Hi William,
Thank you for your advocacy! This has been a persistent concern for many, many years now. Very happy to hear that inroads are finally being made. I couldnt agree more about Coleman needing serious changes to support safety in the community.
To the council members and Francesca, thank you for your responses, and more so for your action.
Kind regards,
Linda
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Linda Creighton
Laurel School Principal – Lower Campus
Menlo Park City School District
On Sun, Nov 27, 2022 at 9:31 PM William Allen > wrote:
Hi -
What can we do to make biking on Coleman Avenue to Laurels lower campus safer?
This is a well-researched and disheartening article in the NYT on the increased danger of biking and walking in our cities: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/27/upshot/road-deaths-pedestrians-cyclists.html
We *love* biking with our kids to Laurel lower nearly every day from the Willows, but biking on Coleman Avenue is stressful and increasingly dangerous. There is no sidewalk, no shoulder, and at times the road is barely wide enough for two cars going in opposite directions. Im an avid cyclist so I feel pretty confident biking in traffic, but even I get nervous at times with garbage trucks and other cars anxious to zoom past us.
A few ideas:
* Make the street one way for cars at certain hours, with the other lane dedicated to pedestrians & bikes
* Reduce the speed limit
* Enforce the speed limit (& distracted driving) with an increased traffic police presence
* Add a real, protected bike lane!
Laurel is truly a wonderful school with a fantastic community. Lets make it safer for our kids to get there.
William Allen
Dad of a 1st & 2nd Grader
