Dear Esteemed Officials:
My mother and I write this email to all of you (apologies for the blast) because we are extremely frustrated with the fact that our view - which is to NOT make Coleman Avenue one way - is being ignored.
We have resided on Coleman for over three (3) decades. We have witnessed no accidents, or injuries, or anything disturbing except more than normal traffic during the hours that school lets out - around 3 to 3:30 pm. We enjoy walking up and down Coleman, listening to the birds, and basically enjoying the beauty of Menlo Oaks. Most days you could organize a pickup baseball game on Coleman.
In order to express our opposition, we have attended meeting after meeting, all of which have lasted for hours, and emailing the Menlo Park City Council. We received either no response or an "auto response" claiming to have read our emails, but with no follow up or questions. Maybe AI is reading our responses and putting them into a circular file. Who knows.
Nonetheless, after viewing the most recent meeting, and who could miss the story covered by the local news, we thought we had better send our thoughts to folks other than the Menlo Park City Council. Apologies again for the blast, but thats why we have included the SMCBOS Subcommittee, and the Menlo Park City School District Board of Education.
There are many aspects of this "proposal" that cause us great concern. Several neighbors have no knowledge of the proposed one way, and those whose streets would be impacted certainly oppose the one way. I think they would be alarmed to learn that this "secret" project, which impacts them greatly, was one that they neither had knowledge of nor input in. They would be shocked to learn of this proposal, and rightly so, because there was NO DATA COLLECTING done, no surveys conducted, no door-to-door interviews, no traffic patterns studied, and no data that supporting a one- way option as a good alternative. In addition, the survey that was performed several months ago (a survey process that was hard to follow, with vague and ambiguous language) showed a neighborhood consensus of only 15% supporting the one-way option, as opposed to 45% in favor of closure. Which begs the question, what data or survey supports the one-way proposal?
In addition, from my understanding of the studies that follow "one- way" street implementation, the aftermath of one- way streets is that, in fact, there is an increase in traffic and accidents. If the idea behind the one- way is to increase safety, studies show the opposite. Besides, in the interest of due process, notice, and overall fairness, shouldnt all Coleman residents and those who live in East Palo Alto be consulted? We should not discriminate against those residents whose kids go to school in Menlo simply because they hail from EPA. In addition, the effected elementary and high school boards should also be allowed to weigh in.
Which leads me to another point. In our 30 plus years on Coleman, we have never heard of or witnessed an accident, and, as stated above, and no more than normal traffic other than when school lets out. Truly, the majority of the time, the street is quiet as a mouse. To us, these cries of "protect the children" confound us. From what? There are cars and bikes on every street in Menlo and Palo Alto. These "cries" feel like a pretext for achieving some other goal. Even two way protected bike lanes can result in increased incidents and injuries, to wit: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/08/16/study-two-way-bike-lanes-produce-more-injuries In addition, I and others have suggested many times a simple idea - the installation of speed bumps and traffic speed signs, like on Ringwood. Wouldnt these non-invasive actions be more effective, and certainly less costly?
While the surveys have been confusing and flawed, only 15% of the survey takers chose the one-way option vs 45% for closure. There really has been no clear consensus from the community.
As stated in emails to the City Council, the central question remains - is this any way to run a democracy? It feels like preferential treatment is given to those whose voices are loud. We believe everyone in the community should be given a voice and an equal "vote" - thats the American way.
Thanks for reading this,
Joan
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