Attachment 7On Sep 5, 2017, at 7:42 AM, Christine Clevenger wrote:
Dear Town Council members,
First, I would like to thank you for your service and dedication to the Town of Los Gatos. I know that
managing a town like this - with all the competing interests - is not an easy thing to do. I bought my
house in Los Gatos in 2002, expanded it in 2007 and am raising my family here. I absolutely love Los
Gatos, typically spend my weekends in town or at some of the neighborhood parks and tell everyone I
meet how wonderful the town is.
However, the beautiful and beloved town that I knew has become a monster on the weekends. So
instead of being able to enjoy the town and its surroundings on the weekend, as I relax from a long
week at work, I'm stuck having to fight more traffic to get to the grocery store or to Santa Cruz Avenue
than I ever have to fight getting to work during the week. The beach traffic, as I'm sure you know, has
become a nightmare these last 3 summers. To chalk it up to population growth is simply a nice way of
distracting residents and business owners from the real problem - the smart phones and the mapping
applications. I have lived long enough to know that our summers were NEVER like the last 2 summers
have been.
The beach traffic that now causes gridlock on all the side streets on both sides of Highway 17 has
completely ruined the quality of life for my family and I in Los Gatos. Instead of singing the praises of
Los Gatos. I now warn friends and colleagues away - avoid it like the plague on the weekends I tell
people now.
I do not want to have to move away from Los Gatos. The town is too nice to let it be ruined by mapping
applications. We must do EVERYTHING that can be done to come up with creative solutions to move the
beach traffic back onto the highway. The fact that I cannot leave my house (north of highway 9 on the
east side of town) because every road from my house is completely gridlocked with angry, frustrated
drivers honking at me as I try to pull out of my driveway, is just a part of the problem. Once I get out of
my driveway, where am I to go? Every street around town is completely blocked with beach traffic, until
I can eventually get south of Highway 9 AND far away from the freeway entrances. It's a disaster. I can't
get to Safeway. I can't get to my favorite restaurants or shops in downtown.
I have read the FAQ and was appalled quite frankly. It's a very nice document for telling residents that
nothing more can be done. Sorry. This is terrible. There have been so many good ideas from the
residents on the NextDoor discussions, which I have been participating in. I know you love our town
too, so I can't believe that you won't do everything to fight this situation and make our town livable
again on the weekends. We can't be stuck living in this horror forever now.
This weekend, I also read the new, longer report. It was a little better and provided at least one option -
designating all the neighborhood streets as actual neighborhood roads and not "neighborhood
collectors". This should be done IMMEDIATELY.
But we must do more than that. To say that nothing else is possible or that nothing else is allowed by
Caltrans or the State of California is dooming our town to ruin. I will have to move away, because I will
not pay the very high housing prices to live in a town in which I cannot leave my house on weekends
from May to September.
We must do more. We must fight Caltrans and the State of California to change the rules to adapt to
the new smart phones and mapping apps. All the State of California rules around neighborhood roads
were designed for a time long ago, long before smart phones and mapping applications. The Town,
Caltrans and the State must adapt to the times and change these rules to allow Towns like ours to put in
metering lights, toll roads, blockades and anything else that will enable our town to be a small town
that's livable on the weekends again.
I urge you to implement absolutely EVERY option that is doable today. And I urge you to fight actively
with Caltrans and the State of California to change the rules around neighborhood streets impacted by
smart phones and mapping apps. This is not just a result of population growth. The problem we are
facing is a direct result of modern technology and will not go away until we take action. Blocking the
Highway 17 entrance near the post office has certainly helped the downtown traffic. But we can't get to
the downtown or anywhere else anymore. We must stop the nightmare that our town has become on
weekends. Please!
Thank you,
Christine Clevenger and my family
Los Gatos residents since 2002 with 3 kids in school and a happy dog and cat
On Sep 5, 2017, at 7:06 AM, Mike Verga wrote:
To Los Gatos Council
Weekend and holiday cut through traffic is a big concern of mine. The negative impact is across the
board. Property values are being affected. I feel trapped on the weekends, I can't even go to the local
Safeway!!
As a retired firefighter I am also keenly aware of the safety issues, as lack of quick access throughout
town is negatively impacted.
Please address this issue!
If closing down both downtown freeway on ramps is not possible, then at least make it time prohibitive
to try and cut through town. Meter the highway 9 on ramp so that it will take significantly longer to
access the freeway there than via 85 or any other on ramp.
Set up a que (similar to what is done for fantasy of lights) so only certain roads are affected and
residents can get around on other streets.
Please address this issue as our standard of living is being negatively affected!
Thank you for you efforts
Mike Verga
Broadway Ave
Los Gatos
From: Jane Decker
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2017 8:25 PM
To: Town PPW <ppw@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: Traffic on Los Gatos Blvd
Hello,
I have lived in Los Gatos for 48 years and currently live on Nino Ave. Having previously lived off Kennedy
Rd i've experienced the dramatic increase in traffic on Los Gatos Blvd. primarily as a result of
development. The traffic generated by Van Meter and Fisher schools is also a contributor that seems to
have increased.
However, the weekend beach traffic on LG Blvd, Blossom Hill Rd and smaller side streets in
neighborhoods has turned travel by residents into strategic decisions often taking us in the opposite
direction of where we want to go in order to eventually find our way to our destination. Going
downtown is all but impossible.
And all this is before the North 40 development. Help!
Jane Decker
16345-8!Los Gatos Blvd
From: Linda Poncetta
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2017 3:57 PM
To: Town PPW <ppw@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: Cut through Traffic
I am not able to attend the meeting on the 5th, but wanted to have some input on the current
situation this summer. I live at the corner of Massol & Bachman.
Most of the summer has been fairly quiet in the Almond Grove because of the closure at the
end of Santa Cruz Ave.—and it has been heavenly. Yes, traffic on Highway 9, Winchester and LG Bl. has
been awful—I went out one day and it took me over an hour to get back into the neighborhood, so— I
rarely go out of my area on either Saturday or Sunday.
That being said, the past 3 weekends have been awful!! Massol, Bachman, Ridgecrest—all have
been at a snails pace from around 10 till well after 4 each day! People are honking and yelling at each
other, the frustration level is equivalent to the heat. Cars race through the alleys in an attempt to beat
someone else to a better spot! Since there is no outlet for these cars, I truly don’t understand why they
are allowed to go through our neighborhood.
While I don’t have a solution to this issue, I firmly request that barriers be placed at Massol &
Tait to discourage traffic through the Almond Grove. As a sign on Bean says “If you would have stayed
on the freeway, you would have been there by now.”
Thank you for taking my concerns under advisement.
Linda Poncetta
From: MacSween Family
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2017 10:47 AM
To: Council; Town Manager
Subject: Town Council Meeting - September 5, 2017, Agenda Item 12, Summer Cut Through Traffic
Dear Sir/Madam:
I am unable to attend the meeting tonight. Please take the attached letter and map as my public
testimony for tonight.
Best regards,
Cynthia MacSween
16610 Ferris Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95032-5614
(408) 833-5850
Cynthia MacSween
16610 Ferris Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95032-5614
September 4, 2017
Town Council
Town of Los Gatos
110 E. Main St
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Re: Agenda Item 12 - Summer Weekend Traffic
Dear Town Council Members:
I am unable to attend the meeting tonight due to two other Los Gatos community events tonight that
are scheduled for the same time.
I am a 14 year resident of Los Gatos. I live on Ferris Avenue which is one block east of and parallel to Los
Gatos Boulevard between Kennedy Rd and Spencer Ave. As you know, we have been besieged with
summer beach traffic over the past three summers basically from Friday evening through Sunday every
weekend since Memorial Day, 2017 and even the weekend before this year starting May 20, 2017.
I was thrilled when I heard that the Town of Los Gatos was closing the access to CA 17 Exit 19, the
Southbound entrance to Highway 17 at South Santa Cruz Ave. Over the past two summers we have
been dismayed at our inability to reach the downtown vendors and restaurants and I thought it would
help the business owners and town residents. Unfortunately, all the closure has done has been to “kick
the can” down the road as is acknowledged by the numbers in Ms. Prevetti’s report, page 15 –
Location/Flow of Traffic. We have seen a huge increase in traffic on the east side of Los Gatos along the
Los Gatos Boulevard corridor.
Not to be too dramatic but between 10:00 and 3:00 on Saturdays and Sundays this summer we have
become prisoners in our home. If we leave our house for errands it can take anywhere from 45 minutes
to 2 hours to return home. So when we leave our house on the weekend we have to plan to be away
until after 2:00/3:00 in the afternoon. We hesitate to invite friends over (unless they get here before
9:00am) because it will take them hours to get to our house. We don’t go downtown unless absolutely
necessary because we can no longer use our neighborhood residential streets to get around the gridlock
traffic that used to be only on Los Gatos Blvd. Now all of the streets around us are gridlocked with
pollution spewing cars containing frustrated and sometimes unsafe drivers driving down the wrong side
of the road, blocking crosswalks and blocking intersections. When I walk my dog I see long lines of
standing traffic for hours on Englewood, Kennedy, Stoneybrook, Hilow, Kennedy, Vista Del Camp,
Fillmer, Harding and sometimes Gem.
After reading Ms. Prevetti’s Staff Report dated September 5, 2017, I am now more aware of the limited
solutions we have at our disposal. It seems like with the North 40 project, that we have little power to
change our situation as the State of California in the form of Caltrans will not allow many reasonable
solutions or other possible solutions are cost prohibitive. Some of my ideas were addressed by Ms.
Prevetti’s report but I have a couple other ideas to suggest.
1. Increase LGMS Police Budget – The Town Council should consider increasing the Los Gatos Monte
Sereno police department budget to allow for more officers to be stationed at the key intersections
where short-cut seekers block intersections. I understand that giving tickets would slow the traffic
more, but the presence of a law enforcement officer may dismay the unsafe and illegal driving. In
addition, the additional funds could be used for more patrols through the cut through neighborhoods to
similarly dissuade unsafe driving in residential neighborhoods.
2. License Readers - I am not sure if a the “Toll Road” idea in Ms. Prevetti’s report includes license plate
readers that would charge anyone coming into Los Gatos for less than 2 hours be charged a fine. I
would guess the infrastructure to enforce that may be cost prohibitive. I do know that many cities in the
UK and Europe employ these systems to reduce car traffic into their highly dense city centres.
3. Turn Limitations - Turn limitations for the residential streets feeding Los Gatos Boulevar for the 10:00
to 3:00 time period. For our neighborhood this would be “No Left-hand turn” onto Los Gatos Boulevard
for Shannon, Spencer, Filler and Harding. For my friends on the other side of town, something similar
“No right-hand turn” onto N. Santa Cruz/Winchester from Daves Ave., Andrews, etc.
4. Public Information Campaign - Lastly, it would be to the town’s benefit to budget for a public
information campaign to better inform the greater Bay Area of our gridlocked traffic on weekends. I
think getting the information on the local TV news, in social media feeds and print media may prevent
the crazy deluge of traffic if people have some idea of the traffic they will encounter. For example, I was
standing next to a woman in Whole Foods on Sept 3 who was from Walnut Creek. She said it was so hot
in Walnut Creek that they decided to “go to the beach”. She had no idea of the gridlock traffic they ran
into and said she would have never attempted the journey. She was stopped to buy lunch for the car
ride back to Walnut Creek.
5. Traffic Time Warnings for Santa Cruz - In addition to a public information campaign, is there any way
for Cal Trans to add “Time to Santa Cruz” to some of the ‘real time’ traffic gantries you see all over the
Bay Area. There are several new ones on Highway 101 about travel times to various cities for the
weekday commute. Is it possible for CalTrans to switch these to the beach destinations on the
weekends? Can the Town of Los Gatos afford to pay to install several new gantries in key locations like
17/880/280 interchange, 85/101 near Mtn View and near 280/680/101 interchange with similar real
time traffic updates? This may possibly dissuade people from flocking to this area if they know it will
take 2 to 3 hours to get there. It might cause them to choose another approach to the coast like taking
101 and use Highway 156 to the coast. This would be especially useful for tourists new to the Bay Area
who are trying to navigate our increased traffic patterns while traveling through our area.
Lastly, I am attaching a snapshot of Google Maps at 12:30 pm on Sunday, September 3, 2017. I took this
snapshot after just returning home from walking our dog and nearly being hit by a car not stopping at
Fillmer and LG Blvd. Please note that this map does not show the gridlock on Harding and Vista Del
Campo. What it does show is that it appears that the ‘short cut seekers’ are creating their own mess by
converging from various side streets on the bottleneck of Highway 9 and Highway 17. The traffic on
Highway 17 after the closed Exit 19 appears to be free flowing. Although I have read in Ms. Prevetti’s
report that CalTrans will not allow us to close the Highway 9 entrances to Highway 17, it does seems like
it would be the best way to keep the traffic flowing through the area and not create the bottleneck just
beyond Exits 20A and 20B.
I know you all must be experiencing some similar frustration but the short-cut seekers have dramatically
changed our lives the past 4 months. It is frustrating and upsetting to not be able to leave our house
without extended planning. We are NOT part of the uber rich who vacate the town to vacation homes
for the summer. We live here year round. This situation is impacting our lives significantly. I hope you
will consider my recommendations.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia MacSween
From: Debbie Moessinger
Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2017 1:15 PM
To: Marico Sayoc; Matt Morley
Cc: Rob Rennie; Marcia Jensen; Laurel Prevetti; sleinardis@losgatosca.gov; BSpector
Subject: On Ramp
Hello Elected Officials,
The Onramp closure is the problem not the solution. The beach traffic is not exploring our downtown,
shopping, eating etc. The drivers do not even know it exists! The drivers are being routed over to the
east side away from downtown and onto our quiet streets for the past 16 weekends! I interviewed many
drivers, stuck in front my house yesterday and yes again today, they are all following their GPS's because
of "On Ramp Closure" they were all from out of town, didn't know there was a downtown to shop or
eat, but now they can't get there due to the fact they are all stuck in gridlock over here on Kennedy,
Englewood, Gem, Fillmer, Vista Del Monte, Vista Del Campo and Harding. I ask you to please reconsider
and keep the ramp open!. If we can't change the GPS systems then the Town Council owes it to us to
come up with another plan like putting cones and blocking off all the streets for 16 weekends next year
on all the streets mentioned. Certainly our tax dollars can do that. This community is angry and
frustrated. I will continue to fight the good fight even when the traffic dies down. Please be a part of the
Solution not the Problem so we don't have to start from scratch next year.
Sincerely,
Debbie Moessinger
Fillmer Ave.
From: Marjorie Colletta
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2017 3:11 PM
To: Town Manager
Subject: Traffic
I really understand that traffic is a problem but closing the southbound 17 ramp to Sant Cruz is
ridiculous. Is there anyway it will be open soon. We were in LG Saturday and traffic was worse than I've
ever seen it.
Marge
From: Debbie Moessinger
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2017 2:07 PM
To: Matt Morley <MMorley@losgatosca.gov>; Marico Sayoc <MSayoc@losgatosca.gov>; Laurel Prevetti
<LPrevetti@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: More
Sincerely,
Debbie
From: Debbie Moessinger
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2017 2:06 PM
To: Matt Morley <MMorley@losgatosca.gov>; Marico Sayoc <MSayoc@losgatosca.gov>; Laurel Prevetti
<LPrevetti@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: In front of my house
Sincerely,
Debbie
From: Debbie Moessinger
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2017 12:19 PM
To: Matt Morley <MMorley@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: Re: Traffic bad!!!
Got confirmation from drivers that it is their GPS's that are sending here because of the onramp closure.
Sincerely,
Debbie
On Sep 2, 2017, at 11:12 AM, Matt Morley <MMorley@losgatosca.gov> wrote:
Thanks. I am experiencing it myself right now. I'm seeing that Waze changes have stuck for that app,
but the others apps are making those turns.
Today will be the worst day yet, I suspect.
> -----Original Message-----
From: Debbie Moessinger
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2017 10:22 AM
To: Matt Morley
Subject: Traffic bad!!!
Not working
Sincerely,
Debbie
From: Debbie Moessinger
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2017 12:05 PM
To: Matt Morley <MMorley@losgatosca.gov>; Marico Sayoc <MSayoc@losgatosca.gov>; Laurel Prevetti
<LPrevetti@losgatosca.gov>
Subject:
Sincerely,
Debbie
From: Debbie Moessinger
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2017 10:38 AM
To: Matt Morley <MMorley@losgatosca.gov>; Marico Sayoc <MSayoc@losgatosca.gov>; Laurel Prevetti
<LPrevetti@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: Drivers speeding
This is really bad and dangerous. I have call LGPD drivers speeding at least 60MPH on Fillmer more than
one, many. Kennedy, Englewood and now Harding gridlocked with drivers speeding around the traffic.
Traffic started at 9:40AM. There needs to be a discussion about opening the on ramp for next summer
this can't continue next year. I will be at the meeting.
Sincerely,
Debbie Moessinger
Voicemail received from Ben Moway on Saturday, September 2, 2017
“Hi, I’m a San Jose resident, my name Ben Moway, Just visiting your wonderful city her on a Saturday,
Sunday before Labor Day picking up something at a business but your lifestyle here is longer very
enjoyable. If you possibly could put a few police traffic cops at key intersections you probably can
improve it dramatically for anyone doing business in Town for you residents. It’s really stupid what you
got going here. I only live one or two miles away and it takes an hour to get in and an hour to get out.
When are you guys going to do something.”
Voicemail received from Nancy Martin on Saturday, September 2, 2017
“My name is Nancy martin and I live at 209 Haring Avenue.
I’m just issuing a complete complaint. All summer long my street has been backed up bumper - to-
bumper with traffic coming off trying to make a left turn on LG Blvd. then a right onto Hwy 9 trying to
get onto 17.
Harding, Fillmer Ave., Vista del Monte is the neighborhood. We would appreciate the same
consideration that the Oak grove District has. So possibly you can propose putting a no left turn sign on
the weekend . Thay would be helpful to all of us. It’s an absolute mess - you can’t even get a fire truck
up our street. Children, a man was killed yesterday going to the café. It’s dangerous and unsafe and
spewing carbon monoxide all over everyone. I appreciate your help and expect something to be done.”
From: Marilee Ankaitis
Sent: Friday, September 01, 2017 6:45 PM
To: Town PPW <ppw@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: Cut-through traffic
Hello Town Council,
Thank you so much for looking into mitigating cut-through traffic in our town. I live downtown by the
library. I do think the ramp closures have improved downtown traffic and hopefully our local businesses
are benefiting, as I know my traffic nightmares have lessened once I get south of Highway 9 on LG Blvd.
Friday evening traffic is still horrible though because of Waze rerouting traffic off of Highway 17. The
ramp closure should begin Friday at 3:00 pm. Waze rerouting drivers off Highway 17 has tremendously
impacted my family. I take my son to Creekside Sports Complex at 4:00 on Fridays. It usually takes me
over 30 minutes to do the 5.4 mile round trip. The traffic on University and LG Blvd are ridiculous.
Closing the downtown ramp on Fridays would relieve some of this traffic impact. Additionally, the cut-
through traffic on the weekends has deeply impaired our quality of life living in Los Gatos. I have three
children playing multiple sports with games on the weekends. I am constrained by their game times (ie,
it's not like I can avoid being out on the weekends) and because of Waze I spend way too much time
sitting in traffic. I horribly cut-through the neighborhoods as best I can to get where I need to go. I am
sure my neighbors are not happy. Sometimes I use Waze and they take me on ridiculous routes through
neighborhoods that I never would have thought of despite living here for 46 years. We spend way too
much time in our cars because of cut-through traffic. I have complained, and now I will recommend 3
things to improve the situation:
1. Ramp closures on Fridays starting at 3:00 or 4:00 pm
2. Block Waze
3. Close the Hwy 9 ramp - CalTrans need to listen!
Please help us! Thank you again for trying to fix this huge problem!
Marilee Ankaitis
Villa Ave