Argus letter to the editor
2024-08-26 03:12:40.77348+02 by Dan Lyke 3 comments
Copying here so that I can link people to it. Written to The Petaluma Argus-Courier, published on August 9. I think I missed something in editing, because the point of the police parking the dynamic speed trailer under the 15MPH yellow sign is that it has a big "30MPH" white speed limit sign on it. So... uh... Anyway, the scuttlebutt is that we may get stop signs!!! Yay!
EDITOR: The short stretch of Mountain View Avenue between Olive Street and Fairview Terrace has seen three automobile collisions in the past five weeks. Pedestrians and bicyclists cross this racetrack with trepidation, and a local power wheelchair user reports having been hit by drivers several times.
Residents of Mountain View Avenue have talked about trying to get traffic calming and safety improvements for literally decades. I've only lived here for 16 years, but in that time the speed limit along the straightaway was raised from 25 mph to 30 mph so that it could be enforced.
The enforcement we've seen involves parking an electronic speed sign underneath the 15 mph recommended speed sign for the curve. Meanwhile, the safety improvements of paint and reflectors installed in 2022 have already worn off, and guerilla safety enhancement efforts are removed within a few business hours. Resident-installed speed monitors record speeds of over 40 mph within 150 feet of stop signs.
I would be irate at the inaction of city processes, but as I look around I realize that there are many roads and intersections in Petaluma that are much higher priority to fix than our neighborhood. If we truly care about climate, and about the livability of the city, we need to prioritize rebuilding our infrastructure in ways that makes it accessible to all users, not just automobile drivers speeding recklessly through our neighborhoods.