November 11, 2025
To: Menlo Park Complete Streets Commission and City Council
Subject: Support for Permanent Bollards on Blake Street
Dear Commissioners and City Council Members,
I am writing to express my strong support for making the Blake Street bollards permanent. The temporary closure at Blake Street and Middle Avenue has been one of the most effective safety improvements in our neighborhood. The data in the City’s report clearly confirm its success.
Proven Safety and Functionality
Since the closure, traffic on Blake Street has dropped from 166 to just 28 vehicles per day. Speeds across the neighborhood have declined by one to two miles per hour, and no collisions have been recorded. The pedestrian passageway on Blake St now feels calmer, safer, and more predictable for all users. These results fulfill the intent of Menlo Park’s Vision Zero and Complete Streets policies.
Blake Street’s Unique Design and Role
Blake Street is an uncommon street in Menlo Park. It is short, narrow, without sidewalks, and it has only seven driveways. Yet it serves as the primary pedestrian corridor from the Allied Arts neighborhood into Nealon Park. It is estimated that over 500 pedestrians and cyclists use this corridor each day. In practice, Blake Street functions as the crosswalk to Nealon Park. No change to Middle Avenue can alter that reality. The bollards are the only measure that protect this continuous pedestrian route.
Protection of Both Crosswalks
There are two crosswalks at the intersection of Middle Avenue and Blake Street. The first crosses Middle Avenue from north to south and now includes flashing beacons that have significantly improved its safety. The second crosswalk runs across Blake Street, parallel to Middle Avenue. The safety of this second crosswalk depends entirely on the bollards. Before their installation, drivers often turned quickly off Middle Avenue and crossed this crosswalk at high speed, creating serious safety risks for pedestrians both in the crosswalk and on Blake St. The bollards now prevent those turns and separate vehicle traffic from this crosswalk completely. This change has created a meaningful and lasting improvement for pedestrian safety that cannot be replicated by other traffic-calming measures.
Access for Service and Emergency Vehicles
The flexible bollards are functioning exactly as intended. Recology trucks and emergency vehicles can drive over them when needed, which allows for uninterrupted service and emergency access. Neighbors witness Recology trucks driving over the bollards weekly and I’ve attached a photograph I took this morning showing this happening. Everyday drivers, however, are discouraged from using Blake Street as a cut-through route. The result is a system that maintains access for essential vehicles while keeping the street safe for pedestrians.
Clear Community Support
The City’s public survey received 169 responses. Eighty-seven respondents supported keeping the closure permanent, twenty-four opposed, and ten were undecided. Residents and park visitors consistently reported that the closure has reduced speeding, improved safety, and created a calmer and more livable neighborhood.
Increased Traffic?
As for the increase in traffic on nearby streets, that seems both expected and reasonable given the new Stanford apartments, the growth in housing density nearby, and the overall traffic calming changes on Middle. The increased population and traffic are exactly why the City began rethinking Middle Ave to make it safer. The bollards on Blake St are most likely not the main cause of increased traffic on College Ave, if Middle Ave, Partridge and Cambridge are also showing increased traffic.
Policy Alignment and Fiscal Responsibility
Making the bollards permanent supports several key city goals, including the Vision Zero Action Plan, the Complete Streets Policy, and Climate Action Plan Strategy 4. Leaving the current bollards as they are costs the city nothing. The infrastructure is already in place and requires minimal investment compared with reverting to a less safe design.
Conclusion
The bollards on Blake Street have corrected a long-standing design issue by preventing high-speed cut-through traffic on a street that was never intended to handle it. They protect both crosswalks, preserve access for service and emergency vehicles, and safeguard hundreds of pedestrians each day.
I respectfully urge the Commission to recommend, and the City Council to approve, making the Blake Street bollards a permanent safety feature for our community.
Thank you for your time and for your commitment to creating a safer and more walkable Menlo Park.
Sincerely,
Ashley Callahan
Menlo Park Resident
Photograph taken from the end of Blake St near College Ave looking back at the Blake and Middle Ave intersection at 7:55am on November 11, 2025. This was the second Recology truck to drive over the bollards this morning. From my prospective, it is not a safety problem for the Recology trucks to do this because the overall vehicle traffic is still reduced.
