What looks like a trash basket attached to a signpole on the east side of California at Dawson (map) is supposed to be a basket of safety flags to be used by pedestrians – at a crossing where someone was hit and killed a year and a half ago. Efram and Kim, who live nearby, e-mailed WSB to say they’ve reported to SDOT multiple times that the flags need to be replenished, but they haven’t been – and the empty basket repeatedly fills with trash. This was one of three baskets of flags placed by SDOT almost two years ago. Right after photographing the Dawson basket Tuesday afternoon, we checked on the other two:
Further north on California, the basket at Dakota (photo above; here’s a map) still had flags, as did the third of the placements, at Avalon/Yancy (photo below; here’s a map):
That intersection, by the way, has a whole separate set of safety concerns, and we’ve been working on a story about that. Back to Dawson/California – Kim says she even spoke to someone with the Walk and Bike Program, but, “More than a month later, nothing. I think the pail was even emptied of its garbage just after I called the Walk and Bike Program! I hoped that flags would soon appear but they never did and the garbage just piled back up.” We suggested to Efram and Kim that they try 684-ROAD, the general SDOT hotline, again; if that doesn’t result in replenishment, we will check with SDOT to see if perhaps there’s been a change in the program. Kim says, “It’s pretty scary crossing the street at the crosswak at California SW and SW Dawson. I thought pedestrians had the right of way at crosswalks but you wouldn’t know that at all at ours.”
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