SACRAMENTO – Today, Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San José) presented San José Mayor Sam Liccardo and other City officials with a commemorative check of $10 million to support the City of San José’s Vision Zero strategy, a traffic safety initiative to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on roadways. The East San José Corridor Safety Improvement Project is the first major corridor redesign and will provide key pedestrian, bicyclist, and transit safety improvements along 4.7 miles of Senter Road between Story Road and Monterey Road.
“This urgent investment for the City of San José will save lives and make our streets safer,” said Assemblymember Kalra, who championed the funding request in this year’s State Budget. “The Senter Road corridor is one of the most dangerous in the City and a centerpiece of Vision Zero. These much-needed safety improvements will help children walk to school, improve commutes to work, and increase accessibility to a popular roadway that vitally connects communities.”
Traffic fatalities have doubled in San José in the past 10 years, from 29 in 2010 to 60 in 2021. 30 to 50 percent of these fatal and severe traffic injuries occur on just 17 corridors, which are identified as Vision Zero Priority Safety Corridors. Senter Road, like many of the other Priority Safety Corridors in the City, runs through east and southeast San José, and through many of the City’s disadvantaged communities. This project provides comprehensive safety upgrades, including a concrete buffer between cyclists and vehicles and a new traffic signal at one of the most dangerous intersections.
“I am grateful to Assemblymember Ash Kalra and State leadership for deeply investing in the City’s efforts to bolster safer roadways in San José,” said Mayor Liccardo.
“The East San José Corridor Safety Improvement Project is an incredible win for District 7 and our East San José communities,” said Councilmember Esparza, whose district encompasses a large portion of the corridor. “From Rocksprings to Seven Trees, this project focuses on equity and I am incredibly proud to have worked with Assemblymember Ash Kalra, who led the efforts within the state budgeting process to make this project a reality.”
In March 2018, the City was awarded a $425K grant through Caltrans’ Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant program to redesign Senter Road. In 2021, the City spent $400K to implement “quick build” improvements based on consultants’ recommendations, including a lane reduction, protected bike lanes, curb extensions, signal modifications/enhancements, and streetlight updates. With one year of the new quick-build design in successful operation, San José seeks to further improve and implement permanent safety features with a capital build-out.
The funding for this budget request can be found in AB 178 (Ting), signed by Governor Newsom on June 30th. With the $10 million budget allocation, the improvements will specifically include:
- $1.35M for a planted median island and 3 enhanced crosswalks with flashing beacons
- $2.35M to upgrade existing streetlights to LED and add new pedestrian scale lights
- $1.5M for a concrete curb barrier to protect the new Class IV buffered bike lane
- $2.5M for a new traffic signal at Senter and Balfour, to simplify a complex intersection
- $1.1M for central transit signal priority, bus boarding islands, and other amenities like shelters and benches
- $0.5M for pedestrian and bike sensors to add crossing time
- $0.2M for radar speed signs and pavement messages
- $1.0M for engineering, evaluation, data collection, and community engagement
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Assemblymember Ash Kalra represents the 27th District, which encompasses approximately half of San José and includes all of downtown. He is the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment and also serves as a member on the Housing and Community Development, Judiciary, Transportation, and Water, Parks, and Wildlife committees. For more information, visit https://a25.asmdc.org/.
About the City of San José
With more than one million residents, San José comprises the 10th largest city in the United States, and one of its most diverse cities. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center in the heart of Silicon Valley has resulted in the world's greatest concentration of technology talent and development.