East Sacramento News w w w. va l c o m n e w s . c o m
E-mail stories & photos to: editor@valcomnews.com Editorial questions: (916) 267-8992 East Sacramento News is published on the first and third Thursday of the month in the area bounded by Business 80 on the west, the American River on the north and east and Highway 50 on the south. Publisher...................................................................David Herburger
Vol. XXVII • No. 20 1109 Markham Way Sacramento, CA 95818 t: (916) 429-9901 f: (916) 429-9906
Editor............................................................................... Monica Stark Art Director...........................................................Annin Greenhalgh Graphic Designer..................................................Annin Greenhalgh Advertising Director................................................... Jim O’Donnell Advertising Executives:.............. Melissa Andrews, Linda Pohl
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Neighborhood meeting discussed East Sac traffic safety By Sally King
The East Sacramento Preservation Meeting was held at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 26, at McClaskey Adult Center , 5241 J St. Board member Ellen Cochrane, chaired the meeting. Cochrane introduced the attending board members and went over the agenda, which included three guest speakers. The first speaker was Jennifer Donlon Wyant, the Vision Zero Program Manager. Wyant gave a presentation on the Vision Zero Program. Wyant explained, “Vision Zero is a philosophy that traffic safety is paramount and there are no accidents. Accidents can be prevented through engineering, education and enforcement.” The city council adopted Vision Zero about a year and half ago based on data that had been put together showing the number of traffic fatalities and inju-
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East Sacramento News • October 18, 2018 • www.valcomnews.com
ries. Wyant said they discovered that between 2009 and 2013, the number of killed or severely injured folks increased. The number of accidents for pedestrians and bikers had also increased. Wyant pointed out, last year Sacramento had more traffic fatalities than homicides. There were 46 traffic fatalities and 39 homicides. Wyant emphasized these accidents are preventable. Based on the data, the areas where the highest number of incidents occurred were H Street, J Street, Folsom Boulevard and Broadway. Wyant said speed and impaired driving are the two main causes for major accidents. Sacramento is the second worse city in California for accidents caused by impaired driving. The Vision Zero plan includes: first, update street design standards to be more up-to-date with our best traffic safety practices, and developing designs for the hot top five corridors where people are dying or suffering major injuries from accidents most often. Second, the plan supports state level, automated speed enforcement. Other states have automated speed enforcement because there are not enough traffic officers on the road to enforce the speed limit. At this time automated speed enforcement is not legal in California. This is something Sacramento would like to pilot to see if it works. Wyant reemphasized in order to lower traffic accidents, we need engineering, education and enforcement. As part of the Vision Zero awareness, Wyant handed out free ‘Drive Slowly’ yard signs to those who wanted one. Wy-
ant feels that even though the signs probably won’t slow drivers down, they are a great conversation starter, a way for folks to think about driving safely. “ Traffic safety is home grown. We want it to be about us, not government telling people want to do, but us working together as a community,” Wyant said. Wyant informed folks that Vision Zero recently applied for a $9 million state grant. If it is approved, five key surroundings will receive improved pedestrian crossings and other structural improvements. Wyant said they are also including a study on safety around schools. Wyant spoke about the new Jump Bike program. She explained the region saw this program as a way for folks to be more physically active, to reduce vehicle miles traveled, and improve air quality. This program is now offered in Sacramento, West Sacramento and Davis. Currently the city has about 450 jump bikes. They eventually plan to have 950 jump bikes. The rule when renting a Jump Bike is parking it in a bike rack after use. The city is in the process of adding more bike racks for the bikes. Most of the folks at the meeting felt too many of the Jump Bikes were being left on lawns and sidewalks, creating a safety issue. Wyant has heard this complaint before and explained they are trying to resolve the issue by adding more bike rakes and by Uber, who owns the Jump Bikes, to offer one free ride when the bike is returned to its proper place. Wyant also said to call the city and see Traffic page 3 Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.
