Charter Oaks Neighbors Want Better Traffic Pattern

A total of 40 residents have signed a petition to ask the town of Los Gatos to investigate a safer traffic pattern at the corner of Lark Avenue and Charter Oaks Drive.

Headed by Los Gatos resident Joanne Bosomworth, past president of the Charter Oaks Townhouse Association, the group will speak before the Town Council on April 4 to ask for specific road improvements to Lark Avenue.

"Since I've lived here, traffic has increased immeasurably on Lark Avenue," Bosomworth said. "We have difficulty exiting and entering Charter Oaks from Lark."

Charter Oaks resident Carol Lamarre agreed: "It's really hard to make a left turn onto Lark ... We need the town to help us get in and out of our complex safely."

One of the dangers posed to the 101 residents who live in the Charter Oaks complex, she noted, is that when they have to make a left turn from Charter Oaks onto Lark, there's no way for them to safely get in the middle of the five lanes ahead. Right now, Lamarre said, residents have make sure there's clearance in both directions before turning left. "Consequently, that in itself, has caused potential accidents, near misses and also severe accidents."

Bosomworth, who's lived in the complex since 1975, has analyzed the markings on Lark Avenue for a long time. She said the left-hand arrow is for the so-called WAGIC building, but drivers traveling westbound, turning left onto University Avenue, think the arrow is the left-hand turn for University Avenue. "A lot of cars will pull off into that left hand, which then blocks our way to make a left-hand turn onto Lark Avenue," she said.

"They sit there and then they realize their mistake, and they swing back out into traffic and then continue on to University." 

She said the neutral lane would not prevent the few people making a left turn into the WAGIC building parking lot. She said 10-15 cars use that lane every day to turn into the building, compared with the estimated 200 cars going in and out of Charter Oaks morning and night, plus all the traffic that goes down Charter Oaks to use the parking to get on the trail. 

The residents propose the following:

• Eliminate the arrow indicating a left turn into the WAGIC parking lot. 
Reconfigure the lines for the center strip to create a center lane from the landscaped median to the Charter Oaks and Lark Avenue intersection.
• Designate the new center lane a neutral zone, to be used for vehicles making a left turn from Charter Oaks onto Lark, and for the few vehicles making a left turn into the WAGIC parking lot. 

The residents say the changes will accomplish the following:

• Eliminate the constant confusion of westbound drivers erroneously thinking the left-hand-turn arrow indicates a left turn onto University Avenue.
• Allow drivers making a left turn from Charter Oaks to safely cross the two westbound lanes of traffic on Lark Avenue, before having to merge with eastbound traffic. 

At the request of the Charter Oaks Townhouse Association's Board of Directors, the town conducted three traffic counts at the intersection to evaluate the potential hazards of entering and exiting Charter Oaks at Lark.

Unfortunately, Bosomworth explained, the town's traffic engineer concluded there is not sufficient justification to make any safety improvements to the traffic pattern at the intersection. 

Bosomworth said his conclusion was based on traffic count only.

The residents have been trying to get the town to do something about the problem since last summer, she said.

She indicated the latest accident at the intersection occurred March 16 when one of her neighbors was attempting a left turn from Charter Oaks onto Lark and was hit by a westbound vehicle. The drivers weren't injured, but their cars were totaled, she said.

"We feel this is very crucial situation and we would like an immediate resolution," Bosomworth said.

Todd Capurso, Los Gatos parks and public works director, said town officials want to work with the residents to find a solution to the problem. "It needs some analysis," he said. "It's legitimate. They have reason to be concerned, and we'll address it."

Bosomworth said it's in the town's best interest to conduct a thorough traffic study, now that the new youth sports park will also be built on University Avenue, which will increase traffic.

"This is not the first time Charter Oaks has come before the council and asked for relief and nothing was done," she said. "It wasn't aggressively followed through and was let go. This time, we ain't gonna stop. This has become so hazardous and such a critical situation that we're not going to let it go. Something needs to be done."