Hello, Respected Council Members,
I am writing today with comments on tonight’s agenda item regarding Complete Streets actions on Middle Avenue as reflected in Staff Report 22-174-CC. I have previously written to the Complete Streets Commission on this topic in some detail, and I have provided it below for reference. I would encourage you to read it all if you have the time.
With respect to the Sfaff Report being discussed tonight (and supported by my earlier comments below), I would offer the following points.
I support Option 1 for bicycle facility improvements, with Class II bicycle lanes with a 2 foot buffer on each side, and parking removed on one side. For further detail, I will note that I also support varying which side of Middle Avenue is restricted for parking, depending on where one is on the street. Based on my experience as a resident, I feel it would be appropriate to allow parking on the south side of Middle Avenue from University to El Camino. I also feel that allowing parking on the North side of Middle from University to at least Fremont would also have the least impact on residents.
With respect to Option 3, I am opposed to two-way Class IV bike lanes which terminate on a through street into a different configuration. This leads to confusion regarding proper through lanes for bicycles at the transition.
I strongly support the installation of a removable bollard on Blake Street at Middle Avenue. I think this will contribute highly to safety and quality of life on Blake and the surrounding Allied Arts community.
I also support the installation of stop signs at Middle and San Mateo. As a cyclist, I would prefer that the stops be only on the Middle Avenue travel lanes (thus creating a bikeway similar to Bryant Street in Palo Alto), but I feel it is a reasonable compromise and fair traffic calming to install 4-way stops.
Middle Avenue is very nearly exactly one mile long, straight, and with good sight lines. I support any kind of raised crosswalk or speed table that would slow speeds, particularly near Lyle Park and farther toward Olive.
Thank you for your attention.
David Alfano
650 Kenwood Drive
Begin forwarded message:
From: David Alfano >
Subject: Comments on Complete Streets Commission Staff Report 22-010-CSC
Date: July 12, 2022 at 12:00:28 AM PDT
To: "Jung, Esther J" >, kchen@menlopark.org, HLouch@menlopark.org
Cc: Betsy Nash >
Dear Readers,
I am writing to you to provide partial commentary on Staff Report Number 22-010-CSC, which provides material for the Complete Streets Commission for recommendations on the Middle Avenue project.
First, a bit about myself, to provide the context from which I provide this analysis. I have been a Menlo Park resident since 1988, and a bicycle commuter since 1991. I regularly commute by bicycle from my home on Kenwood Drive in Menlo Park to Moffett Field, in Mountain View. I have served on the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for over 12 years, during which I was Vice Chair from 2000-2002 and Chair from 2002-2008. During that time I have reviewed and discussed hundreds of proposed bicycle and pedestrian improvement projects across San Mateo County. From my residence at 650 Kenwood Drive, I walk the corridor between El Camino Real and University Drive on a daily basis, at multiple different times of day, evening, and night.
I believe there are many good recommendations in the referenced Staff Report, and I support several of them. This being said, I would like to provide commentary on areas where I believe the report has missed the mark, in the hopes that this will help improve the project going forward. I have chosen here to withhold several minor points, in order to focus on the larger issues that I think may profoundly impact the residents and community.
First off, I must take issue with the assertion on page E-2.2 that during the closure of parking on Middle at Nealon Park “The temporary closure did not result in parking challenges on either weekday evenings of weekends )Attachment B).” I can tell you as one who circulates on foot in this area that there was a profound impact to residential areas that typically see no or few cars parked on the street. In particular, Morey Drive saw a dramatic increase in parked cars from visitors to Nealon Park, especially on weekends. There was also increased parking (as well as odd maneuvering) of vehicles on Blake Street. Further, these parked cars were from families visiting Nealon Park (where there is substantial parking in a lot adjacent to the softball field), not visiting residents of Morey and Blake. Residents of Kenwood and Morey have also seen an increase in daily traffic now that these streets have been identified as parking options for Nealon Park.
My most significant comment, and the one I feel most strongly about, is the recommendation on page E-2.4 to limit vehicles to right turn only on leaving the Safeway parking lot on Middle Avenue. This is completely unacceptable, as Safeway customers who live north of Middle Avenue will be forced to either conduct a dangerous U-turn maneuver at the corner of Kenwood and Middle, or more likely just drive through the Kenwood/Morey loop to then make a left turn from Morey onto eastbound Middle, in order to line up for a northbound turn onto El Camino Real. I will point out here that a recommendation that requires a U-turn on a feeder arterial street and returns vehicles nearly to their starting point is hardly good transportation engineering practice. More important, however, is that this recommendation essentially directs visitor traffic to use Kenwood and Morey as a cut-through, dramatically changing the character of the neighborhood from a quiet nearly cul-de-sac to essentially a spur of the Middle Avenue arterial. Residents on Kenwood and Morey have already seen increased construction traffic, using the loop as a turn-around for the Middle Plaza project. Further, unless Blake Street gets a removable bollard at Middle Avenue (a recommendation I strongly support), traffic will again find Blake to be a convenient cut-through to College Ave, from which an eastbound turn would facilitate a turn south on El Camino Real, and a westbound turn would provide a tour through Allied Arts to Cambridge Avenue for a signalized left turn onto northbound El Camino Real. All of these options are unacceptable, and are instigated by the required right-turn-only recommendation for Safeway at Middle Avenue.
My final comment refers to the intersection improvements discussed in Attachment D. I will note that as an experienced bicycle commuter, living only a few hundred feet from this intersection, I would never choose to ride my bicycle through this intersection to get to southbound El Camino Real. There are far too many visual distractions to drivers at that location (as you have well noted), and it is not very safe for a cyclist. Instead I choose to ride in the opposite direction, actually away from my work destination, and I cycle through Blake -> College -> University -> Creek to avoid that very dangerous portion of El Camino Real on my way to Alma Street in Palo Alto. So I wouldn’t cycle through there at all, but I understand that you are looking for options for those who would (perhaps less experienced cyclists than myself). I do not have a solution to recommend, but as a user of the intersection both as a pedestrian and in my car, I will point out a few features. First, there is a good deal of queueing on eastbound Middle at the El Camino Real light. At present, it is a very long wait for vehicles on Middle, and the signals are arranged such that the pedestrian heads signal pedestrians to cross El Camino at the same time that vehicles are given the green left turn light, essentially funneling pedestrians to the same point at the same time. It is absolutely insane, and I have difficulty understanding how this has persisted in our City for so long. But all of this is to point out that removing the right turn off Middle onto southbound El Camino Real would exacerbate the queueing problem at the light if right turn traffic were forced to merge with left turn traffic. (One wonders how frequently this would be necessary, given the number of cyclists requiring space in that intersection.) So I think there are challenges with the “Dedicated Intersection” on page E-2.17. With respect to the “Protected Intersection” on page E-2.18, this is an intriguing idea, but I will point out that it is very unusual in its features, and I am not confident that either cyclists or automobile drivers would readily recognize the features and understand how to use them.
In closing, I will summarize that I do support closing off Blake Street at Middle Avenue with removable bollards. Such an improvement would not only provide safety to residents, but it opens several options to cyclists for safely avoiding the intersection at Middle and El Camino Real. And I most emphatically oppose restricting egress from Safeway at Middle to right turn only, as this creates a U-turn hazard, encourages cut-through traffic on an otherwise only locally-travelled street, and also encourages further cut-through traffic at Blake.
Thank your for your attention. I would be happy to meet with anyone interested in a deeper discussion of these and other points associated with this Complete Streets project. I do appreciate your efforts, and I hope that you and the local community can work together to provide real improvements to safety and livability to our fine City.
Respectfully,
David Alfano
650 Kenwood Drive
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dda@gamasot.net
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