Attachment 2From: Maryam Azizi
Date: June 2, 2016 at 6:22:42 PM PDT
To: Matt Morley
Subject: Re: Traffic in Los Gatos
Hi Matt,
It was nice to speak with you today regarding the traffic in our downtown streets. I live off of Highway 9
and often the traffic on HWY 9 and N. Santa Cruz is so bad (no matter what time of day) that if we would
like to go to our downtown, we are swayed otherwise. We moved to this area because of the beautiful
downtown and now it has become a thoroughfare for the people interested in getting onto HWY 17 and
we are often dissuaded from going to town. I reached my boiling point yesterday when I went to the
downtown ACE hardware store and could not get out of it's parking lot, because there was a long line of
cars speeding to get onto 17 south..lt took me approximately 5 -10 minutes to be able to leave the
parking lot. As a taxpayer, it is very disconcerting that non - taxpayers are using these city streets for
their use to get onto the highway. Another area of congestion is where we need to turn left onto HWY 9
from massol and there is such heavy traffic on HWY 9 that would like to either turn onto N. Santa Cruz
to get onto HWY 17 or go straight onto HWY 17 and they no regard for people who need to turn that it
can sometime take up to 15 minutes to turn onto HWY 9 to go to our house (Rose avenue).
thank you for allowing me to vent my grievances and I hope that I can come to the council meeting, it
not, I would appreciate it if you would count this e-mail for the residents who are unhappy with this
situation.
Best,
Maryam
ATTACHMENT
From: Kaye and Stephanie
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2016 4:24 PM
To: Laurel Prevetti
Subject: Beach Traffic
Dear Town Manager Prevetti,
Last Sunday was utter chaos in Los Gatos! If you were not in town to witness the absolute shut down of
our downtown, no words can really describe what happened.
Cars were flooding into Town on Hiway 9 from Saratoga turning onto Ridgecrest and Massol.
Cars that came off 17 to cut through Town had N. Santa Cruz, University, Main, and the Boulevard
bumper to bumper at 3 mph. The frantic efforts of the drivers had them turning on any street that
might take them south. They turned onto Mariposa to San Benito and also used Olive and Andrews to
get to Monterey Ave in their efforts to get to Massol. Pennsylvania and Broadway were not moving, nor
was any other part of the Almond Grove.
Sunday beach goers truly had our Town under siege! It felt like the Town forgot it was a hot,
Memorial Weekend!
At the very least, please close the entrance to Tait and Massol at Hwy 9 on weekends. Clearly,
the only way to stop the mayhem is to close off the street at the 17South entrance on the weekends.
Please help us get our Town back!
Respectfully,
Kaye Little
Stephanie Adcock
On Jun 2, 2016, at 2:51 PM, Carolyn Hornberger wrote:
Hi Marico-
I know you're well aware of the horrible situation the weekend beach traffic is creating for our town. I
can't attend the meeting next week but I hope the solution is to close the access to the 17 south on
ramp.
I could not get my car out of the driveway on Sunday. Also, a fire truck tried to get down Bayview and
had serious difficulty. Drivers blocked the intersection in front of our house at Bayview and
Pennsylvania. This can't continue.
Thanks for working to resolve the issue.
Regards,
Carolyn Hornberger
Subject: FW: beach traffic
Original Message--- -
From: Barbara Holden
To: Barbara Spector _ _ Steven Leonardis
Marcia Jensen
Sent: Sat, May 28, 2010 12:54 pm
Subject: beach traffic
FYI,
I was coming home at 12:30 today. Intersections at level D /F:
Main St west, University
Main St west, N Santa Cruz
Hwy 9 east, N Santa Cruz (traffic backed up to Daves Ave)
Hwy 9 east, University
N Santa Cruz south, Hwy 9 & Main St
Marico Sayoc
Also, traffic was stop and go west on Hwy 9 to make the left turn onto Bachman
Rob Rennie
Subject: FW: Bayview ave- Sunday 11am
On May 29, 2016, at 11:26 AM, Goddard, Nick (SJC)
wrote:
Marico- we need to close these neighborhoods to through traffic again.
This was the same picture yesterday from 10am -3pm Thanks for allowing me to vent:)
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From: John McLaren
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2016 11:33 AM
To: Town Manager
Subject: Weekend traffic!!!
Writing once again because I cannot get in and out of my house near Winchester and Dave's. The traffic situation needs
far greater remedies than the effort to paint Highway 17 Green logos on N. Santa Cruz Ave. which nobody is paying
attention to or following. Yes I sat there and observed on my bike and everybody goes straight through town to highway
the 17 on ramp. The neighborhood streets of my friends to the of North Santa Cruz (Almond Grove *) are gridlocked
back to back with additional cut through traffic.
I truly believe the only remedy is for the town to shut down N. Santa Cruz Ave. before it gets to the highway 17 on ramp
to provide a realistic deterrent for people to even think about cutting through town. Doing so would take exactly one
weekend for the problem to disappear for good.
We actually joked about this but my suggestion is we put in a tollbooth on N. Santa Cruz Ave. across from the post
office. Residents of Los Gatos, Saratoga and Monte Sereno can pass for free as can anybody that spends $20 or more in
town with merchants. Everybody else is charged a $20 fee to pass. That would solve the traffic problem instantly.
Guaranteed.
Please take this email as representation of myself and my neighbors who are increasingly frustrated with the situation
which needs an immediate remedy before we go through this every weekend this summer.
I'm truly concerned that if I needed emergency services at my home that the fire department, ambulance or police etc.
could not get to me if I needed them. This is a serious problem that demands immediate attention.
Thanks for your consideration.
John
Subject: FW: downtown traffic
From: James Manganello
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2016 11:35 AM
To: Town PPW
Cc: BSpector; Marcia Jensen; Marico Sayoc; Rob Rennie
Subject: downtown traffic
hello
my name is james manganello, and i have lived with my wife and family, in los gatos, for the last 45 years. i am writing
to complain about the traffic in downtown and on the boulevard from the beach traffic. let me make this clear. we will
not stand for this much longer, if it means taking civil disobedience action then so be it. so far the efforts made by the
town are embarrassingly inane. painting highway 17 signs on the boulevard, really? i have lived here long enough to
know that the actual cure for this malaise, is in closing the south entrance to highway 17 from Santa cruz ave. we did
this before and it immediately solved the problem. i do not want to hear that cal trans controlls that. let me tell you cal
trans doesn't control the closing of santa cruz ave at wood road... seriously, homeowners, businesses and emergency
vehicles have been severely impacted by this nightmare and we won't stand for it any longer. maybe it's time we shut it
down with a sit in. call me foolish if you must but it has come to that, due to the towns inept attempts to deal with the
problem. we will not go away. this is our town, and we intend to stand up for it. i implore you to stand up for us. we
have always supported the public works dept, and the leaders of this town, but enough is enough. thank you for your
time james manganellc
Subject: FW: Council Referral: Los Gatos: A Town Under Siege
From: Kevin Falini
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2016 3:39 PM
To: BSpector
Subject: Los Gatos: A Town Under Siege
Mayor Spector,
Siege" is defined as "a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off
essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside."
The Town of Los Gatos is under siege.
Yesterday, I observed more traffic than I had ever seen in this town. It was as much traffic as I had ever seen
anywhere. What I saw today dwarfed my previous observations.
Today, I witnessed complete gridlock. I saw:
Stop and go beach traffic on Los Gatos Blvd, Blossom Hill, Lark, University, Santa Cruz, Industrial, Hwy 9 (both
directions... because people are turning left onto Massol), Bachman, Nicholson, Tait, Massol, Glen Ridge,
Peralta, Pennsylvania and Main. The entirety of the Almond Grove and Glen Ridge neighborhoods were
effectively at a standstill.
Beach traffic crawling along Andrews, between Santa Cruz and Rose, with people going up the hill to turn
left on Rose and then left again onto Hwy 9.
Cars turning right onto Andrews and then left onto Monterey, to turn right onto Hwy 9 and then left onto
Massol.
Cars turning left onto Andrews and then left onto San Benito, only to find that San Benito is not a through
street, forcing them to turn around and then go up or down Andrews again.
Frustrated drivers peeling out when they found any open space to move, driving straight into opposing
traffic when there was not and parking their cars in the middle of the road while they got out to stretch.
Many, many frustrated neighbors, standing on their porches and sidewalks, with a mix of shock, frustration
and anger. Some took pictures to send to you. All looked to each other for ideas and support. To a person,
we agreed that this must stop now.
While I appreciate the intent of the portable electric signs on Hwy 9, Winchester Blvd and Los Gatos Blvd, as
well as the new "Hwy 17" shields painted on various roads, these measures have proven to be completely
ineffective. If anything, these experiments have proven that a) people are not on our surface streets because
they don't know where Hwy 17 is and b) appealing to the common courtesy of these drivers is an exercise in
futility.
We are trapped in our homes. Our residents do not feel safe walking, riding bicycles or letting children play in
our once quite neighborhoods. With all roads blocked at the same time, we can't get to the stores and
emergency services can't get to us. This situation is more than annoying, it is unsafe.
We are a town under siege!
We must not surrender. We cannot continue to be victims. We must be bold! This is our town and it is up to
us to protect our investments, our quality of life and our safety.
Several people I met today mentioned the idea of closing the South end of Santa Cruz Ave, near Ace and the
Toll House. PLEASE DO IT IMMEDIATELY!
We should also consider longer -term solutions including closing off more streets during the weekends or
turning the whole of the downtown into a "pedestrian friendly" zone on weekends (...and maybe more
often at some point).
We need to get the cars back onto Hwy 17 and out of our neighborhoods. I am confident that the residents
of Los Gatos will work with you. We need your help now.
Thank you.
Kevin Falini
Subject: FW: COUNCIL REFERRAL: Tait Avenue Sunday Accident
From: Cynthia
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2016 3:44 PM
To:BSpector
Subject: Tait Avenue Sunday Accident
Hi Barbara,
It was nice to speak with you after the APR Saratoga meeting last Tuesday.
The traffic wake -up call happened this afternoon on Tait Ave. 6th grader from Fisher was struck by a car. Fortunately he
is ok. The traffic congestion was horrible today.
Police and paramedics had a hard time reaching the scene.
It's time for this to change before something more serious happens.
Warm regards,
Cyndi Stewart
Sent from my iPhone
From: Kim Roper
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2016 4:57 PM
To: Council
Subject: Weekend traffic problems & damaged Hernandez Roadway
Dear Town of Los Gatos Council Members,
I live on Chestnut Ave., off of Hernandez. My sister was coming for a visit on Sunday, May 29, 2016. 1 told her to come up
the back way off of Highway 9 and turn onto Ridgecrest. Earlier in the year a section of this road was wiped out by a
fallen tree resulting in only a single lane where drivers must stop in each direction and take turns. A curtesy that is almost
never followed. My sister called letting me know that traffic was at standstill. She was stuck in traffic closer to Beck. I
walked over to the section of Hernandez that is damaged. Right when I got there I saw a driver trying to make a U -turn. It
did not end well. Thankfully one lane of traffic could still get through. I, with the help of my neighbor, had to direct traffic in
both directions until my sister made it through. Something really needs to be done with this particular "alternative to
Highway 17 ". This section of roadway is also pretty congested every evening during the commute hours. Drivers headed
towards town almost never stop to let drivers go in the other direction. I have had to physically get out of the car when I
am not the driver and walk over to the oncoming traffic to make them stop so that we can get through. What does the
town intend to do about the beach traffic? I'd also like to know when will this section of Hernandez get repaired?
Sincerely,
Kim Rnnar
Los Gatos, CA 95030
From: Julie Conlisk
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2016 12:27 PM
To: Council; Rob Rennie; Steven Leonardis; Marcia Jensen; Marico Sayoc; BSpector
Subject: GRIDLOCK HOLDS US HOSTAGE
Attachments: IMG 0896.MOV
You are all well aware of the problem. The residents of this town deserve better. The fact that there were no measures put in place for Memorial Day
weekend to keep this from happening is unacceptable.
The access to Hwy 17 on ramp from N. Santa Cruz avenue needs to be closed every weekend throughout the summer.
This video was taken on Sunday afternoon at 12pm This is the traffic coining down Hernandez Avenue. People are coining from Hwy 9 down
Ridgecrest to Hernandez and Pennsylvania Avenues. It's bumper to bumper for hours.
Brian and Julie Conlisk
From: S Chou
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2016 5:07 PM
To: Town Manager; Police, Town PPW; Council
Cc: Sylvia Chou
Subject: Beach Goers need to STAY on Hwy17
RE: Traffic Mess on Saturday & Sunday, May 28 -29, 2016
Dear Ms. Prevetti, Chief Frisby, Mr. Morley, Los Gatos Town Council,
I have been a homeowner and resident on Tait Avenue since 1993. The past two days between 1lam to 3pm have
been the worst as far as traffic gridlock to date (at least on Tait Avenue between W. Main & Bean Avenue). The
motorists were not residents, not visitors, but people cutting through Los Gatos to get on the SB Hwy17 onramp
towards Santa Cruz.
I assume by the time you read this, you will have been notified of some of the traffic issues, reported and unreported
but witnessed such as:
The 100 block of Tait: 10 year old boy vs. Car.
64 Broadway: Homeowner rage /meltdown.... using garden hose on motorists to which PD had to intervene
Pennsylvania & Bayview: Motorist rage /meltdown.... throwing items from car
Hernandez: Motorist frustration... Illegal U -turn and part of car in the ditch resulting in additional traffic blockage
Tait Avenue and many other streets: Driving the Wrong Way, Illegal U- turns, running Stop signs, fender benders.
I read in the LG Weekly Times - May 18, 2016 that $200,000 has been set aside for beach traffic control, and a
quote from Matt Morley (PPW) regarding a "...pilot of closure of S Santa Cruz Ave.... ". I am also aware of a Study
conducted last year regarding beach traffic. Other than the big green paint job on N. Santa Cruz pointing the way
to Hwy 17, 1 saw NO traffic control, NO PD presence and NO PPW presence this weekend.
This is a health and safety issue for residents and visitors in their car or on foot.
The solution: Close S. Santa Cruz Avenue leading to the SB17 onramp on weekends, Memorial Day - Labor
Day. Provide signage at strategic locations - No Thru Traffic to SB17 -. Issue Press Release. The first weekend of
implementation may be painful when beach goers must double back to Hwy17, but the word will get out.
YOU, as paid Los Gatos employees and elected officials have the responsibility and accountability to provide for the
health and safety of the residents and visitors by not putting us at risk.
Do the right thing. Do it now.
I am requesting a reply to this email with your Plan, prior to next weekend (June 4, 2016).
Thank you.
S. Chou
Subject: FW: Council Referral Google Maps/Waze - downtown traffic
From: Marsie Sweetland
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2016 1:09 PM
To: Marcia Jensen; BSpector; Marico Sayoc
Subject: Google Maps /Waze - downtown traffic
Hello,
I wanted to see if the town of LG had any plans in place to help block or mitigate having hwy 17 traffic
overflow into town? We live downtown (near Vice Mayor Sayoc on Edelen) and we spent over 30 minutes
driving from our home to the High School yesterday, and even longer going from a party near Courtside back
home.
It seems like blocking the downtown on -ramp during busy weekends could be a solution - - -if that data could be
properly put into the google maps algorithm (eventually it would "learn", but it would be great if it could be
proactively done with Google.)
Either way, some solution is needed - -it was like 5 miles of Fantasy of Lights traffic yesterday -- through all of
the streets feeding to the hwy 17 onramp- -going all the way up to Withey Rd.
Thanks,
Marsie
Marsie Sweetland
On May 29, 2016, at 2:55 PM, Sheila Bannan wrote:
Hello Rob,
We have another traffic nightmare in the Almond Grove on this Memorial weekend. I thought
there was a plan i n place to try to minimize and divert the traffic headed to the beach.
Apparently there was no plan for this weekend.
Jerry called the non emergency police number regarding this traffic situation and was told that
there was no plan to divert traffic.
W hen he said he would not be able to return home if he had to leave he was told it would just
take longer.
Massol is completely backed up as well as the other streets and now cars are speeding down
the alley behind my house.
I urge you and the other cou ncil members and the police to decide on a plan and get it started. I
hope the plan includes blocking access to 17 from North Santa Cruz Ave. since that seems to
be the reason the Almond Grove area is so impacted.
Thank you,
Sheila Bannan
Subject: FW: Traffic Sample on Massol
From: Wilfrid Houdc
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2016 11:31 AM
To: Rob Rennie
Subject: Traffic Sample on Massol
Good Morning Mr Rennie,
On Saturday 5/28 and Sunday 5/29 1 took a sample of the number of cars driving South (one way only)and passing 315
Massol Ave.
Here are the results:
Saturday 5/28 From 2:OOPM to 2:15 PM Icounted 162 cars. (avg.10.8 per minute)
Sunday 5/29 From 2:15 PM to 2:30 PM I counted 156 cars. (avg. 10.4 per minute)
It appears that beach traffic should not be allowed to turn right on Massol from highway. 9 on weekends and holidays..
Sincerely,
Wilfrid Houde
Los Gatos 95030
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