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New traffic improvements to help ensure pedestrian safety while using crosswalks are set to be installed this week along Valley Avenue as the city begins its month-long analysis on several intersections with high pedestrian collisions.
According to city communications manager Heather Tiernan, the traffic modification project will install green bollards at the Valley Avenue and Paseo Santa Cruz south intersection this week along with new pavement markings.
“This will increase pedestrian safety at the intersection by reducing the crossing distance for pedestrians,” Tiernan told the Weekly.
This first set of improvements is just the beginning of a recently revised schedule from the city’s Community Development Department, which will span over the next few months. The department’s plan is to slowly introduce these changes to the traffic lanes in phases in order to gather data before making a final determination on modifying other intersections on Valley Avenue.
According to Mike Tassano, deputy director of community development and transportation, the intent of these modifications is to address safety concerns raised by residents who say that drivers fail to stop at intersections like at Valley Avenue and Paseo Santa Cruz.
“Most of the stop sign collision reports and discussion with police officers identify that the driver failed to recognize that there was an intersection/stop sign,” Tassano wrote in a July 11 email to Pleasanton residents.
According to a multi-year summary of all the pedestrian-involved collisions in the city that Tassano provided in the email, the intersection at Valley Avenue and Paseo Santa Cruz has the third highest number of vehicle-versus-pedestrian collisions with six in total. The intersection of Valley Avenue and Santa Rita Road is second with seven — the intersection of Rose Avenue and Main Street is at the top of the list with nine total collisions.
The goal, Tassano added, would be to reduce the average crossing distance across Valley Avenue from about 110 feet, to 67 feet.
“The extension of the corners into the intersection will provide added visibility of the side street and the presence of an intersection,” Tassano added. “This also allows the right side stop sign to be moved to a more prevalent location that is more directly in the vehicle’s line of sight.”
Tassano’s email was a response to 45 emails that he said the city had received after putting up signs and traffic cones along Valley Avenue last month that were meant to serve as a temporary way of showing the proposed green bollards are installed.
“The majority of these emails expressed concern of added delay with the elimination of the right turn pocket and also a difficulty making the right turns,” Tassano wrote.
Tiernan said that while the city removed the cones after the demonstration period was over, not as a result of residents’ concerns, the main focus of the city is to now collect and monitor traffic from now until September to assess the impact of the modifications for future sites along Valley Avenue.
“The purpose of the cone placement at the intersections is to provide the residents advanced notice of the proposed changes and allow the opportunity to provide input prior to any construction,” Tassano said in the July 11 email. “The cones were not placed to test the change in delay or other operational characteristics. The revised schedule will place cones in September so the public can conceptualize the changes with standard peak traffic volumes.”
After this week’s first phase of improvements at Paseo Santa Cruz south, the city will continue to monitor the benefits of the modifications and traffic patterns until the end of October.
During that time, Tassano said the city will also be collecting video data for the intersections of Valley Avenue at Paseo Santa Cruz north and at Hansen Drive and will be placing the same traffic cones there to measure traffic behavior.
And even though many residents had previously voiced their frustrations about the cones on social media sites like Nextdoor saying that removing the right-turn pocket will increase traffic congestion, Tassano also said that by collecting data and monitoring traffic patterns, the city will be able to better understand what is working and what isn’t.
Another modification that the city could consider for these intersections is adding traffic signals, which Tassano said is already included in the city’s General Plan for the future.
Even though these intersections rank relatively high in the city’s priority list for traffic signal installments, he said that the funding for those installations wouldn’t be available until 2025. That’s why the city wants to install the green bollards before — so residents can feel somewhat safer in the time being.
He also pointed out that while traffic signals would improve pedestrian safety, they would also increase traffic congestion.
“While a traffic signal will improve pedestrian visibility and address the stop sign violations, delay will increase for residents leaving the neighborhood,” he said. “Right now, the time it takes to leave the neighborhood using the stop sign is minimal, but could be over a minute with a traffic signal.”
Traffic lights need to be installed, majority of commuters and residents have proven that they cant handle the responsibility of a stop sign controlled intersections. Valley has become dangerous for pedestrians and I very rarely see any kind of traffic enforcement in the area. I know this is anecdotal but that’s how I see it.
I tend to agree with J about lack of enforcement and ignoring stop signs. I did not comment on the ridiculous poster and cone “test” project near my home as I could not read any of the instructions from my car adding to the traffic hazard at those intersections. If I understand the rationale mentioned here about making the intersection crossing shorter by painting a zone on the street, that makes no sense to me. The street from curb to curb is as wide as it is. You are just measuring from an arbitrary end point. It doesn’t actually make the crossing time shorter.
The bollards are the biggest joke in town when it comes to traffic control. An actual traffic control light, MIGHT work, if enforced. But our police force is already being reduced from traffic to serious crime due to staffing and hiring shortages brought on by another set of irresponsible decisions, or lack thereof, by City Council. No contract with police and fire is a major blunder we will suffer from for years.
Maybe the pedestrians could obey the first rule your mother taught them…STOP, LOOK BOTH WAYS, THEN CROSS WHEN SAFE FROM ONCOMING CARS. Most pedestrians I have observed, unless they are in their 70’s or 80’s, don’t even STOP or pause at the intersection or crosswalk. They are entitled to walk right out into the street without regard for approaching traffic. How about fines for pedestrians? Oh never mind, they would not be enforced.
And those riding bikes are already in control of the road by blasting intersections whether there is a stop sign or not, by riding on the sidewalk endangering pedestrians and not using the correct direction in the painted bike lane,. Making car and truck drivers interpret and navigate green bollards in narrower lanes for driving will only cause confusion and likely more accidents. Taking some personal responsibility in this matter would be a good start to making a safer roadway for all users.