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Traffic plan for safer streets approved by Alameda City Council
Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan's traffic accident death perhaps put a public face on a plan approved by the city council this week; aimed at making Alameda's most dangerous streets and intersections safer for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.
ALAMEDA, Calif. - A floral memorial still sits by a crosswalk on Alameda's Shoreline Drive near Grand Street, a tribute and reminder of what happened there.
A car struck and killed Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan while she was walking her dog in a crosswalk last month.
Chan's death perhaps put a public face on a plan approved by the city council this week – aimed at making Alameda's most dangerous streets and intersections safer for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.
"What it did do is make us realize we had to accelerate the plan. Make it happen in a shorter period of time," says Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft.
The plan is called Vision Zero, it calls for at least 20% of Alameda's streets to see improvements, the 20% that have seen the most accidents.
"We want to encourage people to get out of their cars and use other means of travel. Their feet. Their bikes. But to do that successfully we have to show them our streets are safe," says Ashcraft.
Some residents are saying the streets are not safe.
"The biggest problem is irresponsible driving. People just raring down the street really fast and with no regard to people's safety," says resident Hal Rodriguez.
Alameda has seen four traffic deaths each of the last two years, double the yearly average.
Among those deaths is former KTVU News Director Fred Zehnder, who was struck and killed by a drunk driver at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Walnut Street in June.
SEE ALSO: Longtime KTVU news director Fred Zehnder killed by alleged DUI driver
On Shoreline Drive where Chan was struck, higher visibility crosswalks are planned, along with the possibility of removing left turns on Grand Street.
Other improvements in the plan include roundabouts along Central Avenue and reducing it from four lanes to three, with a turning lane.
On many streets, the city will paint curbs red near intersections to give drivers a clearer view.
"We looked at 10 years of crash data and found the top two behaviors in Alameda were unsafe speeds and failure to yield to pedestrians," says Lisa Foster, Alameda Senior Transportation Coordinator.
The goal of Vision Zero is to reduce traffic deaths to zero by the year 2035.