San Jose's plan to increase safety along King Road in the east side includes reducing lanes and restrict street parking in some cases.
King Road is considered a hot spot for collisions
"We have a lot of collisions over the years with fatalities and severe injuries," San Jose Transportation Planning Manager Wilson Tam said. "So we really want to improve King Road."
The city reports between 2018 and 2022 there were 770 crashes along the 6-mile stretch from Berryessa Road to Capitol Expressway. There were also nine fatalities reported during that time -- six were pedestrians with some of them reportedly jaywalking.
"People cross because it is so far in between marked safe crossings," Department of Transportation Deputy Director Jessica Senk said.
In addition to King Road, the city's safety plan includes 29 other corridors with similar issues.
The plan would reduce some lanes in several areas along King Road and widen sidewalks. Officials are also considering eliminating the center turn lane and restrict it to VTA buses.
San Jose said the three bus lines along that route are among the busiest in the entire system.
"What we're trying to do with our plan is take those core principles of safety, mobility, and quality of life, and go block-by-block to see how we can make it a safe corridor that people can enjoy to spend time on," Senk said.
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The plan would also restrict about 40% of street parking along King Road.
Not everyone agrees with what the city's plan.
At least two neighborhood associations do not like the idea, especially the elimination of some street parking.
"The improvement project is going to fail our community," said Danny Garza, president for the Plata Arroyo Neighborhood Association.
Garza spent Monday morning handing out fliers to residents, urging them to attend a Thursday night meeting about the project with the city.
The city said the hope is to only eliminate 40% of street parking in mostly business areas of King Road, not residential. The plan also is not final.
"Parking is one of the concerns we have heard from the community and we understand that there is a lot of parking demand in the community today," Tam said.
The city said it will keep working with stakeholders to give the city council a final plan by the spring.
