Saratoga News
News
Saratoga traffic commission will explore problems on Herriman Ave.
By Michele Tjin
News of a Saratoga child being hit by a car at Herriman Avenue and Lexington Court has prompted city officials to study the traffic at the intersection.
A driver hit a Foothill Elementary School student who was walking home from school in February. Two cars stopped at Lexington Court, near Saratoga High School, to let a bicyclist through, but one driver did not see the student and drove through, hitting the student. The girl suffered a compound fracture of her leg and was hospitalized.
Residents urged the members of the Saratoga City Council on April 4 to look into measures to slow down traffic at the intersection and protect pedestrians. The council turned the issue over to the city's traffic safety commissioners, who took up the matter at their April 12 meeting.
"We will need to study this more and do a comprehensive review," said Sohrab Rashid, a traffic engineer for the city.
From the time of the council hearing, the public works department staff did not have enough time to gather data for the April 12 commission meeting. But staff members promised to have a report ready for the commission's next meeting on June 7. Residents are encouraged to attend.
The issues that the traffic engineers will study include traffic volume and speed and accident data on Herriman Avenue, Lexington Court and adjoining streets.
Rashid said he will check with Saratoga High School officials about the traffic circulation in the school's front parking lot.
Parents and residents say problems occur at the intersection near the high school when drivers speed on Lexington to drop off and pick up students on school days or when students go to lunch. Foothill Elementary School is just a few blocks west of the intersection, but parents say there is no safe way to walk on Herriman Avenue toward Foothill without crossing to the south side of the intersection. There is no sidewalk on the north side of Herriman Avenue, nor is there a crosswalk on the north side of the intersection of Herriman Avenue and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road.
Residents say they would like to see a sidewalk built on the north side of Herriman Avenue and a crossing added on the north side of Herriman Avenue and Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road. Other recommendations they suggest are speed bumps and traffic enforcement.
An extensive analysis of the traffic patterns where the Foothill student was struck is what the city council expects, said public works director John Cherbone at the commission meeting.
Road closures
In other traffic news, the public works department announced road closures in Saratoga so Union Pacific Railroad can upgrade all the railroad crossings in the city. Drivers will be given instructions for detours to other streets.
The schedule for road closures is as follows: Arroyo de Arguello/Via Roncole, April 18-19; Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, April 26-27; Cox Avenue, April 30-May 2; Glen Brae Drive, May 7-8; and Quito Road, May 10-11.
