Comment for Agenda Item I1 on City Council Agenda for Sept. 13, 2022:

My name is Sandy Napel and I live in the Allied Arts section of Menlo Park.

I first want to applaud the City for recognizing the opportunity to improve bike and pedestrian safety along the Middle Ave. corridor, and am supportive of many of the observations and suggestions made in the report referred to City Council last month and under consideration on the City Council Agenda for Sept. 13, 2022.

In particular, I strongly support the closure of Blake Street to automobiles and trucks at Middle Avenue. This will make the intersection, and particularly the crosswalk, much less confusing and safer, as it will eliminate the left turn into Blake from Middle Avenue westbound, which at present encourages westbound drivers to pass cars, who are waiting to turn left onto Blake Street, on their right, a very dangerous situation at a crosswalk. The new lighted crosswalk is indeed an improvement, but it is not as effective when a car is stopped waiting to make a left turn. Closing Blake Street in this way will also eliminate cars turning from Middle onto Blake for the purpose of executing a quick 3-point turn to get back onto Middle Avenue in the other direction. Finally, closing Blake Street in this way will make it much safer for pedestrians and bicyclists to get from all areas of Allied Arts to Nealon Park and/or out to Middle Avenue.

I also support reducing the speed limit along Middle Avenue to 25 MPH, and installing additional stop signs at busy intersections along Middle Avenue (such as San Mateo Drive, which sees a lot of bicycle traffic). However, I do not see the need for any roundabouts, such as the one proposed for Middle Ave. and University Drive. A roundabout does not slow traffic; conversely it speeds traffic compared to a stop sign it replaces.

As for eliminating parking on portions of Middle Avenue, my only request is that the residents who live in these locations have a voice. For some who require frequent visits by caregivers and support services, this could present a hardship.

Thanks again to the Commissioners and the Members of the City Council for taking this work seriously. I look forward to seeing these proposed improvements come to life.

Sandy Napel
445 Blake Street
Menlo Park, CA 94025
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Sandy Napel, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Professor of Radiology
Division Chief, Integrative Biomedical Imaging Informatics at Stanford (IBIIS)
Co-Director, Radiology 3DQ Lab
James H. Clark Center
318 Campus Drive Room S323
Stanford, CA 94305-5450
Phone: (650) 725-8027
Fax: (650) 498–4554
E-mail: snapel@stanford.edu
Home page: http://www.stanford.edu/people/Sandy.Napel