The Most Dangerous Intersections: RI Leaders React to Report
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Leaders of the state’s three largest cities yesterday responded to a GoLocalProv exclusive report showing that their communities had the greatest number of dangerous intersections among a listing of the top 50 in Rhode Island.
Providence and Warwick tied for the most, with 13 each. Cranston was second, with six dangerous intersections and interchanges. Many involved Interstate 95 and other highways, while others were smaller and under city control. (Click here to access the full list of the top 50 most dangerous intersections.)
Providence keeps an eye on dangerous intersections during storm
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTProvidence Mayor Angel Taveras said the report on the top 50 intersections was useful information to the city on the eve of a major snowstorm. He said he and the city’s emergency response teams would keep the information in mind as they managed the response to the storm.
“The safety of motorists and pedestrians in the city of Providence is paramount. We are very interested in working collaboratively with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to make safety improvements where they are needed,” Taveras said in a statement released to GoLocalProv just hours before the storm hit.
He added: “I’m now in the field tonight and into tomorrow morning with Providence’s emergency response teams as we manage a major snowstorm, so this information about our city’s high risk intersections comes as we are singly focused on the safety of Providence’s citizens. It’s very valuable information to have tonight and as my administration moves forward.”
Cranston, Warwick mayors: Commuters, shoppers add to traffic woes
The mayors of the state’s second and third largest cities told GoLocalProv that the most dangerous intersections in their communities are the result of traffic—and much of that traffic, they noted, is from out of town. “One of the problems is that the traffic we’re talking about—it’s not residential traffic, it’s itinerant traffic,” Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian said.
Cranston Mayor Allan Fung said his city is a hub for the state—for traffic heading east and west as well as north and south, much of it to and from Providence. With increased traffic, he said, there is an increased risk of accidents, especially at the intersections identified in the GoLocalProv report. “That’s the unfortunate part of being a city and one of the largest communities in the state,” Fung told GoLocalProv.
In Cranston, a number of the troublesome intersections are close to the border with Providence, including the Interstate 95 and Route 10 interchange and the intersection of Garfield Avenue and Cranston Street, according to Robin Schutt, Director of Administration for Fung. She said much of the commuter traffic flowing through Cranston is due to its proximity to the state’s largest community and capital city.
Retail destinations in both Warwick and Cranston are another factor in high traffic. Two of the top most dangerous intersections in Warwick are near retail centers, Avedisian noted: Quaker Way and Quaker Lane as well as East Avenue and Bald Hill Road. Likewise, in Cranston, the 36th most dangerous intersection in the state—Sockanossett Crossroad and Reservoir Avenue—is close to Garden City.
In Warwick, the problem is compounded by the fact that the roads were not designed and built for the volume of traffic they are expected to handle today, Avedisian said.
What’s being done to fix the intersections?
Officials in both Cranston and Warwick said much of the work is up to the state, since many of the intersections on the list are state roads or highways. Also, any work on traffic lights must go through the state Department of Transportation. But the both cities have put the state on notice as to where they see the greatest need. One avenue for input is the State Traffic Commission, where Warwick regularly sends updates on where it wants work done, Avedisian said.
The state Department of Transportation has a comprehensive plan for fixing the intersections with the greatest need. Of the top 50 most dangerous intersections it identified for GoLocalProv, the department is either redesigning or reconstructing nearly a third of them. The number of intersections that can be addressed at any one time is limited by the availability of funding, according to the department’s 2010 annual report on its Highway Safety Improvement Program. On average, fixing an intersection costs between $100,000 and $150,000.
Meanwhile, Cranston is pursuing two of its own initiatives to improve the situation. One is a special detail of police officers devoted to monitoring and enforcing speed limits throughout the town—known as Cranston Accident Reduction Enforcement, or CARE. The other is Safe Routes to School, a neighborhood-based initiative that focuses on informing parents where to drop their children off and where to park around schools.
CARE was in place before Fung took office while Safe Routes is an initiative he started. He said the key to making both successful is pushing for enforcement, which he said has been a top priority of his administration.
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