[Editor’s Note: A veteran Westside realtor, Mr. Kissell addressed the City Council on Monday evening on traffic problems in his Culver Crest neighborhood.]
I am here for two related reasons.
First, the ever increasing number of cars and higher speeds on Overland Avenue between West Los Angeles College and El Rincon School continues to take a toll on our neighborhood and those passing through it.
Drivers mostly do not care about speed or stop lights.
I believe this stretch of road is one of the most dangerous in the city. It is the only length of road I know of that has 24 driveways that people have to back out of, and 13 streets that feed into it.
I am asking that the city take a much closer look to return this section of road back to a residential feeder rather than the superhighway it has become.
Let’s make it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, too, in that process. Let’s get the kids the safe route to school they so rightly deserve.
The second reason I am here is much more urgent, Last week, a motorcyclist was badly injured going south on Overland, just past Freshman Drive.
A month ago, another motorcyclist was killed at the same location. These are not the first but only the latest of many such accidents. The city needs to take immediate action to correct the defects inherent in the construction of the street, and post appropriate warnings at Culver City’s own Dead Man’s Curve. To understand the problem, you would likely need to ride a motorcycle.
This curve begins with a straight entry on a slight incline. The turn begins at the peak of the incline. A motorcycle must lean to the right to turn. Unfortunately, this happens when the least amount of force is on the front wheel, and the motorcycle almost is suspended in the air.
Adding to this is the angle of the roadway, which is banked in the opposite direction of the turn. This off-camber tilt to the street, combined with the other physical factors, makes it very difficult to turn the vehicle even at low speeds. Just when all these matters of physics occur, there are two very slippery steel manhole covers ready to rob the rider of any hope of traction that will keep him upright.
I am asking that the city take immediate action to save lives by posting more appropriate warnings at the point of the turn instead of the almost unnoticeable location where only one warning is currently posted.
Also it would be important to bank the roadway in an appropriate direction, and finally to either eliminate the two manhole covers or treat them with a substance that will increase traction.
Mr. Kissel may be contacted at www.richkissel.com
