Local residents at odds with the way town chose to calm traffic
Los Gatos decided on
traffic light for intersection
Monte Sereno studies
issue
By Gloria I. Wang
Pedestrian safety is the most important issue at the intersection of
Winchester Boulevard and Daves Avenue--that, everyone can agree on. Which traffic measures would be
most effective, and how to go about implementing those measures, however, are in dispute. The Los Gatos Town Council voted to put a
traffic light at the intersection of Daves Avenue and Winchester Boulevard, but if the neighbors
have their way, it's not going to happen. Instead, most neighbors successfully lobbied for the Monte
Sereno City Council to examine the possibility of constructing a roundabout at the intersection.
A roundabout is loosely defined as a
round, raised island in the middle of an intersection. Roundabouts force cars to drive in a
counterclockwise direction around the island and reduce their speeds, with crosswalks on the sides.
Although Monte Sereno is paying for
half of the $25,000 traffic engineering study, the city says it will go along with Los Gatos' final
decision. It will merely make a recommendation to Los Gatos to consider a roundabout, based on the
results of a feasibility study. At a
Sept. 4 Los Gatos Town Council meeting, Peter Eakland, from the firm of CCS Planning &
Engineering, presented the input gathered from two public meetings that had been held in August and
September and the results of further analysis. The study looked at a three-lane section of
Winchester Boulevard, between Vineland Avenue and Blossom Hill Road, near Daves Avenue School.
Based on the data that was gathered,
Eakland said, the best options were to either install a traffic signal or have a flashing crosswalk
sign on a raised island. The traffic signal would be one that was green on Winchester most of the
day, only turning red when the sensors on Daves Avenue were activated or when pedestrians wanted to
cross the street. In addition, there would be additional improvements, such as coloring the bike
lane and making the "confusing" speed limit signs in that area consistently 25 mph. A stop sign was considered, but Eakland said it
was not a good idea because it gave pedestrians a "false sense of security"; pedestrians feel free
to walk, but vehicles may not always stop at the sign, and much of the time they speed up
immediately afterward. The Los Gatos
and Monte Sereno residents were vehemently opposed to Eakland's solution. Most supported a lane
reduction, which they said would reduce speed better than a stoplight. Jim Mellema, a Verdes Robles
resident, testified that most drivers on the portion of Winchester travel at speeds exceeding 40
mph, even in the 25 mph sections.
Instead of installing traffic lights, residents argued, the town should take smaller steps and go
with placing a median, adding landscaping and putting in sidewalks. Interim Town Engineer Larry Perlin replied that
reducing drivers' speed was important, but that pedestrian safety was the focus of the study. The
residents' ideas were good but did not fit the context of the study, he said. Los Gatos Councilwoman Sandy Decker initially
opposed the traffic light based on the residents' opinions. "We've got a proposal here that I don't
believe has the people we're trying to serve in favor of," Decker said. Decker was apparently
referring to the neighbors and parents of Daves Avenue schoolchildren who brought the situation to
the attention of the town, and they were not satisfied by the traffic signal idea. The first vote on whether to install the
traffic signal was tied, with Decker and Councilman Randy Attaway voting against it. But both Decker
and Attaway changed their opinions when a second vote was taken. Decker said she would prefer a
signal over no action, while Attaway received clarification about the logistics of the light.
According to Eakland, the stoplights
would take six months to a year to become operational, at a cost of $150,000. Two days later, Eakland made a similar
presentation to the Monte Sereno City Council, with many of the same residents, plus three Los Gatos
officials, in attendance. The Los Gatans' faces became grimmer throughout the evening, however, as
each member of the public said that the Los Gatos Town Council had not listened to the residents,
and asked Monte Sereno not to make the same mistake. "I felt we were being spoken to by adults and we weren't respected as adults
in return," said new Daves Avenue resident Siri Lackovic. "There has been no compromise, nothing
about taking small steps." Monte
Sereno resident Phil Levine criticized the Los Gatos Town Council for making what he said was the
easy decision. Levine suggested that the Monte Sereno City Council listen to the people. Marc Jensen, an Oak Rim Way resident, gave a
detailed presentation on the merits of roundabouts, as well as other options for the intersection.
Jensen showed that roundabouts did reduce speed and were not too narrow for emergency vehicles to
pass through. The only speaker who
was not supportive of a roundabout was Oak Rim Way resident Doug McNeil. "I want to help find a
win-win for the community and a win-win for both cities. But number one, I want to find a win-win
for the kids," McNeil said. McNeil said he was opposed to a roundabout because too many cars would
pass through it to make it pedestrian-safe. "What do we all respond to? A red light," he answered. "We don't respond to yellow lights.
I would have to side with the town council and the mayor of Los Gatos on this: Put in a traffic
light." Since Monte Sereno only
controls 11 percent of Winchester Boulevard between Blossom Hill Road and Lark Avenue, Monte Sereno
Councilman Jack Lucas jokingly suggested the city taking traffic into its own hands and "choking
that section." The city could put up signs--"entering Monte Sereno" and "leaving Monte
Sereno"--several feet apart, Lucas said, followed by laughter from the audience. Eakland said that they had looked at
roundabouts as an option for the intersection but had ruled it out because it would take up too much
space and would be too expensive. "I think it's being looked at more optimistically than probably
realistically it is," Eakland said. He did, however, say that his firm was not specialized in
roundabouts. Monte Sereno Council
members decided that roundabouts deserved to be considered. "CCS did a great job," said Monte Sereno
Councilman Erin Garner. "But in the end, they did what they know to do." Monte Sereno will commission a feasibility
study of roundabouts at a cost of up to $3,000 and work with Los Gatos on those results. If the Los
Gatos Town Council does not change its mind, then Monte Sereno will go along with the traffic
signal. "We've made a commitment to
help out with funding [the study], and I fully intend to stand by that commitment," Garner said.
Monte Sereno, however, agreed with Los
Gatos' decision to reduce the speed to 25 mph in that section. Perlin also volunteered that Los
Gatos will be mounting speedboards--signs that display the speed of every driver--near Daves Avenue.
Monte Sereno City Manager Brian
Loventhal said that the roundabout feasibility study would not be complete until mid-October, at the
earliest. In the meantime, the city council said that it would be willing to fund some temporary
safety measures, such as road features during school years or more extensive crossing guards.
Los Gatos, California Since
1881
