Dangerous intersection to see safety improvements
This year alone, seven people have died on corner of Monterey Road and Curtner Avenue
An exceptionally dangerous San Jose intersection that has been the site of multiple hit-andrun crashes this year is headed for an overhaul.
As part of a new pilot program endorsed by the San Jose City Council on Tuesday, the city plans to install barriers near Monterey Road and Curtner Avenue with the hopes of making the area safer for pedestrians.
This year alone, seven people have died on Monterey Road; six of those deaths were caused by hit-and-runs, according to police and data compiled by this news organization.
“We owe it to our residents; we owe it to the families of the victims to try it out and see what we learn,” Council member Maya Esparza said about the pilot program. “If it helps, then maybe we can look at the other Vision Zero corridors in our city. If it doesn’t, then we need to go on to the next thing. But we owe it to our residents to try.”
Monterey Road — a major
Santa Clara County thoroughfare that runs from San Jose down to Gilroy — previously was identified by San Jose officials as one of more than a dozen safety priority corridors targeted for roadway improvement projects.
Historically, a disproportionately high number of traffic
deaths and severe injuries have occurred on the road, partially because it’s used as an arterial roadway in South Santa Clara County and often brings cars traveling at highway speeds into densely populated areas of San Jose. Council member Raul Peralez, a former police officer who has patrolled the area, added that people driving recklessly and under the influence also were a concern along the busy thoroughfare.
“That corridor, particularly, is very dangerous for people trying to cross the street,” said Council member Pam Foley. “It’s a wide street, it’s dark at night and peo
ple are speeding.”
Although San Jose launched its Vision Zero initiative six years ago to curb traffic fatalities on streets like Monterey Road, dozens of lives continue to be lost every year.
Just last month, 59-yearold San Jose resident Ronald Chavez was walking across the northbound lanes of Monterey Road north of the Tully/Curtner intersection when he was hit by a motorist who later was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run.
At the same intersection, 37-year-old Vanessa Ann Arce was using a wheelchair when she was killed April 1, and 64-year-old Paula Price was using a walker when she was killed April 28 — both by hit-andrun drivers.
The San Jose Police Department last month released surveillance video from a nearby gas station in hopes of catching the driver of a white 2004-2010 model Mercedes-Benz CLS who struck Arce, but no arrests have been made.
Under the new pilot program, transportation officials plan to install a painted chain-link fence in the median area along Monterey Road to discourage midblock pedestrian crossing. Transportation officials estimate that the project will cost the city up to $45,000 and expect the fence to be installed toward the beginning of 2022.
Esparza, who represents the district where the intersection is located and originally proposed the pilot program, also has asked city staffers to consider installing cameras to record any hit-and-run crashes or other potential criminal activity in the area. Transportation officials currently are exploring potential privacy concerns and video storage restrictions. If approved, installing four cameras at the intersection would cost about $35,000, according to city estimates.
Though all City Council members supported the pilot program, Council member David Cohen was pleased to see the city moving forward on fencing before the camera component.
“The cameras are important because of the number of incidents there. But in my mind, for me, the prevention is more important than the after-effect,” Cohen said. “Our goal should be to prevent incidents like this, so the barriers and other physical things that we can do to prevent incidents should be our primary objective.”
Because unhoused residents — who were among the recent victims — are at an elevated risk of getting injured or killed while living on the streets, the city’s housing department also will work with transportation officials to expand their outreach to those living in encampments near the dangerous intersection and educate them about proper traffic safety precautions.
Family and friends of Arce attended Tuesday’s City Council meeting to voice their support for the safety improvements.
“We have a daughter without a mother and we have a mother without a daughter because of the way these people drive on this one particular road,” said Manny Ortega, “and they lost her because of this issue.”
Anyone with information about the city’s unsolved hit-and-run deaths can contact the SJPD traffic investigations unit at 408277-4654 or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimestoppers.org.