This SFGate article describes the lead-foot bedlam Along 19th Avenue. Another pedestrian died on Monday. The driver did not even break pace. And the “normal” state of affairs continues to terrify:
The intersection bears the scars of countless crashes. The traffic-light control box has been hit, destroyed and replaced. The power-pole conduit has been hit, destroyed and replaced. The mailbox has been hit, destroyed and replaced.On the south side of the intersection, the street-light pole in the center island was struck by a car last year and stands bent over, like an old man. On the north side, the street-light pole is missing entirely -- taken out in a crash a few years ago -- leaving the intersection only half-illuminated at night.
I can vouch for the sorry state of pedestrian affairs on 19th Avenue. When the wife and I lived in San Francisco, we had a brief but intense flirtation with the Taco Bell Chalupa (Chicken Santa Fe, if you must know.) The closest Taco Bell to us was a mere block or two past the dreaded Highway 1 corridor.
Some nights on the way home from work I'd curb-straddle the Escort near 19th and Irving (facing North) and dutifully wait for the light to make the crossing at a flat-out run. (The article's right -- you've got NO TIME to get across with the light - forget about the elderly, or anyone laden down with, say, a big bag full of Chalupas.)
It was a toss-up in my mind, whether 19th Ave. traffic would take me before the saturated fat did.
(19th Ave Link via kung fu grippe.)
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