Traffic/Transportation – Page 2 – Palo Alto Matters – Community voices for sustainable solutions

Pope-Chaucer bridge: Replacement hits a snag

by paloaltomattersJanuary 25, 2018January 30, 2018Leave a comment

Palo Alto Daily Post – by Allison Levitsky / January 25, 2018

Replacement of the Pope-Chaucer Street Bridge — which was blamed for much of the damage in the 1998 flood that inundated Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park — could be delayed by a bureaucratic snafu between the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The creek authority plans to replace the bridge with one that doesn’t have concrete blocks that constrict the flow. Currently, so much sediment is built up at the bridge that there are large trees growing out of it, said Len Materman, the creek authority’s executive director.

Creek authority leaders are currently studying the environmental impacts that the project would have in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act.
But on Jan. 18, the water board sent a letter to the creek authority, urging them to take into account the expected increase in sediment loads flowing from Searsville Dam, a 65-foot masonry dam on Stanford lands upstream in the foothills.

Small town uses low-tech solution to combat Waze and Google Maps

by paloaltomattersJanuary 22, 2018January 23, 2018Leave a comment

CBS News video – January 22, 2018

Tiny Leonia, NJ adjacent to Fort Lee rolled up its sleeves and has a solution for massive commuter traffic spilling into its residential neighborhoods.

Menlo Park appeals Stanford project — will new med school building worsen Sand Hill Road traffic?

by paloaltomattersJanuary 22, 2018January 23, 2018Leave a comment

Palo Alto Daily Post – by Elaine Goodman / January 22, 2018

The city of Menlo Park’s attempt to block a Stanford development project that officials fear will worsen traffic on Sand Hill Road will be reviewed by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors tomorrow (Jan. 23).

The project is a four-story, 153,821-square-foot office building for medical school faculty that Stanford calls the Center for Academic Medicine. It would be built at the site of a 245-space parking lot at 453 Quarry Road. The building’s three-level underground parking garage would include 830 spaces, for an increase of 585 spaces. The building would also include a cafeteria and fitness center.

Menlo Park says that county planners haven’t taken into account the cumulative traffic impacts of the project in the Sand Hill Road vicinity in its analysis of the new proposal, including 1 million square feet of growth at Stanford Hospital and the recently approved Middle Plaza project at 500 El Camino in Menlo Park.

Mountain View Council won’t insist on new neighborhood school

by paloaltomattersJanuary 18, 2018January 23, 2018Leave a comment

LASD to decide whether to put Bullis charter at San Antonio site

Mountain View Voice – by Kevin Forestieri / January 18, 2018

Despite concerns about traffic and a desire to bring a local neighborhood school to families living in the San Antonio area, a majority of Mountain View City Council members agreed Tuesday night to let the Los Altos School District decide whether to relocate Bullis Charter School to Mountain View.

The council was split on a 5-2 vote, with members Margaret Abe-Koga and Pat Showalter opposed. The council majority said district officials should decide what kind of school would occupy a future campus in the San Antonio area, despite the major financial support from Mountain View to ensure that the densely populated neighborhood gets a local school and acres of park space.

Hotel plan draws opposition in south Palo Alto

by paloaltomattersJanuary 9, 2018January 23, 2018Leave a comment

Residents concerned about building’s density, traffic impacts

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / January 9, 2018

For Palo Alto’s elected leaders, the hotel boom that is transforming south El Camino Real is a trend to be embraced: a welcome boost to the city’s revenue stream at a time of rising infrastructure costs and growing pension obligations. The City Council signaled as much last year, when it voted to explore allowing greater density for new hotels, particularly in the downtown area.

But for residents of Palo Alto Redwoods, the promise of new riches comes at a high cost. On Dec. 21, a group from the 117-unit condominium complex came to City Hall to protest the latest entry into the crowded field: a 90-room hotel proposed for 4256 El Camino Real, site of Su Hong restaurant. From their point of view, the new project will cause traffic havoc, threaten the health of area redwoods and create parking problems.

If approved, the new hotel would occupy a stretch of El Camino that has become a magnet for hotels, big and small. These include two recently constructed hotels — Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites — as well as Crowne Plaza Cabana, Palo Alto Inn, Americas Best Value Inn, Oak Motel and Dinah’s Garden Hotel.

Navigation Apps Are Turning Quiet Neighborhoods Into Traffic Nightmares

by paloaltomattersDecember 24, 2017January 24, 2018Leave a comment

New York Times – by Lisa W. Foderaro / December 24, 2017

With services like Google Maps, Waze and Apple Maps suggesting shortcuts for commuters through the narrow, hilly streets of Leonia, N.J., the borough has decided to fight back against congestion that its leaders say has reached crisis proportions.

In mid-January, the borough’s police force will close 60 streets to all drivers aside from residents and people employed in the borough during the morning and afternoon rush periods, effectively taking most of the town out of circulation for the popular traffic apps — and for everyone else, for that matter.

For new bike boulevard, it’s not smooth sailing

by paloaltomattersDecember 8, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Sue Dremann / December 8, 2017

New Ross Road fixtures are confusing bicyclists and drivers, creating danger, residents say

The city of Palo Alto’s effort to turn a south Palo Alto street into a bicycle-friendly boulevard is encountering a chorus of complaints from residents who say that the changes are making the road more dangerous.

City seeks more protection from Stanford expansion

by paloaltomattersDecember 1, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / December 1, 2017

Palo Alto officials, residents question university’s plans to manage anticipated traffic and housing problems

The City Council plans to approve on Monday night a comment letter on the project’s voluminous draft Environmental Impact Report, which assesses likely consequences of the expansion. The letter takes issues with Stanford’s assumptions about traffic, groundwater and fire-service demand, among many other things.

In Crescent Park, a push to end traffic gridlock

by paloaltomattersDecember 1, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Sue Dremann / December 1, 2017

Residents to seek solutions for the daily line of cars on neighborhood streets

Fed up with the daily traffic gridlock on their neighborhood’s streets, Crescent Park residents are banding together to get the city of Palo Alto’s attention.

For hours each day, Crescent Park residents are plagued by the hundreds of vehicles that jam the streets within blocks of University Avenue, from Middlefield Road to East Crescent Drive. They say they battle just to get in and out of their driveways on weekday afternoons.

City explores ways to pay for revamped Caltrain intersections

by paloaltomattersNovember 29, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / November 29, 2017

Rail Committee considers new studies on rail-crossing alternatives, financing

Despite years of discussions about the need to separate the Caltrain tracks from the local streets that intersect the rail line, Palo Alto leaders are still struggling to figure out what the project would look like and how it would be paid for.

On Wednesday morning, the City Council’s Rail Committee considered two new studies in an effort to make some progress on both of these fronts. But while the studies provided insight into the scope of the problem, the council’s discussion indicated that Palo Alto is still many months away from getting to real answers.