Q: My family and I have lived near the Almaden Expressway-Camden Avenue intersection in San Jose for 30-plus years. A coming-of-age milestone for our three children was when they were allowed to cross that intersection without an adult (requiring that I trusted them to follow the rules!).
That intersection was re-engineered this summer and is very nice. I see benefits for drivers and bicyclists, but not pedestrians. Before the redesign, there was a separate right-turn only lane and an island where the button for the walk/don’t walk signs lived.
Now it’s a straight shot all the way across the intersection and the walk/don’t walk buttons are on the sidewalk. Cars use a separate right-turn only lane and drivers are not visually reminded to look for pedestrians.
If it were like this when my kids were growing up, I don’t know that I’d ever let them cross without an adult! I myself have forgotten to check at times and had some sort-of-close calls. I don’t know what a solution is. I don’t blame drivers. They would need to look at the pedestrian signal in order to know when it’s safe to turn.
— Mavis Moon
A: This is a Santa Clara County project (see https://countyroads.sccgov.org/projects-and-studies/projects/intersection-improvements-almaden-expressway-and-camden-ave).
Colin-the-city-spokesman said that city-controlled intersections use similar designs. Removing the island reduces the crossing length as the crosswalk now begins where the island used to be. It eliminates what was a possible point of vehicle-pedestrian conflict in the short segment of crosswalk between the curb and island. And it slows down right-turning cars by reducing the turning radius and adding a traffic signal in the driver’s path.
Drivers should be looking for pedestrians and turning right when they can do so safely. At a green light, pedestrians clearly have the right of way, as the California Driver’s Handbook indicates. If a light is red, drivers may turn right when it is safe to do so, after they have stopped at the stop or limit line and yielded for pedestrians.
Q: One thing that drives me nuts about local drivers is the ones who hang out in the left lanes when not passing people, especially folks who drive as far left as they can, whether it’s the farthest left lane or the lane right next to a toll or HOV lane. This behavior inevitably leads to dangerous lane-switching as other drivers try to navigate around these rolling roadblocks.
I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs and then lived in the Boston suburbs for many years. While those areas have plenty of problems, drivers there do a much better job of staying right unless they’re passing other cars.
— Rob Stafford, Mountain View
A: Many people agree with you.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.