A stroll down Lincoln Avenue is one of the many perks of living in Willow Glen. But for some pedestrians, the stroll is now punctuated by an occasional sprint. The Glen's burgeoning array of new shops and eateries have brought more people downtown, more shops--and more reasons to cross back and forth across the Avenue and its four lanes of zooming traffic.
In recent years, peak driving times along the Avenue have posed increasing problems for motorists and pedestrians alike. Since widening into a four-lane thoroughfare in the 1950s, the Avenue has evolved into both a dining and shopping destination and a cross-town connector, linking Highways 87 and 280, as well as downtown and South San Jose.
Yet even during off-peak times, pedestrians must be cautious when crossing the Avenue. Just last month, a pedestrian was struck down at 9 p.m. while in a crosswalk at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Meredith Street.
Speeding cars present one of the thorniest issues on the otherwise blossoming Avenue, according to Julie Painchaud, owner of Our Secret, and executive board member of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association.
"My customers love Willow Glen, they love the quaintness, but the speeding on Lincoln is a problem," said the consignment shop owner. "The flow of traffic is a lot faster than we'd like it to be. We need to find a way to slow these drivers down so that our customers can cross Lincoln Avenue safely, without getting hit."
One effective method of nabbing speedsters is the Photo Radar Program, a project piloted in Willow Glen last year by the City of San Jose's Department of Streets and Traffic. The 10-month experiment caught 3,500 motorists on film racing by department vans equipped with speed-sensor cameras. The program's success led the agency to make the hidden-camera vans permanent speed bumps along five Glen streets.
Slowing down Avenue drivers is a step toward improving pedestrian safety--a top priority for District 6 Councilman Frank Fiscalini. But Fiscalini has no specific plans for addressing the issue, says Michelle McGurk, chief of staff for the councilperson's office.
"We are now in the process of evaluating what can be done on Lincoln Avenue to increase pedestrian safety," McGurk says.
To provide for safe passage, crosswalks need to be visible to oncoming traffic. San Jose's traffic planners fear that many of them are not. So this spring the city will launch a study in South San Jose using sensor-activated signals, with flashing lights that blink when a pedestrian steps into a crosswalk.
Members of the WGBPA had seen similar devices in Petaluma, and suggested their use to the association for safer crosswalks on Lincoln Avenue. Results from the city's study will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of introducing the crosswalks to the Avenue.
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Run, Don't Walk: It can sometimes be a challenge to cross Lincoln Avenue, where a pedestrian was struck by a car and killed last month.
Decreasing the estimated 21,000 cars per day that travel through downtown Willow Glen's quarter-mile stretch on Lincoln would also serve as a step toward greater pedestrian safety. But that solution is easier said than done. Those cars need a place to go, and if they can't go down Lincoln, there are plenty of side streets to navigate.
"Lincoln Avenue is the backbone of Willow Glen," McGurk says. "People use it as access to 87 and 280, but there's a delicate balance in trying to solve the problem. You don't want to force that traffic into the neighborhoods and cause bigger problems."
Traffic filtering into the Avenue's branching side-streets already creates a noticeable problem, according to Kris Cunningham, president of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association.
"What we're seeing now are slight increases in the side-street traffic," Cunningham says. "When 87 gets backed up, then that traffic overflows onto Lincoln, which then spills into the neighborhoods."
Highway 87 was once ballyhooed as the savior to the Glen's traffic woes. But almost from the moment construction of the highway was completed, it became clear that it was inadequate to the task of relieving commuter congestion on Lincoln.
"It was built obsolete," said Bernie Levine, co-owner of Details, a clothing store on the Avenue, referring to the highway's two-lane design. "It needs three lanes, and it's always needed three lanes."
CalTrans reports no immediate expansion plans for widening the highway near the Alma exit.
According to CalTrans spokesperson Lauren Wonder, the only immediate plans for adding lanes to 87 is along the northern stretch of parkway between the Julian exit and Highway 101--a project scheduled for completion by 2003. Wonder says that improvements to the highway's southern portion are yet to be determined.
Is there a solution for the traffic woes in Willow Glen?
"Traffic has always been an issue for Willow Glen residents," said Charlie Martarano, a Glen native and principal engineering technician for Streets and Traffic.
"I just avoid Lincoln Avenue altogether," he says, pausing, "unless I'm going to Willow Street Pizza."
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
