A downtown Campbell street is about to become safer for pedestrians on their way to peruse the city's local businesses.
Civic Center Drive is slated for safety improvements at the intersections of Second and Third Street. The work will include higher visibility crosswalks, islands between lanes, curb ramps and places where the end of the sidewalk will extend further into the street. The improvements aim to address a safety issue downtown Campbell residents have been concerned about for some time -- car crashes due to speeding on the 25 mph stretch.
The project is part of the city's downtown pedestrian improvement plan because of its outdated infrastructure. The construction is expected to cost roughly $790,000, partially funded by American Rescue Plan dollars the city received during the height of the pandemic. The city awarded Guerra Construction Group the contract.
Public Works Director Todd Capurso said Civic Center Drive was constructed in the 1970s to connect drivers to downtown, with pedestrian safety not as much of a priority. He said the driveways of homes on the corners of Second and Third streets are right next to the intersection and act as curb ramps where none exist. The project will take about six months and is slated to start this winter.
"I'll be very happy when we have some permanent improvements in there, and we can really say that we're not looking at short-term improvements anymore," Capurso told San Jose Spotlight.
The two intersections had six reported traffic incidents in 2024, including people caught driving under the influence, according to the Campbell Police Department. Before the pandemic, a car crashed into a home on the corner of Second Street. No one inside was hurt, but Campbell resident Barry Shilman said he felt his house down the street shake from the impact.
Shilman, president of the Downtown Campbell Neighborhood Association, said he looks forward to the permanent improvements. The city has installed temporary measures, including a rapid-flashing beacon and lane delineators.
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"I'm all in favor of it. We just need to slow traffic," he told San Jose Spotlight. "Frankly, we haven't seen the kind of traffic enforcement that the Campbell Police Department used to provide years ago."
Capurso said there won't be a significant effect on traffic in nearby neighborhoods, including where Shilman lives, because the city will only reduce the one-way road from two lanes to one during construction.
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The project is the beginning of more downtown improvements, as the city tries to secure funding for work at the intersection of Harrison Avenue and Civic Center Drive to make the downtown area safer.
The entire West Valley region is also looking to increase traffic safety. Los Gatos is constructing sidewalks and bike lanes on Shannon Road to protect the students taking it to school. Cupertino recently lowered speed limits by 5 mph on heavily trafficked streets and adopted a traffic safety plan last year.
Campbell Vice Mayor Dan Furtado said the improvements are necessary to keep pedestrians safe downtown.
"Sometimes people are careless. Drivers might be looking down and not focusing on (the road), and then all of a sudden a pedestrian appears," he told San Jose Spotlight. "We try to kind of balance out various needs throughout the city, and so this was an opportunity for us to specifically focus on pedestrians and a little safer driving."
Editor's note: This story was originally published by San Jose Spotlight.
