Dear Council,
You have a unique opportunity approaching. You also have some dire liabilities if you dont recognize and try to solve your problems.
Apparently you are lowering Ravenswood at the tracks? Good luck with that! BUT? That project might allow for a LOT of changes sketched poorly below.
With the new housing at SRI you have an opportunity to widen Ravenswood closer to Middlefield where you have a lot of traffic headed to the highway or to Menlo-Atherton High School.
Regardless of whether you take the opportunity to solve your highway traffic situation, you have to reduce the dangers to the students, parents and teachers who commute to M-A by car, bike, foot or by bus.
At this moment you have two intersections that were rated "F" ten years ago. You are about to send MORE traffic through those intersections when you open up the new housing developments on El Camino and Oak Grove.
You have student pedestrians at intersections #3, #4 and #5 crossing the majority of the traffic coming in to campus. Busses let off students off campus to cross what must be Menlo-Parks most dangerous intersections.
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At intersection #2, outgoing traffic has to cross traffic. Luckily students arent in that intersection usually. Most cars leave campus this way, so its restricted, and flows right into a light.
At intersection #3, you have students trying to cross Middlefield on foot and on bikes while cars are trying to navigate across Middlefield to get to intersection #4.
At intersection #4, cars are crossing the student bus traffic, while hoping to make the light and not get tied up by traffic trying to get into parking lots.
At intersection #5 you have all the traffic trying to get to parking lots as traffic is coming up Ravenswood from the highway or other neighborhoods. All the parking lot traffic has wait make their crossing. This ties up the intersection at times. All this as students are trying to cross Ravenswood from the Sam Trans bus stops. Traffic leaving the parking lot to travel toward the highway has to wait for all the incoming traffic.
Intersection #6 is just hard to get to if you have to go through #3, #4, and #5
The Solution ???? Get everyone on busses? We can wish!
OPEN THE ENTRANCE TO M-A at Ravenswood!
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If the Ravenswood Entrance for the campus is opened, as one would think the district planned back when the PAC was built, we would have a far better traffic into, through, and around the campus.
To do this, you will have to put money into new lights, and redesign. To really make it work you should widen Ravenswood for the traffic it needs to handle now and will need to handle. Look at your El Camino intersection and compare. There is LESS traffic headed that way then towards M-A each away from each afternoon.
Going toward M-A you need a right turn lane, one lane going straight through the very nice "new" gates, and one lane turning left.
From Middlefield you need a wider right hand lane and room to merge with all the traffic turning left and Middlefield, but also merging with all the parking lot traffic from M-A depending on the light.
All the buses coming to M-A (dark purple) should use the new entrance at intersection #3 or the entrance at #5 which might be less congested. All students should be let off on the sidewalk within the campus. Safe! And these days? Far drier.
On campus we would have better traffic flow with the traffic from Ringwood at #5 able to leave campus at intersection #3 vs #2. Some traffic could loop from #5 and out #3. I wouldnt let any traffic turn left from intersection #3 without a lot more space! Hopefully a lot would just turn right. I doubt the neighborhood to the East of campus would appreciate the new traffic, but sending folks the long way would alleviate some traffic.
I neglected to add the loop of traffic that could turn left onto campus from Middlefield and flow into either parking lot. There a just a lot more permutations with the extra entrance/exit.
For once I am really HAPPY with the thinking of the district or the contractor they hired. Having traffic on campus flowing through the gates that the tax payers paid for would solve a lot of problems.
However, Ive been waiting 10 years to see MENLO-PARK do its part. The intersections and all the traffic is yours. Its not Athertons problem. Before you even think of adding even more traffic to the area you need to get this resolved. Are the plans out? If so? Where??
Another simple solution? Have the STATE close off the exits from 101 for Menlo-Park. Your traffic pattern slows up the entire Bay Area at times. This problem has been angering drivers for decades. Sooner or later, someone is going to make a mistake and a life will be lost. Right now? Its just aggravating a huge waste of time. I bet many folks dont even want to think about shopping in Menlo-Park or do any business there.
I hope you are planning!! I hope this on your radar as something that YOU are responsible for fixing.
I pray I dont have to start coming to your meetings to hammer in this necessity. I also pray no one is killed while you ponder your solution.
Peter Caryotakis
500 La Mesa Court
Menlo Park, CA 94028
I went to Woodside High School. MUCH better traffic plan with quick access to a highway !!
M-A ?? Its DOUBLED in student population. Your streets? Have not!
