The city actually had some grant money at one point from SACOG but squandered it through inaction.
So there I was last week driving eastbound on Fifth Street. I had just passed B Street and was looking to get into the right lane to turn unto D Street. As I looked over my shoulder the car in the other lane lurched towards me, coming within inches of sideswiping me.
Why? Well there was a bicyclist legally biking on the side. As most are well aware there is neither a shoulder nor a bike lane in that stretch of Fifth Street. Instead of the car slowing down and making sure it was safe, she simply swerved nearly into traffic. We might have hit had I not looked at that moment to see about changing lanes. It was another near miss.
Last May it was not a near miss, in fact it was almost a huge calamity. We were wrapping up Farmer’s Market, a just a few weeks before the council election. I was loading up my car on C street. Had just put something in my trunk, and walked back onto the sidewalk.
Suddenly I had a screech, then a motor rev, then a collision, then another collision, and another collision. I looked up and saw a car barrelled into another car, barrelled into another car, barrelled into another car, barrelled into my car.
What had happened was this–the young and inexperience driver turned left from Fifth Street onto C Street at a high rate of speed. She was driving too fast to avoid a car and instead of hitting her brakes, she hit the gas, accelerating into the crash, thus when she hit the first car, she had the momentum to hit a total of four cars.
Luckily most of them were parked cars, and fortunately for me I had gotten out from between the two cars moments before impact. The result was four cars totalled, ours was the only one not totalled, but no one hurt.
That was the fourth crash on or around Fifth Street I had seen in a week–a week. Miraculously none of the crashes were injury collisions.
But for how long will that “luck” hold up? How long before someone gets seriously injured or killed? How long before the city faces a serious law suit and loses because they have known for far too long that there are fatal design flaws with the current system.
Steve Tracy with experience in hand has worked tirelessly to create a workable redesign of Fifth Street. If implemented it would slow down the traffic but not cut down on the amount of traffic which currently moves along the street during any given hour.
A key impediment are downtown businesses who despite numerous examples and models to the contrary believe that this will discourage traffic to downtown. Other cities have however shown the opposite to be true. A well-designed multi-use road increases traffic–not just automobile, but also pedestrian and bike traffic.
There is a cost associated with the project shown earlier this month at the Community Chambers {https://davisvanguard.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2675:design-workshop-shows-possibilities-for-safer-and-more-complete-fifth-street-corridor&catid=53:land-useopen-space&Itemid=86}. But the city can seek grant money. Moreover, there is a cost for the city not to implement these changes. There is the inevitable cost of the loss of life or permanent injury and there is the cost of a lawsuit.
The only thing preventing these changes right now is fear on behalf of businesses. This fear is unfounded. Again, Dan Burden’s presentation showed us the possibilities. Proper design and land use will prevent injuries and actually get people through this section not only safer but possibly quicker.
People have suggested at times that this will force traffic onto Eighth Street. In fact, the current situation is doing exactly that. I often divert three blocks north and then three blocks south to avoid the problems on Fifth Street. I’ve even timed it, and despite going further through a diversion it is either a wash or even a slight advantage to divert to Eighth as it is now.
But the bottom line here is not the speed of getting from L to B or the reverse, it is public safety. This is a danger in so many different ways. Every day cars try to drive too fast through this section, every day I see ill-advised and rushed left turns either off of Fifth onto a side-street or more often onto Fifth trying to beat the traffic. Often they cut it way too close. It is only a matter of time.
The city is sitting on a ticking bomb and when it goes up they will face major liability and they will lose.
* image by Maren Walker, Landscape Architecture student, UC Davis
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Don’t you love how this city is willing to waste millions of dollars on revamping a General Plan that doesn’t need but a bit of tweaking, while they continue to leave 5th Street between B and L the way it is – UNSAFE? And I don’t see any leadership on this issue by any member of the City Council.
Don’t you love how the downtown businesses engage in destructive behavior, such as
1) resisting any change, even if it is for the better;
2) keeping any competition to their businesses out of town, even if it means bankrupting the city (the city needs more business to generate more tax revenue)?
Just as an aside, why hasn’t the Safety Advisory Commission pushed for the change to 5th between B and L? Or have they, and not gotten anywhere?
“Don’t you love how this city is willing to waste millions of dollars on revamping a General Plan that doesn’t need but a bit of tweaking, while they continue to leave 5th Street between B and L the way it is – UNSAFE”
This perfectly sums up my criticism of the city in general.
That’s okay. Since the downtown businesses object to my getting across 5th safely on foot or on a bike, I don’t need to shop at their establishments anymore. It’s safer for me to get in my car and drive to Woodland. Oh well, too bad for them.
On bahalf of Woodland — we welcome your shopping in our community. Thank you.
Matt Rexroad
662-5184
One of my most vivid childhood memories was the lady getting run over on C and 5th, the lifeflight helicopter landing right on the street to pick her up, and the fire department sprinkling some kind of powder, sawdust or kitty litter to soak up her blood. Does this need to happen again?
Shopping Davis isnt’ that bad. Big five sporting goods had a good sale today. Better than walmrt and target
I have not seen Dan Burden’s presentation, but I wonder what will happen to 5th Street traffic at B and L Streets where it will condense from two lanes to one? Will there be back-ups? People driving recklessly to get into the continuing lane?
Right now I am agnostic on the issue. The current configuration discourages me from driving downtown due to the length of time involved in getting across 5th on F. I don’t know how reconfiguring 5th would change that; hopefully shorten it.
Peripheral: Well the key thing from Dan is how you handle the intersections determines how well the traffic flows. At B and Fifth, it is simple and pretty much what happens now. you have one set of traffic flow right onto B, a left turn only lane, and then instead of two straight lanes, one straight lane. There will not be a back up there and in fact the traffic will probably flow better without the choice in the right lane.
I suspect if you did something similar at L St or G St, which might be the more likely spot where they condense, it would work just fine.
“What had happened was this–the young and inexperience driver turned left from Fifth Street onto C Street at a high rate of speed. She was driving too fast to avoid a car and instead of hitting her brakes, she hit the gas, accelerating into the crash, thus when she hit the first car, she had the momentum to hit a total of four cars.”
and how do you think the road diet would have helped with this situation?? Chances are if there was a bike lane, some cyclists would have been hit too, not good!
I haven’t read about any data to support this point, but I suspect when Target is completed there will be some less shopper traffic on fifth street. Also, expanding the food coop to the vacant westlake plaza would also help reduce some traffic.
I remain skeptical about the viability of the road diet idea; and I can’t help but blame some of the same people supporting this while also fighting almost every periphery shopping alternative. They focus on keeping most of our shopping options concentrated in the downtown core area, and then act alarmed when we have too much traffic on downtown roads.
I think this is a case of having your tofu cake and eating it too.
“I haven’t read about any data to support this point, but I suspect when Target is completed there will be some less shopper traffic on fifth street.”
Jeff,
What traffic, which now fills 5th Street between B and L Streets, would move to Target in East Mace Ranch?
Certainly none of the cars going to downtown restaurants, bakeries, cafes, pizza parlors, bars, ice creameries, yogurt shops and the theaters will be lost on that stretch of 5th. None of the core area residential traffic will be rerouted. None of the cars passing through from campus to other parts of Davis will change direction due to the presence of Target. The people going to the downtown banks, real estate offices, travel agencies, insurance companies, specialty retailers, jewlers, dress shops, barbers, beuty parlors, video and game rental stores, art galleries, hardware stores, the Co-op, bicyle shops, book stores, printers and hotels will not change plans because Target opens on East 2nd Street. The most significant amount of lost business that I foresee in the core area will be with Davis Ace* (in product lines other than hardware and construction products). Other Davis businesses and chain companies (like Longs and Rite Aid) who are outside of the downtown will also lose business to Target. But for the most part, the re-routing of their traffic won’t impact 5th Street from B to L in any way. As I said all along at the time we voted on Target, I don’t expect its presence in Davis to harm our downtown. It may harm a few businesses already here. But our downtown generally is not selling merchandise which competes with Target. Most of what Target sells in Davis will replace products Davis consumers are now buying outside of town.
————
*I was in Davis Ace a couple of days ago looking for something I needed for my electric range. While I fret its home store is likely to suffer at the expense of Target, I noticed that most of the merchandise Ace is selling is of a higher quality (and of course a higher price) than stores like Target sell. They may not do the volume of Target, but Ace might hang in there if there is a segment of Davis shoppers who like the better product lines Ace offers.
Hi David,
Just want to let folks know that we airing the Old North Davis Neighborhood Association Fifth Street Workshop on DCTV (Comcast Channel 15). We were happy to work with Steve Tracy to get this info out there. Here are the next two airings, and it will continue to air:
Upcoming air dates
2:00PM to 3:33PM on Monday March 30th, 2009
5:00PM to 6:33PM on Wednesday April 8th, 2009
“But our downtown generally is not selling merchandise which competes with Target.”
Right, except the businesses selling bikes, baby products, books, housewares, jewelry, kitchen supplies, music, shoes, sports gear, and toys.
I believe that Target could exacerbate the problem as it sucks people from west of B Street past downtown and through the congested Fifth Street corridor.
[i]”Right, except the businesses selling bikes, baby products, books, housewares, jewelry, kitchen supplies, music, shoes, sports gear, and toys.”[/i]
I said “generally,” not all merchandise. But even with those you list, most of the competition won’t be direct:
bikes — the bike shops downtown tend to sell high-end bikes and accessories and offer repairs and other services. I assume Target primarily sells much cheaper, lower-end stuff
books — stores like Target tend to sell only a very small selection of books. I can’t see how that will harm Borders or Avid Reader, too much. If someone is looking to buy, say, [b]Good Book[/b] by David Plotz (which I just bought at Borders a couple of days ago, he would never go to Target for that. I guess the real competition is with those trashy paperbacks I never read. Stores like Target tend to have that junk.
shoes — like a lot of retailiers in downtown Davis, the shoe stores tend not to cater to the lower end (the crap I wear), but are more for high-priced women’s shoes and so on. I don’t think Target will harm a business like Shuz, too much. What must hurt that company is the recession, as fewer people can afford to pay $100 for a pair of shoes.
“I believe that Target could exacerbate the problem as it sucks people from west of B Street past downtown and through the congested Fifth Street corridor.”
And would you believe traffic problems would be exacerbated if it was Traitor Joe’s instead of Target?
“books — stores like Target tend to sell only a very small selection of books. I can’t see how that will harm Borders or Avid Reader, too much. If someone is looking to buy, say, Good Book by David Plotz (which I just bought at Borders a couple of days ago, he would never go to Target for that. I guess the real competition is with those trashy paperbacks I never read. Stores like Target tend to have that junk.”
Trashy paperbacks like New York bestsellers you mean?
“But our downtown generally is not selling merchandise which competes with Target.”
“Right, except the businesses selling bikes, baby products, books, housewares, jewelry, kitchen supplies, music, shoes, sports gear, and toys.”
Let’s face it, people are already shopping at Target in Woodland, not downtown Davis. With Target here in Davis, those leaking tax dollars will be kept here to generate much needed tax revenue! Downtown Davis business will survive or not based on finding a niche market for specialized products. For cheaper products like toilet paper, Konsyl, bandaids and the like, most of us Davisites already go out of town and shop at Target or Walmart for it.
Rich:
Will the opening of Target reduce traffic on Fifth Street?
Certainly downtown Davis has more high-end goods, and more unique goods, but much of the inventories are just higher-priced alternatives. I think you might be underestimating the amount of traffic Target will attract that is currently going to Ace Hardware or passing through the core area from the periphery to shop at Borders or South Davis shopping destinations. I think you also might underestimate the level of distaste Davis shoppers have for maneuvering their autos through the congested core area in the almost hopeless pursuit of a parking space. Lastly, I think we all might underestimate the number of students that would flock to lower-priced target to buy their underwear so they can retain a larger beer budget.
I am not too worried about Target impacting downtown business. Chico has a vibrant downtown and a Target, a Walmart and a Costco.
David makes a good point about Target actually pulling more Fifth Street traffic to L Street and then to Second Street along the frontage road. I actually forgot about that route. However, this would be pure through traffic and seemingly not very compatible with the “road diet” plan.
Jeff:
” However, this would be pure through traffic and seemingly not very compatible with the “road diet” plan.”
The road diet is meant to deal with through traffic. So I’m unsure where this is coming from, it suggests probably we need more explanation of what the road diet consists of.
David:
Yes, if what you say is true a greater explanation would help. My understand of a “road diet” is that it benefits bicycle and pedestrian safety at the expense of auto capacity and speed. I understand how turnouts and other features can improve the situation for through traffic, but not with this many cross-streets in such close proximity factoring the existing volume of autos.
I don’t have a problem with changes to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, but I remain very skeptical that improved auto throughput is possible by eliminating one through lane. I also don’t think auto throughput is high on the list of concerns for most supporters of this type of change.
Also, as I understand, most road diets are used when there are shopping locations on one or both sides of the road because it slows traffic and makes parking and walking easier for shoppers. For example, if E or F streets were two lanes, it would make sense to consider a road diet. Fifth street in the core area has very little direct-facing shopping, and people use this road primarily to get from point A to Z.
Jeff:
As Autumn notes above the Presentation will be played a week from today from 5 to 6:30, I would recommend you watch that, also if you look at the powerpoint I posted a few weeks ago it would help.
The road diet will reduce the number of lanes, as the presentation and research indicates it does not change capacity, the same amount of cars flow. Their initial speed may be reduced.
It was interesting as I drove on Fifth Street through the Downtown to the Post Office, as I got to B St, every car was turning right, so there was a line of cars past A street waiting to turn onto B, and the straight lane was wide open. I’m not sure we need more than a single lane through there.