Willow Glen Resident
News
Council wants to tame speeding down streets
By Stephen Baxter
Persistent speeding in several San Jose neighborhoods has prompted city officials to schedule a series of public meetings in October and November to find some ways to calm traffic.
City Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio initiated the meetings, which were in response to resident complaints throughout Willow Glen and a fatal July car crash in Almaden Valley.
"Speeding cars don't discriminate," Oliverio told the city council on Sept. 18. "It's time to revamp and re-evaluate the [city's] policy," he said.. The council unanimously approved the meetings.
Until last spring, San Jose tracked speeders with NASCOP, or Neighborhood Automated Speed Compliance Program. The program used photos to identify and cite drivers who broke the speed limit. San Jose started the program in the late 1990s but killed it on March 6 because of legal issues.
At least five neighborhood meetings will be held from Oct. 8 to Nov. 29 throughout the city, and a report will be delivered to the Transportation and Environment Committee in December. Suggestions likely would be considered by the city council in 2008 and tacked on to the 2009 budget.
Some possible solutions include hiring more patrol officers, adding raised speed buttons to the roadway to slow street traffic, and working with state authorities to raise fines for breaking the speed limit. Neighbors say they are concerned that careless drivers could hit children and other pedestrians.
The city launched a similar effort to calm traffic in 2001 that was chaired by Mayor Chuck Reed, then a councilman. Jim Helmer, the city's transportation department director, said the upcoming process would offer a comprehensive look at San Jose's traffic policies and guidelines.
Neighbors can already access a 71-page Traffic Calming Toolkit on the city's website, which describes how streets can be changed with stop signs and bulbouts, among other things. It also lists ways to contact city officials, and is at www.sanjoseca.gov/ transportation/traffic_calming.htm.
Police have received more speeding complaints in Council District 6--which includes the Willow Glen and Rose Garden neighborhoods--than in any other area, district officials said.
Residents on Atlanta Avenue and McKendry Drive in Willow Glen say drivers routinely ignore 25-mph signs, and many zip through Bird Avenue to get to Interstate 280.
Denelle Fedor, Oliverio's public policy director, said Willow Glen draws fast drivers because of its central location, proximity to highways and its 100,000 residents. Fed up with speeders, neighbors on Bird Avenue met on their own at a neighbor's house on Aug. 29.
Colin McCarthy, a 35-year-old attorney who has lived on Bird for three years, said he welcomed the upcoming city meetings.
"I also think it would be a good idea to step up enforcement," he said. "Our councilman is addressing the issue, or at least he's aware of the issue."
Fedor said Oliverio has encountered speeders on his own street, Cherry Avenue, where he often walks and rides his bike.
At Bird Avenue and Willow Street, the wide intersection encourages drivers to accelerate to make the light, neighbors say. Careless drivers also shoot by the corner of Bird and Minnesota avenues, neighbors say.
Curb bulbouts and speed "buttons" or rumblers on the road may also be solutions, McCarthy said.
Other areas of the city also struggle with unsafe drivers.
Michael LaRocca of the Burbank/Del Monte Neighborhood Advisory Committee told the council, "This is a citywide issue."
LaRocca is also president of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Association, which has been working with city officials and police to slow traffic since 2003.
Councilman Forrest Williams said neighbors should set a good example by driving cautiously before they lay blame on others.
Councilmen Sam Liccardo agreed that the issue deserves attention.
"I spent a lot of time knocking on doors last year [campaigning], and this was bar none the hottest topic," Liccardo said.
