Narrowing Monterey Road to one lane each way between Dunne and
Main avenues is still very much a
“maybe” prospect.
Narrowing Monterey Road to one lane each way between Dunne and Main avenues is still very much a “maybe” prospect.
The City Council held a workshop Wednesday to discuss ways of slowing four lanes of exhaust-belching traffic racing through downtown, and narrowing the road is one method suggested. Council’s unanimous goal is to make the downtown safer and more pedestrian-friendly.
Other methods are speed bumps and speed tables, lights in the pavement, chicanes (curvy roads) textured pavement to get their attention and signs or banners announcing that the motorist is entering a special district.
The council’s goal is to make downtown safer and more pedestrian-friendly and, as a result, to boost custom for businesses and restaurants and opportunities for residents.
While Mayor Dennis Kennedy and some downtown business owners favored the one-lane way, Council members Larry Carr, Greg Sellers and Steve Tate wanted to try other tricks. One consideration in narrowing lanes or installing speed bumps or chicanes is how it would affect emergency vehicles getting through town.
Police Chief Bruce Cumming said it wouldn’t bother police cars at all but Santa Clara County Fire Department Battalion Chief Brad Jarvis was vehemently against it.
“We don’t like traffic calming,” Jarvis told the council. “It slows our response times. Fire apparatus is big and heavy. It doesn’t operate like a sports car.”
Jarvis also worried about where cars would go to get out of the way of fire engines since there would be no second lane. Diagonal or parallel parking in the extra lane would eliminate the escape zone for cars as it would provide a safety barrier for sidewalk dining.
Each speed bump could slow a fire truck down by as much as six seconds and could add one extra minute to the time it takes for a fire or paramedic crew to reach its destination.
When your house is on fire or you need medical attention, a minute is too long, Jarvis said.
Speed tables were also an option. They are flatter on top and less disruptive to vehicles than bumps.
Brad Jones, who owns BookSmart at Monterey Road and West Second Street and who used to live on the frequently flooded West Second, said such tables would likely increase the flooding caused by the nearby unimproved Little Llagas Creek.
Cutting channels through the speed tables was suggested as a way to slow traffic while letting excess water through.
The elephant in the room was Butterfield Boulevard, which no one besides council members seemed to think was a serious alternative. Linda Evaro, the school district’s transportation head, said buses to Britton and Sobrato must still travel up Monterey Road, and those to P.A. Walsh as well.
Diverting to Butterfield would mean going out of their way and crossing the railroad tracks twice – a danger in itself, she said.
Jarvis said Butterfield is too far from Monterey Road downtown and even farther where it meets Tennant Avenue. He did not consider it an alternative route to many emergency destinations.
Dan Craig, director of the Downtown Association, said he would like to see signs encouraging traffic to divert over to Butterfield from Tennant and Cochrane Road before more drastic measures were taken.
More acceptable to council members and the audience were lights in the pavement, textured pavement and banners announcing that the driver is entering a “special district” and should take care.
Raising fines for speeding or other traffic violations in the downtown special district may or may not be possible. Cumming said he would investigate.
Freeing up patrol officers to point radar guns at motorists poses a problem, he said, since periods of late afternoon commute traffic coincide with periods of high police “activity.”
Council sent the report back for further consideration to the Planning Department and transportation consultants Fehr & Peers, whose Jane Bierstedt led the workshop. The consultants are under contract to David J. Powers & Associates to whom the city paid $109,000 for the expanded downtown plan study.
Planning Manager Jim Rowe said the environmental report on the Downtown Plan, conditionally accepted by the council in May 2003, will be ready for its 21-day public review in about two weeks. The review is required before council can formally approve the plan.
The Downtown Plan addressed the overall business/residential mix, urban design and traffic issues with the goal of improving downtown’s attractiveness to visitors and businesses. Planners, who included residents, business owners, council members and city staff determined the need to reduce the barrier presented by the central median mounds, slowing traffic and whether or not any street or intersections should be modified.
Council has set aside $100,000 in RDA funding for Monterey Road improvements and $25,000 for design.
