Los Alamos County Council unanimously approved directing the County to investigate and research the possibility of installing a four-way stop at the intersection of North Road and Urban Street during its regular meeting Tuesday night. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Over the years, a wide range of people have spurred Los Alamos County Council to act on various issues. During the regular council meeting Tuesday night, council was again moved to act due to a citizen’s petition.

Council voted 7-0 to direct staff and/or an advisory board to investigate and research the possibility of installing a four-way stop at the intersection of North Road and Urban Street. And further, to return to council with a recommendation for action within 90 days.

The petition was created in response to a fatal accident that occurred March 14; a car hit and killed retired Los Alamos Public Schools teacher Brian Easton as he was crossing the intersection of Urban Street and North Road.

What makes this petition so notable from the others was the individuals who led the effort. Council was pushed into action by a group of elementary school-aged Girl Scouts.

More specifically, it was members of the Girls Scouts Pajarito Service Unit who went up to the podium in council chambers to ask that council consider improving pedestrian safety at this intersection.

As one Girl Scout explained, “There are a lot of reasons why there should be a stop sign near Urban and North Road, like people go so fast on that hill and there’s a school close by, which means it is not exactly safe for kids that walk home that way and that is some of the reasons we think it is important to get a stop sign.”

Another Girl Scout put it more plainly; “I don’t want any more people dying from accidents,” she said.

An adult resident who said she has lived two and a half blocks from this intersection for 10 years confirmed that it has a history of being dangerous.

“I’ve been a pedestrian and a bicycler and a driver and in all cases I’ve experienced dangerous situations and often thought, isn’t this a four-way stop? But sadly it took this death and more positively a 10-year-old Girl Scout to make me stop thinking about why isn’t this a four-way stop and try and work on doing something about it,” she said. “I applaud these girls for taking initiative – they do walk to school every day and have to pass that intersection … I hope you will consider this … I think it is worth it for us all to drive a little slower and put the effort into not having another situation like this.”

Councilor Melanee Hand wondered if the County conducted a study on the validity of a four-way stop.

Public Works Director Eric Martinez said he was unaware of any but “we are prepared to study the intersection at the council’s direction.”

He added that he estimated it would take a few weeks to collect the data and an additional two to six weeks to compile a report. Council had previously approved purchasing traffic and speed cameras; Councilor Theresa Cull asked what their status was.

“We are in the procurement process phase,” County Manager Anne Laurent said. “We have made some progress but there’s a lot of different components so it’s still being worked through … we did however hire additional police, and we have for several months been doing additional patrols specifically assigned to traffic duties to look for speeding.”

Cull also asked if anything could be done to mitigate hazards while doing the study.

Martinez said his department has spoken to the police to get more information but that the fatal accident is still under investigation.

“We have reviewed the devices, signs, pedestrian markings. Everything is in good condition …  we can do a study on the stop sign warrant analysis and look at other pedestrian issues and gather some data as part of this process…,” he added.

Another option is to install temporary speed trailers or speed signs, Martinez said. These can help collect data to see if there is a speed issue.

While council agreed that a study seemed warranted, its timing was discussed. Some wondered if it could be done in 60 days rather than 90.
“I hope that we can get some input back to the community as soon as possible regarding what we can do to possibly make that intersection safer …,” Hand said.

Councilor Beverly Neal-Clinton commented that while she understood the urgency, if the County moves too quickly without all the information, that could be detrimental.

“I think we need to balance the speed at which we are trying to solve this problem with having the information that is foundational to us moving forward and it being in the best way possible,” Neal-Clinton said.

Furthermore, Chair Randall Ryti wondered if the study needed to be broadened to be more effective. He noted that the council had previously approved a pedestrian master plan that could be a useful reference for the study.

“I don’t want citizens to have to come (to us) with every intersection, every traffic measure … I would hope we could take advantage of that pedestrian master plan … I would hope we wouldn’t have to have a serious injury before we would have to be reactive to things – make safer streets … there are other known issues around here besides this intersection. I’m a tad disappointed but I’ll vote for it … we could probably look at this more broadly.”

Ryti added he felt it was important to do something sooner rather than later.