The Sunnyvale Sun

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Challenger School drive to be one lane

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

For 23 hours a day, Hollenbeck Avenue at Torrington Drive--the intersection in front of a Challenger School--is like most Sunnyvale minor thoroughfares, with a light, steady stream of drivers.

But between 7:45 and 8:15 a.m., hundreds of cars fill the two-lane road, as parents drop children off for school. According to Challenger School officials and neighbors, more than 90 cars at a time end up stuck in traffic between Torrington Drive and Remington Avenue. Those cars spill onto residential streets and prevent neighbors from being able to see the road they're backing out onto.

The city, Sunnyvale Elementary School District and Challenger School think they've found a solution--to redirect traffic around the school on a soon-to-be-constructed driveway--but many residents say the solution will just cause more traffic and headaches.

The Sunnyvale City Council, minus councilmembers Tony Spitaleri and Melinda Hamilton, voted 4-1 to revise the Hollenbeck School Sports Field Master plan to allow construction of the driveway on Sept. 26, to the chagrin of 15 residents who spoke against the plan and at least a dozen others in attendance.

The history

On Aug. 18, residents were alerted to the plan by heavy machinery rolling into their neighborhood. Unbeknownst to them--and many in the city--the school district had approved a plan to build a new driveway from Torrington Avenue onto the school property, around the south side of the school and out onto Hollenbeck Avenue.

Residents were not told about the plan earlier because no public hearings were required. Deputy Superintendent Ben Picard apologized at the meeting, saying they underestimated the amount of concern the project would generate.

The plan would be to run a two-lane driveway on existing school property and pull as many as 62 cars off the road to lessen congestion. But the driveway would have to be built on existing open space, owned by the school but used by local residents in exchange for city-provided maintenance work.

While much of the fields to the south--the largest open portion--would be left untouched, that space is commonly used for structured, private sports leagues.

Some residents unhappy

"The community definitely wants to keep the open space," said Glenn Soby. "The westside field is the only place residents can go to play with their children and walk their dogs."

In addition to keeping the open space, many residents were concerned about the amount of traffic and the impact of the road, as estimated by director of development for Challenger schools Clay Stringham and various residents. "I really think we should leave the traffic study to the experts and have an unbiased, scientific study," said Usha Kreaden.

"I'm not sure what we would learn from it," Councilman Chris Moylan said. "The basic geometry of the situation guarantees that two lanes take more cars off the road."

Many residents felt while the driveway would get cars off of Hollenbeck and Torrington temporarily, there is still the problem of the sheer number of cars in the neighborhood each morning.

Stephanie Edelman--who has spoken at two council meetings on this issue--said the project is not a solution at all for her, because the driveway opens directly across Hollenbeck from her home, meaning the cars will be funneled right at her driveway each morning.

"I think that reducing it to one lane and trying to minimize the impact is the way to go in this case," said Councilman Dean Chu.

One resident, Ed Fong, who did his own traffic study of the area, said he thought council's decision to reduce the drive to one lane was a good compromise, and said he was thankful the school was there. If not, he felt the land would likely be sold off to developers.

But the compromise on the council's part may not actually move the project forward.

"We may have already killed the project," said Moylan, the only one who voted against the decision.

The school board approved a plan that called for a two-lane road. Moylan said the board could still stop the project if members don't agree with the council's decision.

If the project is approved, Stringham has said construction will start as soon as possible to avoid working during the coming winter rains.