Red Phone readers have been seeing red this week, some too much
and others not enough, prompting the Crimson Crusader to shine the
light on some of Morgan Hill’s sticky traffic troubles.
Red Phone readers have been seeing red this week, some too much and others not enough, prompting the Crimson Crusader to shine the light on some of Morgan Hill’s sticky traffic troubles. The Red Phone had a chat with Morgan Hill Deputy Director of Public Works Karl Bjarke, who was very helpful in detailing future plans for our growing pains. You can chat with Red Phone too. Just call 779-4106 ext. 206 or e-mail re******@*************es.com.
Downtown Dilemma
“I was wondering if you knew when the road construction and sidewalk construction on Main Street between Butterfield and the railroad tracks in front of the flea market might be finished. It seems like it has been going on forever.”
Red Phone
Currently a new sewer line is almost finished with installation on Depot Street. The project should be done by the second week of February, according to Bjarke. He also said the city was in the design phase of additional construction in downtown. Plans are to start the construction on Depot between Main and Fifth in mid to late July and have it completed by January, he said. There will be a new curb and gutter and sidewalk being added. New bulldogs, devices at the crosswalk that are designed to be easy to press for kids and handicapped, will be added at the intersections to make pedestrian crossing safer, he said.
Tennant Traffic
“My concern is that Tennant Avenue is getting a lot more traffic going from 101 west towards Monterey. The lanes go from four lanes down to two right right around Tennant Station Shopping Center where Church Avenue now has a red light. Especially at 5pm, sometimes traffic will back up from several of those lights on Tennant going west almost all the way to the freeway overpass. It is blocking a lot of the flow of traffic. It can be hazardous. My question is are they going to widen Tennant at the Church Avenue area or can they shorten the length of time for the Church Avenue stop light turns red? It should be green longer in favor of Tennant Avenue.”
Red Phone
Last February, the city awarded a contract to Granite Rock Company-Pavex Construction Division for the Construction of a light at Tennant and 101 for the amount of $428,309. And then in December, the City Council approved the final amount of $501,491 for the project, which includes widening of Tennant. The project to widen Tennant between Vineyard and Monterey is scheduled to begin in early April and last about three months, Bjarke said. There currently are no plans to widen Church Avenue, he said.
Light at Condit at Dunne
“I am concerned about the light on Condit at Dunne near the freeway. They turn right there off of Condit onto Dunne. It’s when people are getting into that lane to get onto the freeway and they are pulling out in front. I can see lots of accidents happening there. I was wondering if they are ever going to put a do-not-turn light there.”
Red Phone
Nothing is in the plans right now, according Bjarke. “We’d have to look at that,” he said.
Light at Cochrane and 101
I had called about this a while back, and you checked on it, but they didn’t give you an answer right of the bat. I was wondering if they are going to put a light at the 101 North entrance off of Cochrane if you are going west on Cochrane. It is a regular light and people cut across and go north on Cochrane. There needs to be a light there. Some people stop, and some people keep going.”
Red Phone
There is a light there currently, Bjarke said, and the city doesn’t currently have any plans to modify the signal. “It could be modified in the future,” he said.
