The city has developed a plan to reduce the traffic on Willow Glen residential streets, but neighbors are disagreeing about the approach.

The two-hour neighborhood meeting at Willow Glen Middle School on Nov. 14 wasn't as well-attended as the Oct. 8 traffic calming meeting at Willow Glen High School, but some in the smaller crowd were still criticizing the San Jose Department of Transportation (DOT), complaining about rude drivers and occasionally blaming each other for the existing traffic problems.

"We're aware that not all of you will like what you hear tonight," said Helmer, acting director for the DOT. San Jose District 6 City Council member Ken Yeager joined Helmer in introducing the Hicks Avenue Action Plan.

The meeting consisted of a slide presentation that showed aerial views of city streets. There was also an open discussion period, during which some Hicks Avenue residents voiced their displeasure with the amount of traffic that continues to plague their street.

But Hicks Avenue residents were criticized by neighbors on adjacent streets who said they should have known better than to buy a house on a street that is intended to be a major arterial road.

Hicks Avenue resident David Markham said, "Willow Glen is the filter for all the development projects that have no cut-through roads. That's the big problem with San Jose."

The action plan is made up of short- and long-term traffic calming measures to be implemented on Cherry, Curtner, Glenwood, Hicks, Hamilton, Meridian and Minnesota avenues, Dry Creek Road and Hamilton Way.

Resident Helen Beth Morris, who lives on Madrona Avenue and has been a Willow Glen resident since 1999, said, "I think Yeager needs to include all the neighborhoods in Willow Glen. He needs to speak with residents who live south of Curtner Avenue."

Some residents believe the city presumed that all of Hicks Avenue could be interpreted as one neighborhood. They believe that the trouble spots at any number of intersections and T-intersections along Hicks are in separate neighborhoods and that the city should have taken that into consideration.

Some short-term actions are to adjust traffic signal timers on Hamilton and Meridian avenues, close right-turn lanes on Hicks Avenue and Hamilton Way, and install crosswalk and "bulb-out" curbs to prevent motorists from making fast right turns.

"The number one fatality of pedestrians in San Jose is being hit by drivers making fast right turns," Helmer said.

Some long-term plans call for signal modifications at Hamilton and Hicks avenues to allow right turns from Hamilton to Meridian, and for preventing fast right turns from Pine to Hicks.

The long-term plans may take up to five years and include the installation of curbs, gutters and lighting.

"We have not been as successful as we wanted," Helmer said, responding to comments about the DOT's progress. Helmer added that most of these traffic-calming measures are being implemented with the goal of diverting traffic from residential roads back to Meridian Avenue.

Morris said that these traffic-calming measures "work more to move problems rather than fix them."

Helmer said, "The unfortunate thing about Willow Glen is, its streets weren't designed to take on this much growth in traffic."

"Traffic calming is not a science," he added, "but an experiment in changing people's minds about how they drive."

The DOT is launching a program to do just that. The department's Street Smarts campaign, launched last week, is a community education program intended to improve traffic safety in neighborhoods by changing drivers' behavior. The advertising and community relations campaign targets motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians about unsafe driving behavior, such as running red lights and speeding.

"Traffic is a citywide problem," Yeager said after the meeting. "And we're really excited about this Street Smarts education campaign."