One dangerous intersection

This is the intersection of E. Madison Street and 37th Avenue E., located adjacent to the southeast corner of Broadmoor's enclosing wall.  It was at this intersection that on a rainless morning last September a student riding his bicycle to McGilvra Elementary was hit by a car and seriously injured.  Police reportedly determined that the driver of the vehicle was not at fault since the driver, when stopped at the stop sign facing south on 37th, could not have seen the boy on the bicycle, who was heading east on the sidewalk. The child apparently didn't stop at the intersection before heading into the path of the oncoming car, which was turning right onto Madison.

We admittedly missed this story at the time the incident occurred. This, in spite of the fact that he happened upon the scene shortly after the accident.  We mistakenly believed that there had no serious injuries, and we were only disabused of this idea when we sat through the greenways presentation at a meeting of the Madison Park Community Council last month. The incident was used as an example of what can happen when there are not well-designed bicycle paths and good lines of sight between vehicle drivers and pedestrians and cyclists. Because of the location and configuration of Broadmoor's wall, this particular intersection is relatively blind unless a car pulls forward of the stop line.

The reason for reporting this story now, a full six months after the accident, is twofold: 1) it is a cautionary tale that all drivers should take note of, especially given that there are also other difficult intersections in the neighborhood where vehicles and children can meet in unpleasant ways, and 2) Broadmoor could give serious consideration to changing the configuration of that particular corner of its property in order to provide better sight lines.

According to Maurice Cooper, a longtime resident, Broadmoor will soon be doing some reconstruction on several brick columns of the wall near community's Madison Street gate.  Knowing this, he says he had raised the subject of extending the work to include redoing the brickwork at the 37th Avenue corner of Broadmoor to re-angle that section of the wall. He introduced the idea at a recent meeting of Broadmoor residents, he reports, and is hopeful that the community will take the necessary action.

In the meantime, for this intersection and others, it's driver beware.

[The McGilvra student injured in the accident reportedly recovered fully from his injuries and was able to return to school quickly.]