The Orange City Council stopped short this week of approving major safety upgrades to the historic Old Towne Orange traffic circle, instead asking city staff to gather more crash data and refine safety proposals.
Councilmembers, however, agreed to move forward with a smaller temporary measure that would add reflective pavement markers along the curbs.
The decision came after a lengthy discussion on how to stop cars, often driven by motorists under the influence, from plowing into the central plaza. Since 2018, city officials said there have been at least 44 vehicles that have crashed into the park, the most recent in August when a suspected drunken driver drove straight through the roundabout, hit a bench and scraped the fountain — recently repaired following another crash.
City Manager Jarad Hildenbrand said there was no “perfect solution or simple fix” to the recurring crashes. Instead, staff will collect crash data, map out vehicle paths and reevaluate the measures they previously recommended — a combination of additional crash-rated bollards and raised median islands — “with the lens of pedestrian safety,” before sending updated recommendations to the traffic commission and back to the council.
According to a staff report, the cost of those additions would be an estimated $900,000.
Mayor Dan Slater initially suggested directing staff to do that analysis while also installing rumble strips on the 200 blocks of West and East Chapman Avenue leading to the traffic circle and reflective pavement markers along the curbs, an idea suggested by Councilmember Denis Bilodeau.
“It would give motorists notice that they need to slow down,” Slater said, as well as “perhaps show the public that we’re at least doing something in the meantime to slow traffic.” But the majority of the council rejected the rumble strips over noise concerns.
Much of Tuesday’s debate centered on whether to install dozens of new bollards, which staff recommended at an estimated cost of $500,000. Sixteen were added last year along pedestrian walkways, and staff had proposed adding 44 more to provide near-complete coverage of the plaza.
Councilmember Arianna Barrios urged a more data-driven approach before committing to a large installation.
“If we could maybe come back and look at this with a little bit more science and a little bit more understanding of how these incursions are coming in, maybe there’s a better way,” she said, and “at a much reduced cost.”
She noted that accident trajectory mapping shows most cars entering just past the current bollards, suggesting the city might only need to add a few more in targeted areas rather than dozens more.
Councilmember Kathy Tavoularis was skeptical any barrier could stop drivers barreling in at high speed and pushed to close the plaza overnight, which city staff said would come with logistical and financial hurdles.
“We can’t change behavior,” she said. “I don’t see how the other options are going to stop potential drunk or inebriated drivers from driving 80 miles an hour down Chapman or Glassell.”
Councilmember Jon Dumitru expressed concern that the raised median islands could cause cars to flip if hit at high speeds, while Bilodeau noted that bollards themselves can be deadly in collisions.
“We’re talking about human lives, and bollards kill people. So I think we have to be mindful of that,” he said.
Slater also noted that the islands could pose problems for public events in the plaza. In a letter to the council, the Orange International Street Fair Committee said the islands would reduce event space, forcing the elimination of several booths at the fair and cutting about $45,000 in revenue. The edges of the island would also create new trip hazards, the committee said.