Welcome... glad you're here!
PRIVACY STATEMENT
First and foremost, I respect your privacy as much as my own.
I will NOT add you to any future email or mailing lists, nor will not contact you again unless you contact me! I am simply a concerned neighbor reaching out to other neighbors to see if we can come together make a difference in making our neighborhood streets safer!
PURPOSE
The sole purpose of this website and survey is to gather neighborhood support in order to effectively request (or demand) that the City of Santa Cruz TAKE ACTION. They need to take measures to reduce the speeding traffic on our streets, which has been causing ongoing accidents!
UPDATES
I will update this website with the summary results of the survey, and any responses we hear from City officials. Bookmark this site and check back for updates.
You are also welcome to contact me by email from the "Contact Me" link if you have specific questions or if you would like to participate beyond completing the survey.
ABOUT ME
I am Paul, your neighbor on Jewell Street, just off Ocean Street.
I created this website and survey because I care about my own safety and the safety of my neighbors, our children, our pets, and our well-being.
Over the past 2.5 years, I have had conversations with numerous neighbors who live in the several different communities along our Ocean Street neighborhoods. Many of us have the same concerns regarding the speed of traffic and numerous accidents that have occurred on Ocean Street between Felker St. and Ocean Street Ext, and up and down Graham Hill Rd.
After personally witnessing two accidents, and almost being a victim of one of them (as a pedestrian), I decided to take action and invite our neighborhood to take action to make our neighborhood safer.
Why I got involved
In 2023, I witnessed an accident at the intersection of Ocean St. and Graham Hill Rd., which progressed onto the beginning of Ocean St. Ext.
A speeding driver heading toward Graham Hill Rd, drove up over the yellow center median, taking out the "keep right" sign, then veering left through the triangular island, and finally crashing between a power pole and large electrical service box at the beginning of Ocean St. Ext.
What made this accident so significant to me is that just 30 seconds earlier, we were walking our dog past that very electrical box, which was one of the dog's favorite "sniffing spots". As the saying goes, "Timing is everything!"
Since that accident, there have been two additional accidents on our street where a driver had lost control of their vehicle while speeding down Graham Hill Rd. onto Ocean St.
During each of these two accidents, the driver drove over the bike path and up onto the sidewalk! One accident destroyed about 60 ft. of the cemetery's chainlink fencing, and damaged two tombstones, The second accident destroyed the same fencing and a destroyed a power pole. More recently, another driver took out a light pole on the opposite side of the street! (see Accident Damage Photos tab).
These, and other accidents, were caused by excessive speed and many involved the downhill curve of Graham Hill Rd. where it meets Ocean Street. Any one of these accidents could have injured or killed pedestrians, cyclists, or other drivers and passengers. This is when I realized these, and additional other accidents, are not a fluke, but rather a dangerous pattern that demands a response!