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City engineer outlines speed, signage and crosswalk changes at 16th & Irving
Summary
Astoria city engineer Nathan Crater updated the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee on new signage, curb striping and radar monitoring at 16th & Irving, said ODOT repaired a crosswalk beacon at 23rd Street, and described staff plans to study several confusing neighborhood intersections and coordinate crosswalk closures with a planned ODOT ADA project.
Astoria city engineer Nathan Crater told the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee that staff have installed a "hill blocks view" advisory sign with a 15 mph advisory and added yellow curb striping at the northwest corner of 16th and Irving to deter parking and improve sight lines. Crater said the measures respond to resident complaints about sight-distance and speeding on the hill and that staff have repositioned the radar speed feedback board to monitor uphill traffic.
"We installed a hill blocks view sign with an advisory speed of 15 miles an hour," Crater said, adding that the radar board will be turned back on after a new battery is installed to resume driver-feedback. He said the board typically alters driver behavior but that monitoring has produced occasional extreme outliers, noting one recorded speed of 52 mph.
The engineer said staff are considering a formal closure of a south crosswalk at the intersection using barricades, but that they prefer to coordinate any physical closures with an upcoming ODOT ADA project next summer or fall to remain consistent with state-standard signage and barriers. He urged caution in putting temporary devices in place immediately, citing pending federal/proposed standards that could change required approaches.
Crater also reported that a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) at 23rd Street was damaged in a vehicle collision and has been repaired and returned to service by ODOT, restoring the crosswalk's safety feature. Staff installed parking bumpers in the Columbia Avenue lot above the Enterprise rental facility as a low-cost layout and safety improvement and said crews routinely monitor active construction detours (noting work near CMH, the maritime museum and the Owens Adair projects).
Committee members raised three additional intersections for staff review: 8th & Irving (parked vehicles and a retaining wall limiting sight distance), 15th & Jerome (confusion about which movements must stop, possible advisory plaques or pattern changes), and 8th & Niagara (right-turn/stop interactions near a park and school-zone constraints). Crater said staff would investigate options including no-parking striping, advisory plaques, and—only as a last resort—altering stop controls, but warned geometric constraints and school-zone rules limit what can be done quickly.
The committee set its next meeting for Jan. 27, 2026, at 5:30 p.m., when officers will be elected. The Traffic Safety Advisory Committee adjourned at 5:55 p.m.
Why this matters: the measures aim to reduce crashes and improve pedestrian safety on several steep or confusing local streets and to coordinate local responses with larger state-led ADA work to avoid needless rework.
