A Lifetime in Fair Oaks: Once Safe, Now at Risk—Fighting for Change

Greetings, I am your neighbor Susannah Martin, and I have had roots in Fair Oaks since my father moved here onto Sunset in 1979.  Those old timers out there will recognize the prefix of my phone number: 967.  My father was on the board for the now-defunct Fire District, and his girlfriend worked for the Water District.  I spent my childhood picking blackberries in the fields, walking to the parks and river, and I have very fond memories of Farmer Bob’s, nutburgers, Fiesta Days, and other events at the Park District. He died in 2009 and is buried in the Fair Oaks Cemetery.  I bought the house I grew up in from the estate so my two daughters could also benefit from this wonderful community.

I lived in both Switzerland and Germany during my university years and wrote part of my doctoral dissertation while living in the huge, incredibly walkable city of Berlin. I have spent months at a time since then back in Germany for work.  I now spend every Christmas in major cities in western Europe. Everywhere I have been, and I travel extensively, puts pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation first; cars are secondary. There are designated bike lanes separate from pedestrian paths, and drivers must follow very strict and enforced traffic and speed rules which include yielding to anyone not in a car.

This is a shocking contrast to our little town of Fair Oaks, which has relatively recently turned from a quiet and slow suburb into a veritable speedway.  Commuters cut through from Sunrise Avenue to the newly expanded Hazel Avenue using residential streets such as mine, Sunset, as their proverbial racetrack rather than using the main corridor vein of Madison Avenue. Semi Trucks are now the norm whereas they used to be practically non-existent. The speed limit is 35 miles per hour, yet according to the speed measuring devices the CHP has put up near my home, people are driving well over 50 miles per hour and often much faster.  Additionally, I have seen people drive in the bike lanes, tailgate at frighteningly close ranges, and pass other cars by going into the opposite lane.  Of course, many are on their mobile phones. The worst I have seen is drivers actually veering into pedestrians.  These are not isolated incidents.

Children, including my own, must walk up and down Sunset as well as Fair Oaks Boulevard and other residential streets to get to one of the several schools in the neighborhood. These streets are regularly used by many joggers, dog walkers, parents with strollers, and by cyclists.  There are very few sidewalks and, in some places, the area for pedestrians is very, very narrow. During winter, because it is quite dark, it is very difficult for cars to even see pedestrians. A fatality is inevitable, and it is only a matter of time.  Yet, it is also entirely preventable! 

Luckily for all of us in Fair Oaks, the elected officials, including our supervisor, and the Department of Transportation are beginning to recognize that we want safe streets, and we want to be a pedestrian and cyclist-friendly place, but we need to organize and push to make this happen. I, with all of you, am not giving up making this a new reality so we, and especially our children, can walk and ride bicycles with little fear of being hit and killed by a car.