Hello Supervisors,
I wholeheartedly support the speed reduction being considered under Agenda Item number 9. I particularly would like to see the speed reduced on Santa Cruz Avenue between Alameda de las Pulgas and the corporate limits of the City of Menlo Park. Santa Cruz Avenue, which is 2.5 miles long, is all 25 mph. However the section under consideration, which is only one block long, is 30 mph. This one block “speed-up” zone on Santa Cruz is dangerous and confusing to motorists. It should be eliminated as soon as possible.
I also support the speed reduction on the Alameda.
I would like to note that since we moved to the neighborhood, two pedestrians have been killed by motorists on the two-block section of Santa Cruz Avenue between Sand Hill and the “Y” at Alameda. This section is directly adjacent the region of Santa Cruz Avenue being considered. A cyclist also was killed by a motorist around the corner on Sand Hill Road. The cyclist was an out-of state undergraduate student working at SLAC. She never made it home to her parents alive. The risks to pedestrians and cyclists keep growing as vehicles grow ever heavier and taller, and motorists become more distracted. We can’t bear to see any more abhorrent and violent roadway deaths.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Greg Faris
2042 Santa Cruz Avenue
P.S.
I am cc’ing the Menlo Park City Council and Menlo Park Transportation department. There are also Menlo Park residents on this section of Santa Cruz Avenue.
P.P.S.
On a related note, the section of Santa Cruz being considered is part of the West Menlo Park Triangle bounded by Santa Cruz, Alameda, and Sharon. Though officially the Triangle is unincorporated County, we are surrounded by the City on all three sides. The result is that neither the City nor the County is addressing local traffic needs well. The one-block “speed-up” zone is only one of many safety deficiencies in this area. Altogether, we have lost out on six different approved and funded traffic safety improvements. The best solution to this jurisdictional disfunction is annexation of the Triangle into Menlo Park.
The neighbors actually applied for annexation of the Triangle to the city of Menlo Park in 2015 and are still waiting for the city to sign off on our application. Ten years is far too long to wait for what is a very simple process. Menlo Park did an annexation for Stanford in three months and Los Gatos completed 24 annexations in one year.
I know the Board of Supervisors is fully supportive of annexation of unincorporated pockets such as the Triangle. I also know that LAFCo has done everything it can to support the annexation. Rob Bartoli, current San Mateo LAFCo Executive Officer, and Martha Poyatos, who held that role until 2021, have each spoken to the Menlo Park City Council on multiple occasions with offers to help with annexation. I would really appreciate it if the Board of Supervisors could collectively urge the City to sign off on our application. The only things the city has to do is negotiate the tax sharing with the County and do pre-zoning. LAFCo will take it from there. The pre-zoning is a minor issue. The triangle is built out, will unquestionably be R1U, and there is a CEQA exception that applies. The City Council last considered the Triangle annexation on September 10 last year, and elected to continue to wait.
P.P.S.
All, please don’t hesitate to contact me regarding any of the topics I have raised. I would love to discuss them with you.
