We just moved to Gilroy from San Jose after 37 years. Its great down here and people drive differently. However one hot spot has been an issue and I think it is time to address it. West 6th Street at Wren is actually a pretty dangerous intersection. People drive way to fast down Wren then take the sharp turn onto west 6th. There is a school nearby and you have to be extra cautious because sometimes people do not see you or stop for you. I have seen near pedestrian misses, once a shouting match took place between the participants, and just this morning there was a wreck likely caused by a driver taking the turn from Wren to 6th to fast. This accident wiped out two of my neighbor’s vehicles. In talking to him it’s not the first time something like this has happened at this intersection. It seems the best solution is a stop sign at this intersection to get people to slow down. Is there any possible way to see if the city would put a stop sign here or take other steps to get people to slow down? I am not talking about having a police office watch the intersection. We need something permanent. One day some one will lose their life at this intersection, if it has not happened in the past
Red Phone:
Thank you, good caller, for bringing this dangerous situation to Red Phone’s attention, because Red Phone has your back and that of the good citizens of Gilroy! Red Phone contacted Gilroy’s Traffic Engineer, Henry Servin, who in the past has responded to many inquiries about Gilroy’s traffic situations. He immediately sent a request to the Police Department to monitor the intersection for reckless driving.
“This intersection was recently looked at for safety”, said Servin. “The night lights are okay. The streets are nicely treed. Although Wren is not a major street, 6th Street ends on Wren and there is some traffic activity at that intersection. There are students walking back and forth because of the nearby school. There is bus service on both streets”, explained Servin.
When asked what can the city do about this, Servin replied, “I have already called it into the Police Department. I am going to look at this intersection again to see if anything can be done.” He said, “However, using stop signs in this situation is counterintuitive. We don’t use stop signs to slow down traffic. It turns out that when a stop sign is present, drivers don’t look for pedestrians, but other vehicles.” Servin said that his study of this intersection would not consider a stop sign on Wren, but perhaps other remedies.
Servin said, “Red Phone is providing a valuable service to the City of Gilroy in bringing these types of situations to its attention. Keep it up!” Red Phone is happy!
