KELSEYVILLE — Ask any long-term Lake Countian and they will tell you all about the traffic accidents that have long plagued Kelseyville”s infamous Kit”s Corner. It has unofficially been termed a “hot spot” for traffic accidents by popular consensus.
And now, the California Transportation Commission (Caltrans) agrees. An agreement signed Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors and Caltrans spells out the agency”s intention to put a traffic signal at the intersection.
“You always had to be careful,” said Kelseyville resident Elaine Fontana of the intersection, situated in the heart of the Rivieras area where State Route 29 meets State Route 281 to the north of the intersection, Red Hills Road to the south. “Especially seniors they can”t judge distances, and people are driving through there fast,” she added. Fontana said she has traveled through Kit”s Corner for over 20 years, 10 of those on a daily basis.
California Highway Patrol records reveal numerous collisions at and around the intersection over the past six years. There were eight such accidents in 2000, four in 2001, nine in 2002, four in 2003, 10 in 2004, five in 2005, seven in 2006 and thus far only one this year. That makes an average of six per year over the past eight years.
“That”s quite a bit,” said Dist. 5 Supervisor Rob Brown, in whose district Kit”s Corner sits. He said Thursday that he has been trying to get a stop light in there for the past four years.
Construction may begin this year as early as September, according to Caltrans Public Information Officer Ann Jones. That depends on whether or not state transportation funds are approved by the California Transportation Commission to cover the cost of the approximately $510,000 project.
The county will cover $33,000 of that cost, as well as the ongoing cost of electricity to the signal, according to the agreement signed Tuesday. Caltrans will foot the bill for ongoing maintenance.
“With the anticipated growth in that area we definitely saw the need,” said Dist. 5 Supervisor Rob Brown, referring to population projections calculated for the Rivieras Area Plan recently approved by the BOS. “There”s a need currently, so obviously there”ll be a need as a result of the anticipated growth,” he added.
Brown noted that Caltrans has made safety improvements to Kit”s Corner in the past that included a right turn lane from SR 281 onto SR 29 to keep drivers from cutting across a gas station parking lot.
Jones added that the vertical curve corridor put in at Kit”s Corner in 2005 was in response to a safety concern. “It was a safety project to improve the chance for motorists and pedestrians to see and bee seen at that intersection and use the intersection in a safe manner,” she said.
She confirmed that initial traffic studies conducted did not indicate a need for a stop light at Kit”s Corner. Brown said the county pushed to have the area reevaluated to take into account early morning school traffic and traffic generated by Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa”s concert venue. He indicated that when District 1 Director Charlie Fielder came on a few years ago, he brought with him a willingness to pursue the project.
A reevaluation in 2005 revealed that the intersection did indeed meet Caltrans” criteria for needing a signal. “The new director reviewed traffic volume at this intersection and determined that signalization was warranted,” she said. Since then, Caltrans has been working with the county to hammer out the details of its cooperative agreement with the county to put in the signal.
After checking with a project manager, Jones indicated that the project would most likely go out to bid this July.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
