Sunnyvale officials want to tighten traffic safety near Fair Oaks Park after multiple pedestrian deaths over the past six years.
Fair Oaks Avenue has become a top safety concern for residents and cyclists. The heavily traveled road poses an immediate danger to pedestrians and bicycles, with speeds up to 40 mph and limited crosswalks. On Jan. 18, a vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian crossing Fair Oaks Avenue near the Columbia Avenue intersection. Since 2019, Sunnyvale has had 11 fatal collisions between a vehicle and bicycle or pedestrian, three of which have happened on Fair Oaks Avenue between Taylor and Ahwanee avenues.
District 5 Councilmember Richard Mehlinger, who represents this stretch of Fair Oaks Avenue, said the city needs to reconfigure the area for safety, especially given how many businesses, parks and other establishments line the street.
“A lot of the bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure on that street simply isn’t up to snuff,” Mehlinger told San José Spotlight. “This poses a real accessibility barrier and a real safety challenge.”
In 2023, Mehlinger introduced a study issue to redesign Fair Oaks Avenue, but it was deferred due to lack of resources. This year, he reintroduced the same project in segments, starting with studying potential signals, traffic circles and other safety features at three intersections along Fair Oaks Avenue: Balsam, Taylor and McKinley avenues.
All six of his fellow councilmembers are cosponsoring the study, which will be discussed in depth at the city’s Feb. 13 hearing on study issues. However, city employees have recommended deferring the study, citing a lack of resources in the Department of Public Works.
Mehlinger said he hopes the signal study will be less of a lift compared to the full street redesign, which is more comprehensive.
“Getting (these studies) prioritized and funded is going to be a lot of work but for now … the lowest hanging fruit is trying to get those intersections signalized,” he told San José Spotlight.
The stretch of Fair Oaks Avenue between Taylor and Ahwanee avenues is particularly dangerous. There are few crosswalks that cross Fair Oaks Avenue, and the street separates a large residential neighborhood from the newly renovated Fair Oaks Park. Mehlinger said he often sees people jaywalk.
Valérie Suarés, chair of the Sunnyvale Neighbors of Arbor including La Linda board, said she also sees a lot of jaywalking because residents in her neighborhood have to walk about half a mile to get to the nearest crosswalk at either Duane Avenue or Wolfe Road. She said the speed limit on Fair Oaks Avenue ranges from 40 to 30 mph, making it even more dangerous to bike on or cross without a signal.
Bryce Beagle, who chairs the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, said Fair Oaks Avenue is one of the city’s most unsafe streets for cyclists and pedestrians. There’s limited infrastructure for bikes, with cars and bicycles sharing a lane for large stretches.
Fair Oaks Avenue has multiple unmarked crosswalks where the pedestrian has right of way, but there are no signs or signals to slow cars down. Beagle said these are particularly dangerous on streets with higher speed limits.
“The road needs to be designed with the behavior of people in mind. You can’t force behavior, but you can force infrastructure to conform to behavior,” Beagle told San José Spotlight.
Suarés said traffic safety is top of mind for most nearby residents. There are multiple schools nearby, such as Columbia Middle School and Bishop Elementary School, along with Columbia and Fair Oaks parks, so Suarés said parents and children regularly contend with these safety issues.
To Suarés, it’s another glaring example of the inequity in services provided to North Sunnyvale residents, alongside losing some of the area’s only grocery stores.
“The number of public safety things for pedestrian and bicycles are far more predominant south of the train tracks than in the north,” she told San José Spotlight. “I’m not really sure why, but we live on the wrong side of the train tracks.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at sakura@sanjosespotlight.com or @SakuCannestra on X.
This story originally appeared in San José Spotlight.
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