San Jose has started work to make a stretch of Ocala Avenue in East San Jose safer. City leaders held a kickoff on Thursday, Oct. 29, for the Ocala Avenue Safety Improvement Project, between Everwood Court and Hillmont Avenue.
What is changing
According to the city, the project will replace the two-way center left-turn lane with a raised median island. Telemundo Área de la Bahía reports that the median will separate opposing traffic and restrict some turns. The city says the goal is to improve safety for everyone who walks, rolls, bikes or drives.
This is the second phase of safety improvements at this location. Construction is expected to be done by mid-December.
Why here
Council member Domingo Candelas, who represents District 8, told Telemundo that the street sees heavy foot and car traffic and that students at the nearby Ocala school know the danger of walking home. "For many years on this street we have seen many incidents, many deaths, and we knew we had to do something," he said, in Telemundo's Spanish-language report. District 5 council member Peter Ortiz said traffic safety, especially crashes involving pedestrians, remains one of East San Jose's main challenges.
Funding
The work is funded by the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program, which the city says uses a data-driven approach to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries.