Q: The striping and light at Hamilton Place need to be fixed as soon as possible. I saw another near miss this week with someone in the confusing straight-to-left turn lane there. A big truck did not know the lane ended and almost took out the car on his right at the last moment. You could hear tires squealing. This signal and pavement striping are dangerous.
Lindsay Geier
A: This message followed your recent questions for Colin-the-city-spokesman.
Q: Taking Leigh Avenue from De Rose Way to Hamilton has been an easy commute. Now the signal is constantly on at Hamilton Place, even when no one is making a left turn or leaving. It also now creates a very long wait for those going south on Leigh. I’ve seen people get so fed up that they stop, look and then proceed through the red light.
Also, why, with all the densification, would the city think it was good idea to reduce Leigh Avenue to two lanes with large bike lanes, especially when the Los Gatos Creek bike trail is right there? The left turn lane that was added is very confusing, as you think you’re in the second northbound lane, but it’s actually the left turn lane. Drivers make a sudden swerve to the right to get into the one continuing lane.
A dedicated left turn lane was there before and worked great. This busy street connects thousands of people to Southwest Expressway and Interstate 280.
Lindsay Geier
A: Colin said the intersections of Leigh Avenue and Hamilton Place and Leigh Avenue and Hamilton Avenue were affected by a recent signal cabinet knockdown. Detection equipment, as well as other equipment there, were damaged and are preventing timing changes. The maintenance team is trying to get cabinet access and equipment replacements needed to make timing changes.
As for the Leigh Avenue striping changes, a safety improvement project on Leigh reduced the number of lanes to calm traffic, improve safety and create dedicated space for bicyclists. Projects like this bring San Jose closer to city council-adopted goals found in many city plans now, including the Envision San José 2040 General Plan, Climate Smart San José, Vision Zero San José and Better Bike Plan 2025.
San Jose is trying to reduce drive-alone car trips to just 20% of all trips by 2050, and striving to have a carbon-neutral city much sooner, by 2030.
Signage and markings are some of the last things to be finished with road projects. Your information about a recent near miss is valuable as he checks to see if more signage and markings will be added to keep everyone safe as drivers navigate that left turn lane configuration.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at [email protected].