More Luchessa concerns
“According to Deb Flores (Gilroy Unified School District superintendent), the city plans to remove the stop signs from the Luchessa Avenue/Greenfield Drive intersection near the new Las Animas School. I’m calling because the removal of the stop sign poses numerous safety issues and it’s a terrible idea. I live in the neighborhood immediately adjacent to Las Animas School and the only way to exit my neighborhood is a left turn onto Luchessa from Greenfield. There’s no way for me to make this turn safely if there is no stop sign to stop the flow of traffic on Luchessa, which is heavy due to increased traffic from the school. In addition, more importantly, the busses that transport the students to and from Las Animas now drop off Greenfield and have to make the same left turn. This doesn’t seem very safe to me.”
Red Phone:
We can certainly understand your concerns. Red Phone contacted city engineer Don Dey, who explained that it’s actually the other way around. The school district wants to keep the stop sign, while the city is planning to remove it to coincide with future plans for the streets.
The city and the school district are in cross-jurisdictional relationship. When a school district builds a school, it answers to the Division of the State Architect, not to the city council or city staff. Dey explained that the city cannot obtain the same guarantees to make traffic improvements that it would with other development. “We try and develop a good working relationship to make sure they are aware of our needs and also they make us aware of their needs – we try to work cooperatively,” Dey said. “Same thing if the county builds a building – or federal or state governments. As one government entity to another, we do our best to plan accordingly.”
And if the school district isn’t cooperating?
“I was in a city where that happened and the school district just moved forward (against the advice of the city),” Dey said.
Ultimately the citizens of a city do have the power to effect change if a district isn’t responsive to the broader needs of the community.
“The same people who elect the city council elect school board members,” Dey observed.
Stay tuned, Red Phone will be regularly updating readers to progress being made along the Luchessa Avenue corridor.
So, dear caller, while the city may want to take out the stop sign, there are plans on the drafting board for other changes that could address your safety concerns. As those plans become public, Red Phone will keep you posted.
Why do cops type their reports anyway?
