Dear City Council -
Watching the Tuesday October 18 presentation on the Middle Avenue bike lanes plan, I was pleased to see city staff had on a recent Sunday visited the New Community Church parking on Middle and nearby side streets. Staff reported to you 51 parked cars on Middle near the NCC during the Sunday service visit.
Some arithmetic shows that 50 cars taking 25 feet each to park (no striping) would fill much of the street parking on Arbor to Cambridge and on College to Yale. I think that’s about 1500 linear feet total. Totals will vary if people park elsewhere. It’s unclear why moving all these cars and people from Middle into the neighborhood side streets is such a great idea.
These streets can be heavily used by pedestrians, especially on weekends, and riders headed to the bike bridge. There are few sidewalks, with pedestrians using both sides of Arbor, College and adjoining streets. Without parking on Middle you may mix up to an extra four dozen cars with pedestrians. Many drivers will have to proceed further into Allied Arts to exit the area. Drivers unfamiliar with the area may get lost or trapped by San Francisquito Creek.
This is not news. In March, I informed the city Transportation Department, and copied a council member, of my own conservative estimate of 2-3 dozen cars parked on Middle for NCC Sunday services. See email below. I never heard back from anyone about my concern. The first city recognition of the parking problem was last Tuesday when CC was ready to vote on parking removal.
My questions are:
-- What kind of planning is the city pursuing to safely manage ~51 extra cars parked on Sundays on nearby Allied Arts streets?
-- Why did the city not visit the area earlier to check my 2-3 dozen car estimate? Why was this issue not raised until October 18 when the city council was ready to vote on the Middle Avenue plan?
-- Does the city have any regulatory or other obligation to better understand the consequences of purposely adding some 51 parked cars, all at once on Sunday mornings, to Allied Arts streets?
Whatever you end up doing, I recommend the NCC as a parking ‘cut-out’ along with a few other key sites. That’s closer to a complete streets approach.
Sincerely,
John Kadvany / College Ave.
From: John Kadvany < xxx@yyy>
Date: March 7, 2022 at 9:39:15 AM PST
To: EJJung@menlopark.org
Subject: Middle Ave feedback
Dear Esther Jung -
We talked at the recent Middle Ave. bike lanes project, and I wanted to make sure you had my input on the project.
First, Id like to see an alternative which does not change parking south of University Ave. That alternative could include features such as:
- speed limit at 25 mpg
- restriping of bike lane/parking indicating a boundary to the traffic lanes
- signage indicating No Parking during school commute hours, e.g. 7-9am, 3-5pm, or whatever makes sense, school days only
- additional pedestrian crossings as appropriate
- any other relevant features the Transportation Division sees as appropriate for this kind of approach
Second, for all alternatives, please call out detailed parking changes, especially Sunday church parking at Arbor, often involving 2-3 dozen cars now utilizing Middle Ave and side streets, principally Arbor. Please also clearly indicate any changes to residential front yards following from new sidewalks.
Thanks very much for your help and the meeting last week in spite of the rain.
John Kadvany / College Ave.
