Dear City Council Members,
Im writing in support of the Proposed Changes to Middle Av.
At the highest level, its long overdue for the City Council to embrace the CalTrans VMT (Vehicles Miles Traveled) approach to street design. Congestion for cars aka Level of Service, must be deprecated to motivate traveler mode shift for GHG and carbon reduction. Menlo Park should strive to be a "car-light" city. Middle Av is an opportunity to build a successful example of adoption of the elements that encourage fewer car trips and more pedestrian and micro mobility trips. This can accelerate the evolution of other streets into carbon-light networks. Let the car constituency know that LOS will decrease and why.
Specific considerations and suggestions to improve the current proposal:
1) Pilot Everything! Quick-build the bike lanes and not just the temporary closures and mini-roundabouts. Theres always a constituency that will not have been reached during the engagement attempts by staff and council. But seeing the pilot changes and having plans to incorporate feedback will engage and build community support. The feedback plans in the proposal are not specific - please publicize the feedback plan in advance.
2) Middle Av/ECR intersection is complex and needs to anticipate Partridge and College Avenue traffic performing a U-turn - this is extremely dangerous today with right turn-on-red drivers surprised that cars in the ECR left turn lane northbound will enter the right lane of ECR southbound. Removing the right turn-on-red onto southbound ECR would reduce the danger but will need camera enforcement and expected LOS decreases. Please direct staff to get the Middle Plaza design draft asap and co-design with the intersection plan.
3) Safer door zone margin with wider bike lanes warrants removing the parking on both sides of Middle Av. If biker safety is a goal with Class II lanes please make them as safe as possible. Please opt for Option II with parking removed on both sides.
4) Please give Council guidance to MP Police on how enforcement of delivery trucks illegally double-parked in the new bike lanes should be treated. Current department behavior is to only ticket when temporarily parked vehicles in the bike lanes are observed by an officer. Citizen complaints are compiled but action is usually not taken. Consider citizen video evidence submissions.
Please approve the proposed changes and direct staff to move forward with consideration for the above suggestions as quickly as possible.
With gratitude,
Ken
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Ken Kershner | Co-Founder & CEO
Cell 650-248-9059 | Email ken@triomotors.co
Trio Motors | Menlo Park
