Several Fremont City Council members and school board members met on Jan. 27 to continue their discussion on painting street curbs red. This is all part of complying to the “Daylighting” state law that prohibits any driver from parking, stopping or even getting out of the car temporarily within 20 feet of a crosswalk.
Fremont Public Works director Hans Larsen said painting school curbs red will require a lot of time and resources. Larsen said red curbs are not enforceable, and recommended putting up signs instead.
Fremont City Councilmember Kathy Kimberlin said she supports painting curbs red. “I’d rather see us be proactive with a couple of sites and try it out, see how it goes and move, versus just not moving,” she said. “Enforcement is not the goal, safety is the goal.”
A Brier Elementary cross guard also said complying to the “Daylighting” law is about safety, not about getting people in trouble. “I can’t see approaching traffic, and approaching traffic can’t see the kids who are standing on the corner, because the cars are in the way,” she said.
Larsen said he encourages volunteers to work with schools on being more safe. “We definitely encourage the school communities to volunteer, and there’s a lot of great examples of how school communities put out traffic cones and supplemental signs,” he said.
Larsen said there was a person from a homeowner’s association who wanted a no-parking area near their home. “They are taking it upon themselves to say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna paint the curb red.’ We’re not permitting it, we’re not advising it, but we’re not enforcing against it, if it’s done in a legal way.”
FUSD board member Vivek Prasad said they have been discussing this issue of enforcement through red paint for the last several meetings. The last time they spoke about it he said he thought they were told to not paint it, and the conversation is coming full circle.
Councilmember Raymond Liu also said they should be proactive. “The issue is the physical red paint, there’s no exact enforcement, what’s stopping me tomorrow from painting those areas red? We could use that as a good trial run.”
Fremont city staff said they plan to speak to the city manager about a request from the council and school board for a pilot program to paint curbs on and near schools red. The city will also have discussions with the school district about existing resources such as school volunteers.
