Updated Friday at 7 p.m. with retired Cal Trans engineer's additional information as someone who knows the Traffic Circle well. He notes that this crash did not involve the Circle.
The pedestrian fatally injured north of the Traffic Circle was identifed Thursday as a 72-year-old Long Beach resident whose family said she was returning home from grocery shopping at Ralph's.
Long Beach Police Department said the woman, Nahid Hamidi Keegan, was attempting to cross Lakewood Boulevard in a non-pedestrian area at about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday when she was struck by a Jeep Liberty heading northbound on Lakewood, just north of the Traffic Circle.
The 26-year-old driver of the Jeep was questioned and released, with no charges pending, said a press release issued by police spokeswoman Lisa Massacani.
Keegan's nephew told Patch that his aunt had walked to Ralph's to market and was returning to house in the neighborhood before the crash. In a Patch comment, he called her "an angel."
Witnesses reported that her groceries remained strewn across the street, a human reminder of the fatal crash. The Traffic Circle has statistically proven to be among the city of Long Beach's most dangerous intersections, although it wasn't clear if that number stemmed from any pedestrian crashes.
But a retired CalTrans traffic engineer who worked on the Long Beach Traffic Circle many years ago told Patch Friday that based on our reader's photo that night, it was unrelated to the fatal crash:
"Checking your photo against Google Maps, this fatal crash occurred almost 400 feet north of the Los Alamitos Roundabout, almost 200 feet north of Outer Circle Drive," e-mailed John Burnside, the engineer. "The woman was apparently crossing mid-block from the west side of Ralph's parking lot toward the alley behind residences on Jacinto Way. The roundabout was not involved at all, and it is too bad that it is emphasized in the article." He offered to answer any reader questions via e-mail at roundabouts@me.com.
"I fully understand your aversion to the roundabout," continued, noting reader comments (and this author's). "Many people share this feeling. It is very large—beyond modern roundabout guidelines—and therefor faster than we traffic engineers would like."
Anyone with information on this incident is asked by officers to contact Long Beach Police Department Accident Investigations Detective Richard Birdsall at (562) 570-7355.
Wednesday night story:
A pedestrian was killed Wednesday night just north of the traffic circle on Lakewood Boulevard, south of Stearns, according to a Long Beach police officer setting out flares.
Our Belmont Heights subscriber, who is a reporter for a Los Angeles University, said she pulled over to inquire what happened.
"I stopped and asked him about it about 10:45 p.m. Don't know if it was a male or female."
We'll report more details when we get them.
