| | Published November 12th, 2008
| Ivy Drive Gets A Speed Cushion
| | By Andrea A. Firth | | |
Following more than two hours of presentation, public comment, and discussion, the Orinda City Council approved the installation of a single speed cushion on Ivy Drive abutting the properties at 46 Ivy and 2 Crown Court. Council Members Amy Worth and Sue Severson and Mayor Victoria Smith voted in favor of the speed cushion, while Council members Steve Glazer and Tom McCormick both abstained from the vote.
Finding a solution to the traffic problems on Ivy Drive-a thoroughfare that stretches from Del Rey Elementary School at the north end to Miramonte High School at the south end with Orinda Intermediate School in the middle-has been the focus of a neighborhood action group and Orinda's Traffic Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC) for over two years. Based on the input from multiple neighborhood and committee meetings, circulated petitions, and finally polls of the Ivy Drive residents on the proposed traffic calming options, TSAC presented the Council with a three-part recommendation including a stop sign, additional speed limits signs, and the single speed cushion.
Questions were raised during the public comment portion of the discussion regarding how the polls were conducted and who was able to vote. "I believe the process was manipulated," stated Tim Millette, a TSAC member. Millette told the Council that he felt it was inappropriate that an email had circulated indicating how residents had voted in the poll and that the polling response deadline had been extended after the voted had failed the first time.
The process of identifying a solution to the Ivy Drive traffic woes has been confounded by the fact that separate and slightly different guidelines exist for TSAC to follow for implementing traffic calming measures and installing speed cushions. Despite the challenges presented by the lack of alignment between the two sets of guidelines, Vice Mayor Severson, who has worked closely with TSAC, felt the spirit and intent of the guidelines had been adhered to and she encouraged her fellow Council Members to move forward with the speed cushion. "The [Ivy Drive] neighbors have been requesting relief for a long time," stated Severson.
Council Member McCormick, while supportive of speed cushions as an effective traffic calming measure, was bothered by the lack of confidentiality of the neighborhood poll and how the poll was conducted. "Every property that touches Ivy Drive should be noticed and have the opportunity to vote," stated McCormick. Councilman Glazer, who stated that he also supports the concept of speed cushions and worked to have them installed in his own neighborhood, acknowledged the difficulty in obtaining a super majority of neighbors in agreement with the speed cushion. Glazer expressed concern over the Council's ability to consistently interpret and apply the traffic calming measure guidelines to other situations in the future due to the lack of alignment in the current process.
TSAC's recommendation to install additional speed limit signs along Ivy Drive was passed unanimously by the Council. However, the Council did not support the installation of a one-way stop sign on Arroyo Drive at Ivy Drive. Two other speed cushions that TSAC has considered as further traffic calming measures for the street did not meet either the super majority required through polling of the neighborhood or were refused by the property owners who directly abut the proposed cushion placement.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA