Modern Transit Society
moderntransit.org PO Box 5582, San Jose CA 95150 phone: 408-221-0694
Sept. 14, 2004
Councilmember Dave Cortese, San Jose City Council, District 8 Supervisor Blanca Alvarado Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, District 2 Subject: Capitol Expressway fatality prevention Dear Councilmember Cortese and Supervisor Alvarado: Executive Summary The County Roads and Airports Department is partly responsible for two fatalities of pedestrians on Capitol Expressway on the same block (Quimby to Aborn) on Sept. 1 and in 1992. They did not comply with existing laws and policies regarding pedestrian safety on expressways. The policies were enacted at our request by the County Board of Supervisors in 1991, then included and expanded in the County Expressway Plan (2003) which we had influential input. The City Ordinance # 11.32.070 was changed at our request in 1989. The important point below is that another accident is just waiting to happen in this same block as a result of non-compliance. The danger can be corrected in a few days and at very little cost because it involves only sign removal and shrubbery trimming. The Department has a fallacy that posting a “pedestrians prohibited” sign solves the “pedestrian problem.” Posting prohibitory signs has never stopped pedestrians, especially on Capitol, the most used expressway by pedestrians. The 1991 BOS policy and the 1992 fatality At our request, the BOS adopted policy in 1991 that “shrubbery at expressway intersection areas will be trimmed [for] pedestrians.” This is illustrated by this general drawing for expressway-arterial intersections (with curbs shown as thicker lines):
In 1992, an elementary school pupil who
lived on Capitol Expressway --at the mobile home park with no other access--
was killed because Branch Manager Allen Jones flat out refused to comply with
the BOS policy, to trim shrubbery at expressway intersections for pedestrian
safety, so people won't be forced to walk in the travel-way (trajectory) of
right turning cars. This fatality occurred about 10 feet from the
intersection where the shoulder does not exist, while the driver was making a
right-turn-on-yield at the T-intersection --looking left while driving right.
Also contributing to the accident, in
all likelihood, was the driver not expecting pedestrians due to the illegally
posted "pedestrians prohibited" sign which the driver would have
encountered upon leaving the private drive, turning onto the
"expressway."
The May 2004 promise to comply with law and the September 2004 fatality
The Mercury News article, describing
two hit-and-run fatalities on Sept. 1 (other was on Tully), had one paragraph
re Capitol:
In the second incident -- on Capitol Expressway, between Quimby and Aborn
roads -- the victim was hit about 8:20
p.m. while crossing the southbound lanes
of the expressway. The man was declared dead at the scene; his identity was not
immediately released.
There is a large prohibitory sign posted (photo,
right) --only one on this block. The driver, going southbound, went past this
one sign. The walker was NOT killed walking along the road shoulder, which is
no more dangerous for walkers than for bicyclists using bike lanes.
Crossing arterial roads --including
expressways-- is by far the most dangerous action according to statistics, and
the risk is increased by misinforming drivers –and not just where the
signs are posted, but at all expressways whether signs are posted or not.
Accidents usually occur when something unexpected happens, and the illegal
"pedestrians prohibited" signs send the message to drivers: There are
no pedestrians, and they don't need to be aware of their presence.
That accident might not have occurred
if County staff would have complied with the law. In fact, Mr. Murdter promised
the BOS on May 4, 2004 that “[The] Department is in the process of
removing the prohibition signs because ... the city with jurisdiction ...
allow[s] pedestrian access.” He did not, and he continues his violations
of California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21960 and 21401.
The next accident waiting to happen
There are three actions needed in this
block of two fatalities for pedestrian safety:
1) Remove the illegally posted
prohibitory sign at Quimby informing motorists not to watch out for
walkers. The City ordinance Ordinance # 11.32.070 does not ban pedestrians on
Capitol Expressway and therefore under CVC 21960 the sign must be removed. The
sign is also unapproved by Caltrans under CVC 21401. [See links at bottom for
City Ordinance, legal opinion and the Vehicle Code sections.]
2) Trim shrubbery at the SW corner
of Capitol Expressway at Cumby
Road, as graphically depicted
above. At most such corners, where drivers make a right-turn-on-red, such
action has been already accomplished by the bus stop. Here, a major transit
center is less than a block away adjacent to Capitol Expressway at Eastridge,
and there is no bus stop at this corner. For those walking south from the
transit center, the most dangerous action is crossing the
“Expressway” twice to get to the sidewalk on the other side and
then crossing back. The County Expressway Plan approved by cities and the BOS
states [page 93]:
"Landscaping needs to be kept
trimmed back at intersection areas and along the travel way so pedestrians do
not have to enter the travel lane."
3) Trim shrubbery for the entire block to obtain a
path (example photo, below). The shoulder on this side of the block (photo,
right) is unique compared with other shoulders of expressways because:
a) In 1997, County highway engineers,
when adding more lanes, reduced the shoulder width here from 10 feet to as
little as 4.5 feet, which is substandard and probably the narrowest
shoulder on expressways, and is below the 5-foot minimum stipulated for
bicycles in the Expressway Plan. Note that the minimum width for bicycles
adopted by the City of San Jose is 5 feet, and by the State is also 5 feet (with a
gutter pan, as on expressways).
b) Plants have overgrown about
half of this width at many places.
c) This block has a right turning
curvature.
All three factors combine to reduce
visibility for those using the shoulder who are mostly bicyclists, but also
pedestrians. Some drivers, led to believe that there are no bicycles or
pedestrians on the “expressway,” may cut the corner by driving on
the shoulder when the bicyclist or pedestrian may be hidden by the overgrown
shrubbery. The solution is to create a pedestrian path by cutting back the
shrubbery by two feet from the curb in this entire block on this side, to
connect with the sidewalk extending part way from the south end. A pedestrian
path would cheaply be created and would simultaneously solve the overgrowth /
visibility problem for bicyclists.
The County Expressway Plan does
recognize that pedestrian paths are legitimate walking facilities, and even has
a photo of walking on a dirt path of an expressway [page 93]. While the third
item above is not required by BOS policy, that does not mean it should not be accomplished. Moreover, in order to induce action, shrubbery trimming requirements used by the Department
for sight-lines
may be applicable and cited. (For details, contact Dan Collen, former Study Manager for the County Expressway Plan).
Transit access, transit patron safety
Mr. Murdter and County highway
engineers completely ignore that a transit center is a half block away on the
same side of Capitol Expressway. While a sidewalk was constructed on the other
side in this block soon after the 1992 fatality, Mr. Murdter now expects many
people to cross the expressway twice –the most risky
activity—instead of just continuing on the same side of Capitol.
Mr. Murdter should have constructed
sidewalks or paths as part of the lane addition project in 1997 when giving
most of the bike/ped right of way to automobiles. He was informed that the
signs were illegal by County Counsel the previous year due to the (then) County
Bicycle Advisor Committee (now called VTA BPAC) requesting a legal opinion at
the request of MTS.
The traditional highway engineering
attitude towards transit patrons was demonstrated at other locations in the
past: The Department banned use of the Capitol LRT station to people not
driving a car to the parking lot-- until our efforts to remove the signs. The
highway engineers also banned Lawrence Caltrain station patrons to access a
nearby business park until forced to remove signs by MTS’ efforts. Bus
stops on Capitol also had “pedestrians prohibited” signs until our
1996-7 fight with Mr. Murdter’s Department.
More illegal signs on Capitol
Two other blocks of Capitol with prohibitory signs
also violate the same two Vehicle Code sections, between San Antonio St.
and Capitol Ave. Here, nothing more needs to be accomplished other
than to remove the signs because the intersections already have a path --in
fact, it is most of the way-- or there is a wide shoulder or both (shown,
right).
Thank you for your past efforts for
pedestrian safety.
For your convenience for forwarding
this letter (to retain photos and formatting), it was uploaded to the Internet
at this link:
http://moderntransit.org/expy/cortese.htm
Links for documents and details are
below.
Sincerely,
Akos Szoboszlay
President
Links for documents, details:
Expressway Topics, Links page:
http://moderntransit.org/expy/
San Jose City Ordinance #
11.32.070: http://moderntransit.org/expy/sjordinance.html
County Counsel legal opinion: http://moderntransit.org/expy/legal.html
CVC 21960: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21960.htm
CVC 21401 (several links at):
http://moderntransit.org/expy/stonewall.htm#unapproved
Count Expressway Plan (several links
at): http://moderntransit.org/expy/ped-element.html
Details of trimming shrubbery
policies: http://moderntransit.org/expy/repeal.html#extremely
This letter: http://moderntransit.org/expy/cortese.htm