On Tuesday, March 26, the City is installing new stop signs at O.B. Riley Road at the Crusher Avenue and Empire Avenue intersection. Because of increasing traffic volume, the intersection now qualifies for an all-way-stop configuration.
O.B. Riley Road has changed from a low-volume rural road to a busier urban street. The corridor has seen new construction of housing developments. It’s a route to the North Star Elementary School and the Riley Ranch Nature Preserve. East-west traffic on Empire Avenue is also increasing.
The City’s 2020 GO Bond projects include building a roundabout there in the future, but that project is more than three years away.
“An all-way-stop control improves traffic flow and safety where two, higher-traffic volume main streets meet,” said Assistant City Engineer Janet Hruby. “Until the roundabout is built, the all-way stop will improve visibility that is limited with higher speeds and the off-set streets at that intersection. It will make it easier for people driving to see people in the crosswalk and make it easier for people walking and biking to cross O.B. Riley Road.”
“Over the past eight years, 20 crashes have occurred at the location and 14 of them resulted in some kind of injury,” said Hruby. “The all-way stop will help reduce the number and severity of crashes.”
The most common crash type involved a through vehicle on Empire and a southbound vehicle on O.B. Riley.
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