Residents of the Woodfern subdivision in Mill Creek have told the city that their Village Green Drive entrance is hazardous and needs attention.
Because of citizen complaints, the Woodfern intersection, located at 25th Dr. SE and Village Green Drive, is prioritized as one that needs improvement. The site is one of a handful of projects the city is compiling for possible safety enhancements, said Doug Jacobson, Mill Creek’s public works director and city engineer.
In addition to the Woodfern intersection, “people have asked us to look at crosswalks in Laurel, Highland Trails and Vine Maple” housing divisions, Jacobson said.
Woodfern resident and planning commissioner John Robertson headed up the petition drive that piqued the city’s interest in the Woodfern intersection. Almost 50 residents in the Woodfern area signed a petition that said the intersection posed a danger, and that trimming of vegetation — as the city had previously planned — was an inadequate resolution.
Before the petition, that intersection “wasn’t high on the priority list,” Jacobson said, except as a candidate for vegetation management.
The area is dangerous because vehicles speeding down Village Green Drive travel around a corner before they can see vehicles pulling out of the Woodfern division. The posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour on Village Green Drive. But, Robertson said, “Most people don’t see the (speed limit) sign because vegetation covers it. You’re really on top of it before you see it. It’s kind of amongst the bushes and about a third of it was covered across the top.”
Robertson said when residents try to pull out onto Village Green Dr., they often hear the honking of aggravated motorists whom they didn’t see coming.
“Quite a few residents refuse to make a left turn,” Robertson said. “They feel it was too dangerous.”
Vegetation was trimmed near the intersection about two years ago, a maintenance task that was planned again this year. But, even if vegetation was again trimmed near the intersection, residents agree that would not be enough to solve the problem.
Since they heard from residents, the city has collected information at the intersection and has started a process to decide what to change to improve safety there.
Jacobson said they have plans to improve the “sight distance” at the intersection. Sight distance is the relationship between the rate of speed traveled by vehicles and the distance needed to stop in time for another vehicle. Village Green Drive traffic tends to flow at about 30 to 35 miles per hour, Jacobson said, even though the posted speed limit is 25 mph.
He said generally vehicles need 150 feet to stop for vehicles traveling 25 miles per hour, 200 feet for those traveling 30 miles per hour and 250 feet for 35 miles per hour.
Currently, the sight distance for the Woodfern intersection with Village Green Drive is about 155 feet, Jacobson said.
“If everyone drove 25 miles per hour we’re OK, but we’re recognizing that the traffic is not driving at 25 miles per hour,” Jacobson said.
Robertson said vehicles exiting the Woodfern division have about three seconds or less between the time they see a vehicle, and when it’s “right behind you,” and that’s only when the oncoming driver is traveling at 25 mph.
No accidents have been reported at the intersection within the last five years, Jacobson said, but that doesn’t mean the site shouldn’t be improved. The city has chosen to be proactive by improving the intersection instead of waiting for an accident to occur.
“We all come up with better solutions when we have the luxury of time,” Jacobson said.
Robertson learned that he was not the only one concerned about the issue when he began talking to a few of his neighbors.
“When I took the petition around everyone said ‘yes, this is a problem,’” Robertson said.
Suggestions made in Robertson’s letter to the city are as follows:
• A parabolic mirror placed on the light posts at the entrance of Heatherstone, which is located across Village Green Drive from Woodfern. Properly placed, the mirror would give the ability to view oncoming traffic.
• Speed bumps placed on Village Green Dr.
• A permanently mounted radar speed sign
• A four-way stop
Jacobson said all options suggested by residents are being considered at this point, as well as others. But the parabolic mirror, one favored by residents, is unlikely to be chosen.
While the mirror would give drivers the ability to view the traffic, it has the problems of fogging up or breaking. And, “the record of mirrors working in a high speed location is not very good,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson has plans to meet with Woodfern residents soon. The next steps for the city are to try various fixes at the intersection, and give those a chance to work. If smaller fixes don’t work, the city will implement more fixes in an attempt to improve safety at the intersection, Jacobson said.
The process will be underway soon.
“I would suspect they would probably see something happening within the next six weeks or so,” Jacobson said.
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