November 30th, 2022

HUGE NEWS. 

Speed bumps for 33rd Street are *officially* approved by the city. Emergency-friendly "road humps" will be installed on 33rd Street between Upas and Nutmeg to address reckless and speeding driving. This is the first phase of our continued efforts at community-wide traffic calming and the Transportation Department has committed to re-measuring traffic patterns on neighboring Felton and Bancroft Streets to monitor for traffic diversion. If an increase in traffic is noted on neighboring streets, those streets will become eligible for speed bumps, as well. 

There cannot be enough said for Councilmember Whitburn's relentless support for this project and specifically his staff liason to our community, Ryan Darsey. They made a commitment to us, stuck with it and are seeing it through to material, meaningful infrastructure. 

Next up: 4-way stop at Bancroft and Redwood, reduced speed limit on Redwood, and continued monitoring of traffic patters in the community after the new speed bumps are installed. 

October 14th, 2022

Late last night, a resident in the area came speeding down 33rd Street and struck several parked cars near 33rd and Thorn. SDPD arrived but seemingly did not conduct a DUI test. The driver cooperated with the owners of the parked cars. One of the owners of the damaged cars had just gotten their vehicle back from the shop since the last time it was sideswiped. 

September 30th, 2022

As many have noticed, the Transportation Department fullfilled their commitment and stop signs are now isntalled on Redwood at 33rd Street, turning the intersection into a 4-way stop. Residents have reported that the intersection is much safter now, especially for pedestrians crossing Redwood, and much more orderly for cars. Huge win for safety! The Transportation Department also ordered crosswalks. 

The Transportation Department also installed traffic strips all around the neighborhood for several days and is completing a new traffic survey that will help inform the plan as we continue to work with Councilmember Whitburn's office on the area-wide traffic calming project. 

Another crash occured this week, this time on 33rd Street between Thorn and Redwood. A resident was pulling out of their driveway when they were hit by a driver traveling to Saints to drop off a student. 

Saint Augustine leadership declined an invitation from Councilmember Whitburn's office to meet with community leaders, but expressed interest in supporting traffic calming measures. 

September 1st, 2022

After nearly five months of review, the Transportation Department finally released their findings to Councilmember Whitburn's office on the Traffic Calming initiative. The findings were based on "four speed profile studies at various locations along these streets over the past two years." There was no acknowledgement of, or reference to, the nearly 300 signers and commenters of the traffic calming petition that articulated the scope of the problem in great detail. 

In a big win for our work to date, some of the improvements the community requested are being recommended, however the final recommendations fell short of the compreshensive traffic calming treatment the community believes is needed to avoid a tragedy and adequately address the traffic conditions in the area. 

In light of the findings, Councilmember Whitburn reiterated his full support and commitment to material traffic calming solutions that ensure the safety of residents and reduce the speed and volume of commuter traffic. We are working with the Councilmember's office to provide a response to the Transportation Department and, if necessary, pursue other means to adequately address the problem. 

Approved:

1. 4-way stop at 33rd and Redwood

2. Reduced speed limit on Redwood from 30mph to 25mph

3. A commitment to conduct additional speed profile studies

Denied:

1. 4-way stops at 33rd and Thorn, Palm and Nutmeg

2. 4 ways stops at Bancroft and Thorn, Redwood, and Palm

3. Reduced speed limit from 32nd to Boundary and from Upas to Nutmeg

4. Signage indicating commercial thru traffic is prohibited on Bancroft, 33rd and Felton

5. Speed bumps on Bancroft and 33rd

6. Blocking access to the 805 from 33rd Street

While not everything we hoped for, we're proud of what we've achieved so far and we look forward to continuing to partner with Councilmember Whitburn on this issue. Leaders in other big cities are leading the way on reducing speed limits, implementing physical infrastructure and finding creative methods to address dangerous road conditions and meet Vision Zero goals. We can be the example of modern planning here in San Diego as we work with the Councilmember further on this issue! 

As always, more to follow. 

June 15th, 2022

The offices of Councilmember Whitburn and Mayor Gloria had a very constructive meeting with Saint Augustine leadership to discuss ways the school and community can work together on safe traffic initiatives. The next meeting will include members from the community to expand the communication lines on the issue. 

May 26th, 2022: 

Councilmember Whitburn and Mayor Gloria's office have confirmed they will be meeting with Saint Augustine High School leadership soon and will share updates with the community after. 

 April 7th, 2022: 

Thanks to the nearly 250 (and growing) signers of the Traffic Calming Petition, City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn met with members of the community in a Listen and Learn event to better understand the scope of the commuter traffic problems in order to take effective action towards appropriate traffic calming measures. 

Over 50 members of the Altadena community showed up in to share their feedback in a productive and warm dialogue with Councilmember Whitburn, his staff liason to our community Ryan Darsey, and Mayor Todd Gloria's liason to our community, Khota Zaiser. 

***** A good summary of the discussion can be read on this Twitter thread. Thank you Zac! *****

Below are the action items that came out of this meeting: 

• Councilmember Whitburn and Mayor Gloria’s offices agree that the traffic problems in our community are longstanding, “unique” and need to be addressed through appropriate traffic calming measures as a matter of urgent public safety.

• A multi-pronged approach will be required, and options under consideration include reduced speed limits, speed bumps, 4-way stops, roundabouts, crosswalks, red curbs at intersections to increase line of sight, implementing neighborhood parking permits, restricting heavy commercial vehicles and increasing SDPD enforcement.

• Traffic calming measures will be deployed community-wide to avoid simply redirecting the existing problems from one street to another.

• The Transportation Department is conducting an updated traffic study and will revert to CM Whitburn’s office with recommendations within 90 days.

• CM Whitburn and Mayor Gloria’s offices will reach out to Saint Augustine leadership to facilitate dialogue between the school and the community so we can work together on practical, meaningful solutions.

• The community requests/recommends that Saint Augustine:

  • Shuttle in students from a centralized pickup/dropoff location suitable to handle the volume of traffic created by students, staff and visitors

  • Provide crossing guards to manage traffic at busy intersections around the school

  • Implement a pickup/dropoff plan that eliminates lines of cars idling in the middle of the street and blocking residents from moving through the neighborhood  

  • Implement a parking plan that eliminates overflow parking offsite in the neighborhood 

  • Implement an Events plan for traffic management and parking for all school and non-school related events that use the Saint Augustine campus 

  • Create meaningful dialogue with the community that enables consistent, productive communication moving forward 

• The Altadena community needs to figure out a centralized way to manage communications and updates on the traffic (and other) issues moving forward, whether through email or a platform that will keep us organized (i.e. this website).

March 3rd, 2022

The petition has gained 150 signers and was submitted to Saint Augustine High School leadership, Councilmember Whitburn's office, SDPD and Mayor Todd Gloria's office. 

Councilmember Whitburn's office committed to working with the community on meaningful solutions and Mayor Gloria's office is "supportive of Councilmember Whitburn's efforts to increase the safety of this neighborhood and ensure we implement effective traffic calming measures."

Background

This process started in February, 2022, when Ryan Darsey in Coucilmember Whitburn’s office accepted an invitation to observe the daily Saint Augustine High School exodus from our neighborhood. That afternoon, we watched the usual speeding and running of stop signs as students and parents raced out of the area. We also watched as one car full of Saints students circled the block a few times with a student standing from the backseat through the sunroof firing a nerf pellet gun at things as they drove around. It was a stark analogy of the disrespectful and sometimes reckless way our community is treated by both Saints-affiliated and non-Saints affiliated commuters. 

To be clear: issues associated with Saints commuters are only half the story. We are also bombarded by commercial traffic and other commuters using our small streets to access the 805. These streets were built one hundred years ago, long before the freeway cut through the neighborhood, at a time when cars were smaller and slower, and of course when the volume of vehicles was a fraction of a fraction compared to the relentless flow we deal with on a daily basis now. More background on the unique reasons causing this commuter chaos here. 

As a result of the mismatch in street infrastructure available (or more to the point, not available) to handle the current traffic patterns, and as documented in the online petition, our community routinely suffers sideswipings of parked cars, near misses with pedestrians, constant honking from drivers tangled in intersections, pets killed, and children forbidden from walking to McKinley Elementary or playing in their front yards due to the dangerous conditions. Just recently, on Saturday, April 2nd, a driver plowed into a parked car on 32nd and Redwood, rendering both vehicles inoperable. What if the parked car hadn’t been there and the reckless driver veered onto the sidewalk instead, killing a pedestrian? 

Long time residents have shared that these issues have been brought to the city’s attention and to Saint Augustine leadership’s attention for over two decades. Toni Atkins worked on this issue when she represented our district on the city council, as did now Mayor Todd Gloria when he represented this district. We can no longer afford to defer action on this issue, and it is our sincere belief that Councilmember Whitburn understands the severity of the problems and the need to act urgently on traffic calming measures that will avoid a horrific tragedy and restore a sense of wellbeing in our community. As density in North Park increases and traffic fatalities are on the rise nationally, and locally, it’s imperative that meaningful action is taken now to mitigate the volume, speed and recklessness of commuters through this neighborhood. 

For those of us who unfortunately know first-hand the devastation of losing a loved one to a reckless driver, this is personal. We don’t want that to happen to anyone in this neighborhood. The commenters in the petition were unified in voicing the warning that a tragedy is imminent in our community unless actions are taken to address the hurried commuter who has no regard for the safety of the people who live here and can only be forced to slow down through appropriate traffic calming measures such as four way stops, slower speed limits, speed bumps, and much, much needed crosswalks.