Willow Glen, California Since 1992
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Commercial vehicles are prohibited from busy Hicks Avenue By Juliane Ngan Hicks Avenue, between Minnesota and Curtner avenues, will have new signs restricting road use by trucks weighing more than five tons. The signs, which are scheduled to go up on an unspecified date in July, were approved by the San Jose City Council on June 25. The signs will be new additions to the other traffic-calming devices that were put on the avenue back in May, and the San Jose Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking feedback on the devices before the next community meeting, which will likely take place in August. According to James Helmer, DOT deputy director, there is currently a higher percentage of truck traffic on Hicks Avenue than is usual. Generally on a residential street only one to two of every 100 vehicles are trucks. On Hicks, however, there are between 5 and 8 trucks going by for every 100 vehicles. "Truck traffic was one of the residents' prime complaints," said Helmer. Truck restrictions still allow trucks to enter if they are doing business on Hicks Avenue or need to get to the adjoining streets that are most easily accessible by Hicks Avenue. By ordinance, the signs only require "through" trucks driving down the street to make a shortcut or to go elsewhere, said Helmer. Enforcement of the signs will be based on whether truck drivers appear to be honoring them. "If the truck drivers continuously disobey the signs," said Helmer, "then sooner or later the citizens will file a complaint with our police department, and the police department will show up with their truck enforcement unit." In this situation, the truck would then be driven onto a set of scales to determine if it weighs more than five tons. The driver then would be asked his or her destination, and if it wasn't absolutely necessary to drive down Hicks Avenue, they would be issued a citation. In addition to the truck restriction signs, other traffic-calming devices have been tested on Hicks Avenue. The DOT is working to reduce the speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour in that area, Helmer said. "We expect to be going to the city council in August or September with a speed-limit reduction proposal. That would be for Hicks from Minnesota all the way to Curtner," he said. The Neighborhood Automated Speed Compliance Program (NASCOP) has already been implemented on Hicks Avenue to reduce speeds in the area. The program uses a white van that parks on Hicks a few times a month. With a speed-sensing radar unit, two high-resolution digital cameras and a mobile computer system, NASCOP snaps pictures of license plate numbers on speeding vehicles. The vehicle's driver later receives a speeding ticket in the mail. As of now, notifications of NASCOP enforcement have only consisted of a white sign that reads 'Speed limit 30, photo-radar enforced," a sign that greatly resembles the standard speed limit sign. Helmer said the city plans on changing the signs so people will be more aware that the speed limit of 25 miles per hour is being enforced by photo radar. The more controversial of the traffic-calming devices that have been placed in the Hicks Avenue area are the signs that restrict turns at certain times of day. "Right now, it may be a good estimate that three out of every four pieces of correspondence that we receive from Hicks Avenue show some form of opposition to the turn restrictions," said Helmer. "They've come in mostly from people who drive down the street." These measures consist of one left-turn restriction during the peak morning period and peak afternoon period, Monday through Friday, and four signs restricting vehicles from making right-hand turns during the peak morning period, Monday through Friday. "The turn restrictions are still under review," said Helmer. "We're receiving public input on them and we're continuing to take traffic surveys and traffic counts to monitor the impacts the turn restrictions have made." The DOT will be collecting more data on Hicks Avenue traffic and hopes to bring it to the Hicks Avenue community to determine if the turn restrictions are working. "We've reduced the volume of traffic on Hicks Avenue more so on the south end by Curtner than on the north end by Minnesota," said Helmer. "But for what we've done, we haven't lowered the speeds that much." "Ultimately the community will have quite a bit of say as to what traffic-calming measures will be permanently employed on Hicks," said Helmer. |
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