Hi all,
I live on Berkeley Avenue in Menlo Oaks (Menlo Park) and I was recently made aware of a study that has been going on regarding the traffic and pedestrian/bike conditions on Coleman Avenue. I myself have two young kids and while they do not attend local public school I do drive them to their local independent schools daily and I also witness the vast amount of bike and pedestrian traffic not just on Coleman avenue but also ALL over Menlo Park. What I have found most surprising and frankly upsetting is that I have been totally unaware of any of the studies, research or any ongoing work being done with regard to my local streets. I have received nothing in my mailbox, no flyers, no emails, etc. The only reason I found out about the Coleman avenue project is that I read the daily posts from our neighborhood listserv. Unfortunately I didnt find out about any of this until only a day or two ago otherwise I would have been at any and all meetings pertaining to this matter.
While I naturally want everyone to be safe to and from school I think it is inappropriate for a study like this to go on without feedback from the people who actually live in the neighborhood. I would ask that you make a proper effort to reach out to EVERYONE who lives in Menlo Oaks and get feedback from the residents because I know that has not properly been done. Frankly Im not sure how I feel about Coleman avenue being turned into a one-way street and I would like the opportunity to review the data and information just as Im sure all of my neighbors would agree. That said I have gathered some information for example I know that wwo-way protected bike lanes (which is what the one-way pilot entails) can result in increased incidents and injuries according to this study: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/08/16/study-two-way-bike-lanes-produce-more-injuries .
Again I will state that community outreach has been insufficient. There are many stakeholders in the area that are unaware of what’s going on. If a one-way option is implemented, traffic patterns will change, and the impact is unknown. Lastly there is currently no enforcement on Coleman Avenue, neither on the county nor on the city side. Installing traffic calming devices and increasing enforcement will help alleviate the issues during busy times of the day without disrupting the community. I rarely see any police officers in the area, specifically in the morning, I know this is 100% true because I drive down Coleman avenue to Ringwood every single weekday morning between 8:45-9:45am and I have never seen ANY law enforcement officers - it seems that the most basic things like having law enforcement on site more often would be a better way to start this process.
Thank you for your time.
Best Regards,
Emily Lopez
Berkeley Avenue
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Emily Lopez
650-215-8539
