The Ocala Avenue Project
Location
Ocala Avenue
City or County Responsible for Project
City of San Jose
Category
Safety or Intelligent Transportation System Projects
Author
Lam Cruz
Department of Transportation
200 East Santa Clara Street, San Jose, CA 95113
408-794-1962
Project Description
The Ocala Avenue Improvements Project implements a variety of traffic safety, roadway configuration and infrastructure improvements along Ocala Avenue between Daytona Drive and Capitol Expressway. Ocala Avenue is a key corridor within the East San Jose area that serves a large residential neighborhood, Meyer Elementary School, Overfelt High School, Hank Lopez Community Center, and nearby parks. The project improves the connectivity for all users by providing a safer walking and biking corridor to and from key destinations, including Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) transit system. Previous roadway conditions consisted of a very wide street with one lane in each direction and a median striped turning lane, standard Class II bike lanes, and missing sidewalk along the South side of the roadway. These overly wide and uncontrolled, open conditions as well as gaps in pedestrian infrastructure resulted in unsafe travel behaviors such as speeding, failure to yield, illegal turning movements, and walking on a dirt pathway (sometimes in the roadway itself). Recognizing the need for improvements, City staff conducted a conceptual level analysis of traffic volumes, collision data and pedestrian/bicycle counts to develop a proposed solution. Data analysis was performed on the collision history using both the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System and the City of San Jose’s traffic collision database (TAPS). The analysis showed that a high percentage of these collisions were directly linked to activities that could be prevented or minimized through the installation of selected roadway safety and pedestrian design countermeasures: (1) Install sidewalk/pathway (to avoid walking along roadway); (2) Install raised median; (3) Install traffic signal. In addition to the countermeasures listed, as part of the City of San Jose’s commitment to Complete Streets principles and providing safe multi-modal transportation options, the corridor has been enhanced with street lighting for better nighttime visibility, a pedestrian safety crossing with flashing beacons to alert drivers of pedestrians crossing at Daytona Drive, curb extension bulb outs to shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians, trees in the median to beautify the street and to visually narrow down the roadway, and accessible curb ramps. The City’s Department of Transportation also used this opportunity to resurface the street with the Pavement Maintenance Program, which allowed for the installation of new roadway markings for enhanced crosswalk, narrowed travel lane widths, and buffered bicycle facilities to complement the streetscape project. Overall, these improvements will help minimize or alleviate the conditions that led to many collisions within the project limits. The combined improvements included within the Ocala Avenue Project addressed critical safety needs on a vital corridor within the City of San Jose as well as provide safe connections to regional transit.
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