Seal Beach installed traffic calming signs in two mid-block Main Street crosswalks this week.
The city announced Monday, March 18, that the signs would be installed.
The tall, yellow signs, match the one located on the 300 block of Main Street near Main and Pacific Coast Highway.
Seal Beach Administrative Manager Patrick Gallegos said the signs were being installed to improve overall pedestrian safety.
Councilwoman Ellery Deaton, who represents District One, which includes Main Street, said the signs were ordered after an accident involving a pedestrian on Main Street that occurred earlier this month.
That will be good news to local business consultant Seth Eaker, who has been among those asking for the signs on Main Street.
Deaton provided the Sun with an e-mail from Public Works Director Sean Crumby to Eaker notifying him that the signs would soon be installed.
“Councilmember Deaton has been requesting signage be installed on the 100 and 200 blocks of Main Street similar to what was installed on the 300 block,” Crumby said.
Both Deaton and Crumby have said the signs would have done nothing to prevent the early March accident.
Deaton said the signs were something the city had been working on for some time.
“Several residents have been asking for those signs or some way to identify the crosswalk—to make them stand out,” Deaton said.
There are three mid-block crosswalks on Main Street. There are traffic signals at the PCH and Ocean Avenue intersections.
According to Deaton, the feedback she has heard about the sign on the 300 block of Main indicates that people feel it has been effective.
Pedestrian safety is a long-standing issue in the Old Town business area.
All three yellow signs warn motorists that California law requires vehicles to stop when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk.
Earlier this month, Deaton said the sign on the 300 block of Main was there because people were at one time “raging” on and off Pacific Coast Highway.
That was where the high speed traffic seemed to be.
Now the signs are coming to the other two blocks of Main Street.
However, that is only a start, according to Deaton.
“In the short term, the new signage will increase the awareness of the crosswalk on Main Street during the day and night,” Deaton said. “However, I will continue to research crosswalk devices being used in other cities to find a more permanent crosswalk device that is appropriate for Old Town and will ensure the safety of pedestrians.”
“I’m looking for something that will be more than a sign in the middle of the street,” Deaton said.
She said she was looking at a lot of things.
She described the signs as the best thing the city has come up with as they study the issue.
She has spoken with Public Works Director Sean Crumby about the subject.
Earlier this month, Crumby said that people ask for traffic calming measures on many streets throughout Seal Beach, not just on Main Street.
Deaton said she has looked at flashing lights that can be activated by pedestrians with a push of a button or sensors on posts that automatically begin flashing lights when someone enters the crosswalk.
“We’ve tried to be very pro-active,” Deaton said.
She said she had received requests for traffic calming signs from a Hill resident—a constituent of Councilman Gordon Shanks—and two Old Town constituents from her own district, one a resident and the other a merchant. According to Deaton, speeding drivers are part of the problem on Main Street.
Earlier this month, Deaton said the speed limit is 25 m.p.h. in town, but people aren’t driving that speed.
She said cars have to slow down.
Jaywalkers are also part of the problem—people emerging from between parked cars and stepping into traffic.
“I think we need to do something to both make cars slow down and to make sure people walk where they are supposed to walk,” Deaton said.
Pedestrians and drivers alike have complained about near-misses between drivers and people on foot on Main Street.
Deaton said she experienced a near miss on Main Street on St. Patrick’s Day, Sunday, March 17.
As she was going down Main, a taxicab was going in the opposite direction on the 100 block.
The cab let three young people out.
Deaton stopped and waited for them to pass.
Just as she started driving again, a fourth “kid” came from behind the taxicab. Fortunately, Deaton stopped in time.
