Menlo Park aims to fix confusing crossroads near Draeger's market Menlo Park aims to fix confusing crossroads near Draeger's market (August 25, 2004)

** University Drive and Menlo Avenue will get new stop sign, crosswalk to reduce collisions.

By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer

Some 15,000 vehicles pass through the intersection of University Drive and Menlo Avenue in Menlo Park every day, passing Draeger's market and dodging pedestrians.

If the drivers are new to the crossroads, it's a good bet that some of them are confused.

The intersection is a bit odd, what transportation engineers call "offset." The east and west portions of Menlo Avenue don't line up, which means that drivers heading south on University Drive come to a stop sign that's set far back. When those vehicles enter the intersection, other drivers may not realize that they've already stopped.

There's another problem: those southbound drivers, when turning left after the far-back stop sign, may not see pedestrians in the Menlo Avenue crosswalk they're driving through. In fact, three of the four collisions reported at this intersection in 2003 happened when southbound drivers hit people in that crosswalk, city transportation engineer Rene Baile said.

One of the pedestrians later died of the injuries caused by the accident.

No one wants that to happen again, which is why there will soon be some changes at the intersection.

After approval by the Menlo Park City Council on August 17, a new stop sign will be installed farther south on University Drive, closer to the intersection and closer to the east section of Menlo Avenue. Drivers heading south will stop first at the old stop sign, then at the new one. The limit lines at the first and second stop signs -- the lines where drivers stop -- will be 90 feet apart, Mr. Baile said.

"From the 2003 accident reports, all drivers involved in the accidents indicated that they failed to see the pedestrians in the crosswalk due to some factors such as glare or the color of clothing the pedestrians were wearing," Mr. Baile wrote in a staff report.

Putting a stop sign closer to the intersection, he wrote, "will potentially eliminate the glare and at the same time make the pedestrians more visible to the drivers."

In addition, the University Drive crosswalk will be moved closer to the intersection, in front of the new stop sign. Workers will also paint a "Keep Clear" pavement marking between the old and new stop signs, to make it easier for drivers to come off Menlo Avenue on to University.

There will also be a new sign installed at the Menlo crosswalk warning of pedestrians crossing.

Other possibilities had been considered, including a lighted crosswalk on Menlo or a traffic signal for the crossroads, but were more costly: $45,000 for the crosswalk and $162,000 for the signal, Mr. Baile wrote.

Councilman Nicholas Jellins, whose office is on Menlo, said he was "nauseatingly familiar" with the intersection. He said the possibilities had been discussed enough and that it was time to give the plan a try.

Initially, city staff had not recommended a new stop sign on University, instead favoring moving the old one. At the meeting, though, resident Edgar Auslander said the residents in the area overwhelmingly want to keep the old sign, and the council unanimously agreed, with Paul Collacchi absent.

The cost of the project is expected to be $6,500, paid for from the county's Measure A sales tax for transportation.

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