Every night, we hear motorcycles racing along Alma. Cops used to park on side streets, waiting to ticket speeders. Where has enforcement gone? The speed limit is 35 mph, but most people go at least 45-50 on this narrow road with no shoulder and right next to houses. I’m surprised there are not more accidents.

I would also like to see more enforcement.

In the last year or two I have noticed a disturbing increase in drivers pulling onto Alma from side streets right in front of oncoming traffic, in the section north of Oregon.

If people could slow down and drive the speed limit on Alma that would be a great start. I also try and be courteous to residents and drivers turning left on and off of Alma- setting a screen/pick for people coming from the side streets that don't have stop lights so they can turn without fear. Be nice to community members and we will all be less stressed and better off and please reduce your speed!

Alma is an absolute raceway, most unsafe street I know, no forgiveness on either side and people flying at all times of the day and night. Hell one guy took out the speed limit side on the sidewalk just past Loma Verde. Pulling out onto Alma is hell during rush hour, the turn lane is narrow and people are flying by. Amazon trucks parked in the slow lane cause people to merge unsafely.
This is no suprise.

"But Bill Glazier, a Palo Alto resident who witnessed the Nov. 17 collision, said he saw two vehicles in a “drag race” driving at high speeds and hitting multiple cars along the way — which he reported to Palo Alto Police but the department has not confirmed.

“This was NOT a case of one guy accidentally wandering into the wrong lane of traffic,” Glazier told this publication in an email. “This was two cars playing chase at speeds of probably over 100 miles on hour, and actively using the opposite lane of traffic as a tool to weave in and out of traffic in their search to pursue either each other, or win a race or avoid someone/something.”

I too would like more enforcement AND responsiveness from PAPD. I stress the latter because of all the trouble I went through to force them to ACCEPT information on a home burglary I witnessed while they kept insisting they couldn't GIVE me information.

Can we please go back to frequent speed traps, at random times to keep slower speed on driver minds?

It’s kind of the human equivalent of using unpredictable ‘intermittent rewards ‘ to train dogs… it makes for dogs who always have one corner of their minds dedicated to you. Resume the police presence, keep it from being predictable, and above all keep it coming.

Also, no warnings, just go right to a nice pricy ticket.

Just my observations, but since 101 is now so slow, faster traffic appears to have moved to Central Expressway and Alma.

Coincidence?

The speed limit on Alma is 35 MPH or 25 MPH. Despite this, people regularly drive 45 MPH or higher.

The solution is to start throwing people in jail. Driving 50 MPH in a 35 MPH zone or 40 MPH in a 25 MPH zone should be felony reckless driving, these scofflaws should lose their license and do hard time.

Clearly we need to institute Palo Alto's famous traffic calming measures. Put in speed bumps, rotaries, median art sculptures and bulb outs.

Then lets see how fast people can go.

/marc

Alma is nothing but dangerous and is getting worse. I avoid making a left turn at all costs because of how fast and rash the traffic is. I have written to 311 so many times asking for at least one additional traffic light between the Grocery outlet light (which is a dumb idea)and Churchill the next traffic light. It would be nice to have one at Loma Verde, one near colorado to slow down traffic and prevent left turns from every other side street. There are cars parked very close to the entrances on both sides of many of those streets, narrowing the entry/exit from Alma, cars waiting to turn jut out far into the rightmost lane because of low visibility. Plus UPS trucks further reduce visibility The city is not interested in making any changes to Alma.

Excellent points Teacher ! Concur with all of them

My friend’s mother got a speeding ticket for going 45 on Alma over forty years ago. The cop said she was “leading the pack” implying that most cars were going at speeds lower than that. Now the typical speed is way over 45 mph. Why aren’t cops patrolling and using what must be considerably more sophisticated speed measuring devices than were available in the 80’s? Have they just given up?

The speeding on Alma is REEE-DICK-KULL-LESS. 55mph is the norm.
Almost as bad as Middlefield from San Antonio to Oregon Expressway. 40 is the norm!
SLOW DOWN PEOPLE.
Does the city not make money on speeding tickets?
Get traffic control to help Palo Alto coffers with these out of
control speeders and start a ticket writing campaign.....
IMO
III

it was reported recently that San Francisco is making 1/4 of the traffic stops that they had prior to the pandemic. I wonder if PA PD or CHP make those numbers known. Just speculation, but I'd guess it's a combination of understaffing, morale effects of the defund the police movement, and more paperwork and risk associated with traffic stop racial profiling data. I don't think it's in effect yet, but there is a proposal to not allow police to stop cars for expired registration any longer in San Francisco, or any so-called "pretext" stops such as for broken tail lights.

Average speed is about 55mph along Alma, and with the narrow lanes, sudden left-hand turners, and the dangerous on-ramp from Oregon, I'm always amazed there aren't multiple crashes a day. Seriously, humans are incredible, being able to handle all those risks along Alma relatively safely. And since we all know
"traffic enforcement" is a dog whistle for pretext stops of minorities, we'll have to just keep dealing with it the best we can.

Perhaps the city council of PA & MV should allocate funds for traffic speed cameras to trigger a ticket for any speed five MPH over the speed limit. The word will get out quickly and the city will earn some incremental funds.

Sorry to post again, but this additional win occurred to me: Reduce the speed limit to 25, all the way to the MV city limits at San Antonio?

That would make those flashing “you’re going X mph, the speed limit is 25 mph” that much more dramatic and hopefully effective.

Yes, Alma needs to be managed better. BUT the key point of this situation is that despite 5 cars being blindsided, and the possibility that many people came very close to being killed, the Palo Alto Police would not even administer a alcohol or drug test on the first suspect, instead "passing the name" on to the District Attorney. And, despite the fact they were told by multiple people there was a second racing car, they refused to investigate this any further, and have let that person escape.

This is not about Black LIves Matter, or anything of the sort. This is about a Palo Alto Police Department that has decided it will enforce the laws that it sees fit, when it feels like it. There were at least 10 policeman at this accident, and not one of them could be bothered to spend any time asking about the second driver? None of them had the time to administer a breathalyzer/drug test?

What are they doing with their time? Selecting new drapes and office furniture for their $75M new office complex off California Avenue? I am very disappointed by the Police Departments behavior here. This needs to be investigated, either by the City or by the Palo Alto Weekly.

Multi-ton cars kill and maim people, especially when drivers fail to obey the law. The center "turning lane" on Alma is aptly called a "suicide lane" by transportation professionals based on injury collision incidence in these kinds of lanes.

Drivers, traffic calming measures are called for when YOU behave badly in large numbers. If all drivers obeyed the law, traffic calming would be unnecessary. I'm not just talking about drag racers. I'm talking about regular drivers I see every day who don't seem to know where their own fenders are, don't stop at red lights and STOP signs, are oblivious to YIELD signs, etc. Please obey the law. CARs are the primary safety problem on our streets for every road user, and driver behavior is at the root of that problem. If your driving skills are not up to snuff, thekake a lesson and build skills or give up your license. With so many on-call driver services available these days, you will no be giving up your freedom. You will be giving others and yourself safer trips.

FYI...Statistically, you are not safer in a car. Most injuries and fatalities from collisions in Palo Alto are inflicted on auto occupants. Ponder that. Driver BEHAVIOR is a problem that is driving up injury collisions and costing taxpayers and auto insurance customers a lot of money in enforcement coast and road mitigations. YOU can help solve that problem by behaving legally and safely. Personally, I would like to see the suicide lane replaced with safe, barrier protected turning lanes.

What if the future grade-separated trains were constructed OVER a new Alma? That could move a viaduct farther from established homes and enable planting of trees and placement of usable green space near property edges to protect homes from visual impacts of a viaduct (reducing opposition if the viaduct is an option that is still on the table)? Kill two birds with one stone--create the grade separations we need AND fix the serious safety problems on Alma.

"With so many on-call driver services available these days, you will no be giving up your freedom. You will be giving others and yourself safer trips."

I wish this was true. Unfortunately, on-call drivers are some of the worst because they are hurrying to get the next customer and make another buck. Roads filled with them would not be safe. Palo Alto Link drivers used to be good, but my most recent experience was not great, and there is no way to give feedback.

As others have noted, "feedback" to the drivers in the form of traffic enforcement would be a big help.
I also worry that the "Lexus lanes" project on 101 is clogging it by removing 2 traffic lanes from general use in each direction. The unintended consequence is to shift traffic to smaller arterials like Alma or Foothill, contributing to the problems there.

City officials and police should not be surprised about high speeds on Alma Street. While a racing incident gets a lot of attention, Alma has been a high-speed drive for several decades. Back when schools had their own driver's training classes, the P.E. coaches who rode in the car with students stayed off of Alma for any longer stretches. Growing up, using Alma-into-Central Expressway was a common alternative to driving out to 101 or worst, getting mired in El Camino Real traffic. One variable which used to be more present was law enforcement. Cameras only result in fines being mailed, but that is of no concern to habitual speeders. Palo Alto needs to behave like a the wealthy community it is, and increase police traffic presence.