City Addresses Fatalities With Traffic Plan

The Hayward City Council gave comment on a presentation outlining the proposed Traffic Safety Plan at the March 24th City Council meeting. In part a response to the multiple pedestrian fatalities that occurred within 10 days in February, the Public Works and Police Departments outlined plans that include short, medium, and long-term design solutions, temporarily heightened traffic enforcement, and an education plan for pedestrians. Public speakers and the City Council supported the plans, but called for vocal community support in the face of online comments against such measures.

City Manager Supports PD During Prostitution Investigation

City Manager Jennifer Ott gave a statement during the March 24th City Council meeting concerning the investigation into Hayward Police Officer Benjamin Yarbrough. Officer Yarbrough is charged with accepting a bribe from Yanqiong Xiong, which is a felony according to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. Officer Yarbrough denied taking money, knowing who Xiong was, having sex with anyone at the Hayward brothel and providing protection to anyone.

"As soon as the Police Department heard that Officer Yarbrough was the subject of an investigation, he was placed on [paid] administrative leave and the Department cooperated fully with investigators and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office," City Manager Ott said. "The conduct alleged in this case is in no way a reflection of the professional men and women of the Hayward Police Department who are dedicated to the safety and well-being of every member of the Hayward Community."

The District Attorney's Office opened an investigation after San Jose Police arrested another person who claimed Officer Yarbrough used his position to extract cash and free sexual services from a residential brothel operating in Hayward, according to the East Bay Times. SF Gate reports that phone records indicate that Officer Yarbrough contacted Xiong multiple times about what prostitutes are available.

"Chief Bryan Matthews and the entire department have demonstrated extraordinary professionalism throughout what has been a very trying situation," City Manager Ott said. "And Chief Matthews and the Hayward Police Department have my full confidence and support."

Hayward Police Chief Bryan Matthews released a statement revealing that he has a "familial relationship with Officer Yarbrough" and KTVU is reporting that Officer Yarbrough is married to the sister of Police Chief Matthews.

Using Design And Enforcement To Make Streets Safer

Mayor Mark Salinas prefaced the Safe Streets session by recognizing the recent string of pedestrian deaths. "February was, as you know, a tough month for the city," he said. "When incidences like this happen, it's a call for more than just words. It's a call for impact. It's a call for action. And that's where we are today." He recognized that traffic calming solutions may be contentions, but stressed that it was something the city needed to grapple with.

Principal Transportation Engineer Byron Tang and Traffic Bureau Administrator Lieutenant Ryan Sill presented a number of actions the city is taking immediately and over the next several years to improve pedestrian safety.

Immediate Actions

10 high-injury intersections throughout Hayward are being targeted for what are called "quick-build solutions" within the next six months.

1. Tennyson Rd and Baldwin St
2. Foothill Blvd and Mission Blvd and Jackson St
3. Tennyson Rd and Calaroga Ave
4. A St and Victory Dr
5. Huntwood Ave and Montana Way
6. Hesperian Blvd and Sleepy Hollow Ave
7. Hesperian Blvd and Turner Ct
8. A St and Foothill Blvd
9. Tennyson Rd and Huntwood Ave
10. Industrial Pkwy and Ruus Rd

These design changes use inexpensive materials, like paint and plastic bollards, to pilot street changes. The measures are reversible, but can allow the city to test changes before installing more permanent solutions.

A Vision Zero Crash Response Program will also be created to ensure future crashes are addressed. A team of staff including Police, Public Works, and Maintenance departments will respond to a collision, review the police investigation and conduct a site visit, then recommend quick-build fixes and share information with the public.

Other Short-Term Projects

Beyond the actions above, Transportation Engineer Tang explained that other actions will be taken in the next 6-12 months to improve safety.

1. Evaluate "No Turn On Red" for High-Injury Network intersections
2. Evaluate leading pedestrian intervals for those same intersections
3. Using Pavement Improvement Program money to implement quick build solutions
4. Conduct street calming on Santa Clara street
5. Vision Zero Webpage

A "leading pedestrian interval" will give pedestrians a few seconds to begin crossing the street before the traffic light turns green. You can see this in action along B St downtown.

Medium-Term Projects

Other proposed projects will take between 1-3 years to complete

1. Hayward Boulevard Pedestrian Improvements
2. Orchard Avenue Traffic Calming – making the quick-builds permanent
3. D Street Traffic Calming
4. Safe Routes to School
5. Safe Routes for Seniors
6. Pedestrian Traffic Signal Upgrades
7. Tennyson Road Railroad Crossing Safety Improvement Project
8. Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan
9. Exploration of Red-Light Camera Automated Enforcement Pilot

These projects require more time to complete due to grant, construction, and legal timelines.

Long-Term Projects

These projects are expected to take three years or more to complete

1. Safe Streets Downtown
2. Safe Streets Hayward
3. East Bay Greenway
4. Industrial & Whipple Interchanges (with Highway 880)
5. A Street & Winton Interchanges (with Highway 880)

Although Tennyson is included in the first phase of the Safe Streets Hayward plan currently underway, Transportation Engineer Tang said that grant money will soon be available that could speed up improvements on Tennyson Road. "This would show that we are serious about road safety and that we want to push forward and improve one of our most dangerous corridors," he said.

Police Actions

Lieutenant Sill said that the Hayward Police Department plans to use the LINK Team from their Youth and Family Services Bureau (YFSB) to conduct targeted pedestrian safety education with the city's most vulnerable populations. They would focus on nighttime visibility and crosswalk safety, conduct a social media campaign, and conduct outreach in different languages and across multiple age groups at community meetings and youth programs.

Police will also conduct targeted traffic enforcement over the next three months, with three enforcement operations per week along high injury corridors.

1. A Street, from Foothill Blvd. to Hesperian Blvd.
2. Foothill Blvd., from A Street to Mission Blvd.
3. Mission Blvd., from Jackson St. to Orchard Ave.
4. W. Tennyson Rd., from Huntwood Ave. to Patrick Ave

The enforcement would last 20 hours per week until the end of June with a focus on speeding, failure to yield to pedestrians, distracted/impaired driving, and red light violations. "We know these are the primary causes of pedestrian collisions," Lieutenant Sill said.

Community Supports Design Changes

Multiple members of the public spoke in favor of implementing design changes to increase pedestrian and cyclist safety. Members of Bike Hayward, a cyclist advocacy group, said that they had five demands which are "a reinforcement of the great work that you're already doing," a speaker named Ahmed said. The primary focus, he said, should always be safety. "Wherever we touch a street, the safety of all who use it should be a non-negotiable assumption," he said.

However, many speakers also recognized that such change may be politically damaging. "A commitment to Vision Zero really means prioritizing human lives over traffic convenience, even when that's a politically uphill battle," a speaker named Jesse said. A speaker named Tyler said that keeping to safety in the face of public pushback is important. "This is what leadership from our city looks like," he said. Another speaker named Alex said, "We should want safe streets for all ways to get around Hayward."

Naomi Powell-Ha, president of the NOMA Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association called for "neighborhood-level interventions" in her neighborhood. She called for speed bumps, bulb-outs, street painting, and high visibility stop signage, as well as the closure of Hazel Ave and Hotel Ave to through traffic. She stressed that their neighborhood is surrounded by "the highest risk roadways" of Mission Blvd, Foothill Blvd, and A St and that their neighborhood has been used as a shortcut to get around traffic on The Loop.

Council Supports Changes, Asks For Community Voice

All attending members of the City Council supported the proposed safety measures and prioritizing Tennyson Blvd for construction. Councilmember Francisco Zermeno struck a defiant tone. "Keep installing traffic calming," he said. "I don't care what they say. The purpose of traffic calming is to slow drivers down."

Councilmember George Syrop said that streets should belong to more than just cars and that detractors may eventually come around. "We want everyone to understand the benefits from this even if they're against it now," he said. He supported closing Hazel Ave to through-traffic and recommended using any learned expertise for future street closures, such as B St.

Councilmember Angela Andrews called for partnerships with other local agencies, including CalTrans, the Hayward Local Agencies Committee (HLAC) which includes HARD and HUSD, the Downtown Hayward Improvement Association (DHIA), and BART. She also called for better outreach from the city on what's being done. "I do think Hayward is doing a lot," she said, "but it'd be great to tell that story, as well."

Councilmember Dan Goldstein said that these recommendations are not as sudden as they may appear. "These are really ongoing points of interest we've been discussing for a very long period of time," he said. He expressed concern about speeding, the likely increase in alternate modes of transit with gas and car prices increasing, and recommended people try working in Hayward instead of commuting so far. "You want high tech, there are high tech jobs right here," he said.

Mayor Mark Salinas supported all of the recommendations. "This should be a city-wide campaign," he said. He said that these were growing pains for the city that were going to happen eventually. "[These streets] were built for another time in the City of Hayward," he said, "And I think what we're grappling with is reconfiguring these for today."

"I want to be very clear," Mayor Salinas said, "that this is the direction that we want to go... We're going to do this." However, he also called for community members to vocally support the city's traffic calming efforts to counteract negativity comments frequently shared online.