BNA Articles

Recycling being picked up by garbage trucks?

Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program

Recycling being picked up by garbage trucks?

Last Monday Mia Ousley noticed the Alameda County Industries (ACI) garbage trucks picking up both the trash and recycling canisters on my block (700 block of Victoria) and dumping it all into the same trash smasher. Mia contacted the City's Environmental Services about this, asking them to find out why the recycling was not being recycled.

Jennifer Auletta, the city's Recycling Specialist, said her office immediately went out to check on the trash trucks themselves. While the City did not witness this improper behavior, Ms. Auletta did report the incident to ACI and spoke with ACI and the driver of our street.

Ms. Auletta said the driver had some excuse for picking up the recycling in front of "Mia's" house only, which the city apparently does not believe.
Therefore, Mia and The BNA is asking all of us to pay attention to the trash companies activities in the area, to notice if any further incidents of non-recycling occurs.

If you spot this type of non-recycling activity by ACI, please call or write

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NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC CALMING PROGRAM
Planning Commission Recommends City Council Adopt Its plan
by Leah Hall, Member of The BNA

San Leandro’s Planning Commission recommended that the City Council adopt the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program (NTCP) discussed at last month’s public hearing. The NTCP is expected to address excessive speeds and volumes of traffic, and enhance bicycle and pedestrian safety in residential neighborhoods.
Although only about 20 community members were in attendance, BNA member Leah Hall was one of them, and she provided the information for this article.
The primary speaker for the meeting was Anna Vickroy, who teaches classes on traffic calming at San Jose State University and prepared a similar program for the City of Livermore in 2002. According to Ms. Vickroy, the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program is designed to obtain the following objectives, ultimately to improve the quality of life for neighborhood residents.

To put the program in context, here’s a brief account of the city’s recent traffic calming history. The Speed Hump Program was adopted in 1997 by the City of San Leandro. Since that time, about 10 speed bumps a year have been installed throughout the city with an annual budget of $30,000 per year. To date, the city has spent $90,000- $100,000 on this program. But the use of speed humps are limited in application due to physical constraints – they can’t be placed on short blocks or roadway curves due to sight distance constraints. Additionally, they may contribute to cut-through traffic onto other parallel residential routes.

The NTCP would replace or absorb this program. Its proposed budget is $100,000 per year. According to Ms. Vickroy, one neighborhood per year will be selected for traffic calming interventions, through a competitive process based on the severity of a neighborhood’s traffic issues. Neighborhoods with less-severe problems will move higher on the list over time as projects are completed through the program. The program recognizes that traffic problems do not go away over time, so eventually all neighborhoods that qualify will get their turn.

The way the NTCP evaluates and prioritizes neighborhood complaints is described in a handbook entitled Handbook of the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program, City of San Leandro Engineering and Transportation Department. It involves a resident calling to make a complaint and the Traffic & Engineering Department gathering street data through speed trailers to determine the street meets at least one of the following minimum criteria:

(1) 85th Percentile Speed – Critical speed is at least 32 mph for residential local roadways and 34 mph for residential collectors; or
(2) Average Daily Traffic – The average daily volume is at least 1,000 vehicles for local roadways and 2,000 vehicles for residential collectors.

If one of the minimum criteria is met, the neighborhood will be placed on the list and prioritized. The city ranks severity established through a point system: more points for higher recorded speeds and higher recorded volume. Points are also accumulated for collisions over the past three years that may have been avoided with traffic calming, and also for “pedestrian generators” – each park, recreation facility, or other public facility that draws significant pedestrian traffic.

Once neighborhoods are prioritized, the top will be selected. The city estimates one neighborhood plan can be achieved each year. The following are considered acceptable traffic calming measures: speed humps, traffic circles, chicanes, raised crosswalks and speed tables, raised intersections, medians and gateways, bulb-outs and chokers and curb extensions, re-striping, and in-pavement lighted crosswalks. Definitions – along with pictures and details – of each of these measures is available in the Handbook.
Notably, city staff does not consider stop signs appropriate as speed calming devices. City staff say stop signs are traffic controls and not traffic calming devices. As such, their use is governed by state law requiring certain criteria.

The city will then hold informational neighborhood meetings, presenting design concept proposals. Neighborhood balloting will then occur. A minimum of 50% of ballots must be returned, and approval must be by at least 67% of the ballots returned. If the approval rate isn’t high enough, or not enough ballots are returned, the neighborhood will have to go back to the waiting list for next year.

Only 8 individuals spoke with complaints about speeding on their street, and they all lived on Begier.

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TheBNA.org: Your Neighborhood Web Site
By Hillary Van Austen, President, The BNA