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Commission approves signal-timing changes at Tustin Street and Briardale/Taft to reduce conflicts
Summary
Staff told the commission an operational change to serve eastbound and westbound approaches separately at the Tustin/Briardale-Taft intersection would reduce conflicting movements; after residents voiced safety concerns staff noted minimal expected delay and the commission approved the changes unanimously.
The City Traffic Commission unanimously approved proposed operational changes at the intersection of Tustin Street and Briardale/Taft that will split eastbound and westbound service so one direction is served at a time and convert selected solid-ball signals to arrow indications.
Martin Verona, identified in the meeting as the city’s new senior civil engineer overseeing traffic operations, presented an engineering analysis showing the alternative would reduce the number of simultaneous movements and improve user comfort. Staff recommended the approach after analysis indicated motorists would experience only minimal delay during peak hours and that the intersection’s overall level of service would remain essentially the same.
The plan would require minor changes to traffic signal equipment: replacing some solid-ball indications with arrows on left-turn signals and adjusting green-time distribution to reallocate some of the intersection’s total green time from Tustin Street to the Briardale/Taft approaches. Staff emphasized the east–west through prohibition that was adopted as part of a 1996 traffic-calming strategy would remain in effect.
Residents largely supported the idea. Nora Wolcouf and Mike Bridal said speeding and past collisions have made their blocks dangerous; Vera Mader recounted long-term neighborhood efforts to secure traffic calming and said she had ‘‘6 cars hit and run, 1 being totaled’’ before prior measures were implemented. Commissioners asked whether the proposed timing would degrade performance on Tustin; staff replied that the intersection would perform at the same level of service overall, with only a few seconds of additional delay for some movements during peak periods.
After brief discussion the commission moved, seconded and approved the recommended operational changes unanimously. Staff will proceed with the minor equipment modifications and timing plan implementation.
