As previously noted, the Department of Transportation has requested that WGNA submit a position (pro, con, neutral) on the Lincoln Avenue Road Diet project following a three-month trial period. Last week, our board of directors voted 9-0-1 (1 abstention) to support the road diet, based on eight months of community and member feedback, an historically robust study of traffic data by city staff, and various surveys and petitions circulated online and elsewhere. Please click here to read our full position letter, which was submitted to the Department of Transportation today. Any questions, comments, or concerns should be sent via email to [email protected]. For a little reference, you can also read this position paper from 2011 supporting a lane reduction and other traffic calming measures on Lincoln Avenue as part of the Envision San José 2040 General Plan Update. This letter was signed by a committee of Willow Glen neighborhood leaders, many of whom continue to advocate for expanded safety on Lincoln. We look forward to seeing how this project develops, and we will keep you informed of further opportunities for you to make your voice heard.

Wondering about the road work on Lincoln Avenue? The City's Department of Transportation has informed us that Phase I of scheduled pavement repair and preparation work has begun on Lincoln, from Lonus to Nevada. According to DOT Director Jim Ortbal: This is a standard preparation phase of a pavement sealing project, whereby the City’s contractor will be removing damaged sections of pavement/roadway base and replacing it with new asphalt/concrete to ensure the underlying road structure is sound prior to a final sealing treatment. All current roadway striping that may be impacted would be temporarily restored in the current configuration to ensure safety and visibility. The work began on the evening of July 8th and was meant to be finished by July 9th, but the work has been extended due to equipment damage on Wednesday night and weather conditions on Thursday night. The work will continue in the evening on Sunday (July 12th) and Monday (July 13th) to avoid any weekend night impacts. The contractor has indicated their confidence in completing the work by/through Monday night. If you have any specific questions about this work, please contact John Burchfiel, Principal Construction Inspector with the Department of Transportation at (408) 794-1967.  FYI: According to the DOT, all businesses and residents fronting Lincoln Ave within the limits of the project received a hand delivered notice from the contractor informing them of the work to be performed. And as we've noted previously, the full pavement sealing treatment is still scheduled to occur in October.

By now, you may have heard that the Willow Glen Business Association has formally recommended that the Department of Transportation end the road diet trial and restore Lincoln Avenue to four lanes. The DOT has stipulated that opposition to the road diet from either WGBA or WGNA would cause them to not recommend to the City Council that it be made permanent. For our part, the WGNA Board of Directors has spent the past few months considering online and offline feedback from residents, parents, drivers, bikers, and pedestrians, in addition to hundreds of comments received at three road diet community meetings, our own annual meeting, and through the Road Diet Working Group. We have yet to issue a formal recommendation, and since road diet feedback has been nearly evenly split, we may not take a position at all. Regardless of either organization's decision, this matter may still appear before the City Council in the September/October time frame (check here for council meeting dates and agendas: http://sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=3549). They have the final word on whether to make the road diet permanent. We will continue to keep you apprised of opportunities for making your voices heard. Thank you for engaging with us on this important issue for our community.

To collect additional feedback from the public on the Lincoln Avenue Road Diet, WGNA conducted a survey via Survey Monkey — a reputable online survey company — from June 2 through June 15 (14 days total). This survey collected over 1,100 responses. You can review the results in this PowerPoint presentation. With regards to the final and most significant question from the survey, please see as follows: Question: OVERALL, do you believe the Road Diet Trial has improved Lincoln Avenue and should become permanent? Respondents: 1,131 Strongly Agree - 452 - 39.96% Agree - 118 - 10.43% No Opinion - 51 - 4.51% Disagree - 114 - 10.08%  Strongly Disagree - 396 - 35.01% These results are not scientific and are only intended to gauge the overall pulse of the community on this issue.* We plan to share the results from this survey at the next Road Diet Community Meeting, scheduled for this Thursday, June 18th, at 6:30pm in the Willow Glen High School Cafeteria (2001 Cottle Avenue). We hope to see you then and there. Continue reading

The official minutes from our annual meeting on May 28th will be posted to this website soon. In the meantime, we can report that after a protracted discussion, the following slate of board officers and directors was elected for the 2015-16 term beginning July 1st: President - Chris Roth 1st Vice President - Mayra Flores De Marcotte 2nd Vice President - Nancy Rice Secretary - Ryan Elliott Treasurer - Peter Allen At-Large Members - Archie Moore, Debbie Cain, Matt Capaci, Elizabeth Estensen, Samantha LoCurto Additionally, a five-member Nominating Committee was elected to recommend officers and directors for the 2016-17 term, to be elected at the next annual meeting in May 2016. That committee includes the following WGNA members in good standing: Matt Capaci, Board Member, Member of 2015-16 Nominating Committee Elizabeth Estensen, Board Member, Member of 2015-16 Nominating Committee Hugh Graham, Former WGNA President Ed Rast, Former WGNA President Jeff Stanley, WGNA Member We're excited to move into a new year with new energy. We hope you'll join us along the way, and stay tuned for more to come from the annual meeting...

Thanks very much to everyone who's contributed their thoughts, concerns, recommendations, and honest opinions to a dialogue with the City of San José's Department of Transportation about the upcoming road diet trial on Lincoln Avenue. In order to ensure transparency, the Road Diet Working Group is committed to posting the comments we've received through our Google webform and Gmail account, with names redacted. Each of these comments has been read and considered by every member of the working group. Comments through 12/04/14 Comments through 12/22/14

The Lincoln Avenue Road Diet Working Group had its second meeting on Thursday, December 4, 2014. This meeting featured an in-depth conversation with representatives from the City of San José's Department of Transportation to address a variety of questions, comments, and concerns from working group members and our constituents regarding the upcoming road diet trial. You can click here to view the minutes from this meeting. Please email the RDWG at [email protected] with any questions or comments on these minutes. The RDWG is committed to an open and transparent process that produces the best possible result for all involved.

Hearing a lot about the upcoming road diet trial on Lincoln Avenue? Don't know what a "road diet" means? Think a "scramble" has more to do with breakfast than pedestrian traffic? Have a look at these short videos...

The Lincoln Avenue Road Diet Working Group had its first organizational meeting on Friday, November 21. This meeting was used to address initial questions, comments, and concerns about the road diet trial raised at the WGNA community meeting on Thursday, November 20, and to set some ground rules for future meetings. You can click here to view the minutes from this meeting. Please email the RDWG at [email protected] with any questions or comments. The RDWG is committed to an open and transparent process that produces the best possible result for all involved.

Thanks to all who attended our November 20th community meeting at Willow Glen Elementary on the upcoming road diet trial on Lincoln Avenue! As noted at the meeting, a working group has been formed to provide feedback to the City of San José Department of Transportation (DOT) on the size and scope of the road diet trial, to be implemented in Spring 2015; and to ensure that the DOT takes into consideration the issues and concerns identified by the community. Continue reading