The installation of some traffic safety measures around the traffic circle in the Old Towne Orange has helped reduce crashes, which peaked at a dozen in 2022, and needed repairs to the plaza’s park and historic fountain; this week the City Council decided to take more steps to prevent collisions.
Since 2018, there have been 43 drivers who drove into the park at the heart of the Orange traffic circle, a few making it all the way to damage the fountain. Some 70% involved drivers under the influence, and several more were driving too fast. All but five were driving on Chapman Avenue as they reached the traffic circle, a city report said.
Councilmembers agreed to add 18 more bollards shielding the traffic circle on Chapman Avenue approaches and decided that after closing hours, some of Plaza Park’s lighting will be shut off to reduce the appearance of a through street.
“The bollards, if we’re going to place them east and west, then we’re essentially creating a wall,” Councilmember John Gyllenhammer said.
“So I think we just need to understand that if someone’s going to run through, they’re going to hit a bollard. And it’s us intentionally placing them to protect innocence in the actual plaza,” he said. “I think that’s the right thing to do to protect innocent life.”
Councilmember Kathy Tavoularis was the only opposed, saying she had concerns the bollards could be fatal to drivers.
“I don’t know if I’m interested in voting for something that’s going to cause more death,” she said.
“I thought we were going to get a menu of solutions,” she said of the council’s request to city staff last fall to look at options, “and it looks like there’s four solutions, but to me it’s just more of the same. I don’t see how this is going to solve anything.”
In 2023, a man died after driving through the traffic circle and crashing into a tree and light pole inside Plaza Park. Earlier that same year, a 24-year-old man plowed through the central fountain and destroyed a section of the historic tile. The fountain was installed in 1937 as the centerpiece of Orange’s downtown.
The addition of the first set of protective bollards was completed in 2023; the city has also tried reflective pavement parkers that are raised up, more traffic signs in the area, roadway delineators and changing the timing of traffic signals at night.
In November 2024, a driver heading east on Chapman damaged the fountain just months after city officials gathered to celebrate its restoration from the first crash.
And, after another driver again drove into the iconic fountain in August, councilmembers directed city staff to evaluate options for improving safety around the traffic circle.
Previously, the council debated adding 44 more protective bollards around the plaza to provide near-complete coverage, which staff recommended at an estimated cost of $500,000. After a lengthy discussion in September, the council stopped short of adding those structures and instead landed on a smaller, temporary measure that added reflective pavement markers along the curbs.
Staffers were directed to collect the crash data, map out vehicle paths and return to the council with updated safety measures, which was what the council looked at this week.
Some options staffers brought back included contractors installing additional bollards, raised median “splitter” islands, raised crosswalks or lighting modifications.
Councilmembers entertained the idea of building splitter islands to direct traffic in the future, but some funding concerns were raised. Several councilmembers suggested applying for state grants to pursue the project.
And “if at some point, we go down the splitter island route, I would love to see a landscape plan,” Mayor Dan Slater added.
The 18 bollards are expected to cost the city about $300,000, officials said, and could take “a couple of months” to procure and install.