Atherton Transportation Commitee Meeting is Nov. 9th

From and email message from Joan Solari to Athertonian email list:

Hello All,

This horribly tragic accident is another reminder of how dangerous our streets have become for bicycles & pedestrians.  I joined the Atherton Transportation Committee for this very reason--to make our streets safer for pedestrians & bicycles.  My belief is that our police department needs to be more accountable regarding enforcement.  You can paint all the lines & put in any signage you want but, without enforcement, those things have little meaning.  

Our next meeting is November 9, 2010, at 6pm.  I encourage residents to attend & speak out at this meeting.  Among those in attendance will be the Director of Public Works, Chief Guerra, Councilman Dobbie & Mayor McKeithen.  If you would like me to put something on the next agenda to get the conversation going, please let me know.  

Thank you,

Joan Collins Solari
(650)322-3517

Re: Everyone that rides a bike needs to read this

From an email by Joan Lambert to Athertonians:

I have 3 kids and live right off Atherton Ave. and ECR.   I believe a big issue is that it is very dangerous for kids (or anyone) to ride their bike or walk along ECR.   I agree with Paul that people often speed on ECR in this area and that more accidents will happen unless changes are made.    I drive my kids to school every day because I do not think it is safe for them to walk or bike along ECR.  I am wondering if there is anything that the residents can do to improve the situation.    
 
In Menlo Park, some of the crosswalks now have lights that flash when a pedestrian is crossing.  Perhaps we could get these types of crosswalks installed on ECR in Atherton.  Some of the crosswalks also have orange flags that someone can take with them when they cross.  I don't know if either of those things would have helped in the recent fatal accident or not.
 
Is there anyone who is looking into anything like this?
Please post on this board if anyone has information about what residents can do to help make ECR (and other Atherton streets) safer.
 
Thanks so much,
Joan Lambert
Odell Place

Re: Everyone that rides a bike needs to read this

From an email by Paul Tonelli to Athertonians:

At the heart of this problem is the decision made years ago to widen ECR to three lanes.  In effect this decision has made ECR an expressway through our town where speeds in excess of 50 mph are not uncommon.

Being that ECR is actually State Route 82, I imagine it would take an act of a budget paralyzed legislature to get anything done.  In my more than 13 years as an Atherton resident I have always imagined an El Camino with 2 lanes of traffic in each direction with a pedestrian walkway / bike lane in the curb lane.  Said curb lane could be nicely landscaped and protected with some sort of decorative barrier that both provides separation from traffic while being appealing to the eye.

Within the first couple of months of relocating to Atherton in '97 an elderly man and his wife were literally run down while crossing ECR near Selby Ave.  In that case the driver was estimated to be travelling at nearly 60 mph.  NOTHING has changed in 13 years.  We continue to live with what amounts to a mile long freeway right outside our front yards.  It's obvious we aren't safe even when using the crosswalks. 

While I would love to provide a solution, I don't know what can be done, nor do I have any idea how to go about generating any kind of change.  What I do know is that there definitely will be more tragic incidents, as in the case of Christopher Chandler, until something is done.

Paul Tonelli

Everyone that rides a bike needs to read this

From email by Colleen Anderson to Athertonians:


I did not know if you ride your bike across a cross walk you are at fault if you get killed, or hit.
Bicyclist, 62, killed by car in Atherton
by Dave Boyce

The San Mateo County Coroner's Office has identified a 62-year-old bicyclist who was struck by a car and killed while crossing El Camino Real in Atherton on Thursday morning, Sept. 30.

Christopher Chandler of Redwood City was killed at about 10:35 a.m. when he was hit by a car on southbound El Camino Real at Isabella Avenue, Atherton police Lt. Joe Wade said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A preliminary investigation indicated Mr. Chandler was riding his bike in a crosswalk when a southbound Toyota Camry struck him, Lt. Wade said. The point of impact was the passenger-side windshield.

The driver, a 69-year-old man and a resident of Stanford, stopped at the scene and was cooperating with investigators, Lt. Wade said.

Mr. Chandler came to rest 53 feet south of a curb at Isabella Avenue, Lt. Wade said. The frame of his bike was found on the shoulder of the road about 74 feet away. The distances are likely to increase once measurements from the point of impact are known, Lt. Wade said.

It does not appear that alcohol played a role in the accident, and it has not been determined whether speed was a factor, Lt. Wade said, adding that investigators have not yet made a determination as to who was at fault.

Unlike a pedestrian in a crosswalk, for whom traffic must stop, a bicycle has no special privileges. It is considered a vehicle pulling on to a roadway and is responsible for yielding to oncoming traffic, Lt. Wade said. A cyclist walking a bike in a crosswalk is considered a pedestrian, he said.

Southbound El Camino Real was closed between Watkins and Atherton avenues for about five hours while the accident was investigated

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Fwd: [Athertonians] Road Closure El Camino bet Atherton & Watkins

From email by Atherton Environmental Programs:

Continuing problems on El Camino, with our one traffic light set to blinking red, resulting in a long queue of cars held up between Valparaiso and Atherton Avenue in the northbound direction, waiting to get through the intersection.  Atherton police will not come to direct traffic due to Caltrans protocols.  Best to avoid El Camino northbound for the next few hours!

Road Closure El Camino between Atherton & Watkins

Posted from Athertonians email from Colleen Anderson:

This was a fatal injury accident.

The Atherton Police Department is investigating major injury accident on S/B
El Camino Real in their city.
  
Southbound El Camino Real between Atherton Avenue and Watkins Avenue in
Atherton is closed.  At this time there is no estimation on when the roadway
will be reopened.  
  
Please use alternate routes.  We will advise when reopended.
  
Sgt. J. Sheridan OES2

Sent by Joe Sheridan to Menlo Park, Atherton, Menlo Oaks, Redwood City, West
Menlo Park (E-mail accounts, Wireless devices) through SMC Alert