A much-higher-than-average accident rate at some intersections is forcing the Utah Department of Transportation to install left-turn, stop-and-go arrows at signals along the heavily traveled Bangerter Highway.
The move comes in response to criticism that the six-lane road is overly dangerous. But while critics have dubbed the Bangerter "Blood Alley," defenders insist the nickname is undeserved."We do have a fairly significant problem," conceded Mack Christensen, a traffic and safety studies engineer for the Utah Department of Transportation, which built and maintains the road, otherwise known as U-154.
Christensen said a recent UDOT study shows crash rates along the 13-mile road aren't much different from similarly traveled roads around the state, however.
"It's about right on average," said Christensen.
The intersection-accident statistics aren't as comforting, however. At the highway's junction with 5400 South - where 27,000 vehicles travel the road daily - UDOT this year counted 2.77 accidents per 1 million vehicles, more than twice the average of 1.2 per 1 million vehicles at similar intersections in Utah. The figure was typical of several Bangerter crossings.
The problem, said Christensen, is motorists who "push the light" at the highway's eight major signalized intersections, a habit that neutralizes whatever benefit a signal brings to a crossing.
"Most people think a signal makes it safer . . . in some cases it makes it more dangerous," said Ster-ling Davis, another UDOT traffic and safety engineer.
Christensen said the department sometime this fall will replace "protective permissive" left turns, which allow motorists to make a left whenever a light is green and the coast is clear, with signalized arrows.
He said UDOT's study, whichfound "protective permissive" turns the single-most dangerous flaw in traffic flow along the highway, merely reflect national statistics that show running traffic lights is the leading cause of urban auto accidents.
More than a third of the state's 55,716 vehicle accidents recorded in 1993 occurred at intersections, according to UDOT data, and 8,356 of those 19,194 crashes were at signalized crossings.
A $15,000 federal grant this year will fund the part-time salary of a UDOT employee who will design a public-relations program to heighten awareness of traffic-light dangers. Christensen said the agency wants to create a partnership with a local broadcast outlet to produce public-service announcements.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Bangerter Highway bang-ups
INTERSECTION Accidents per STATE AVERAGE* DAILY TRAFFIC**
1 million vehicles
3100 South 1.16 1.19 44,570
3500 South 0.85 1.3 44,570
4100 South 1.76 1.2 39,500
4700 South 2.30 1.2 38,280
5400 South 2.77 1.2 27,330
6200 South 2.14 1.3 26,040
7000 South 0.11 1.22 24,750
7800 South 0.14 1.07 19,845
SOURCE: Utah Department of Transportation
* For comparable intersections
** 1994 average