Aryn Plax
Staff Writer
The city of La Verne installed a new traffic light on B Street and Bonita Avenue because of frequent car accidents at the intersection.
Ten accidents were reported on Bonita Avenue and B Street from Jan. 1, 2007, to Dec. 31, 2011. Five accidents were reported in 2010 on the intersection, one of them involving a bicyclist, according to the Appendix of the 2013 Cycle 6 Highway Safety Improvement Program application.
“Many of the accidents involved La Verne students,” director of public works Dan Keesey said.
Lack of visibility was a key factor in the car accidents, according to the Highway Safety application.
“When you’re on B Street southbound, and you’re looking to the east, visibility is difficult,” Keesey said.
The application states that vehicles parked on Bonita Avenue blocked the drivers’ view of other cars. Although extending the red curb on Bonita would resolve this issue, the trees on the street would still be a problem.
“There are trees lined up along the sidewalks,” senior broadcast journalism major Joseph Orozco said. “You can’t see oncoming traffic.”
La Verne applied for the Highway Safety Improvement grant, according to Keesey.
The Highway Safety Improvement Program is a federal aid program that funds projects meant to reduce deaths and injuries as a result of car accidents, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Five collisions have to occur in one year for the project to be eligible for the grant.
The city hired California Professional Engineering to install the traffic light. The project started May 23, and Sept. 29 was the assigned completion date, according to a contract made between La Verne and other involved parties.
“I think they just finished it this past weekend,” Orozco said. “I’m sure it was due to the accidents occurring on the intersection.”
“I saw six accidents happen there,” Orozco said. “I felt like it was a great idea for them to finally install the stoplight.”
“The University had concerns about the corner,” said Jeanne Cockrell, director of capital planning at the University of La Verne. “We’ve always supported putting the light there.”
Although the University supported the installation of the traffic light, it played no role in convincing La Verne to go through with it, according to Cockrell.
Stop signs are placed on B Street, allowing through traffic on Bonita Avenue.
The installation of the traffic light on Bonita Avenue and B Street was part of a project classified as “signal improvements.” The project included the installation of a traffic light at Bonita Avenue and White Avenue. The grant money was used for both traffic lights, and the city hired the same engineering company for the installations.
Aryn Plax can be reached at aryn.plax@laverne.edu.
