Willow Glen Resident

News

City offers few ideas to discourage speeders on Blewett

By Emilie Crofton

The incidents read like a horror story: A parked truck hit three times in less than one year. A neighbor's cat hit so hard by a speeder that its dead body lands on the front doorsteps. Clients too afraid to come to a resident's home-based business, forcing the homeowner to lease an office at a different location.

Welcome to Blewett Avenue in Willow Glen, the narrow street that parallels Lincoln Avenue. Those who live on it say speeders use the road as a back alley to Lincoln Avenue. It has turned into a cut-through to Willow Street and Minnesota Avenue. And because it is a long, straight street, residents say drivers ignore the 25-mph limit and travel at speeds close to 60 mph.

"The drivers just aren't sensitive to the residents," homeowner Todd Webster said. According Webster, some drivers even use Blewett as a speed track for drag racing.

After moving to the street two years ago, Bill and Heather Cardoza were disturbed by the fact that they never saw residents on their front lawns. The couple learned neighbors were too afraid of speeders. The Cardozas became traffic-calming advocates for their neighborhood, battling an issue that has plagued the street for 20 years.

The Cardozas held a neighborhood meeting at their home June 28 to discuss solutions. The meeting was attended by residents along with District 6 City Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio, Denelle Fedor, Oliverio's director of public policy, and Laura Wells of the department of transportation.

At the meeting Oliverio said that traffic calming was the No. 1 complaint in the neighborhoods.

At the meeting, residents told their tales of woe to city officials.

Two-thirds of the Blewett residents said drivers will tailgate down the narrow street, often passing them while shouting obscenities.

Wells explained the difficulties in proving to the city that Blewett merits traffic calming solutions.

According to Wells, past tests have shown that the average speed down Blewett Avenue is 26 mph. The city would need proof that traffic is traveling at least 29 mph before it could do anything to mitigate the situation.

The best solution would be an increased police presence, but there are not enough traffic enforcement officers or money in the city budget.

Although residents were pleased that Oliverio and Wells came to the meeting, they remain frustrated.

"Residents feel like we're not getting anywhere; we're paralyzed" Cardoza said. "Everyone, including the police and city staff, knows there is a problem, but nothing is getting done."

A recent report released from the San Jose City Auditor's office backs up what the Blewett Avenue residents are saying.

The report, released in May, criticizes the transportation department's traffic-calming program, citing slow follow-up on neighborhood complaints and little or no documented rationale for costly capital projects. The report also criticizes the San Jose Police Traffic Enforcement Unit, the enforcement wing of the program, for inaccurately claiming fast complaint response times and high customer satisfaction.

The audit recommended more than a dozen policy changes, including prioritized project spending and better record keeping.

According to the Cardozas, residents are so frustrated they are planning to raise the money themselves to pay for speed humps, an arrangement Wells said the city could consider.

There was a consensus from residents that speed humps were the best solution, although some residents expressed concern that drivers might retaliate by repeatedly honking their horns, as that has happened on other streets when speed humps were added.

Holly Simmons, a Blewett Avenue resident, came to the meeting in support of the Cardozas and hoping to hear about calming the traffic.

"In an ideal world I'd like for the street to become a cul-de-sac, but I'm very satisfied with the idea of having speed humps," Simmons said.

The homeowners had a number of ideas to help slow traffic, including planting trees along the street, adding bulb-outs and making the street visibly narrower by painting thick solid white lines along the sides.

In addition to speeders, some residents complained of visibility issues. They said cars park too close to their driveways, sometimes even blocking them in during the day. To help these residents, Wells took down the names for residents to have three feet of red curb painted on part of the sidewalk around the ends of their driveway.

The small step didn't satisfy some.

"The meeting was a disappointment," Brian Parker said. "I had higher expectations and I didn't feel like we got anywhere."

Parker said he has almost been hit on a number of occasions when trying to cross the narrow street to get to a neighbor's house.

Oliverio recommended residents attend a council session and express their concerns as a group during the oral request portion of the meeting.

Some residents have given up and moved to other locations. The Cardozas plan to keep fighting but they are worried about the future, as Heather Cardoza is six months pregnant.

"I'm scared to death for my future daughter," her husband said.