Supervisors support Osborne/Hutchison all-way stop

A proposed all-way stop control at the intersection of Osborne Street and Hutchison Street has received San Diego County Board of Supervisors support.

The supervisors’ 4-0 vote, April 10, with Greg Cox at a National Association of Counties meeting, approved the first reading and introduction of the ordinance for an all-way stop control at the Bonsall intersection. A second reading and adoption is scheduled for May 1, in which case the ordinance would take effect May 31.

“It’s a good thing that was requested by the folks in the community,” Supervisor Jim Desmond said.

Osborne Street and Hutchison Street are both striped two-lane roadways with 24 feet of travel way width. Osborne Street has an edge line and a road bed ranging in width from 26 to 30 feet. Hutchison Street does not have edge striping and its road bed width ranges from 24 to 36 feet. Osborne Street is classified as a Light Collector on the mobility element of the county’s general plan and has a 35 mph posted speed limit. Hutchison Street is not classified on the mobility element and has no posted speed limit.

A traffic survey for the intersection was conducted Oct. 24, 2018. The 8,110 vehicles which entered the intersection consisted of 3,497 vehicles traveling eastbound along Osborne Street, 2,222 westbound motorists on Osborne Street, 1,698 southbound drivers on Hutchison Street and 693 northbound motorists on Hutchison Street. Between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. 1,090 vehicles entered the intersection with more than 250 drivers approaching from each way, and more than 200 motorists approached the intersection from each way between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. when 927 vehicles entered the intersection. The heaviest morning volume was between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. when 504 vehicles, including more than 100 from each direction, traveled through the intersection.

During the 66-month period from April 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2018, the intersection had 15 reported collisions including eight which involved injury. Twelve of those collisions, including six which resulted in injury, were due to right of way violations. Nine of the right of way violations were between 7 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. or between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. A driver who ran a stop sign at 7:35 a.m. caused a three-injury accident, a three-injury accident was caused by an Osborne Street driver at an unsafe speed at 3:15 p.m., and improper turning led to a non-injury accident at 1:50 p.m.

The statewide collision rate for vehicles entering similar intersections is 0.23 per million vehicles. The collision rate for Osborne Street and Hutchison Street is 0.94 per million vehicles.

The county’s Traffic Advisory Committee reviewed the intersection Jan. 25 and recommended an all-way stop control.