Zoeyka

My dog and I almost got hit by a car this morning during school drop off crossing Spruce at 3rd. I was in the middle of the intersection, crossing Spruce, when a black SUV turned in without pausing or looking. I ran to avoid her, since she would have been straddling the middle line if there had one. Apparently I did more than run, because my back hurts now. The driver stopped and said that the sun had been in her eyes. She apologized, It was a near miss, and I am still shaken.

There was a crossing guard at 3rd and Brush who saw it. She confirmed my suspicion that the driver appeared to be going over 25 and said that cars turn onto Spruce without pausing to look all the time.

This is two weeks after I reported the unsafe intersection at 3rd and Brush, one block away, during school drop off and pickup times.

I got a call from APD after reporting on the traffic situation on Brush before, and I have heard all the details of the situation there from their perspective. They don't have enough warm bodies to regularly patrol school zones during pick up and drop off times. They used to.

They seem to favor parents dropping off on the black top at NEA, which would mean down Brush, through the school and out the dirt road near Atlantic. I have really considered this, and concluded that it would do nothing to make this stretch of 3rd St., Pacific to Brush, safer for pedestrians. It might reduce the number of pedestrians, because parents would go through the drop off que instead of parking at Woodstock Homes between 2nd and 3rd and walking their kids over. If anything this would make it more dangerous for those of us who will still walk across 3rd every day, and around the neighborhood because drivers would be even less aware of pedestrians since they would be less common.

So I say we need these things:
1. Speed bumps on 3rd between Pacific and Brush, and maybe up to Atlantic. I know Alameda isn't into speed bumps, but what else can we do there? A light at that intersection wouldn't help the other bad driving behavior on 3rd.
2. A regular crossing guard who is always there during high traffic times and who is funded by the city like the rest of them. And who has a whistle and a stern look like the woman at Santa Clara and Chestnut. I realize that NEA and ACLC don’t qualify for one, but this street is traveled by Encinal High and Jr. Jets students too.
3. Cross walk striping across the opening to Spruce. So many teens pass that way every day, and it isn't safe.
4. Big floppy in-between the lane signs all around the 3rd and Brush intersection, and at Spruce, and probably Cypress. I know they don't last, but it would get people's attention for a while.

Oh, and an ARPD van rolled through the cross walk yesterday around 2:00 while I was crossing. number 79. Driven by a young man. APRD isn't answering the phone, so I will put it here.

This is about the 4 way stop at 3rd and Brush. NEA Community Learning Center is located here. Many kids walk to school, and many parents park on Brush St on the other side of 3rd and walk their kids to and from school via this intersection. In the mornings there is a crossing guard, funded by the school and the PTSA. In the afternoon, or if she's sick, there is nothing but stop signs. When there is a crossing guard drivers behave. When she's not there they gun their engines at pedestrians, roll through the stop signs and fail to follow traffic laws. I have seen two kids almost hit. Today there was no crossing guard and a FedEx truck passed about five cars in the oncoming lane, and the general feeling of safety crossing the street was very low. Something has to change before someone gets hurt. I'm not sure what the answer is. Speed bumps on third between Pacific and Brush might encourage people to go other ways, a crossing guard during all school drop off and pick up times would be great. I think the other crossing guards around are funded by the city. I don't understand why this, one of the busiest school pick up zones doesn't get the same.

There is a large pothole on the southbound lane just before the entrance to the shell station. We drove over it last night in the rain and it gave us a flat tire. We pulled in to get diesel at the chevron right after hitting it and could hear air escaping the tire and watch it go flat.

It looks like this section of road has been repaired before, so this is may not be a new pothole.

I have additional images if the one I uploaded isn't clear.

Tires and auto parts at a school

There is lots of dumping in the alley where I pick up my daughter. Many parents and grandparents walk in here to pick up children. It is really gross.

I hit a new one yesterday with my right tire. Rectangle about 8 inches wide near the gutter as I turned from Powell onto Christie coming from the freeway.