City flagged San Carlos intersection as dangerous, then denied safety improvements for it before child’s death

A memorial for Andrew Olsen at the Jackson Drive and Lake Badin intersection Photo by Calista Stocker Times of San Diego A year before a car crash killed -year-old Andrew Olsen on his walk to school with his two siblings a city analysis determined the San Carlos intersection had fatal crash characteristics That same year in city representatives deemed the intersection ineligible for four-way stop signs or crosswalks based on criteria used to evaluate where safety improvements are necessary Colin Parent CEO and general counsel of nonprofit advocacy group Circulate San Diego commented the determination calls into question the utility of the city s criteria That is a high-speed arterial corridor in a residential neighborhood very close to a school campus he announced It strains credibility to imagine that there s certain process that evaluated whether or not that street should be made more safe that decided it didn t need to be made more safe The posted speed limit on the four-lane Jackson road is miles per hour The intersection has only a two-way stop on Lake Badin Avenue and is a -minute walk from Pershing Middle School In the week since the crash the San Carlos neighborhood has come together to grieve Olsen s death while elected agents have pledged to implement short and long-term fixes What went wrong Around a m on Oct Andrew Olsen and his two sisters were bridging Jackson Drive from Lake Badin Avenue on their way to Pershing Middle School when they were struck by an eastbound bicycle Leadership ruled out speeding and driving under the influence as likely factors with the driver reporting that the height of the sun impaired his vision The crash not only occurred amid a national trend of increasing pedestrian traffic deaths but chosen public members say the city overlooked their prior concerns about Jackson Drive The Jackson Drive and Lake Badin intersection Photo by Calista Stocker Times of San Diego The city s Transportation Department acting on populace requests evaluated the intersection for an all-way stop in March and a marked crosswalk in November City staff evaluates those requests against adopted criteria one for four-way stops last updated in and one for crosswalks last updated in Those policies use a point system based on factors like speed pedestrian volumes crash history proximity to schools visibility and existing lighting To meet the criteria for an all-way stop an intersection must tally a minimum of points For a marked crosswalk a proposed site must meet six basic criteria and count at least points The Jackson Drive and Lake Badin intersection scored just points for all-way stop signs and did not meet the basic criteria for a crosswalk Directly after the crash District Councilmember Raul Campillo pledged to deliver improvements and to review the areas around all other schools in the district for vulnerabilities As a end of his councilmember privilege a four-way stop will be installed by Friday Future changes to Jackson Drive according to the Transportation Department include reduced speed limits and reduced lane numbers in certain stretches In a not-yet-public response to Campillo the Transportation Department pointed to a systemic traffic analysis published by the city in the same year that the intersection failed to qualify for safety fixes That analysis determined that the Lake Badin and Jackson Drive intersection was one of intersections identified citywide that warranted infrastructure upgrades in the fiscal year s budget Details on how that specific intersection qualified are not yet available but the city identified common high-risk traits Intersections that have a history of crashes exist on a masses transit track and or are between a - and -lane street like the Jackson and Lake Badin intersection are more likely to experience fatal crashes That crash that happened with this occurrence in San Carlos in part it was the product of the infrastructure choices that the city had made when they designed and maintained that street Parent mentioned And so that s an outcome of human agency People made decisions to do that Safe to school While the intersection is not in a school zone the siblings were just a -minute walk away from Pershing Middle School when they were struck a common course for neighborhood students Pershing Middle School Photo by Calista Stocker Times of San Diego Pershing Middle School is a San Diego Unified School a district with extremely limited bus facility Among schools that provide buses students must reside farther than miles from the school The vast majority of district students walk or catch a ride from an adult That s why Circulate San Diego CEO Parent and Initiative Manager Aria Grossman stated the city requirements to go above and beyond in prioritizing learner safety There s a limited flexibility to lower speed limits within feet feet from the school Grossman commented referring to state mandates But the city councilmembers the mayor have a responsibility to make sure that all students who walk to school are safe no matter where they re coming from Pershing Middle School Principal Melanie Kray welcomed Campillo s promise to inquiry other improvements near schools emphasizing that San Carlos is a rare area in the district with upsurge in school enrollment My hope is that the city through their review of the traffic patterns and the situation that s going on will make sure that we re building an infrastructure that makes it safer for all students she explained A national challenge Nationwide pedestrian traffic fatalities increased from to according to the Governors Highway Safety Association A major factor driving the phenomenon is the increased use of larger cars like SUVs and CUVs and general inflation in size among individual car models SUVs with taller grilles and sturdier bumpers are nearly twice as likely to cause severe pedestrian injury as sedans according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Those are problems beyond the plan reach of local executives but they re still at play on local streets Though less than the national average San Diego pedestrian fatalities increased from to while overall pedestrian crash numbers remained relatively stable Circulate San Diego s statement in reviewing the first decade of the city s Vision Zero activity argued that the increased popularity of larger cars makes city action on local safety measures essential There are particular bigger trends that are happening that you re seeing nationally Parent announced But that doesn t mean we throw up our hands and don t do anything In their summary Circulate recommended that the city focus on the the greater part dangerous intersections pursue quick-build projects and update the city s Street Design Manual to meet national standards The current manual which establishes guidelines for road infrastructure is from but has not received a major update since The city drafted a new manual in December but advocates argue it didn t adequately prioritize safety Circulate is still working to collect neighborhood feedback for improvements The immediate response to Olsen s death though has been centered in San Carlos not the city hall There s just been opportunity after opportunity where the district has stepped up and just expressed care and been so supportive of the students the staff the school Kray stated San Carlos is really a special place and I feel really fortunate to work here and it s what got us through this week quite honestly