Dear City Council of Menlo Park,
My name is Gregg Holzrichter, and reside with my wife Kelly at 35 Harrison Way, Menlo Park in the County zone surrounded by Zone 5 of Menlo Park.
I would like to advocate to prioritize two initiatives currently under the councils consideration:
1. Execution of the Sand Hill to Avy roadway plan.
I know that extensive funds have been invested in exploring design options for both the Sand Hill to the Y segment, as well as the Y to Avy segment of Alameda de Las Pulgas. I would like this communication to register as evidence the community would like to prioritize this infrastructure project in the next budget year cycle.
As a resident of Harrison Way which abuts El Camino between the Y and Sharon Ave, I have been witness to traffic commonly accelerating to over 40 mph as through traffic opens to two lanes with limited on street parking, making the block feel like an expressway.
We have had unsightly city provided orange hazard signs along the broken and dangerous ad-hoc and non ADA compliant sidewalks for a number of years no forward progress on the actual project.
Limiting traffic to single lanes, with safe turning lanes for Clayton Drive and Harrison Way, dedicated bike lanes, and on-street parking, would significantly improve safety along this road segment, and would beautify the transit route.
2. Annexation of County land "Triangle" to City of Menlo Park
As many other county residents of the triangle formed between the Y of Alameda / Santa Cruz to Sharon Road have shared with the council over the past 10 years this topic has been deliberated, I believe creating a contiguous area that would form Zone 5 of Menlo Park would be beneficial to city services for clarity of dispatch, and would provide additional tax revenues as many of the legacy homes are getting redeveloped. As residents, we would gain access to city police and fire services which are geographically co-located with our Zone 5 neighbors, and we would figure more prominently in considerations of road safety, sidewalk improvements, etc.
Our one request would be that Harrison Way have a "grandfather clause" that would allow overnight parking, as Harrison has finished sidewalks and limited garage access.
Thank you for your consideration.
Best regards,
Gregg
