Dear members of the Menlo Park City Council,
We hope this email finds you well. My name is Eugene Kelley, and my
partner Laurel Fullerton and I are longtime residents of downtown
Menlo Park. We are writing to ask you to correct the dangerous
crosswalk and traffic conditions at the intersection of University
Drive with Santa Cruz Avenue, and to bring your attention to further
potential safety improvements that could be made at University Avenue
and Menlo Avenue.
On the evening of Thursday, November 7th, Laurel and I were crossing
University Drive towards downtown, from the Fremont Park corner, at
the crosswalk and with the light. A driver rounded the corner and
struck us due to poor visibility. We were extremely fortunate in that
the only injury either of us sustained was a broken wrist on my part.
The next morning as we were waiting at the same intersection in order
to file a police report, we observed two more near misses. These
events occurred in the span of only twenty minutes and in broad
daylight. One incident involved a truck and a bicycle, and the other
was a near copy of our accident between a pedestrian and a car turning
right onto University. We spoke with the Jehovahs Witnesses who often
sit on that corner and they said that almost every day, often multiple
times per day, they see vehicles very nearly colliding with
pedestrians and cyclists. It is truly only a matter of time before
something entirely avoidable and much more tragic than a broken wrist
happens there. Traffic turning right at that intersection has
increased dramatically with the introduction of the parklet on Santa
Cruz Avenue, which we both wholeheartedly support, but traffic safety
in the two most affected intersections has not accordingly kept pace.
We went back another day to assess what could have contributed to the
drivers inability to see us, despite the crosswalk and intersection
being generally illuminated at night. Most vitally, the old wooden
telephone pole on the Fremont Park corner stands in the direct line of
sight between drivers making a right turn and pedestrians crossing
towards downtown such that neither party can readily see each other,
even during the day. It appears that the only thing mounted on that
pole now is the streetlight. If the light were to be moved to an
adjacent pole and the wooden pole removed, drivers and pedestrians
would have much better mutual visibility. Secondly, there are tree
branches obscuring the streetlight. As a result, very little light
reaches the sidewalk at night, and between the glare of oncoming
headlights and the light of the other streetlights on that corner, the
sidewalk is too dark for drivers to discern whether or not anybody is
waiting to cross. Removing the excess branches would make an immediate
improvement to the sidewalks visibility.
Beyond those two major recommendations, we would like to suggest a few
other ideas that would further enhance safety at the crosswalk, singly
or in combination. More signage warning of the pedestrian crossing
would be a simple addition. The existing lights are somewhat dim, and
replacing them with brighter models would be a major improvement; this
could be done on the Fremont Park corner in the process of removing
the old pole, and if it fully illuminated the sidewalk as well as the
street, drivers would be much more able to see pedestrians waiting to
cross. Staggering the walk signal to activate before the green light
would give pedestrians a better margin of safety before traffic begins
to move. This alone would likely have prevented our own accident, as
the car that struck us began to pull through at the same moment that
we began to cross, giving neither party time to react. Making the
entire intersection a scramble light would impact traffic flow more,
but is another option. Prohibiting right turns on red is an option as
well, which could reasonably be limited to certain hours (like the
intersection of Middlefield Road and Oak Grove Avenue, just across the
city line in Atherton). Adding caution lights would prompt drivers to
pay more attention. Illuminating the trees lining the Fremont Park
sidewalk, as they are in the rest of downtown and as they are during
the holidays, would improve lighting and pedestrian visibility, as
well as add more charm to the park. A recent Menlo Park Library
community newsletter described Fremont Park as the heart of downtown.
Leaving it so dark, especially as the Daylight Savings Time change
shortens our days, seems out of tune with that messaging.
In addition, we would like to thank the City for improving the
intersection at Menlo Avenue and University Drive. As residents living
in the cul-de-sac connected to that intersection and passing through
it daily, we recommend a few more additions. Coupling the existing
stop sign on the south side of University Drive with clear signage
indicating that drivers must stop at the sign itself would eliminate a
lot of confusion. Despite the removal of the lines around the keep
clear zone, drivers who dont live locally still often dont know
where to stop and frequently either stop somewhere random within the
keep clear zone or not at all. Repainting the keep clear zone to
include a properly labeled stop line before the crosswalk would help
immensely in combination with the additional stop here sign, but
even adding that one sign to the existing signage and post would make
traffic more predictable to pedestrians and other drivers alike.
Signage to remind drivers to drive courteously and safely with regards
to pedestrians would go a long way there as well. We often cross that
intersection on foot ourselves and have discussed it with our
neighbors and many of the employees at Draegers, all of whom agree
that despite improvements it is still frightening and hazardous to
cross when traffic is heavy. A number of them reported close calls of
their own. Many elderly and otherwise slower pedestrians use that
intersection to access the grocery and its parking lot across the
street, and the combination of impatient or confused drivers plus
pedestrians pushing carts and carrying heavy groceries is a terrible
but ultimately preventable accident waiting to happen.
My partner and I both love Menlo Park and its downtown. Its
walkability was an enormous factor in our decision to purchase a
permanent home here, but recent traffic changes have threatened that
walkability in a very real, tangible, and personal way. For the
wellbeing of the residents, employees, and visitors who have to
contend with dangerous intersections and inattentive traffic just to
access downtown Menlo Park, we urge that you take preventative action
to further improve pedestrian safety to the best of the Citys
ability.
Please find attached four photos of the Santa Cruz and University
intersection. (For claritys sake, the photo from inside the car was
taken safely, as a passenger.) These illustrate the lack of line of
sight from pedestrians waiting on the corner to drivers turning right
and vice versa, as well as the tree obscuring the streetlight.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this safety matter. We await
your response, and can be reached at this same email address at any
time.
Sincerely,
Eugene Kelley & Laurel Fullerton
