As a daily walker since retirement I have great concern for the safety of anyone within the walking/bicycle lane on Luchessa Avenue after the recent marking. The way it is currently marked you’re forced into the guardrail and/or foliage, which has not been cut in a while, or forced to walk in the traffic lane to get around these obstacles. I normally walk starting between 5:45 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. and I have almost been struck twice, despite being aware of traffic.
With the new roundabout at Thomas Road and Luchessa it appears a number of drivers sling in and out of there as if they were on a race track. I was also almost rear-ended at another point while yielding to a pedestrian who found herself in the traffic lane as she tried to get around the guard rail/bush barrier. The driver behind me could not see the pedestrian and I could not safely move around due to traffic coming from the other direction.
I don’t know if others have expressed concerns but I do know this will be an issue when school starts, even if the new signal is activated. Can this be reviewed before there is an incident?
Red Phone:
The safety of the citizens of Gilroy is always a high concern for Red Phone, healthy caller. Red Phone contacted our City Transportation Engineer, Henry Servin, to help evaluate the unsafe conditions on Luchessa.
Servin examined the photos and visited the area to investigate the safety issues. “I believe the inquiry is about the new traffic signal work being done by KB Homes at the Princevalle and Luchessa T intersection,” he said.
Servin added, “This location will receive a new traffic signal and is currently under construction. Much work remains to be done and the orange construction warning signs are up and visible. KB Homes is overseeing that project as one of their improvement mitigations.
“I have placed an extra urgent request to have the bushes trimmed at this intersection. KB Homes is diligently working to clean up the area, before the signal gets turned on. I saw the foliage that needs to be trimmed back. I will report it to the proper individual to address this,” he said.
When asked about the roundabout on Luchessa, Servin said, “The roundabout is highly visible and pedestrians and bicyclists are encouraged to use the wide trails and sidewalks, not the roadway. But, I believe the caller is referring to the existing old Luchessa Bridge over the Uvas Creek.”
Servin noted that the Luchessa Bridge is “not built to current standards and was built at a time (early 1970’s) when Gilroy had not yet adopted a Complete Streets policy. The bridge is narrow and does not easily accommodate traffic, bikes and pedestrians. The city proposed to widen that bridge and other functionally obsolete streets and bridges with Measure F, which did not pass.
“The city is aggressively pursuing road and bridge grants to widen the bridge, or add a pedestrian/bike bridge alongside it,” he continued. “These grants are competitive and very difficult to capture. It may be several years before we are successful in obtaining these grants.
“In the meantime we have requested KB Homes to install shoulder lanes with white striping, and plastic delineators along that shoulder stripe to provide some demarcation between cars and non-vehicular users of the bridge,” he said.
