Divided council approves intersection traffic signal
By Jana Seshadri
What many Lakewood Village and Fairwood Village residents consider a huge problem in their neighborhoods has received a possible solution. After lengthy public testimony and against staff recommendation, the Sunnyvale City Council on May 21 approved the installation of a new traffic signal at the Lawrence Expressway/Wildwood Avenue intersection.
The Lakewood/Fairwood area is a quiet residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Sunnyvale, alongside Highway 101--one of the busiest highways in the area--and a major industrial and commercial development in the neighboring city, Santa Clara. To make traffic matters worse, Lawrence Expressway, a major thoroughfare, runs through the area.
For many years, the neighborhood's residents have complained that non-neighborhood cut-through traffic has been a big problem, especially on the Fairwood side. Lakewood residents say they also experience the problem because the cut-through traffic where Fairwood spills over to Lawrence is causing major traffic delays on the expressway. Residents told the council that they sometimes have to wait through three or four light changes on Lawrence to make a left turn into Lakewood Village.
"We've watched it closely for eight years," said Melvin Anderson, a 22-year Lakewood Village resident. "I personally believe a vast majority of the people there are quite concerned about the traffic situation."
Traffic congestion aside, safety concerns were also on several residents' minds. Craig Crawford, president of the Lakewood Neighborhood Association, said he has witnessed accidents and near misses many times at the Lawrence/Sandia intersection, where there is no traffic signal. Most of the cut-through traffic on Wildwood waits to traverse four lanes to get to the left-most lane on Lawrence and make a U-turn to go southbound, residents said.
"We refer to it as the Bermuda Triangle," said Gloria Bird, who has lived for 17 years in the corner home at the intersection of Blazingwood Avenue and Sandia Drive.
The staff report to the council refers to the traffic problem as "minor," based on which staff recommended that the council approve their traffic study and a traffic control test on Wildwood Avenue. Other options included a traffic diversion alternative, closure of Wildwood at the Santa Clara side, which council members decided would not be a neighborly gesture to Santa Clara residents, and a periodic closure alternative and a one-way traffic control at city limits.
The residents present disagreed about the "minor" designation.
"It's not a minor problem," said Lakewood Village resident Thom Mayer. "It's a big problem."
Mayer told the council he believed a signal at the Lawrence/Wildwood intersection would solve the problem.
"The traffic signal was approved in 1984; how much longer do we have to wait?" said Sue Atkins, a resident of the area since 1980.
In 1983, responding to neighborhood concerns over Santa Clara's proposal for developing the Mission College area, Sunnyvale city staff studied the traffic concerns and recommended a new traffic signal at the Lawrence/Wildwood intersection. In January 1984 the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, going against the recommendation of the County Transportation Commission, approved the city's request for the new signal. In fall 1988, while the city of Santa Clara started to develop the Mission College site, the signal was again identified as a traffic-mitigating possibility.
However, in 1992, Santa Clara started planning to add commuter lanes to Lawrence Expressway, indicating that the addition would mitigate the traffic congestion on Lawrence. Sunnyvale removed the Lawrence/Wildwood signal from its capital budget in 1993. When the signal project was reintroduced in the city's resource allocation plan in 1995, Santa Clara County and Caltrans voiced opposition to the new signal.
Since then, Santa Clara's Mercado Center, which includes retail and dining businesses and an AMC movie complex, has been completed. Several more small businesses and hotels have moved into the area.
In 2000, Caltrans offered conditional support to Sunnyvale for the new traffic signal. However, Caltrans' conditions and current design costs could increase the original estimated costs for the project to $3.6 million, according to the staff report. The city had estimated a cost of about $2 million for this project.
Vice Mayor Julia Miller suggested city staff explore funding or grant opportunities by Valley Transportation Authority or other sources.
Mayor Fred Fowler, a resident of the Lakewood/Fairwood area and a longtime supporter of the traffic signal at the intersection, suggested other funding avenues for the remaining $1.6 million to go ahead with the installation of the new traffic signal. Fowler's proposal was to obtain $900,000 from unappropriated capital projects funds, $300,000 from unspent fiscal uncertainties funds and $400,000 from the non-recurring events reserve.
Councilmen Tim Risch and Manuel Valerio argued that other, less expensive options should be attempted first and did not support Fowler's motion.
"I'm uncomfortable with the mayor's funding sources," said Councilwoman Pat Vorreiter, recommending that council members direct staff to review the options in greater detail.
However, Vorreiter supported Miller's motion to place a traffic signal at the intersection in question. The motion passed 5-2, with Valerio and Risch dissenting.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
