Hi Mary Jo and Brian McCarthy,
Thanks so much for coming to the commission meeting last night, it was great to have you bring the situation to our attention. I
am one of the commission members, but another of my volunteer hats is the Safe Routes to School Coordinator for Hillview Middle
School. The dangerous situation on Olive St. is something that Hillview parents and the administration have been concerned about
for years, and I can only imagine how frightening it would be to witness the chaos living right next to it! Anyone who has
witnessed the free-for-all among cars, bicyclists, and pedestrians would wonder why there isn't an accident there more often.
As you know, the straw that broke the camel's back for those of us monitoring Olive was the student bicyclist getting doored by a
driver who illegally stopped and parked along the west side of Olive closest to the Santa Cruz intersection. The bollards were
only implemented after a year of all sorts of interim steps were taken to deter drivers. Hedges were trimmed, a red strip was
added, the police did their best to show up and enforce, Hillview did a PR newsletter campaign to parents, parents held up signs
on the corner, etc. It became overwhelmingly clear that anything short of a physical barrier (or a police officer stationed there
every single school day), drivers would take advantage of that open shoulder to stop. We live in an age of traffic congestion that
is so intense, people are are driven to desperate measures. This is our reality.
Thanks to your careful monitoring of the situation, we now know that this safety measure needs improvement. Kevin Chen in public
works, who has been amazingly responsive despite acute staffing shortages in his department, has told me that they are working on
moving the last bollard in the row (furthest from the intersection) so that bicyclists can access the "protected" zone within the
bollards, instead of taking the lane and mixing with car traffic.
I also asked the parents and residents of Olive who are intimately familiar the street about your safety concerns. Here is some of
their feedback:
RE: student bicyclists crossing in the middle of the street and riding the wrong way up Olive:
"In my mind the bollards have not created a new problem with regards to kids crossing over on bikes in the middle of the street.
That problem existed well before the bollards arrived. This doesn’t sound right, but the bollards have actually “helped” this
problem in a strange way because now students actually do it sooner onOliverather than closer to the intersection which was
terrifying to watch. The students crossingOliveillegally on their bikes are doing it sooner onOliveand now not as close to the
cars turning left from Santa Cruz ontoOlive. In a way, the bollards have pushed the problem further back which could be seen as a
small positive to a horrible problem???"
RE: bollards squeezing bicyclists and cars together.
"Because of the bollards, I actually have seen that because of their presence, there is limited space for cars to “double up” at
the intersection ofOliveand Santa Cruz (one car waiting to turn left and another car on the right waiting to turn right). The
bollards have made the space narrower, and from what I have seen this past week, have made cars wait in a single file line for
their turn to make a turn. As a result, there is more space for bikes."
Note that when that last bollard is removed, it will hopefully encourage more bicyclists to bike to the right of the bollards
instead of crossing the street mid-block or mixing with car traffic at the intersection. I'd be very interested to know what you
observe after this happens!
But I think it is very obvious, for all the reasons you've mentioned, that a short row of bollards is NOT the ultimate solution to
this problem. Our kids shouldn't have to take their lives into their hands in order to bike to school. I'd love to work together
with you both on this. Let's communicate directly about this soon--you have my email and I have your number.
Thanks so much,
Lydia LeeHillview SRTS CoordinatorComplete Streets Commissioner
On Thu, Nov 15, 2018 at 8:44 AM Mary Jo McCarthy wrote:
> Dear Members of The Streets Commission,
Thank you for the opportunity to voice our comments at the meeting last night. I apologize for the additional comment, but I
thought it was important to clarify some information. I know that Kevin and your committee is working diligently to address the
overall master plan for bike safety and that will take some time. However, in the meantime, I would like to clarify and reiterate
a “temporary solution"for the hazard that has been created by the ballards on the east side of Olive St as the bikes approach
Santa Cruz.
1. Kevin mentioned a suggested solution that would reduce the number of ballards, i.e. place them at greater intervals. This does
not solve the problem that the bikes need to either choose to ride to the right side of the ballard, on the black top with the
pedestrians, or to the left side, riding alongside the cars and without adequate clearance (because the cars double up to turn
right and left.) Again, as a result of ANY number of ballards or other obstacles in that area, the bikes cross in the middle
of the street and then proceed to ride on the wrong side of the street. (Two hazardous situations!)
2. Kevin stated that you could not just add a green pathway without a more elaborate plan that would extend the bike lane to Oak
St. I understand that this will take more study and thus time. However, in the meantime, we are suggesting that you paint a
much wider red line on or near the valley gutter with additional “No Parking” stenciled in white paint on the pavement,
approximately every 15’ section of the new red line. Kevin stated that the previous red line and “No Parking” signs did not
deter the cars from parking, however, the former red line was very thin and the No Parking signs were obstructed by the
foliage.
3. The existing No Parking signs, hidden by vegetation, could be moved a bit and possibly enlarged to be more visible.
4. Finally, an occasional check by the police during “Morning” drop off would be an additional deterrent, some warning tickets
for violators and notices sent to the parents.
I’d like to reiterate that the crossing guard and the cross-walk lights have been a really good solution!However, it’s the
“approach” to this intersection that is the problem.
Thank you for your consideration of these suggestions.
Sincerely,Mary Jo and Brian McCarthy650-400-6364 (MJ), 650-400-6387 (B)
--
Lydia Lee
lydialee.com [lydia@lydialee.com]
415-218-8475
