Dear Mayor Combs and Councilmembers,
I am the president of the Felton Gables Homeowners Association, and am writing, again, on behalf of our neighborhood of 115 homes and nearly 300 residents. We are wholeheartedly in favor of extending Atherton's planned Quiet Zone at Watkins Ave south into Menlo Park, and strongly encourage Council to prioritize the scoping and pursuit of Quiet Zones spanning as many crossings as feasible. The establishment of a Quiet Mile connecting Atherton to Menlo Park makes sense for two primary reasons:
1. Noise levels are going from bad to worse. With the exception of these Pandemic months, train noise has worsened over the years as train frequency increased. Caltrain's projected schedule will bring even more trains per hour, running day and night, turning nuisance noise into an enduring backdrop to everyday life. While many residents would like to continue working from home, the prospect of near-constant horn blasts would likely prove a deterrent, putting more cars on the road. Blaring horns get in the way of outdoor living, and enjoying open windows and fresh air. They even permeate double paned glass and thick insolation. For our neighborhood and others within earshot of the tracks - not just those who are adjacent -- an extended Quiet Zone would be a game changer.
2. This project is do-able. Scoping work is relatively straight-forward, quad gates are not complex or outrageously expensive, and as Atherton is demonstrating, engineering and construction work can be fairly quick. A Quiet Mile could be implemented next year. Encinal is presently slated for quad gates as part of the City's Grade Separation project; however, Grade Separation is still many years down the road. We see little reason for the community to wait, perhaps a decade or more, to implement a plan that has already been decided, especially when we can leverage Atherton's efforts for more far reaching benefit.
3. Having been president of the Felton Gables HOA for about two years now, I know that this is the primary concern of the residents of our community. Thoughtful consideration and prioritization of this initiative will be extremely satisfying to our neighborhood and will represent the most engagement that elected officials have shown to our community in recent history. This collaboration and action from council is what our neighborhood craves so much from our local government.
4. I would also like to echo what one of our community members, Dr. Elliot Crane, communicated to the council. As a employee of Stanford Children's Health, as well as a father of five small children (ages 8yo to 10 months), I want our community to be a safe and healthy place for our children to play and live. The noise levels referenced in Dr. Crane's letter are unacceptable for our community, especially when a reasonable solution is available.
Expanding Atherton's Quiet Zones to create a Quiet Mile into Menlo Park is the rare project that would deliver a profound benefit to a great many residents at a reasonable cost in a short timeframe. My neighbors and I thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
Joshua E. Gossett, DNP, MBA, RN, FACHE
Director, Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant Center
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford
Call or Text: 650-313-0684
Email: jgossett@stanfordchildrens.org
Website: transplant.stanfordchildrens.org
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CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication and any attachments may contain confidential or privileged information for the use by the designated recipient(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or the attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please contact me and destroy all copies of the communication and attachments. Thank you.
