Cars speeding down Doheny Drive have pushed some nearby residents to call for a stoplight or other traffic control measure to be installed at the intersection with Elevado Avenue. City officials, however, are not sure whether such measures are warranted.

Some residents living near Doheny Drive and Elevado Avenue in West Hollywood are requesting a stoplight be installed for safety. (photo by Aaron Blevins)

Joan Yeoman, a resident in the 800 block of Doheny Drive, said there is a problem with speeders and along the 12-block stretch of Doheny Drive between Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevard, and that it can be very difficult for people to cross the street. She said the city needs to install either a signal or stop sign to reduce speeds and protect public safety. There are no stoplights or stop signs between Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards.

“I have been here for twenty-six years, and for twenty-six years there has been a problem,” Yeoman said. “The only way to [safely cross] is if there could be a signal there. They have got to get this traffic problem down.”

Other residents in the neighborhood agreed, and stated that because Doheny Drive has a downhill slope southbound from Sunset, drivers often exceed the posted 35 mph speed limit.

“You have to consider how long that stretch is between Sunset and Santa Monica,” said Bobbi Edrick, who lives on Norma Place, near Doheny Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard. “There is no safe place to cross, and if you try to cross, you just hold your breath. We have a lot of elderly people, and lot of people who are thirty to forty and up who walk their dogs, and they have trouble getting across the street. We have never said anything because we know it is hard to get something like this done in West Hollywood, but something definitely needs to be done.”

Walter Davis, a neighborhood traffic management program specialist for the city of West Hollywood, said he understands that the residents are concerned about speeding and safety, but added that there is a lengthy process outlined by the Federal Highway Administration that must occur before a stoplight or other measures can be implemented. It includes collecting data about traffic flows, collision rates and average speeds, which then must be compared against other streets in the area to determine if, in fact, there is a problem. The issue would then have to go to the West Hollywood City Council for its review and approval, and the city would have to coordinate with the Beverly Hills City Council, because Doheny Drive is the border between the two cities and they share jurisdiction. Davis added that Doheny Drive is considered a collector street, because it “collects” traffic that comes from perpendicular residential streets, and the guidelines for having a stoplight placed on a collector street are more stringent than on local streets.

“At this point, the city is evaluating the request, and I can’t make a judgment call until we get the data,” Davis said. “We are looking at what we can do on the street, but I don’t want to say [speeding] is a problem until we get all the information. We understand the emotions, but we have to get the data, and we are in the fact gathering stage at this time.”

Davis said there is no estimate on how long the analysis will take, and said it could be several months because the city is looking into other requests for stoplights at numerous locations around the city. He added that some of the data to be reviewed will come from law enforcement officials.

Sgt. Mike Caprioli, who coordinates traffic investigations for the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, said he had also heard about the request for a traffic signal and conducted an analysis of the stretch of Doheny Drive between Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevard from Jan. 1, 2009 to the present date. He said there have been 68 collisions within the two-year period on the entire stretch, and there was only one collision at Doheny Drive and Elevado Avenue, which occurred on Feb. 24, 2010 and involved a vehicle that struck a parked car. He said there were two auto vs. pedestrian collisions, but that the pedestrians were determined to be 50 percent at fault because they were jaywalking.

“Doheny Drive at Elevado Street doesn’t make the top twenty of problem intersections in the city,” Caprioli said. “We know there are speeders, and my motor officers and patrol officers have been instructed to go out there and look for speeders.”

Davis added that the city will also soon park a speed trailer on the stretch, which notifies drivers when they are exceeding the speed limit, and serves as a deterrent. Councilmember Jeffrey Prang said the city takes speeding ”very seriously”, and added that the staff will do its due diligence in determining whether a stoplight or other measures are necessary.

“We know the traffic is a challenge on many of our streets, and there is a long way between Santa Monica and Sunset Boulevards,” Prang added. “The city responds, but we are in a constant state of receiving requests and analyzing traffic on our streets. These are not things that come up occasionally, they are perpetual, and it could take six months to a year to eighteen months, depending on the necessary analysis.”

Yeoman said that would be too long, and added that she is prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect public safety in the area.

“If they decided to move it up on their list of things to do, I think it would get done,” Yeoman added. “I will do anything I have to do to get this stoplight.”