By Lynell Ciranna
Once upon a time, Melrose Avenue was a quiet, dead end street. But as the city of Vista has grown by leaps and bounds, it’s become a major thoroughfare. Not only for Vista residents, but as a commuter route for people from the surrounding communities. This scenario has led to major traffic problems and safety concerns.
At a recent South Vista Communities (SVC) board meeting, members felt that traffic accidents and speeding throughout Shadowridge appeared to increase over the last year. As a result, SVC President Stephanie Jackel met with City Traffic Engineer Sam Hasenin, City Manager Patrick Johnson and Captain of the Sheriff’s department Charles Cinnamo to discuss traffic safety and speeding control options.
As a result of that meeting, actions were taken to have extra patrols throughout the community to cite speeders as well as to collect data so that a long-term traffic safety plan could be implemented. The goal; to make our streets safer and less congested. In the past few months, many South Vista residents noticed and commented, especially on the Next-Door community website, about the increased presence of Sheriff and motorcycle patrols, mostly on S. Melrose and Shadowridge Drive. I frequently noticed a patrol car stationed at the intersection of my corner and Melrose. I always stopped to thank whoever was stationed there.
On May 10, SVC hosted a community meeting attended by Mr. Johnson, Mr. Hasenin, Captain Cinnamo and Deputy Hernan Gonzalez. They shared their analyzed data and discussed what has been already implemented as well as what can and will be done to effect traffic control. If you didn’t make it to the May 10th SVC Traffic and Safety Community Meeting, you missed out on some great information, especially each of the panelists’ insights into the problems and solutions.
The presentation began with Hasenin explaining the collected data (going back 5 years in some cases to check accident frequency). Some of the information had already been used as justification for adding traffic lights, stop signs and speed mitigating devises. He detailed many traffic improvements that the City of Vista has already implemented, which included larger and more prominent speed limit signs, “signal ahead” and “curve ahead” road signs; better striping on the roads; more radar driver feedback signage and better signal timing at peak traffic hours.
Sam was particularly excited to tell attendees about a new grant-funded signal management system that Vista will start to use in the next year. Using cameras, it allows traffic engineers to control signals from their offices in real-time, allowing for smoother traffic flow.
Next to speak was Deputy Gonzalez. He explained that, contrary to popular belief, most cited speeders were Vista residents. He had a wealth of information and explained why more stop signs would not benefit the traffic on Shadowridge and would cause more problems for our Sheriff patrols due to unwarranted traffic stops being over-turned in the courts.
Among other topics, Captain Cinnamo explained that the Sheriff’s department has the whole of Vista to patrol and that includes crime, accidents and traffic control. They base where the patrols are most needed on data, statistics and community feedback. Vista is growing, but the number of law enforcement officers is not. Each month, Captain Cinnamo keeps a board in his office where he records where the most complaints or negative incidents occur. That influences where he sends his patrols. It’s a fact that being a member of an organization like SVC can have an impact. It pays to speak up as individuals, but there is strength in numbers.
Questions from the audience were encouraged and answered. It was recommended to any community that thinks they need to change road signage or traffic flow in their neighborhoods, such as those in attendance from Brookhaven Pass area, to gather signatures of 75% of the existing residents in that area. At that point, the City of Vista would be able to look at making changes that help with safety or traffic flow.
The final word from Captain Cinnamo and Deputy Gonzalez, “SHARE THE TRAFFIC RULES”. Talk about what Vista Sheriff patrols are doing so others know. They stressed that if everyone in the community encouraged everyone else to follow the rules and did the same, we would have safer streets. Lead by example and teach your children to follow traffic rules.
