Resident says new Ajax medians forced fire truck detour; city says study and coordination were done

A resident told the Bell Gardens Traffic and Safety Commission that newly installed medians on Ajax near Gage forced emergency vehicles to detour, raising concern about delayed access to homes.

"A fire truck had to go around the area because of the dividers you guys recently installed," Nora Saenz said during public comment, describing seeing a fire engine and an emergency medical team use an alleyway and a gas-station driveway to reach Ajax. She asked whether a traffic study assessed impacts on first responders and why the dividers were installed on residential streets.

City staff responded that a traffic and safety study had been completed before construction and that staff coordinated with the fire department about operational needs. "We have been working with the city with the fire department to make sure their operations that they have are dealing with that," staff said, adding the project is part of a Complete Streets/ATP Cycle 5 effort aimed at improving pedestrian and bicycle safety.

City staff and the city engineer said the design at Gage and Ajax was driven by high pedestrian counts from a nearby high school and that a HAWK pedestrian signal is planned to provide full pedestrian crossings when activated. Staff also said the grant that funded the improvements requires a post-installation study (six months after completion) to measure changes in speeds, collisions and pedestrian safety.

Commissioners and staff said they will continue to monitor resident reports and suggested the police department increase patrols in the area as needed. Staff said outreach and an incident log would be maintained and that enforcement options (warnings, tows) would be used for parking violations that obstruct fire access.

The item was heard during the public-comment portion of the meeting and did not result in action; staff said follow-up and monitoring would continue.