Dangerous Saratoga Intersection Concerns Parents, Neighbors

Picking up your kids from school is always a fun experience ... we jest!

But for parents whose children attend Saratoga's Redwood Middle School on Fruitvale Avenue and Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School on Saratoga Avenue, the traffic congestion is of particular concern.

On those heavily travelled roads parents are vying for pavement with West Valley College traffic, construction vehicles and neighbors.

As you can see from the video, parents need to stop in the street on Fruitvale Avenue to enter and line up at Redwood Middle School and it is not always obvious to drivers unfamiliar with this routine that they are in a line.

Neighbor Arlene Rosenfeld walks her dog past the school every day and said that she avoids driving in the area during school drop-off and pick-up time.

“It’s not only the traffic from the parents picking up kids at Redwood Middle but also the West Valley College kids and some of them are crazy drivers. There are so many accidents,” said Rosenfeld. “Maybe it would help if they had a traffic cop directing traffic on Fruitvale where parents are waiting in line. But, summer is wonderful around here. It’s so quiet.”

And, at Saint Andrew’s parents must contend with Saratoga Library traffic and other road block on the busy thoroughfare just to turn left out of the school onto Saratoga Avenue. Some parents even block traffic to make the left turn.

One elderly gentleman we talked to at the library said he avoids Fruitvale and Saratoga avenues during school pick-up time because of the extreme congestion.

Jim, who asked not to share his last name, said that he’s concerned that one of these days there will be an injury accident or worse. “People drive so aggressively these days,” he said, “and they are always in a hurry.”

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