there is a narrow paved shoulder between the eastbound travel lane and a guard rail. Any pedestrian walking in that area has no escape route if danger is imminent.
There is no pedestrian walking shoulder on the north side of Naranja Drive [see panel below left]. This is because there is a guard rail that abuts an entrance lane to Naranja Park. There is a travel lane for bicycles and a sign that tells drivers to beware of such. There is no such warning regarding pedestrians. In addition, it appears that the town paved over a soft shoulder where once pedestrians could walk in order to create this exit lane. A pedestrian walking in that area is has no access option.
Our conclusion: A pedestrian walking along the roadway in that area has no option to seek safety from traffic regardless of which side of the road they are on.
In comparison, pedestrian access to Riverfront Park access is far safer
The town knows how to create a safe park entrance. The pedestrian access Riverfront Park is excellent. There, the town built multi-use paths and added pedestrian-controlled traffic light for crossing the roadway. This access is first-class.
We asked the council what had been done to improve pedestrian/bicycle safety on Naranja Drive because we saw no changes on that road since the accident. We also listened to three residents who live on Pomegranate Drive.They spoke in the "call to audience" portion of last weeks Town Council meeting. They addressed their concerns about pedestrian safety on that road and made suggestions as to things that could be done immediately. Resident Dr. Diane Stephenson called for an immediate reduction of the speed limit. Another called for markers to be installed to demarcate the turnoff lane into the park, where the accident occurred. There is no pedestrian safe area there. A third decried a rather dismissive email received from Keesler discussing the long term solution of a planned multi-use path.
There is so much more that the town must do to make this entrance pedestrian safe now.
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