CHANGE MY LOCATION
Local
California News
Multimedia News
A way around crash sites
SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY
Related Topics: SAN FRANCISCO
)
A new plan would keep police and drivers from navigating through stopgap measures after big accidents.
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Major accidents on U.S. Highway 101, which leave drivers sitting helplessly in traffic for hours, may soon be merely a bump in the road for commuters.
There have been three major accidents on the Peninsula’s stretch of Highway 101 in the last 13 months that each closed the road for several hours. A jackknifed big rig shut down the road June 10, an oil tanker spilled gasoline across the freeway Jan. 29 and a big rig-involved crash occurred May 22, 2007.
A new $30 million system, in the early stages of development, would navigate drivers around accidents on the busy freeway between San Bruno and Santa Clara County — zipping drivers through alternative streets, such as El Camino Real.
The so-called San Mateo County Smart Corridors project, similar to one being operated in Alameda County, essentially works through a combination of GPS tracking and traffic monitoring. When a traffic-snarling accident occurs, Caltrans, California Highway Patrol and county workers will post electronic messages on freeway-side signs up to 5 miles away from the crash telling drivers to exit the freeway, said Richard Napier, the executive director of the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo, the group proposing the project.
The signs would navigate motorists off of the highway and onto city streets. Traffic lights on those streets would synchronize with the increased flow in cars so drivers will mostly cruise through green lights until they reach a freeway onramp past the accident and clear of traffic, Napier said.
El Camino Real, which parallels Highway 101, likely would be a road for the detour, Napier said. The road varies from two to three lanes in stretches and mostly carries a speed limit of 35 mph.
The plan, which is about two years away from reality, likely would be used about three to six times per year as major accidents occur, Napier said.
During a freeway snarl, the plan would, however, keep motorists on other roads stuck at red lights longer. Once drivers recognize there is an accident on Highway 101, they exit onto city streets, but in a disorganized manner, San Mateo traffic engineer Gary Heap said. A coordinated detour plan would shift the extra traffic into concentrated areas, he said.
The key to the “delicate balance” of appeasing both freeway and city drivers is to ensure the plan only is implemented once in a while during major accidents, said Millbrae Councilmember Paul Seto, who sits on the boards for C/CAG and the El Camino Real revitalization group, the Grand Boulevard Initiative.
Smart Corridors project
A new system could help ease the flow of traffic on U.S. Highway 101 during major auto accidents.
199,000: Weekday cars on Highway 101 in San Mateo County
26 miles: The Peninsula’s portion of Highway 101
$30 million: Funding secured for Smart Corridors project
3 to 6: Estimated times the plan would be used annually
*Sources: C/CAG, Caltrans, MTC congestion report
Comments from Examiner Readers
1:16 PM MST on Wed., Jul. 23, 2008 re: "City ‘gateway toll’ considered"
Report as inappropriate
10:59 AM MST on Wed., Jul. 23, 2008
re: "City ‘gateway toll’ considered"
Report as inappropriate
10:41 AM MST on Wed., Jul. 23, 2008
re: "City ‘gateway toll’ considered"
Report as inappropriate
2:43 PM MST on Tue., Jul. 1, 2008
re: "A way around crash sites"
Report as inappropriate
1:21 AM MST on Mon., Jun. 30, 2008
re: "Three die in crash-filled weekend"
Report as inappropriate
8:00 AM MST on Wed., Jun. 18, 2008
re: "I-95 north of Baltimore home to region’s worst bottlenecks"
Report as inappropriate
7:31 AM MST on Wed., Jun. 18, 2008
re: "I-95 north of Baltimore home to region’s worst bottlenecks"
Report as inappropriate
3:49 PM MST on Wed., Apr. 2, 2008
re: "Crash won't accelerate bridge-median plan"
Report as inappropriate
1:03 PM MST on Thu., Jan. 17, 2008
re: "Bad weather causes traffic delays around District"
Report as inappropriate
8:16 PM MST on Wed., Nov. 28, 2007
re: "Golden Gate Bridge tragedy could have been worse"
Report as inappropriate
4:44 PM MST on Wed., Nov. 28, 2007
re: "Golden Gate Bridge tragedy could have been worse"
Report as inappropriate
9:16 AM MST on Wed., Oct. 17, 2007
re: "Study: Traffic costs D.C. $2B, Baltimore $1 billion annually"
Report as inappropriate
6:09 PM MST on Sun., Sep. 9, 2007
re: "Triathlon will snarl Sunday traffic"
Report as inappropriate
Examiner Reader said:
I guess SF really doesn't want people to come to the City! What a load of crock. Nobody in the SF govt has any business sense. Great, kill the goose that lays the golden eggs (businesses and sales taxes).
6 agree | 3 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
just shoot me said:
sweet - another friggin toll. I already pay $1000/month in commute costs.
3 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
If there were a viable, reliable CLEAN option then people would be able to not drive. Without that option people must drive. Clean up MUNI, make it dependable and regular and co- ordinate with other transit agencies and people will want to get out of their cars. As it is if you are in a hurry or out of communte hours MUNI is not an option. Also, I am unclear why people love BART!. Signage is pathetic and it is NOT co-ordinated with MUNI or Golden Gate transit, what's the point? Take a look at NYC, London or Paris to get a look at what good transit systems are. Funny, their workers show up and they keep to a timetable. Maybe we could try doing that?
3 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Bruce Simmons said:
for one, I don't understand how it cost $30 million to instigate the deployment of traffic control officers and traffic cones. Second, how would diverting a traffic jam to El Camino Real alleviate anything. El Camino Real is already questionably jammed up at traffic time and the ensuing flood of motor vehicles would only spill the excess onto the various side streets around that road. Spend the $30 million where it's needed, on the school systems or homeless shelters.
8 agree | 8 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
R.I.P. DeKeisha Skaggs! We will all miss you! -Jessica G. P.
8 agree | 5 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
600 Million dollars? Much too expensive and way too late to fix the problem. By the time the road is built, no one will care because the people will be gone.
6 agree | 6 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
These choke points have been around for over 30 years - and the drivers that dart into the lane and slam on their brakes that have not killed themselves are still endangering the rest of us! Leave the Baltimore area for good - I did 12 years ago and life is so much better since I don't have to deal with the crime or the local corporate societal ladder. I love to hear the companies complain about the lack of talent in the region. The problem is everybody in the Baltimore business district is trying to rape each other so what is left is table scraps for the locals - they don't have a problem hiring out of staters and paying them big bucks but if you are a local they hate the fact that they are reliant on you - especially if you are white and have a moral value system.
6 agree | 7 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
ms jackson said:
All this money spent on highway dividers, anti smoking campaigns, youth violence intiatives, dietary labeling, unwanted pregnancies, anti suicide barriers, etc. could be saved by introducing a microscopic brain implant that would cause extreme pain and forced change of action any time somebody begins to behave in a way that creates any sort of societal problems. Of course, this would mean about 95 percent of huimanity would be constantly groaning in pain and apparently changing their minds!
10 agree | 8 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
oh my gosh that is bad people need to start being more careful
152 agree | 125 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
When someone does something like this, it not only saves lives, it leaves the rest of us with the knowledge that one of us did a great good thing. I'm so grateful for that knowledge. John Beatty is a really good man.
202 agree | 208 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
San Francisco Voter said:
Wow. I knew there were at least a few good people around here.
212 agree | 201 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Mike Licht said:
>>Re: Study: Traffic costs D.C. $2B, Baltimore $1 billion annually<< Editorial decision to omit hyperlink to the actual study is a gross disservice to readers.
236 agree | 228 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
William Cooke said:
Great race. Thanks Annapolis, Annapolis Police, and AA County Police.
296 agree | 244 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree