Dear City Council Members, My wife and I are residents of Baywood Avenue in the Willows Neighborhood of Menlo Park and write to strongly support making permanent all of the turn restrictions previously the City Council. These restrictions have - in a highly efficient and cost-effective manner - addressed the significant cut-through traffic problems that have steadily worsened over the course of the last decade, particularly during the construction at Willow and 101. As the data demonstrates, the volume of traffic on our streets has decreased significantly as a result of these measures, as have the speeds of the vehicles traversing our neighborhood. This directly translates into a more livable and safer neighborhood, especially for bicyclists and pedestrians. Our kids can bike safely now whereas we could never have let them bike after school before. We can walk our dog as a family after school without worrying about an endless stream of cars zooming haphazardly down our street without a care in the world, some of whom have their eyes glued to their waze app on their phone. We simply cannot revert back to the dangerous situation we had prior. The data demonstrates how successful this project has been in achieving its goal. On September 11, 2018, the City Council received a staff report (18-175-CC - https://www.menlopark.org/DocumentCenter/View/18601/H1---Traffic-management-plan ) showing that before the turn restrictions, in a 24-hour period, City staff measured a total of 1344 vehicles on Baywood (913 of which were eastbound). This was measured by the City during the week of June 4, 2016. As stated in the report, "[O]n May 17, 2018, staff collected traffic data related to traffic data related to vehicular traffic volumes speeds to determine the effect of the "No Left Turn, 3-7 p.m., weekdays' restrictions in the Willows neighborhood installed temporarily in conjunction with the on-going Willow Road-US 101 Interchange Project in December 2017, including the sign installed on Woodland Avenue at Baywood Avenue." [emphasis added] This data showed a total of 797 vehicles on Baywood (431 of which were eastbound). This represents nearly a 50% reduction in total traffic volume on Baywood as a direct result of the "No Left Turn" sign and a greater than 50% reduction in eastbound traffic! See pages 2 and 4 of the staff report for the full data. In summary, the evidence regarding the efficacy of all of the measures, particularly the turn restriction and Baywood and Woodland, is conclusive and clear. In addition to the clear and compelling data, the survey results also strong, overwhelming support making these measures permanent. How many other instances have we seen this level of support for anything in Menlo Park? It is extraordinarily rare to see the level of community support shown for these turn restrictions. Conversely, the support demonstrates how many residents in our neighborhood are unwilling to go backward to the dangerous and untenable situation we had prior to these restrictions being implemented. Please keep our neighborhood safe by making all of the measures permanent. Thank you for your attention to this important quality of life issue. regards, Amar & Caroline Murugan 130 Baywood Ave. Received on Sat Aug 08 2020 - 21:45:03 PDT
