[Editor’s Note: This was written in the aftermath of last night’s community meeting, convened by School Board member Scott Zeidman, over the issue of curbing speeding vehicles around the campuses of Culver City schools.]
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Enclosed is some information that I received from Kathy Bordiga about the history of the Stop sign at Coombs and Farragut Drive that she sent to one of the School Board members.
Kathy spoke about it last night at the informal meeting hosted by the School Board at Linwood E. Howe School, regarding the traffic situation around Culver City schools.
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Residents of 10700 block of Farragut Drive present were Paulette Greenberg, Kathy Bordiga, Ron Davis and myself.
Kudos to Ron, who spoke well about the traffic problem near the Child Development Center and how it was affecting his property — as well as being a totally dangerous environment.
Kathy and Paulette also made their feelings known to School District Supt. Myrna Rivera Cote, School Board members Saundra Davis and Scott Zeidman.
Also in attendence was Capt. Scott Bixby of the Police Dept.
I must admit that I was the weakest link, giving an emotional tirade about our problems with illegal parking and speeding.
Scott Zeidman explained that the intent of the meeting was to gather information and ideas before going forward to the other stakeholders.
Saundra Davis said that they were trying to schedule a City Council/School Board Liaison Committee meeting for Wednesday, Oct. 29.
Scott Zeidman cautioned that there would probably not be a quick fix to the traffic problems.
Going forward for the 10700 block of Farragut Drive, we all need to attend any meetings that are scheduled to be sure our views are taken into account.
The Irving Place residents were very vocal about the project proposed for 4043 Irving Pl., and well prepared with a solid video presentation about the congestion in their neighborhood, which pretty much mirrored our problems.
My sense was that maximum enforcement of posted regulations was a major issue. There was an example given of a truck that parked in a three-minute unloading/loading zone for eight hours at a time, receiving a ticket only after the vehicle was pointed out to Police Dept. Parking Enforcement after several days of parking illegally.
It was suggested that we might use “Traffic Calmers” like they have in England.
They sounded like traffic structures that would bottle-neck traffic flow in one direction, like the party bus that parked in the red on Braddock Drive/Overland Avenue the other night so the drunks could stock up for the ride home at the corner mini-mart….
Well, at least they weren't behind the wheel.
Ron pointed out that the curbs need to be repainted to clearly reflect their parking status, and the fact that somebody actually cares.
Attached is a photo of a car that has been parked in the neighborhood since at least Sunday (it now being Tuesday afternoon).
It was apparently ticketed some time Monday. My gut reaction is that it should be ticketed every day it is parked here illegally. It's presence reinforces the conclusion that 10700 block of Farragut Drive is regarded as a parking lot.
Below is the letter from Ms. Bordiga that was sent before the meeting:
I just wanted to encourage you to keep the dialogue open. Although it seems to you that the solutions are possibly City Council decisions in the long run, it is very important to collaborate.
My point is that in the summer of 1985, I appeared before the Traffic Commission to request
Stop signs for Farragut. You see, in that summer, the city sandblasted the painted
crosswalk. An infamous San Diego study showed false security for pedestrians in crosswalks.
What measure of safety was there after that? None.
After working with Farragut, the School Board (principally Bob Knopf) and the City
Council (Mayor Richard Alexander), the city agreed to put in Stop signs. I appeared
once again before the Traffic Commission, and this time, the request was approved.
I have saved all correspondence, as I am very proud that I could do something to
help my community, and with the Board and Council as huge supporters.
Once again, the community (the School Board, City Council, families) needs to come
together to address the urgent and extreme need for school and community safety.
