Sunnyvale - Old San Francisco Road

Location

• Sunnyvale, CA
• Old San Francisco Road
• Start: Sunnyvale Avenue
• Finish: Fair Oaks Avenue

Background

Located along this section of the street is a church, elementary school, medical center, and retirement community. In addition, a large shopping center is located nearby. After several meetings with representatives of these various groups, it was determined that the primary problem was related to a conflict between pedestrians and vehicles. A fairly large proportion of the pedestrian activity was specifically being performed by young children or elderly individuals. The pedestrian problem in this area is a unique one. Old San Francisco Road and Cezanne Drive, one of the cross-streets in the immediate vicinity, are expected to coexist with a major retirement community, individual residences, churches, school, and other relatively low intensity land uses. The streets are also expected to serve as major transportation accesses to large retail areas and the Sunnyvale Medical Clinic. As a result of neighborhood concern regarding this section of Old San Francisco Road, staff and consultants formulated a plan to enhance pedestrian safety along this section of Old San Francisco Road.

Notable Features

Roadway

The roadway was reconfigured from 2 lanes in each direction to 1 lane in each direction with left-turn lanes. This feature prevented vehicles from passing other vehicles and increased pedestrian visibility to drivers. Bicycle access and safety was also increased with this feature.

Bulbouts

Raised "bulbs" and small pedestrian refuge areas (or medians) were constructed in the vicinity of left-turn pockets. This allows pedestrians to be more visible to vehicles and enables them to only cross one lane at a time. The distance a pedestrian must cross is therefore greatly reduced.

Signage

Since Cezanne Drive is the most heavily used of the tee intersections along Old San Francisco Road in terms of vehicle traffic, a multi-way stop was constructed here. In addition, pedestrian crossing signs were added. This slowed vehicle speeds and increased driver awareness of crossing pedestrians.

Street Maintenance

The overall maintenance was not significantly impacted since the features that were constructed have to be maintained approximately as often as the streets.

Public Response

All of the users of the nearby facilities were very pleased with the final product. The safety of pedestrians was greatly increased and the vehicle speeds were decreased.

Transportation Philosophy of the Town

Sunnyvale is quite well known for its innovative traffic calming methods. It is often used as a model for other towns that are in the process of creating their own traffic calming guidelines.

Additional Information

The bulbouts were created to increase bicycle safety as well as pedestrian safety by leaving spaces between the sidewalk and the bulb-out. Adjacent properties were not significantly impacted in a negative way due to the changes in traffic patterns. The aesthetics of the neighborhood were improved as well.

Original Contact

Mr. Ray Williamson
City Traffic Engineer
City of Sunnyvale
456 West Olive Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3707
(408)730-7427
Fax (408)730-7286

New bulb-outs and medians constructed along Old San Francisco Road.

New bulb-outs allow easy access along curb for bicyclists.

Median/pedestrian refuge and stop signs at intersection of Old San Francisco Road and Cezanne Drive with Sunnyvale Medical Clinic in the background.

This information originally compiled by Angela Obeso, 1999, as part of a senior project.