A retaining wall on Colorado at Sylvan, where a car hit it. Photo courtesy of Elmer Powell
The death of a 25-year-old motorcyclist who crashed at Colorado Boulevard and Sylvan Avenue last month is accelerating the urgency for traffic safety upgrades at that intersection.
Dramatic accidents happen regularly at the residential intersection, neighbors say. Few have been fatal.
Oak Cliff resident Lance Rioux died on July 13, after he lost control of his 2008 KTM motorcycle approaching the intersection, northbound on Sylvan. It was just before 10:30 p.m., and Rioux was speeding, a police report of the accident states.
“As Mr. Rioux approached a curve in the roadway and began braking, he lost control of the motorcycle as it slid on its side,” the report states.
Photo of Lance Rioux courtesy of Paige Rioux
Rioux moved to Texas from California about three years ago and worked at a Dallas power plant. He bought a house on Hansboro Avenue near Kiest Park less than a year before his death.
Rioux’s sister, Paige Rioux, says her brother started riding dirt bikes as a toddler and won motocross competitions as a kid.
“He was one of the best riders that we all knew,” she says.
In a letter to Mayor Pro-Tem Chad West, neighborhood resident Elmer Powell says there are two types of accidents at the intersection:
- Red-light runners who T-bone another car,
- Speeding vehicles, northbound and southbound, that can’t make the curve.
Powell, who has lived in the 800 block of West Colorado since 1971, says he’s aware of only one other fatal accident at the intersection in the past 51 years, a T-bone more than 20 years ago.
Sometimes drunk drivers crash at the intersection and “run off” before police arrive and the car is towed away, Powell says.
Safety upgrades
A full overhaul of the intersection, including replacement of the 50-year-old traffic signals, could be funded among capital improvements in the next City of Dallas budget, which is currently being hammered out, or in a future bond election.
A few less expensive fixes could help in the interim.
City of Dallas Transportation Department pitched a few ideas — signs, pavement markings and rumble strips — to Kessler Park neighbors at a recent community meeting.
Signs and pavement markings
The city’s traffic engineers suggest reconfiguring “curve ahead” warning signs and adding “signal ahead” signs. Lane designation signage could also be added so that cars know which lane to be in sooner for turns or passing through the intersection.
Image via City of Dallas Transportation Department
Rumble strips
Traffic engineers suggested using plastic reflectors like the ones pictured below to create rumble strips at several points leading up to the intersection to slow traffic.
Neighbor Doug Taylor says he is pushing for temporary rumble strips the Texas Department of Transportation uses, which are like very tough mats.
Long-lasting rumble strips like those on the side of Texas highways could be added with a full capital-improvements budget for the project.
Images via City of Dallas Transportation Department
The city reduced Sylvan and Tyler to four lanes from six a few years ago, and while commuters complained it caused traffic delays, neighbors say the change was noticeable in slowing traffic.
“It’s so much better. So much better,” neighborhood resident Kathy Hewitt said at the meeting.
