Vallejo to install sideshow deterrents at 16 intersections

VALLEJO –The Vallejo City Council approved a pilot project to prevent sideshow activity at 16 city intersections on Tuesday, but some councilmembers raised questions about how the sites were chosen.

The project includes the installation of curbs, lane delineators, roundabouts and street narrowing across the city. The council unanimously approved the project at its meeting Tuesday with Mayor Robert McConnell abstaining because he owns property that may be affected by the installations. 

Construction costs for the 16 intersections is budgeted at $889,500 with $700,000 of that coming from federal American Rescue Plan Act funding. Total cost for the project is $1,138,450 including design, management, inspection and contingency costs. 

Assistant Public Works Director and City Engineer Dan Sequeira said that he expects construction on the project to begin in two months.

But councilmembers immediately raised concerns about how city staff has selected the locations because several of the city’s most notorious intersections for sideshow activity do not appear on the project list.   

Councilmember Mina Loera-Diaz recalled a sideshow that took place on Broadway and Illinois Street in which shots were fired into businesses and the bomb squad was called out for a device left by participants that was later determined to not to be dangerous. 

“With something as tragic as shooting and possibly a bomb that turned out not to be a bomb,” Loera-Diaz said. “Why was this intersection not even looked at?” 

Sequeira said that the police department selected 20 high priority intersections but due to the project's budget constraints the public works department narrowed that to 16 of the highest priority sites.

Loera-Diaz also pointed out that few of the project sites were located in South and West Vallejo, where many sideshows take place. In the east, she said that one of the most common sideshow intersections is Columbus Parkway and Springs Road. 

“Every Friday and Saturday night I hear it from my house,” she said. “That’s a huge one and it’s not on the list, period. So, I’m having a really hard time with how these were selected.”

Councilmember Cristina Arriola said that Sonoma Boulevard and Lemon Street is extremely dangerous because of the regular sideshows, but it is also not on the list. 

During public comment, some residents from the Lofas Lakeside neighborhood said the intersection of Mini Drive and Lewis Brown Drive, which also did not make the list, is such a common sideshow spot that spectators watch the shows from Highway 37, which overlooks the intersection.

Interim Police Chief Jason Ta said the locations were selected based on data and whether there were any collisions or major injury accidents there.

Councilmember Diosdado “JR” Matulac asked if the city had used only the collision and injury incidents or if the frequency of sideshows had actually been factored into the decision.

Assistant City Manager Terrance Davis said that police reports of illegal activity had been used in the selection of the sites and that Public Works Director Melissa Tigbao provided information on locations where her department had repaired damage related to sideshow activity.

According to City Attorney Veronica Nebb, some of the locations that councilmembers and residents mentioned may have been eliminated because four-lane streets with two lanes of traffic in both directions can be significantly more expensive for some of the deterrent options. Roundabouts that accommodate two lanes of traffic require more complicated engineering and have a more stringent review process than streets that only have one lane in each direction, she said.

Councilmember Peter Bregenzer said since the project is intended to deter sideshow activity, he would like city staff to provide the council with the data on the sideshow activity that is taking place at each of the 16 sites. 

Bregenzer also said that many of the signs that had been installed in his neighborhood as traffic calming measures were gone in two weeks because they had been run over or removed. He asked if there is any data on the durability of the sideshow deterrent installations. 

Davis said they expect that the rubberized curbs and other plastic delineators will occasionally get damaged or stolen and they plan to stock some of the materials so the public works department can easily replace them.

“I would really consider this to be a pilot,” said Davis. “We are using ARPA funds to see if this is going to be effective. We know in some instances that it may deter it in one location and that will push it into another location.” 

Davis said that city departments are aware that many more intersections need to be addressed.  This project, he said,  will serve to familiarize the city staff with the costs, the materials and the engineering, so the city can apply this toolbox to other locations.

But Davis noted that the ARPA funds that are being used for the project is one time funding only and if the city wants to move forward with installing the deterrents in more locations they will have to allocate additional funding.

“We have talked a lot about funding,” said Loera-Diaz. “And it’s more than clear that we don't have the funding for everything we want. However, this is a sore spot for a lot of residents. Residents who have had their driveways blocked every single weekend for months if not years.

“They have a right to know and we have a right to know how these sites were selected. We need to see how those sites were selected so we can publicize that. So that those whose intersections were not selected this time understand why they were not selected even though they are in danger like everybody else.,” Loera-Diaz said. 

The council also approved the Redwood Street road diet which will make pavement improvements and reduce the traffic lanes from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction with a center turn lane. The project will affect the section of Redwood Street from Tuolumne Street to Broadway Street. The new configuration includes curbside parking and a five-foot bicycle lane with a three-foot buffer in between that is designed to reduce bicycle collisions with car doors. 

Sequeira said that this configuration offers better sight lines overall for drivers and can reduce accidents that occur when a driver's field of vision is blocked by the car in the next lane as they approach the intersection. 

The road diet project will cost $1.3 million. Construction is expected to start in two months and will take four more months to complete, according to Sequeira.