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Thursday, Sep. 17, 2009

Tip List: Snaking our way through Merced

Merced is home to a strange and little-known structure foreign to most cities in the Republic -- the traffic worm.

Like weeds or, in our case, foreclosed homes, these strangely designed turning lanes -- also called median barriers -- are shaped like worms in the middle of the road.

They seem to be growing in number.

While they are meant to prevent accidents and calm traffic down, one side effect has been to make it harder for Mercedians to get around town.

For instance, try turning left onto G Street from the Save Mart parking lot. You can't. Instead, you have to drive a block and make a U-turn at Alexander. But this median strip is one of the less irksome in town.

On M Street at Olive Avenue, it's far worse. If you are unfortunate enough to come out of the Starbucks parking lot onto M Street, you know what I mean. To get downtown you have to cross Olive Avenue and drive several blocks, take a U-turn and finally head back down M Street. Talk about designing a frustrating road.

And now another worm is being installed on Austin Avenue between the now-closed Gottschalks and Lowe's.

The worm at that location is part of Highland Park's development agreement with the city, said the city's spokesman Mike Conway.

Mike Stephenson, the city's assistant building official, called the worms "a traffic calming measure." They are meant to lessen traffic hazards, he said. They might make you drive a few extra blocks, he admitted, but safety is paramount in this case. "We are directing traffic," he said.

Bob Riggs, supervisor of the project on Austin Avenue with G. Ramirez Concrete, said the worm will prevent accidents and ease congestion. "They are trying to prevent the crosstraffic coming from the old Gottschalks to the Lowe's," he said.

While that may be true, he said the proliferation of worms has made it a pain to get around town.

"It used to take 15 minutes to get from one side of Merced to the other. Now it takes an average of 45," he said.

I guess it gives the saying "worming your way through traffic" a new meaning.

What is wrong: The city is putting in one more traffic worm to ease traffic, but it means you have to drive farther.

Who is at fault: The city, but its spokesman said the worms are successful and have helped stop accidents.

Tip off the tip list!

If you see something broken or in need of repair in your neighborhood, call the Sun-Star Tip List reporter, Jonah Owen Lamb, with your tips at (209) 385-2484 or e-mail jlamb@mercedsun-star.com.