Dear Menlo Park City Council members,
Im writing to support options that will reduce the number of cars and their speed on Coleman Ave. Im providing a direct quote from a study in Europe that found that restricting traffic in a neighborhood street like Coleman can have positive impact on improving active transportation.
"Many such neighborhood streets feature dead ends for motor vehicles—via bollards or other barriers—but convenient passageways for cyclists. Providing deliberately circuitous routing for cars and direct routing for cyclists discourages through traffic from using neighborhood streets while encouraging cycling. It also improves cycling safety by reducing both the volume and speed of motor vehicle traffic in residential neighborhoods."
Having said that, I do think that "No Through Traffic"/"Road Closure" should still remain in consideration. An important success criteria for active transportation is "continuity" - and whatever solution that is arrived should ensure that it is continuous across the length of Coleman Ave. Having people switch from one side to another on Coleman for example would make it less likely for people to use it for active transportation.
Do note that Dec 2023 community meeting and the subsequent survey showed overwhelming support for "No Through Traffic"/"Road Closure" option. I would strongly suggest that any future pilot should consider this option also as this probably meets the goals of the Study the best.
Regards,
Sal Arora
Reference: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303507
