By Mary O’KEEFE

Sometimes it just takes a sign to alert drivers to slow down and drive safely as they make their way home. In Sunland-Tujunga, rather than a heavenly directive there are now literally signs erected to remind drivers to do just that. In fact, as of Tuesday there are 10 signs hung from lampposts along Foothill and Sunland boulevards warning drivers of the dangers of poor driving.

The banners simply read “Speed Kills! Slow Down” and were hung to bring attention to the dangerous stretch of road from Wentworth Street to Lowell Avenue on Foothill Boulevard, as well as along Sunland Boulevard.

Members of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council began working on traffic safety outreach in 2016. A former member of the Council started a committee called the Safe Streets Committee with a task to educate people on street safety.

The banners were designed, though not completed, ordered and paid for, but there were some issues that needed to be resolved, including getting final approval from the Council. So the concepts stayed at the banner company, AAA Flag and Banner.

“The banner [company] never [completed] the project. It didn’t have the proper information to make the banners so … they sat there for a year,” said Pat Kramer. “I am on the [Council board] and got involved.”

In January, Kramer created a new safe street committee and together the members began working on a new design that would include Neighborhood Council’s website information and would be specific for Sunland-Tujunga.

“There have been 68-plus serious accidents along [the stretch of Foothill and Sunland boulevards] in the past five and a half years,” Kramer said.

Those numbers were from mid-2012 to 2017 and encompassed the road from Wentworth to Lowell; the figure does not reflect traffic accidents this year. Also, the statistics do not include accidents that happened on side streets.

According to SAFE (Streets Are For Everyone), there were 14 accidents along the same corridor so far this year.

“Four people died in accidents just in April,” Kramer said.

On April 2 in the 7800 block of Foothill Boulevard, a vehicle drove into a building, killing both the female driver and her passenger. The initial investigation stated the vehicle was driving at a high rate of speed. On April 29, James Bellissimo and Ariane Turek were killed as a vehicle turned left in front of their motorcycle on Foothill Boulevard near Valmont Street.

A recent survey taken by the Neighborhood Council found the most dangerous street was Wentworth Street, followed by Sunland and Tujunga Canyon boulevards. In that same survey, 79.6% deemed Foothill Boulevard as a dangerous street.

Kramer added the newly installed signs are a way to remind people to slow down and be aware as they drive in the area.

  Mary Okeefe