Two traffic calming projects advance in Redwood City

Councilwoman Alicia Aguirre celebrated both projects, but wants to see them completed faster than proposed. The Roosevelt project is scheduled for months of data collection and community workshops before a conceptual design will be ready in February of 2020 while the Jefferson Avenue project is expected to break ground in January of that year and is scheduled to be complete by June.

“[These projects are] much needed,” she said. “My biggest concern when I looked at the report is how long it takes to get there and that’s really frustrating. … I know we need a lot of community outreach, but to me it’s a no-brainer.”

Aguirre said the project at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Cleveland Street is especially needed because so many children cross there and motorists often don’t stop for them, even in the presence of crossing guards.

About 15,000 vehicles pass through the intersection daily and the project will increase safe access to four nearby schools, which collectively serve 3,400 students, according to a staff report.

The Roosevelt Avenue project entails improvements along three segments of the street: from Hudson Street to El Camino Real, from Alameda de las Pulgas to Upton Street and from Upton Street to Grand Street.  

The three segments have been grouped into a single project to save money and improve continuity of design, according to the report. Most of Roosevelt Avenue includes a Class III bike lane. According to traffic records, there were 59 collisions on that street between El Camino Real and Alameda de las Pulgas from 2010 to 2017 and 13 collisions involved bicyclists while five of them involved pedestrians, according to the report.

“We’re really promoting children to walk to school and a lot of them are so we have to make it safe for them,” Aguirre said. “I really hope we move this faster.”