Letter to the Tattler: Traffic Diverters Needed; Former City Councilman John Fricke

Traffic Diverters in the Triangle Neighborhood Overdue

-by former Emeryville City Councilman John Fricke

Last night, an SUV driver, traveling at a high rate of speed down my residential street in the Triangle neighborhood, struck a traffic circle, lost control of the vehicle, and struck a utility pole and a parked car.  The parked car, in turn, struck another parked car behind it, which then struck a third car.  

I was not at home at the time, but my neighbor told me that the force of the collision shook his house.  The Emeryville Police Department responded.  The SUV driver struck the wooden utility pole with such force that PG&E was summoned to inspect the integrity of the pole.

This incident would not have occurred had the City of Emeryville permanently installed the traffic diverters that were tested over ten years ago.  The policymaking process was exemplary, up until my colleagues on the City Council made the snap decision to deviate from the orderly process:  

•  A number of neighbors and I drew attention to the problem of a large volume of cut-through traffic on the east-west streets (41st, 43rd, 45th, and 47th).
•  The City Council convened a series of widely-advertised community meetings to solicit input from Triangle neighbors.
•  At these well-attended community meetings, we discussed various solutions, including speed bumps, traffic circles, and traffic diverters, ultimately reaching consensus on the need for traffic diverters.
•  The City Council directed the city staff to install temporary traffic diverters for a six-month trial period, data would be collected before and during the trial period.
•  The preliminary data showed that the traffic diverters were effective in reducing the volume and speed of vehicle traffic.
•  At two city council meetings during the test period, a vocal minority of Triangle neighbors complained about the traffic diverters.
• At a meeting in October, 2007, the vocal minority prevailed over the orderly process.  A City Council majority consisting of Ruth Atkin, Ken Bukowski, Nora Davis, and Dick Kassis, made a snap decision to halt the data collection, ordered the city staff to remove the diverters, and replace them with temporary traffic circles (a permanent version of one of these circles was struck by the speeding SUV last night).  
•  I voted 'NO' to the snap decision to prematurely end the trial period.  
•  Why was the original traffic diverter on 47th Street spared from the City Council majority’s impetuous decision?  Because none of the vocal minority complained about 47th Street.

This series of events took place before and after my election to the city council.  Indeed, it was one of the issues that I ran on, including advocating for traffic diverters during my campaign.  

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vk83k107tzp2s2p/ProposedTriangleTrafficDiverters_Aug.2005.pdf?dl=0

The City Council majority’s decision to ignore the process that it established was a slap in the face of the numerous Triangle residents who attended the community meetings, who listened to the consultant describe alternatives, who listened to their fellow neighbors’ input regarding the possible solutions, and who ultimately reached consensus around traffic diverters.  Their fault lies in the fact that they had confidence that a majority of their elected representatives would engage in evidence-based policymaking, namely test a proposed solution by collecting and comparing baseline data against data collected during the test period.  They did not anticipate that the decision would be governed by a few loud voices.

The legacy of this process is failure.  The traffic circles have failed to solve the problem.  Over the years, I have observed an increase in the volume of cars.  The number of speeding cars remains high.  As I type this opinion piece on a Saturday afternoon from my home computer with a view of the traffic circle at 43rd and Salem streets, I have counted thirteen cars that have not slowed their speed at all as they drive through the stop sign.  This traffic circle is right next to the entrance of the playground of the elementary school, the gate to which is opened each weekend day for the neighborhood’s use (shout out to School Board member Barbara Inch for getting this done).  These residential streets should include traffic calming that places the safety of residents above the convenience of cut-through traffic.

I believe that traffic diverters are the best solution.  I will send this column to each of our five elected representatives on the new City Council (John Bauters, Scott Donahue, Dianne Martinez, Ally Medina, and Christian Patz).  I will ask them to decide whether there is a problem that needs to be addressed, if so, to collect data, and then to implement an evidenced-based solution.  
Photos courtesy John Fricke 

Links:

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/g28xlme5ya7hcak/TrafficCalmingMeasures_Sept.2006.pdf?dl=0

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/eyimbvw0338iwc3/Emeryville%20Summary_Nov.2005.pdf?dl=0

Before data:https://www.dropbox.com/s/0ctup5vzggajsze/WorkshopSummary_April2006.pdf?dl=0

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/l6gy3bueh442bnh/TrafficCounts_BeforeTriangleTrafficCalming.pdf?dl=0

During data (partial):

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/s8m4al1f61f3nlt/TrafficCounts_AfterTrafficCalmingSalemSt_Sept.2007.pdf?dl=0

John Fricke moved to Emeryville in 1994 and was an Emeryville City Council member from 2005-2009. An attorney, he worked for the Alameda County public defenders office before setting up a private practice in Emeryville.  After having lived abroad and in San Francisco for several years following his Council stint, Mr Fricke calls Emeryville his home once again.

45th Street Bike Blvd Violation: City Council Hasn't a Clue

Broken Government

Time for an Audit at City Hall

If We're Going to Make Public Policy, We've Got to Keep Proper Track of It

Opinion
Emeryville's Director of Public Works, Maurice Kaufman, revealed to the Tattler today that 45th Street east of San Pablo Avenue now has and for years has had more than 3000 vehicle trips per day, a condition not allowed according to the City's Bike Plan.  The Director has known the street is in violation of the Bike Plan "for years" he says ever since there was a traffic count conducted after the 'Triangle Neighborhood traffic calming' program a few years back.
45th Street was designated as a Bike Boulevard by the Bike Plan after the Triangle traffic calming program and the vehicle count conducted by Mr Kaufman's Department is necessary information for the City Council because that street is not allowed to have more than 1500 vehicle trips per day according to the Bike Plan.  After that number is reached, a series of ever more restrictive traffic calming measures is identified and called for by the Bike Plan.
Had the Council members known the street was in violation years ago, presumably they would have started the program of traffic calming that the Bike Plan calls for to remedy the violation.
The Triangle Neighborhood traffic calming plan has been completed and it's tangential to the Bike Plan and its provisions for 45th Street.  It should be noted the Bike Plan traffic calming metrics for 45th Street are more onerous than the Triangle traffic calming goals were.

In his defense, the Public Works Director stated he doesn't feel it's appropriate for Bike Plan traffic calming on 45th Street, "We've already done traffic calming there.  The neighbors don't want more" he said referring to the former Triangle traffic calming.
To that we say: It's not up to you, Maurice...nobody voted for you.  Your job is to provide objective analysis to the City Council.  If you have information the decision makers need to know to not be in violation of their public policy, you need to volunteer that information.

Which brings us to our greater point here: We don't want the Emeryville Tattler to be the entity to keep the City of Emeryville on track.  We're just here to report to the people.  We don't want this responsibility.  We want this city to stay on track itself.  We don't want the City to let its infrastructure fall into disrepair because there's no accounting going on.  We expect there should be somebody at City Hall keeping track of this stuff, not just a bunch of groping around in the dark.
If the City isn't aware of the violations with the Bike Plan, they probably are dropping the ball in other areas.  Obviously there needs to be an audit at City Hall to get a handle on this and to ensure there's a process moving forward to make sure we're not going off the rails.  The idea of planning to make it so we don't careen from crisis to crisis.  Let's hope the new Council majority gets it.

Council, Staff Fear Looming Public Backlash Over Horton Street Bike Blvd

Fear Not:

 Base Public Policy on Measurable Metrics, Deliberative Process

Horton Street Backlash To Be Expected

'Complete Streets' Idea Won't Be Stopped

News Analysis/Opinion
After nine years planning, last week the Emeryville City Council directed the Public Works Department to install temporary bollards on Horton Street meant to slow down vehicles and to make the street so difficult to traverse, frustrated drivers will seek other streets for their north/south travel through town.  The idea is to make Horton Street inefficient and unpleasant for drivers.  And if that doesn't work, if drivers still continue to use Horton as a through street for commuting, frustrating as it is soon to become, then the Council will finally divert all through traffic off the street except emergency vehicles and bicycles.
We can see it now: drivers, residents among them, will be frustrated and angry.  A mob will descend on City Hall, yelling at the Council, angrily demanding the street be made whole once again for drivers.  There will be threats of recalls of Council members.

Passions always run high when people feel something is being taken away from them in the public commons.  It's to be expected.  Because streets belong to everyone, while the drivers will be yelling and screaming, another part of the public with equal access to the commons, bicyclists, will be made whole by the Horton Street traffic calming.  And all will be good; proper deliberative procedure will be done and democracy will be served.

Triangle Traffic Calming Analogue?
In the meantime, the fear is palpable at City Hall.  Council members, Staff alike are adamant, 'we don't want a repeat of the Triangle Neighborhood traffic calming debacle', they've said.  What they're fearfully conjuring is when City Hall attempted to slow down and divert speeding cut-through traffic in that neighborhood some years ago.  It was precipitated by resident anger over the speedways that had become the streets there and finally reached a coup de grace with the death of a child to a speeding car.

Temporary Traffic Calming
A few of these sand filled
barrels in the
Triangle Neighborhood
streets brought
pitchforks and torches
to City Hall.

The Triangle traffic calming began like the Horton Street traffic calming: with a plan, a public vetting and a vote of the Council.  It all happened in a nearly year long deliberative process, the public encouraged to attend the several Saturday meetings held at the Senior Center.  Many Triangle neighbors did attend and did help plan the traffic calming for their streets.  Many more couldn't be bothered.  Finally the plan was agreed upon.  Then came the temporary traffic bollards, put up to study the effects and to see if the problem had been solved by implimentation of the plan.  And right on cue, after the bollards went up, the angry mob came down...down to City Hall with their recall threats.

This was all too much for every Council member, save John Fricke.  The rest of them, worried about their re-elections or outright recall, withered under the threats and yelling and the year of deliberate and methodical study to calm traffic by responsible Triangle neighbors was flushed down the toilet.  The neighborhood yellers and screamers won.  The ones inclined towards good governance lost.
Later, after much consternation, a less invasive traffic calming solution was finally devised.

So we know an angry mob is coming to City Hall after the bollards go up on Horton Street.   But what should we expect of responsible elected public officials in response?  Should we expect them to react, to flush good governance, to selfishly move to protect their job in the face of the yellers and screamers?  Or should we expect them to do their job?

The difference with the Horton Street traffic calming, besides the nine years of study conducted, is the plan.  Whereas the traffic calming for the Triangle neighborhood had a plan produced by a city planning firm commissioned by the Council,  the Bike Plan ensconced at City Hall that is dictating the parameters of the Horton Street traffic calming, has the (defacto) force of law.   The City Council is free to amend the Bike Plan but they're not free to ignore it.  And if they buckle under the onslaught of an angry mob, they will have to amend the Plan to reflect that.

Only Two Choices Available
The Bike Plan dictates that the Horton Street Bike Boulevard have no more than 3000 vehicle trips per day, a number far lower than currently uses the street.  This fact is what is driving the traffic calming now being sought.  The Plan describes remedies to frustrate drivers and make them select different streets, leaving Horton below the 3000 mandate.  If however the Council decides to give in to the driver's demands, they have two choices:

1. Raise the number of allowable drivers on Horton street, or 
2. Eliminate its bike boulevard status altogether and return Horton to a regular street

If the Council moves to raise the Bike Plan's 3000 vehicle trips metric for Horton, they will be up against an increasing East Bay bike commuting coalition that will not take to that calmly.  Already, the 3000 number is higher than that of Berkeley or Oakland.  Those cities have bike boulevards that call for no more than 1500 vehicle trips per day.  During the formulation of Emeryville's Bike Plan, the 3000 number was a concession to the business community.  Any move to raise that already high number will be met with resistance.  And that resistance would be well founded.  A bike boulevard with more than double the surrounding cities ceases to be bike boulevard in anything other than name.  And of course there's also the original reason for having low numbers of cars on bike boulevards: because high numbers are unsafe.

Asphalt Grinder
One of these would
make short work of the
Horton Street Bike Boulevard
stencils... and
Emeryville's reputation.

If the Council moves to amend the Bike Plan to eliminate the Horton Street Bike Boulevard altogether, they will have to grind off the existing stencils on the asphalt proclaiming the street to be a bike boulevard.  Also, they'll have to take down the many purple signs now identifying Horton Street as a bike boulevard.   The press will be there for that, the Tattler among them, photo documenting the workers grinding off the stencils and taking down the signs. The resultant photos would make for some embarrassing moments for City Hall we imagine.  It wouldn't be a high water mark for Emeryville public relations among civilized cities, never mind the notion of good governance.

The problem is going to get worse for those who champion driving in Emeryville, those who balk at the idea of 'complete streets', streets designed for everyone to use.  We expect this problem to extend to other bike boulevards in Emeryville as we continue to add new apartment buildings and thousands of new residents.  The other bike boulevards also will be under existential threat as they also experience too much vehicle traffic.  Those other bike boulevards it should be noted, are allowed only up to 1500 vehicle trips per day as the Bike Plan dictates.

Moving forward, decision makers need to stick to the cogent, measured and rational policy that our Bike Plan delivers.  We need to force any Council member that waivers on Bike Plan implementation to show us their alternate solution.  Would be decision makers, too, shouldn't be given a pass.  If they propose to not implement the Bike Plan as City Council candidate John Bauters recently did, we expect them to show us which of the two choices; increase the allowable vehicle numbers or the elimination of the bike boulevard status, they support.

To the yellers and the screamers that we know are coming to City Hall, remember, the City Council's two choices elucidated above are your two choices as well.  It's OK to yell and scream but we want to hear your solutions.  Which one of the two choices will it be?

Are asphalt grinders in our future?  We think the last election has settled that question most likely.  Every City Council wanna be says they support our Bike Plan in their campaign literature and in televised debates every two years.  We think the newest Council members actually do support biking.  The asphalt grinders will likely stay in their garages.  Bring on the yellers and screamers.  It's all good.  Let's have some lively democracy in Emeryville.

Coming soon to the Emeryville City Council chambers.