Willow Glen, California Since 1992
City Beat
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By Juliane Ngan You may have been surprised after you received a speeding ticket in the mail for zooming down Delmas Avenue - you may have been unaware of the photo radar van that snapped a picture of your car's license plate. And you probably have run straight into several red rubber medians in the middle of the street. They may have completely baffled you. The devices are all part of a culmination of efforts from District 6 San Jose City Councilman Ken Yeager's office, the San Jose Department of Transportation (DOT) and the North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association (NWGNA) Traffic Committee to slow down speeding cars in the neighborhood. On June 17, at the Gardner Community Center, DOT Deputy Director Jim Helmer met with a dozen Willow Glen residents who live along Delmas, Coe and Hull avenues to discuss the effectiveness of several temporary traffic-calming measures that have been in place throughout the neighborhood since April. The meeting's purpose was to determine if the measures have been effective at slowing down traffic, making it safer for drivers to enter and exit the streets, and making the streets more pedestrian-friendly. "Traffic has gotten a lot calmer in our neighborhood since we began implementing the measures," said Ken Eklund, the traffic-calming wizard of NWGNA. Four temporary medians have been put into place throughout the neighborhood, and increased speed-limit signage and more stop signs have been posted. The DOT also installed the Neighborhood Automated Speed Compliance Program (NASCOP) a photo-radar system that has been on Hull, Coe and Delmas avenues. Cars flying by over the speed limit will automatically have a picture of their license plate taken and their motorists will be issued a speeding ticket, which they will receive in the mail. Laura Wells, senior civil engineer for the DOT, presented data illustrating the decline in speed that has resulted. Back in October, data was taken on a random day on Hull, and 26 miles per hour was the average speed recorded. When data was taken again in May, the average speed had reduced to 22 miles per hour. Data taken on Delmas showed that the average speed limit was slightly more than 27 mph in October, while the average had reduced to 22 mph in early May, and 24 mph in late May. "These are checks we have done with the equipment in place," Helmer said. "We haven't been out daily checking these speeds. We realize that we're still going to have the noncompliant drivers who race through the neighborhoods. There's not a lot the city - through traffic-calming programs - can do." According to Wells, there has also been a decrease in the amount of citations issued in the neighborhood. NASCOP began showing up on Coe Avenue back in October and on Delmas Avenue beginning late January. The number of average citations issued on Delmas and Coe avenues after March was 40 percent lower than the average amount issued from the start of the recorded data until the beginning of March. "We took the approach of trying to manage the traffic by sending motorists a message to slow down without physically forcing every car going down the street to go over road bumps," said Helmer. "We took the approach that we would try to manage the traffic and change the driver's behavior somewhat." Originally, residents in the neighborhood had wanted speed bumps to be the method of slowing cars down. "We found out that speed bumps, if they are hit at a certain rate of speed, can sometimes lead to airborne cars flying off and smashing into lawns," said Harvey Darnell, a NWGNA member. "Short of speed bumps, this is as much as we can do in this neighborhood." Temporary medians had been installed at four intersections: Delmas at Willow, Delmas at Coe, Coe at Delmas and Hull at Bird. The medians that are now in place are made of rubber and asphalt, and have a stop sign in the middle of them. With the approval of neighborhood residents, the DOT hopes to make these medians permanent, with landscaping. The response transportation officials received at the meeting seemed to be positive, with most residents agreeing that the traffic-calming devices have helped reduce speeds in their neighborhood. Some residents still felt that there were the occasional drivers who sped through their neighborhoods at unsafe speeds but they did realize that the DOT has been trying their best to reduce the amount of neighborhood speeders. "I am happy with what the city has done," said Mike Kramarz, who lives at Delmas and Willow. "I will never be completely satisfied, but they have accomplished quite a bit in a short length of time." Helmer and the group of residents agreed that each of the medians, which have been in place for more than two months, have generally served their purpose. "The city has been very patient in working with us," said Eklund, "and very nice in soliciting input from all members of the community, and they are definitely sympathetic to our concerns but at the same time anxious to get results." The median located at the center of Delmas at Willow will be enlarged and made permanent, with landscaping. There will be a curb extension to narrow the street, and there will be a new, textured crosswalk on Delmas, making it easier for pedestrians to cross the street. There will also be a gateway island just north of this area to let drivers know they are entering a residential area. The gateway median will be shorter than it is currently laid out. The two islands located at the intersection of Coe and Delmas will become permanent, with landscaping. A three-way stop sign will be put in the intersection, and there will be a textured crosswalk across Delmas. The median located on Hull at Bird will be made permanent, with landscaping, and will have a textured crosswalk put into place. The DOT had also been looking into a proposal to have a fifth median put in place at the midpoint of Hull in order to slow down traffic. However, putting in the median, which is located near a fire hydrant, would further decrease the amount of parking along that street, taking away parking spaces from residents. The DOT will be working with the few residents who live in the houses at the midpoint of the street to work out a solution. Maintenance of lighting and increased signage were also measures taken to make the streets safer for people as well as slow cars. The signage increased driver awareness that speed limits are being enforced by photo radar. The next step for the DOT will be to work with the engineering team and design team that will design the permanent traffic-calming devices. Their actual construction won't begin until at least September or October, Helmer said. NWGNA's plans are to review the designs with DOT officials. Despite the efforts of Yeager, the DOT and the NWGNA, some residents remain upset about speeding in their neighborhoods. "The reason that people are upset is because this issue is a very hard problem to solve," said Eklund, "and maybe you could say it's unsolvable. What we really need is for people to be respectful of neighborhoods, and nothing we put in the neighborhood can cause people to do that." |
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