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City speed limit evaluation

Dear Editor:

One of the city’s proposed changes on speed limits is on College Avenue between Arrow Highway and First Street. The speed limit would be raised from 25 to 30 miles per hour.   

You might think that is insignificant, until you consider the history and comparison with other school zones in and near Claremont. (Such as the Lincoln Park area of Pomona and traffic mitigation for the school near there, which is a 15 mile per hour zone when children are present).

One of the glaring contrasts between College Avenue, containing Oakmont Elementary School, and a higher density of traffic from the Courier Place housing development and other areas of Claremont, is that the same application of speed mitigation does not exist.

In this school zone, there is also bus traffic in addition to vehicles avoiding the congestion of northbound traffic on Indian Hill Boulevard between Arrow Highway and First Street.

Historically, there has been one child fatality near College and Kirkwood Avenues at Oakmont School and numerous incidents of drivers failing to recognize the traffic signal at that same intersection.

There is a difference in traffic speed management when compared to the middle school area at Harrison and Mountain Avenues, where a solar-powered speed alert device is installed as you travel north approaching Foothill Boulevard.

Other school zones in Claremont (Mills Avenue) where there appears to be such a difference can be cited.   

While there is a cost-prohibitive factor in installing a solar-powered speed alert device on this area of College Avenue (perhaps near the railroad tracks or near Green Street), the issue of traffic mitigation will become more significant when raising the speed limit.

This continues to pose a safety concern for residents, school children and those who drive in this particular section.

While the Traffic Commission may be in compliance with the state standard to raise the speed limit, those familiar with this traffic pattern will acknowledge that more can be done to insure public safety.  

Clearly, I do not support raising the speed limit. City traffic engineers or consultants should immediately implement effective measures to slow traffic that already routinely exceeds the speed limit.

Bernard Karmatz

 Claremont