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Speak Out
Speeding on Blewett
I read Vicki McGowan's letter to the editor in the Willow Glen Resident's Jan. 30 issue, regarding the speeding traffic on Blewett Avenue, with a great deal of amusement, dismay, and a strange feeling of déjávu.
I lived on Blewett Avenue from 1995 until 2000. In those five years I attended meetings with our then-Councilman Frank-"What's the Problem?" Fiscalini; I sat through neighborhood meetings with the department of streets and traffic; I petitioned the San Jose Police Department for increased enforcement of the speed limit; I requested and received traffic studies; I contacted the mayor's office, and it all led to exactly nothing.
Don't get me wrong--I received lots of "We'll set up a traffic-calming program for the area" assurances from all parties concerned. It still all led to nothing. Referring to a traffic study performed June 11-15 in 1998, Sam Koosha, associate civil engineer, traffic studies section, states in a letter dated June 30, 1998, "Blewett Avenue, between Minnesota Avenue and Willow Street, appears to be functioning within normal average speeds, volume, and accident parameters for a local residential street in the city of San Jose. Thus, DST has concluded no further actions are required on Blewett Avenue."
The volume of traffic reported in that study was an average of 1,050 cars a day. When no one answering the phone at the department of streets and traffic could tell me how these normal parameters are established, I put the question to Jim Hellmer, deputy director of the DST, at a community meeting held March 22, 1999, on the subject. His answer was "10 vehicular trips per residence per day." In other words, the real normal parameter for Blewett Avenue, with approximately 60 homes, should be 600 vehicles a day.
On the speed enforcement end of the problem: On one of the very rare occasions that traffic enforcement officers actually showed up to enforce the speed limit, I stood directly behind the officer with a clear view of the readout on his radar gun. To my surprise, two vehicles went by in quick succession, one going 40 mph and the other going 41 mph. The officer chose to ignore the driver going 40 and merely gave a warning to the driver going 41. His explanation for this was that no judge would consider this worth her or his while.
Sixteen miles per hour over the posted speed limit not worth their while?! Think of that as 80 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone, or as approximately 60 percent over the speed limit. That would equate to 88 mph in a 55-mph zone. On top of all that, think about closing speeds, irresponsible cell phone use, 8,000-pound vehicles, children, pets and people's right to be free of low-grade terror.
In closing, let me say, "Good luck, Vicki." With the mealy-mouthed, double-talking bureaucrats calling the shots and the police department choosing to ignore the concerns and safety of honest citizens, you'll need it. What San Jose needs to combat this pervasive problem is creative solutions, action and law enforcement. Did I say law enforcement?
P. J. LaRive
California Avenue
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
