Salinas neighborhood looking to reduce car speeds

Residents in a North Salinas neighborhood are trying to get the city to help them slow down their streets.

The speed limit on both Chaparral Street and Maryal Drive is 25 miles per hour, but residents here say cars go much faster.

“I mean I live here 50 years, I can’t even let my kid cross the street because I’m afraid she’s going to get hit,” said Robert Sapien, a Salinas resident.

The city has the facts to back this up. In a traffic survey, the city found a majority of cars driving through those streets go at least 35 miles per hour or more.

“They go quite quick, very fast, as a matter of fact. It’s become an issue where we’ve had a lot of cars damaged, hit on the side of the road,” said Sapien.

“When there’s a lot traffic, a lot of speeding, the safety concerns go up,” said James Serrano, the transportation manager for the City of Salinas.

Neighbors submitted a petition to the city to help them create a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Plan. That means each resident can weigh in on what changes or additions they would like to see. Once a plan is formed, it goes out to a vote by all residents affected.

“When we’re addressing speeds all around the city, what we’ve used most of the time because it’s so effective in terms of benefit-cost is speed cushions,” said Serrano.

Speed cushions are also known as speed bumps, and these easy to make speed reducers would still be a trade off for residents.

“The people that are going to go ahead and drive through here are going to pass through, see the bumps, they’re going to stop coming,” said Sapien. “I still have to drive through them everyday. That’s going to be a hassle. But actually, we’re willing to make that sacrifice if it makes our streets safe.”

The city is hosting another community forum where residents can discuss solutions next week on Wednesday at El Gabilian Elementary School at 6 p.m.