Dear Mayor and Council members,

I want to applaud you for closing Blake Street to vehicular traffic from/to Middle Avenue. Coupled with the recently installed flashing beacons at the same intersection for pedestrians crossing Middle Avenue, it has been a huge improvement to the safety of Blake Street residents and, more importantly, to all who make use of Nealon Park, or who use Nealon Park as a throughway via an alleyway to downtown MP. As you know, Blake does not have sidewalks, and pedestrians and cyclists have had to compete with cars on this narrow street with parking on both sides. Now there are fewer cars traveling on Blake, none come whipping around the corner from Middle, and none turn into Blake from Middle only to execute a 3-point turn to get back onto Middle going in the other direction.

I know this change has already had a negative impact on some residents who had been using Blake for access to the Allied Arts Neighborhood from Middle, but it may just take a little time to adjust their driving habits. My wife and I, who have lived on Blake for over 30 years, have been anticipating this change for about 2 years and now leave home using College, which connects to Middle via University or Alto Lane (which is behind the businesses along the west side of El Camino). Returning, we bypass Middle altogether by turning onto College or Cambridge from El Camino. Is this a little inconvenient? Yes, but it’s worth it. It’s actually a far safer, less stressful way to go, as it avoids most of the congestion right at Nealon Park and into/out of the Safeway parking lot on Middle.

While those who live on Blake already see the benefit of this change, much of the benefit to others will not be seen until the spring/summer when the warmer weather brings many more cyclists, strollers, and walkers to Nealon Park via Blake, when it becomes a funnel for families accessing the park from the greater Allied Arts neighborhood. They’ll walk along Blake which, remember, does not have sidewalks and allows parking on both sides, without having to dodge vehicles using Blake as a pass through.

Since the closure we Blake St. residents have seen disruption caused by vehicles turning onto Blake from College and—being surprised by the closure at Middle—have to make 3-point turns to get back to College. Some of this will subside as everyone gets used to this change, but I believe the current signage is inadequate. While there are two new, small, “no outlet” signs at the entrance to Blake from College, they are perpendicular to Blake and, therefore, not immediately visible to traffic on College prior to making that turn onto Blake. To be effective the signs should be bigger and should face the traffic in both directions on College in anticipation of a turn onto Blake.

Thank you again for making this change. I’m confident that with a little tweaking and continued use, we will all see this to be hugely positive for the entire Allied Arts neighborhood.

Sandy
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Sandy Napel (he/him/his)
snapel@mac.com