COUNCILMEMBER EMERALD TACKLES COLLEGE AVE TRAFFIC

GREEN LIGHT!  TWO NEW TRAFFIC SIGNALS TO BE INSTALLED

February 6, 2010 (San Diego)--San Diego City Councilmember Marti Emerald announces an important step in securing funds for the installation of two traffic lights on College Avenue, one at Arosa Street and one at Adams Avenue. The Crossroads Redevelopment Project Area Committee has voted to recommend funding for the lights. The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, chaired by Emerald, is scheduled to hear this item on February 17th.

Emerald, who was elected in 2008, has been working on this project since August, 2009. Area residents have been asking for relief from fast-moving traffic on College Avenue for more than a decade. The signal light at College Avenue and Arosa Street was approved in 2001 but never installed.

The College/Adams intersection was recently evaluated and warrants a traffic signal, said Emerald. “I have received numerous complaints about the danger to vehicles trying to enter or leave the El Cerrito neighborhood,” she added. “The addition of both signals will help pedestrians and vehicles while addressing the concerns of Soria Drive residents who would be impacted by the installation of just the Arosa Street signal.”

With a church, synagogue, seminary and senior center, as well as an apartment building all located in the same area, this pair of traffic lights will make it easier for residents crossing College Avenue, avoiding the need for a long walk to El Cajon Boulevard or Montezuma Road in order to cross at a signal light.

However, residents on Soria Drive, which parallels College Avenue on the west, were opposed until the Adams light was approved. “I appreciate the concerns of the residents on Soria Drive who do not want to see their street impacted by an increase in traffic, as motorists avoid a signal light,” said Emerald.

Since November 2009, City traffic engineers, the community of El Cerrito and the larger College Area, Beth Jacob Synagogue, College Avenue Older Adult Center, Bethel Seminary, College Avenue Baptist Church, residents of Soria Drive and the College Area Business Improvement District all sat down and worked out their issues. The result: two new signal lights installed simultaneously, which will be synchronized to help pedestrians and drivers alike.

Emerald added, “This is what redevelopment is really about. Everyone in the community came together and worked out their differences and the neighborhood will be safer.”