Speed limit to be 15 mph

SAN JOSE — The speed limit in front of Presentation High School on Plummer Avenue will be lowered from 25 to 15 mph to make it safer for students.

Last September, 14-yearold Loukas Angelo was fatally struck by a car in front of nearby Archbishop Mitty High School, where he was a freshman. The vehicle was driving at the posted 25 mph speed limit, but District 6 Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio said the tragedy might have been avoided if the limit was lower.

Oliverio suggested several years ago that the speed limit in front of all San Jose schools be decreased to 15 mph by invoking a state law that allows it under certain conditions.

“I have long been a supporter of proactively lowering all the speed limits in front of all the schools across the city,” Oliverio said in an interview. “However, the council majority decided to move slower and only do it when requested by the school.”

So at Oliverio’s urging, Presentation principal Mary Miller made such a request to the city.

“Some people believe the city controls speed limits,” Oliverio said. “We have absolutely nothing to do with that. The state mandates the speeds, and this is the only loophole that exists to lower speed limits.”

There are more than 200 schools in San Jose, but only those with a speed limit of 25 mph or greater on a two-lane road can seek a lower limit. Oliverio said a school like Willow Glen Elementary, which sits on the corner of Lincoln and Minnesota avenues, could seek a slower speed along Lincoln, which now has two lanes because of a road diet, but not along four-lane Minnesota.

Lowering school zone speed limits across the entire city increases pedestrian safety by creating more consistency, Oliverio said.

“When San Francisco did it, they implemented it citywide, and the benefit of that is you then create awareness across the entire city that, hey, you need to drive slow in front of all schools,” he said.

Though much engineering work is involved, Oliverio said he expects the new speed limit in front of Presentation to be posted by the time the school year begins. The $25,000 project is being funded from his office budget and includes staff time and sign installation costs.