42 replies to this topic

[tony]

BTW, HD traffic issues are on TODAY's Traffic Safety Committee agenda, although only as an informational item. It's 4:00 PM in the Public Works Conference Room at City Hall.

[tony]

[snip]

From the Telegraph article:

They aren't all that bad looking. I've never thought they were ugly. Even if they were, I'd rather have something ugly up to prevent the traffic and accidents than nothing at all. I'm going to feel really unsafe without them.

The appearance of the temporary traffic calming fixtures is irrelevant; they were temporary. There is no reason that permanent traffic calming features cannot be both effective and attractive, as has been proven in many other cities.

[AMETHYST PRODUCTIVITY]

Incidentally, I was just noticing today how many city vehicles were using School Street.

I thought they were all too busy cutting through Willow Creek! Constant bulldozers and city vehicles. Rather annoying.

[Thinkingoutloud]

Not sure why anyone would be surprised by this.

After all, Folsom has become a speedway wherever you live, so why should the HD be immune from it??

Gentlemen (and ladies), START YOUR ENGINES !!!!

Vroooom.......

OMG! That is totally true. As a experiment, I've started driving to/from work driving no more than 5 MPH over the posted limit. For me, this is mostly 50 in a 45.
I have had people tailgate me, zoom around me and pass, everyone FLIES by me like I am standing still. It's insane. Why do we drive so fast??

[Thinkingoutloud]

my taxes paid for those roads, I want to be able to drive on them.

I take short cuts all of the time, even if time wise it's a long cut, manytimes I prefer to stay off the main drag.

While I understand the desire to sometimes enjoy the quieter way home, they are called residential streets for a reason - they are supposed to be for the residents who live on them. Choosing to use them as a "short" cut or pass thru negatively impacts the local residents' way of life - increasing the noise, pollution and wear and tear. Do I want people driving on my street just becuase it's nicer that driving on Oak Ave.? Of course not. The main drag is there to handle large amounts of traffic and should be utilized whenever possible.
I am in agreement - the barriers should have remained for the sake of local residents and their quality of life.

[john]

I think anyone who lives in a grid system shouldn't complain. Residential or not, grids are designed for distribution.

I don't care for diverters but I certainly don't mind things that are intended to just slow you down like traffic circles, as long as they are done in a manner that is attractive. I can certainly understand the need to slow down cars... however diverting traffic is silly, IMHO.

[mylo]

I think anyone who lives in a grid system shouldn't complain. Residential or not, grids are designed for distribution.

I don't care for diverters but I certainly don't mind things that are intended to just slow you down like traffic circles, as long as they are done in a manner that is attractive. I can certainly understand the need to slow down cars... however diverting traffic is silly, IMHO.

All traffic is diverted. Folsom Blvd. is diverted onto Highway 50 to get to Rancho. You could cut through Sunset to Sunrise, but they've made an efficient, convenient, community planned diversion to accommodate.

In local sense, we have artery roads like Riley, Natoma, and Folsom Blvd. All traffic leads into these major roads/crossings to avoid everyone driving everywhere.

It's silly to say that just because a road exists, it should be convenient for everyone. You're just saying that about the HD surface streets because you're one of the inconsiderate drivers who wishes to use that specific residential and commercial neighbourhood to save you waiting in line with everyone else! No, cutting through Scott St. will not alleviate the bottle-neck at Rainbow Bridge. You will just merge back in with everyone else, perhaps a few cars ahead if you speed fast enough and don't run over anyone's cat or child.

[Bill Z]

While I understand the desire to sometimes enjoy the quieter way home, they are called residential streets for a reason - they are supposed to be for the residents who live on them. Choosing to use them as a "short" cut or pass thru negatively impacts the local residents' way of life - increasing the noise, pollution and wear and tear. Do I want people driving on my street just becuase it's nicer that driving on Oak Ave.? Of course not. The main drag is there to handle large amounts of traffic and should be utilized whenever possible.
I am in agreement - the barriers should have remained for the sake of local residents and their quality of life.

That's funny, last time I looked there was no restriction on what any given street is used for, other than it is a public right of way to drive on. I suppose I'm not supposed to go driving through neighborhoods to look at the pretty Christmas lights either if I'm not a resident. I guess I'm also not supposed to drive through neighborhoods to get landscaping ideas, or house painting ideas, or anything else other than taking your chosen way for me to drive from point A to point B. What if the shortest distance for me is to drive through 3 different adjacent neighborhoods instead of going out of my way to take the thoroughfares?
I guess according to your opinion, I should drive farther and pollute more so as to minimize the traffic to the "residential" streets.

I guess I'm just glad we still have some freedoms in our country like being able to drive where we want to when we want to.

[john]

You're just saying that about the HD surface streets because you're one of the inconsiderate drivers who wishes to use that specific residential and commercial neighbourhood to save you waiting in line with everyone else! No, cutting through Scott St. will not alleviate the bottle-neck at Rainbow Bridge. You will just merge back in with everyone else, perhaps a few cars ahead if you speed fast enough and don't run over anyone's cat or child.

Actually Mylo, no I'm not. I usually take Lake Natoma Crossing. If anything, I would be in favor of distributing the traffic to eliminate the bottleneck at Riley & Natoma so I can get down Natoma or Persifer a little easier. I just think it's silly to force people to take certain roads. I think it's silly in midtown too.

[djnmya]

Thank you to the city council members who voted to remove the TEMPORARY barriers. Its nice to be able to drive through the old neighborhoods again, this is the right thing to do......

[Darth Lefty]

Great big roundabouts in every intersection ought to get rid of the shortcutters without choking up the neghborhood...

[tony]

Thank you to the city council members who voted to remove the TEMPORARY barriers. Its nice to be able to drive through the old neighborhoods again, this is the right thing to do......

There was never anything stopping you from driving through the HD; the only thing you couldn't do with the diverters was use the residential streets to get through the district faster. Now that the city council has accommodated those who not only don't live or work there, but also don't stop to spend money, it's time do something to make the streets safer for those who do. Traffic circles at every intersection as Darth suggests might be the answer (full blown roundabouts won't fit at most of them).

Did I mention that we've spent $200 MILLION dollars over the past 15 years making it easier and faster to cross the river without driving through the HD? We're spending about 5% of that to spiff up Sutter Street, and another 10 or 15% on the plaza and parking garage. How about a few crumbs for the residential portion of the district?

Last year the city spent a bunch of money (in response to being sued) on retrofitting curb ramps in the district (there's one in front of our house). This was a perfect opportunity to make these streets (Natoma in particular) safer for both pedestrians and motorists (not to mention those with disabilities) by installing curb extensions at intersections and making crosswalks more visible. Did we as a city grab the opportunity? No, in fact, we didn't even construct the new curb ramps in a manner consistent with our own Historic District guidelines. No effort was made to make them fit in, and no-one in the district was notified before they went in (even though there was an active Historic District Streetscape committee at the time). But, hey, a few folks complain that the opening of the new bridge should mean that their favorite short-cut through the district should be re-opened, and voila! it is opened! Was there any concern for the safety of pedestrians forced to walk in the street with traffic doubling to 3000 cars per day? Nope, the the numbers are consistent with other "residential collectors" in the city -- all of which have sidewalks.

Fine, remove the diverters. But let's also do something to make our HD streets safe for the people who actually liver there.

[supermom]

You can drive on them. However, all roads have laws and limits that are enacted for public safety and the benefit of residents and citizens.

For instance, just because "your taxes" paid for a road, doesn't mean you can drive the wrong way down the street. There are speed limits and stop signs. There are crossing guards that stop you, temporarily, from using your road. There are one way streets and no right turns in busy cities. Just because your road is there, doesn't mean you get to use it however you want. Believe me, I'd love to turn left when I get stuck on Market St. in SF. But just because I helped pay for the road, doesn't mean I get to screw it up for everyone else.

The road is available, for anyone wanting to drive on it. It's not very convenient if you just want a shortcut. But if you want to drive it, perhaps to visit one of the fantastic shops in the commercial district or just to tour the beautiful homes in the jewel of our city, you're more than welcome to exercise your tax-paying right to public roads.

Just don't be a !@#$ and fly through the stop sign on your ever-important commute to Roseville. Use the artery roads. Wait in line like everyone else. You are not more important or deserving or worth risking the safety or peace of residents just so you can save a few minutes off your drive.

How come you get all worked up about this?

You thought it was funny how worked up I got about the bridge being built.

contradictory.