By Khalida Sarwari
Barry Shilman is concerned about pedestrian safety in downtown Campbell.
Drivers are not stopping for pedestrians and making crossing the street a gamble for some, he said at the June 5 city council meeting.
“Cars are not respecting pedestrian right-of-way,” he told the council. “It’s kind of risky crossing the street.”
The worst intersections, he said, appear to be N. Second Street and Civic Center Drive, N. Third Street and Civic Center Drive, and S. Second Street and Orchard City Drive.
“These loop streets kind of give people a race track mentality,” Shilman said. For pedestrians waiting to cross the street at S. Second and Orchard City, they can’t see that a car is coming around the corner unless they step off the curb and into the street, he said.
N. Second and Civic Center is just as bad for vehicles that are exiting the parking garage, he said. The area has a history of accidents, said Shilman.
Shilman gave the council a petition signed by 25 residents who live in a neighborhood surrounding the area with the same complaint.
“A lot of us walk downtown on a regular basis, and what people have discovered lately is an increase in traffic and a lot of drivers [who] don’t stop for pedestrians,” Shilman said.
While there are crosswalks at all three intersections, there are not any traffic lights. Especially affected, Shilman said, are the elderly and people with baby carriages or dogs on leashes.
“We’re all noticing an uptick in rude drivers,” he said. “It’s been a problem, but it’s gradually growing.”
The purpose of the petition, Shilman said, is to ensure that when traffic engineers update the city’s general traffic plan, they take pedestrian safety into consideration–a component that Shilman said is often overlooked.
“We can sense the increasing danger,” Shilman said. “It’s hard to put a number on it or explain it in any other way.”
According to the Campbell Police Department, of the 583 accidents in the city last year, 18 involved pedestrians. In 2010, there were 547 accidents, and again 18 were pedestrian-related. None of the incidents took place in downtown, said Police Chief Greg Finch.
Nevertheless, police installed speed radars in the area following the council meeting, one on Civic Center Drive and another on Orchard City Drive.
“We’re aware that they’re concerned, and we want to do what we can to mitigate their concerns,” said Finch.
He said his department is working with the city’s traffic engineers to find solutions and “help make people feel safe.”
