The Californer - San Jose: Traffic Safety Improvements on Senter Road

Whether you rely on a car, bus, bike, or walking as modes of transportation, it's safe to say that most of us are concerned about safety. Most people will take proper precautions to keep themselves safe while they're on the road, but you can bet they will have peace of mind in knowing their city also takes safety seriously. We're in the beginning stages of a construction project on Senter Road, expected to be complete by spring of 2021. This Senter Road project is also part of Vision Zero, a traffic safety initiative led by the Department of Transportation that aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. This project will install various traffic safety features and improvements to create safer and more comfortable roadways for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians.

How will Senter Road be safer for motorists?
To maintain safe driving speeds for all, this project will improve our existing streetlights, resurface the pavement, and redesign travel lanes on Senter Road. LED streetlights will not only save more energy but also create better-lit roads, while new pavement and travel lanes will make way for a smoother car or bus ride. Another new feature includes the installation of concrete median islands to distinguish opposing lanes of traffic, and we'll also plant trees to improve our community forest.

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What will Senter Road look like for bike riders? For anyone who uses standard bike lanes, we know how stressful it can be to share the road with passing cars. With that said, we're happy to announce that this project will improve existing bike lanes by adding barriers and pavement markings to clearly distinguish bike lanes from the rest of the road. This project will also add a new bike lane to a small part of Senter Road. We hope this will encourage more residents and visitors to bike around San José more often!

Maybe you rely on walking as your primary mode of transportation? Senter Road is a large and busy roadway, so make it more accessible to pedestrians, this project will improve pedestrian signal timing and add high-visibility crosswalks. The project will also install ADA-compliant curb ramps (so Senter Road is more accessible for pedestrians with disabilities); median island fencing that will prevent unsafe mid-block crossing; and quick-build corner curb extensions, which narrows the roadway so crosswalk distances are shorter and motorists reduce their turning speeds.

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Our ultimate goals are to improve safety for all and to make Senter Road a more pleasant environment –– no matter what your preferred mode of transportation is! If you'd like to learn more about the safety improvements on Senter Road, access the project summary here or read our safety study.

Filed Under: Government, City

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