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Published on 06/02/1999 All articles from this issue

Neighborhood 'angels' post 25 mph signs

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Hundreds of blue signs, asking drivers to "Be an Angel! Drive 25," line streets from the city's Hillview Community Center to the Los Altos Nursery.

Maria Murphy Lonergan is the woman behind the signs. "It's an educational campaign," Lonergan said, "to raise awareness" about speeding.

She distributed the signs on May 23 from the city's Community House on Hillview Avenue.

Lonergan, who serves on the city's traffic task force, had left leaflets around her neighborhood near Almond School, inviting residents to reserve a sign, if interested. The response was overwhelming.

"We ran out of signs within the first 45 minutes," Lonergan said. "We had to send for backup and still couldn't fill the demand. People were very motivated, and many residents who had asked us to reserve one sign asked if they could have 10 instead."

Neighbors like John Blaha, a father of three small children, helped distribute the signs.

"There was a noticeable difference by Sunday (May 23) afternoon, especially up and down Hawthorne Avenue," Blaha said. "All the neighbors were very receptive. People would drive by, see a sign, and call us up asking, 'Where can I get a sign?'"

We're not talking one or two signs, but hundreds, in yard after yard.

"One or two don't make an impact," Blaha said, "but with several, ... ."

Blaha and his wife moved to Los Altos in 1991, before their children were born. Even then, "right from the start" they noticed "busy morning traffic" on their street.

He said he's been keeping tabs on the traffic task force, which formed in 1998, and had asked if he could help. He's not the only one.

"The day after the campaign, my voice mail was full of 15 messages from people who asked if they could get more signs. I had to turn many of them down yet encouraged them to host their own campaigns," Lonergan said.

Los Altos resident Barbara Loebner created the "Be an Angel" campaign, which grew from her concern about speedsters in her south Los Altos neighborhood.

For more information on how to organize a campaign in your neighborhood, call Loebner at 969-0136.