PRESENTING: the DIRTY DOZEN

The number one complaint the Emerald Hills Homeowners Association Board hears about is traffic danger. So we sent a survey to the homeowners on our e-mail list to find out: Where are the most dangerous places on our Emerald Hills roads? Here are the Dirty Dozen (in order from WORST to merely BAD), along with responders' suggestions for solving the problems.

         #1. According to our survey, the most dangerous place in Emerald Hills is on Jefferson, from Fallen Leaf to Bayview, by the Redwood Parents Nursery School. This location has a blind curve and drivers who are trying out for the Indy 500. As one parent said: "I am frightened every time I take my kids to nursery school; we have to run because cars come so fast, and I worry that one of my kids will fall and get hit." Proposed solutions include: Signage about the school and the blind curve, mirror at the blind curve, speed notification (by the electronic monitor) followed by enforcement (tickets!), speed bumps, dips, or raised dots, and guard rail at the drop-off by the farm.

         #2. A closer runner-up for the Worst of the Worst is Lakeview Way between house numbers 210 - 250, where there is a blind curve on a very narrow section of road and a steep drop-off on one side. One homeowner who nominated this section was in a head-on collision there with a car coming up the middle of the street (to avoid the drop-off). Proposed solutions include: Widen roadway and place a curb or guard rail on the downhill side, raised dots to indicate the middle of the road, a mirror on the blind curve; consider making Lakeview one-way from Springdale to Cordilleras. Appropriate speed at this location is 5-10 mph.

         #3. Speedsters are out on Oak Knoll between Canyon and Hillcrest, causing danger for many pedestrians on their walks up to the Community Center. Survey respondents suggested: Sidewalk or expanded pedestrian path, speed bumps, stop sign on Oak Knoll at Hillcrest.

         #4. The junction of Lakeview Way, West Summit and Summit is confusing and without stop signs; as one person put it: "No one yields the right of way and whoever gets there fastest wins." Sounds like Boston, Mass! Suggestions for improvement were: a stop sign on Lakeview or possibly a three-way stop, a traffic circle (roundabout).

         #5. Springdale Way, the whole street from the curve at the top to the curve at the bottom. The road is narrow and windy, with deep troughs on the uphill side and steep drop-offs on the downhill. Construction vehicles and cars are parked on the traveled portion of the roadway, causing impairment of visibility. Possible solutions: Widen road, lessen depth of drainage ditch, guard rails or curbs at drop-offs, raised dots in center of road, no parking in road (or require parking permits).

         #6. Edgewood at Cordilleras/Lakeview: The stoplight is good but the "no left turn" has created a hazard. Westbound cars who discover the No Left and go through the intersection then perform a 3-point turn on Edgewood or turn around using people's driveways. Eastbound cars turning off Edgewood onto Cordilleras are speeding, and can't be seen by cars trying to make a left from Lakeview onto Cordilleras. Suggested solutions: Allow left turns onto Cordilleras/ Lakeview or limit the No Lefts to specific times of day, perhaps, 7 - 8:30 am. Put a flashing speed sign by the right turn lane on Edgewood.

         By the way, in response to our final survey question: Do you think the county should allow a left turn from west-bound Edgewood onto Cordilleras, 39 responded YES, 6 responded NO, and 27 had no opinion or did not respond to the question.

         #7 - 12. There was a 6-way tie for 6th place; here they are, in no special order:

      Lakeview Way from 131 - 180: After the last curve, comes the straightaway, where drivers try to pick up speed. Solutions: speed notification (by sign or electronic monitor) followed by enforcement (tickets!); speed bumps, dips, or raised dots.

      Oak Knoll near Canyon (in Redwood City): Congestion due to parked cars. C'mon, get some exercise, park in the lot and walk to the coffee shop! Suggestions: Improve street markings, including crosswalks, no parking near the intersection on Canyon or Oak Knoll.

      California Way from Jefferson to Paradise: Another speed zone, along with failures to yield to pedestrians, running stop sign on Paradise. Solutions desired: Signage and speed bumps, patrolling of stop sign.

      Vista, especially in the vicinity of Vaquero: Speeders on a blind curve on a narrow street with parked cars further narrowing the roadway. Kids play at the intersection. Preferred solutions: speed bump, no parking on road.

      Lakeview Way, between Woodland and Sylvan: Narrow, one lane street with blind curve and nowhere to swerve to avoid an oncoming car. Proposed solutions:

a mirror to see around the curve, speed bumps, regulate the one-way section.

In addition to the dirty dozen (places with the most votes) respondents mentioned additional hazardous locations. We award these places "dishonorable mention." The following got several votes; sorry we can't list all the rough spots that were nominated just once.

         Jefferson at Lakeview: Needs patrolling for those prone to ignore stop signs, pedestrian walkways for kids going to school at Cloud Elementary.

         Crest Drive: Residents suggest speed bumps or close off Crest from Hillside so that it is not a through street.

         Jefferson west of California Way (in Woodside): Bicyclists on this windy stretch of road create a hazard.

         Lake Street, north side between Oak Knoll and Park: Cars go too fast on blind curve. Speed bumps or center line with dots would help.

         Sylvan at intersection with Lakeview. Sylvan needs a stop sign and a stop strip painted in the road.

         Lakemead-Lakeview Intersection: Redwood City has painted markers on roadway near this intersection, but additional marking is needed in the county part.        

         Summit from Oak Knoll to Lakeview: Speeders and hot rodders are scary.

Now that we know our biggest danger zones, what next? The EHHA public works committee is already in touch with Neil Cullen, San Mateo Public Works Department, and with the county Sheriffs to talk over the identified locations and see what can be done in those specific locations. County officials plan to come out into the neighborhood to see the situations that are causing the greatest danger and to consider which of the proposed solutions would be most feasible and effective.

Did we fail to mention your biggest trouble spot? If you have a concern, get together a group of neighbors and write a letter that spells out the danger and what the neighbors propose should be done. Send it to Neil Cullen at San Mateo Public Works Department, 555 County Center 5th Floor , Redwood City CA 94063 or email ncullen(at)co.sanmateo.ca.us. Send a copy to the EHHA, publicworks(at)emeraldhills.org. If you want speed bumps, see our website for guidance about the process.

A few words about SPEED BUMPS

Our traffic survey elicited strong opinions about speed bumps. Some people responded to the new speed bumps on Cordilleras like this: "They are ridiculous and unsafe!" "I am furious with the number and size of these speed bumps!" "They slow traffic way below the posted limit." "Since I have lived here my commute time has doubled because of congestion, hazards, stop signs and speed bumps." Perhaps you agree with these sentiments.

On the other hand, sure, the speed bumps slow us down, but let's consider the folks who live on Cordilleras, who have had to contend with a huge increase in fast traffic since the "no left turn on Edgewood" has forced many drivers off of Edgewood (where the speed limit is 45 mph) onto their residential street. And, in our survey, residents of streets where speeding cars are a real hazard never failed to name speed bumps as a possible solution to the neighborhood's problems. As one person said, "PLEASE, help us get speed bumps before someone is killed."

If you believe that speed bumps are needed on your street and that other, less intrusive means will not work, then you can learn about the process for getting speed bumps on our web site, www.emeraldhills.org. Type "speed bumps" into the search engine and then select: San Mateo Co Public Works - Speed Control Procedure. There you will find the draft procedure (now adopted) for speed bumps. Basically, residents must submit a letter of request to the California Highway Patrol identifying the location and cause of the speeding problem signed by 51% of residents in a given block. The CHP will conduct a field check, observing the speed of traffic, to determine if a speeding problem exists that can be ameliorated by the installation of a speed hump/dip, and if so will make a referral to the county Department of Public Works, who will then consider speed humps for areas where more than 20% of the traffic is traveling 5 mph over the speed limit, and speed dips where more than 20% for the traffic is traveling more than 10 miles over the speed limit.

If we all could get into the Zen of a slower pace of driving on our neighborhood lanes, we would not need speed bumps. If we could all think of the entrance to Emerald Hills as the place where we mentally put our work away and enter into the peace of our quiet rural home, we could get along without posted speed limits. But in the hustle-bustle of modern life, many of us hurry from place to place, thus creating a need for artificial means of slowing us down.            Namaste.

Is our neighborhood prepared for a disaster?

Do you want to be part of the solution?

Emerald Hills residents have expressed interest in receiving training to form a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). CERTs are formed by members of a neighborhood (or workplace) who want to be better prepared for the hazards that threaten their communities. Initially, CERT programs were developed to assist communities in taking care of themselves in the aftermath of a major disaster when first responders are overwhelmed or unable to respond because of communication or transportation difficulties. As the CERT concept has taken hold across the country, however, CERTs have proven themselves to be an active and vital part of their communities' preparedness and response capability in many situations.

The CERT training consists of 16 - 18 hours, covering topics as: preparedness, hazardous materials safety, first aid, fire suppression, gas shutoff, and search and rescue. During training, CERTs learn to:

*    Identify and mitigate potential hazards in the home and workplace.

*    Initiate plans to prepare themselves and their loved ones for the hazards that they face.

*    Help themselves, loved ones, and neighbors until professional response resources arrive.

*    Locate and turn off utilities.

*    Extinguish small fires.

*    Identify hazardous materials situations.

*    Triage and treat victims.

*    Work cooperatively as a team within their neighborhoods.

*    Conduct searches and rescues in lightly and moderately damaged structures.

*    Understand the psychological impact of a disaster on themselves and others.

*    Organize CERT members and spontaneous volunteers for an effective and safe response.

*    Understand their capabilities and limitations when deployed.

 

The training for Emerald Hills residents will be provided by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office of Emergency service. The training is free and is available to adults and young adults (high school juniors and seniors). This training will begin soon on Wednesday nights and will go for 4 weeks. There will be also some time required on a weekend day. A second class on a different night (most likely on Tuesdays) can be arranged with 6 interested people. It would be great to have several teams up her in Emerald Hills!

If you are interested please contact Vicky Tuite as soon as possible:

Vicky.tuite[at]emeraldhills.org

work: 650 257-4045         home: 650 367-6268

Call for Nominations to the Board

Our next general membership meeting is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 29 at the Elks Lodge, and we will be electing directors to the association's board at that time. If you or someone you know wants to help improve the community, participating in the association as a director is an effective way to have a positive impact.

Any interested person should contact our nominating committee at nominations(at)emeraldhills.org, or feel free to call any current director to discuss expectations (phone numbers are on the back page of this newsletter and on our web site). In general, directors should possess a keen desire for the common good of the community, and have the time available for monthly meetings and follow-up.

Update: Zoning Ordinance Proposals

The EHHA Board is still moving forward with the Zoning and Tree Ordinance Proposals that we all voted on last summer. If you haven't seen the results, they were published in our Fall Newsletter, now online at www.emeraldhills.org.

We have had a series of meetings with Lisa Grote, Director of Community Development. Her team is the Planning and Building Division under the Environmental Services Agency. Lisa has been very helpful with taking the next steps toward preparing the proposals for the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. Lisa will give a brief presentation at the EHHA Annual meeting at the end of March, and then we will know more definitely about the schedule for approval of the proposals. We've also been in touch with Supervisor Richard Gordon and his assistant, Jeremy Dennis, who are working on updating tree ordinances for the entire county, including Emerald Hills. As expected, this is a long slow process. Thank you for all your support and patience.

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