Saratoga News
News
City takes its lumps over speed control, then offers new design
By Shannon Burkey
It has been a little over two months since the Pierce Road speed lumps first appeared along a once peaceful stretch of road--bringing with them a lot of resentment and hostility amongst neighbors and motorists.
But now, after three public meetings to discuss the effects of the lumps on the neighborhood, the Saratoga Traffic Safety Commission decided at its Aug. 24 meeting to remove the offending lumps and replace them with new redesigned lumps that they hope will be satisfactory to both sides.
"We want to be satisfied with what we are putting in and we are going to be really careful," said Public Works Director John Cherbone. "We want to make sure they are the right design. When we make that decision it is going to be the right one."
The trouble initially began when three speed lumps were installed on June 14 along the first stretch of Pierce Road off of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road to slow down traffic on the busy thoroughfare. The road is traveled by roughly 4,000 cars a day and residents along Pierce Road said that many of those cars are speeding, making it a very dangerous place to live.
Lois Davis, who has lived on Pierce Road for 36 years, said that she has had two dogs killed by speeding cars and is happy that the lumps are in place.
"God bless them. I agree with everything you are doing. I think it is wonderful," Davis said to the commission.
The speed lumps have been effective in slowing down the traffic. According to city traffic engineer Sohrab Rashid, there has been a 20 to 23 percent reduction in speeding vehicles heading eastbound, and a 26 percent to 28 percent reduction in the westbound direction.
But they have also been making some motorists very unhappy, motorists who say they have to slow down too much to travel over them or that they are very jarring to drive over. Some have even taken to honking their horns, yelling obscenities and making offensive hand gestures as they pass through the neighborhood.
With many complaints from residents and motorists on both sides of the issue, the commission began looking for an alternative to the lumps that would satisfy both sides.
At its Aug. 16 meeting, the commission decided to remove the middle lump and add two radar trailers that inform drivers of their speed and also add more police presence in the area.
While the police presence in the area was increased, Cpt. John Hirokawa of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department said it is not effective as long as the lumps are there.
"It is kind of a moot point to radar people at this point because the lumps are in place and they are not going to be going 40 or 50 miles per hour over them," Hirokawa said. "We are increasing our visibility and looking for people who may be passing others, but that is not happening very often."
After much discussion and input from the public, the commission voted unanimously to replace the existing lumps with newly redesigned lumps that will be 22 feet long with a more gradual approach. The new lumps should allow motorists to maintain a speed of 30 miles per hour as they drive over them.
The new design will also implement median chokers that will narrow the horizontal width of the lanes. Currently the lanes on Pierce Road are 12 feet wide with shoulders that are 1 to 2 feet wide. The chokers will narrow the lanes to 10 feet and the shoulders will be widened to approximately 4 feet to accommodate bicyclists.
"I am interested to see what the chokers will do," said Pierce Road resident Coleen Wagner. "The road is already so narrow. But I am happy that they are still focused on the safety of the road and not on how upset people are."
