The San Mateo City Council adopted a safety plan that will add more no-right-turn on reds, traffic calming and signal improvements, particularly in the city’s most high-risk intersections.
According to a recent report, some of the city’s most dangerous areas are situated particularly along El Camino Real, Humboldt Street and Tilton Avenue. In particular, El Camino and 22nd Avenue, as well as Humboldt Street and Poplar Avenue, Indian Avenue and Tilton Avenue were also listed as top priority intersections.
The plan would address some of the collision-prone intersections by installing a mix of changes, such as no right-turn-on-red signs, plastic markers to reduce left turn lane speeds and giving pedestrians a head start when traffic lights change. It also aims to reduce speeds around schools by potentially implementing a mix of traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps or raised intersections.
San Mateo has a collision rate that is about twice than the state average, with serious bicyclist and pedestrian crashes also occurring at higher frequency.
“The primary focus of the safe systems approach is to reduce or eliminate death and serious injuries on our roadway networks,” said senior engineer Bethany Lopez. “The way we get there … is building in redundancies in our infrastructure and identifying that people make mistakes and building that into the way we approach roadway safety.”
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But installing some of the more effective measures is not necessarily cheap. Beacons — or pedestrian-activated light signals — and bike lanes can run up to nearly $60,000 per installation, and crosswalk visibility enhancements can cost up to $20,000 each as well. Some of the more cost-effective options, such as adding more stop signs or plastic markers, would likely be implemented first.
The plan is also meant to reduce risks to pedestrians, as they are involved in more than 60% of collisions in the city. Most fatal or severe injury collisions occurred specifically when someone was crossing an intersection or crosswalk. And bolstering bicyclist safety is also a top concern, as a quarter of the fatal collisions in the city between 2017-2021 involved bicycles. City staff also noted that, due to a recent state law, lowering speed limits in certain areas could also be a possibility.
City staff confirmed they are seeking a range of grant funding for implementation, particularly from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. The council voted unanimously on Monday, May 20, to approve the plan.
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