Public Safety and Traffic Calming

By Val Carpenter

Public safety and traffic calming are the #1 concern of City residents and therefore are a top priority for me.

The City successfully negotiated multi-year contracts with the Los Altos Peace Officers Association and the Santa Clara County Fire Department without any loss of personnel or disruption of services.

Pedestrian crosswalk warning light systems have been installed at six intersections along San Antonio Road. Raised crosswalks with flashing lights are also now in place near many of our schools.

An update to our Bicycle Transportation Plan is budgeted in this fiscal year.

A new Transportation Projects Manager position has been approved. The City Council previously authorized funds for a traffic consultant to assist the staff with expediting Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) applications so that permanent traffic calming solutions can be installed on our residential streets.

Speed humps have been added to the NTMP traffic calming toolbox. We are continuing to work at the State level to address the infamous 85th percentile rule that in effect sets speed limits that can be enforced by radar based on the speeds of the fastest drivers.

A Collector Street Traffic Calming Master Plan is being developed.

We have received additional Safe Routes to Schools grants totaling nearly $1 million since the project on El Monte near Almond School was completed several years ago, bringing the total amount of grant monies invested in traffic calming in our community to $2.3 million.