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proposed improvements and opined that they are well-thought out with empirical data to be collected before and after. Jason Riggy spoke about the need for lane reduction on Jefferson Avenue due to traffic issues, including noise, people driving too fast, and drag racing. He is concerned because there are small children in this area. James Stafford expressed concerns about the speeding and safety for people, particularly the children, there. He spoke about many near misses and is in favor of changes to the speed limit, signage and lane changes to accommodate traffic safely. Rebecca Ratcliff noted that this is the only outlet and opined that it is unsafe for everybody whether they walk or drive and that she and her children have witnessed many accidents there. She spoke in support of this program for more safety and making this area more desirable and livable. Liliya Bederov spoke about her past experience living on Farm Hill Boulevard and said the only problem she had was in being able to back out of her driveway due to the traffic. She questioned how this program would improve things and opined that it may be more difficult with more vehicles and she is against reducing lanes. Chris Matthews and his wife spoke of problems from speeding cars including have their car being hit while parked in front of her house. He said he has a petition with 45 signatures and an online petition with an additional 66 different names in support of the project and in support of bike lanes. He read comments from Jerry Pierce who is supportive of these actions. Rachel Breed Jansen spoke against the proposal as it stands and said that she has not noticed added police presence on Farm Hill Boulevard. While she agrees the traffic is fast, she opined that decreasing the number of lanes will increase traffic onto neighborhood streets and prevent people from going downtown and spending their money there. Vageslis Papazisis said he lives on Jefferson Avenue next to the dinosaur (sculpture) and worked with his neighbor to collect signatures in support of the program. He related incidences of accidents, speeding, drag races, crashes and injuries that have occurred and noted that people drive very fast around the curve and he spoke in favor of reducing the speed limit or the number of lanes and allowing for a bike lane and driveway buffer. Alan Bygones spoke about accidents, speeding, and unsafe conditions that have occurred and he said that the three-lane concept had already been tried in this City on EI Camino Real and it was a failure years ago. He said the three-lane configuration resulted in people changing lanes (unsafely) to pass and "playing chicken" resulting in accidents. He spoke in favor of reducing the speed limits for one year as a first step. Chris Gellrich spoke in favor of this pilot project and increasing safety for himself and his children who have witnessed injury accidents. He shared experiences in being terrified JOINT CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY BOARD January 26, 2015 MEETING MINUTES PAGE 9 MINUTE BOOK NO. 65 Page No. 318