Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Residents complain that the Knowles crosswalk's unsafe

Seniors, disabled say there's no time to cross safely

By Clarence Cromwell

Disabled people and senior citizens are risking their lives every time they cross the street at Knowles Avenue and Capri Drive, a small group of residents says.

Their complaint has the town reconsidering the safety of a crosswalk at Knowles and Capri Drive.

Disabled people and seniors insist that the crosswalk is too dangerous for many of the residents of Villa Vasona, a complex for seniors and disabled people on nearby Parr Avenue. The residents must cross Knowles to catch the No. 60 bus for downtown Los Gatos. A small group is asking for safety improvements at the intersection, including replacement of the stop signs the town removed two years ago.

The town, however, balks at replacing the signs. The signs are not needed and would not necessarily make the intersection safer, said Scott Baker, director of Parks, Forestry, Maintenance, Building and Engineering Services. But the city might be able to make other safety improvements to the intersection, he said.

The stop signs were removed in July 1995 after West Parr Avenue residents asked the Planning Commission to reduce traffic on their street, engineer Chris Gjerde said. The signs came down to make Knowles more convenient for motorists.

"We just didn't feel that they were needed," Gjerde said. "There was no warrant for them anymore."

Villa Vasona tenants--many of whom are slow on their feet or unable to see well--say their lives are on the line every time they cross the street.

Susan Brueggeman rekindled the issue recently by sending a letter to Baker. Because of poor vision and a leg permanently injured in a traffic accident, Brueggeman needs the assistance of a seeing-eye dog and cannot move quickly. She wants the town to make a few changes in the area: replace the stop signs, trim trees to make the "Pedestrian Crossing" signs visible and add better lighting to the crosswalk area.

Brueggeman said stop signs are needed because cars don't stop for pedestrians.

"You go out in the middle of the street, and they don't stop when they go by," Brueggeman said. "They just speed on by and expect you to back up or get out of the way."

A couple of times, Brueggeman said her dog pulled her out of the way of speeding cars.

She added that the traffic has increased in the area because of a new medical building nearby, and she fears it will increase more when another rest home for seniors opens up two doors from Villa Vasona.

No accidents have happened at the corner. But others who cross Knowles at the corner of Capri have had close calls, Brueggeman said.

Leigh Rudolph was almost hit. When a car stopped to let her cross Knowles, another car passed on the right, barely missing Rudolph. The driver shouted an apology out the window and kept going.

When Tom Curtis crossed Knowles last Wednesday afternoon, two lanes of traffic--four cars-- came to a stop while he slowly traversed the crosswalk.

Curtis walks on two artificial limbs, with the help of an aluminum cane. He also suffers from cataracts in both eyes that leave him nearly blind.

Curtis crosses Knowles every day to reach the bus stop, and he wishes the town would make the crossing safer.

"Oh, it's dangerous," he said.

Curtis knows people who get on the bus to downtown Campbell rather than cross the street, he said. When the bus returns from Campbell, it stops on the other side of Knowles, where they can catch the No. 60. He wishes for a four-way light at Knowles and Capri or a crosswalk with a red flasher to stop cars when pedestrians are in the street, he said.

Previously, Baker instructed the Villa Vasona residents to cross Knowles one block east of Capri, at Winchester Boulevard, or a block west of Capri, at Dardanelli Lane.

Rudolph and Brueggeman said that for them, those intersections are dangerous as well.

The crossing at Winchester lacks an audible signal for sightless pedestrians.

At Dardanelli, one side of the intersection lacks a crosswalk, so pedestrians have to cross the street three times to get from the northeast corner of the intersection to the southeast corner. Brueggeman said the roundabout path confuses her guide dog, and the signals at Dardanelli change so fast that she's often stranded on the island in the middle of the street.

In her recent letter to Baker, Brueggeman asked for an audible crosswalk signal at Knowles and a four-way crossing at Dardanelli Lane.

Baker told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times that he will look into all the upgrades Brueggeman asked for--except replacing the stop signs.

"You're not ever going to make everyone unafraid," Baker said. "You cannot make it perfectly safe."

Numerous amenities for pedestrians would make the street a hassle for motorists, Baker added. He added that stop signs might provoke motorists into speeding between stops or simply running the stop signs. "Stop signs don't belong there."

But he said he'll install an audible crossing signal at Winchester and Knowles and consider longer signals for Dardanelli, although changes can't be made if they would snarl traffic. Baker will also add a more powerful light on the light pole near Capri and Knowles, he said, if the pole and the wiring can handle it.

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