GILROY
– Parents of children who walk to Gilroy public schools can
breathe a bit easier, thanks to a new way of reminding motorists
that they need to drive 25 mph or less when entering a school
zone.
GILROY – Parents of children who walk to Gilroy public schools can breathe a bit easier, thanks to a new way of reminding motorists that they need to drive 25 mph or less when entering a school zone.
The Gilroy Police Department, the City of Gilroy and Gilroy Unified School District have begun a new traffic calming program at each of the 12 public schools in town. Three-and-a-half-foot orange pylons (also called delineators) with signs reading “School Zone – Slow” grace the middle of streets around each district campus, adding a fresh reminder to drivers who have grown used to, and sometimes don’t notice, 25 mph speed limit signs posted around schools.
“This was a proactive, preventative step by everybody,” said Rachel Munoz, a community service officer for the GPD. “The city found the funding and the police and the schools worked together to put the delineators and the signs up.”
Before the start of peak traffic hours – roughly 7:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. – custodial staff at each school site place the pylons and the signage in the middle of the roads around the campus.
The materials to run the entire program, Traffic Engineer Kristi Abrams said, cost the city $1,000. For the GUSD, there is no additional cost to run the program since staff is already on campus doing other custodial work.
In the traffic safety world, improvements usually are the result of a recent accident the community feels could have been prevented. Abrams said she knew of no incident that triggered the new program.
“Everyone felt this was an inexpensive way to be proactive and prevent accidents,” Abrams said.
Other safety devices could come in the future, but there is no particular project on the books now, Abrams said.
“I never say never because we are always learning things about traffic safety and new tools are always being made available,” Abrams said.
Whether the newly placed signs are having an effect on drivers is hard to determine, but El Roble School crossing guard Valerie Centeno believes life and limb will be saved.
“Quite a few kids, probably around 100, cross this corner,” Centeno said, standing at Third Street and Santa Teresa Drive. “It’s a little bit safer for them now, definitely.”
Centeno says it will take time to change motorists’ driving habits. The first week of the program, she said, the delineators were place on the corner of the road. It didn’t take long for a driver to run one of them over while making a right turn.
“People see the signs better now that they’re in the middle of the street,” Centeno said. “Now, hopefully, they will act on it, too.”
