Whose brilliant idea was it to put Moorpark on a diet?
Q Oh Mr. Roadshow, can you please tell me (and I’m sure thousands of others) who the hell thought of the traffic re-striping on Moorpark Avenue between Saratoga Avenue and Lawrence Expressway in West San Jose? Last Thursday, Mitty High School had something going on— lots and lots of cars. Gridlock from Mitty to Saratoga. Expect major problems on this section. Other nearby schools — Harker, Challenger, De Vargas and Queen of Apostles — will only add to the gridlock. And that’s just in the morning; wait until the afternoon.
All this for one or two bikes that use this section once in a blue moon? I have lived just off Moorpark for over 25 years and have called police and medics to I don’t know how many accidents on Moorpark. I expect lots of road rage and more accidents because of this.
Greg Lindh
A Introducing the latest “road diet” in San Jose. Moorpark Avenue has been re-striped from two lanes each way to one through lane each direction, a twoway left-turn center lane, and bike lanes from west of Saratoga Avenue to Williams Road.
Q I can understand giving a road diet a shot on a street like Lincoln Avenue, where you have significant pedestrian traffic, retail and restaurants. However, Moorpark is a major thoroughfare feeding several schools in addition to Lawrence Expressway and Interstate 280. I hope residents of the quiet Strawberry Park neighborhood are ready for the influx of cars cutting through their area. Whose harebrained idea is this anyway?
Sean Carroll and more
A The city of San Jose. The change was to address safety concerns of neighbors. The new look should reduce speeding and left-turn crashes from side streets. There are also new right-turn pockets in certain areas, such as westbound Moorpark approaching Mitty Way and eastbound Moorpark approaching Williams.
Don’t overreact. Freshman orientation was on at Mitty last week, which meant a lot of new parents getting their kids to school, and traffic is always horrendous the first few weeks around most schools. Allow more time, be patient and pass this message on to your teen drivers. Then report back to me.
Q I know the writer of that article about the new 15-mph speed signs along the Stevens Creek Trail was joking, but it’s a serious problem. The idiots in the wannabe Lance Armstrong costumes race along that trail with little or no regard for pedestrians or other cyclists. I can’t tell you the number times I have almost been hit or have seen people cower in fear as these jerks zoom by, weaving around people taking a stroll.
But the problem isn’t just there; these people are even worse on the roads leading to the trail. Twice I’ve observed a bicyclist running into a group of kids at Mountain View High because they weren’t paying attention as they flew through stop signs.
Kids have more sense than these folks; at least they slow down and look both ways.
I respect the fact that they want to bike to work but they need to do it in a manner that is respectful to the other people using the trails and the roads.
Bruce F.
Mountain View
A I hope your plea is heard.