Dear Council members:
I am writing to you because I am very concerned about the lack of effort to protect bicyclists in Menlo Park. Last Wednesday morning, the world lost Mr. Dylan Taylor in a completely preventable tragic accident. His route is not the route I bike to work almost every day to teach at Ellen Fletcher Middle School, yet we can do more to keep everyone safe in our city.
I live in Lorelei Lane, the most southern edge of Menlo Park. I ride down Bay Road every morning where despite the 25 mph speed limit, cars regularly zoom by at more than 35 mph. I, unlike most of the young people who ride Bay Road, wear neon jackets, flashing lights on my helmet and taillight, where I can be seen every day. We need to have officers stationed on Bay Road to help with enforcement. My ride continues down Ringwood toward Middlefield, where every day I have near misses as either, parents who pull and park themselves in the bike lane, or big trash cans prevent me from safely staying in the bike lane, or parents with strollers and or dogs, skateboards which cause me to share the lane with cars. Again I realize this section is patrolled by Atherton PD, but MPPD and Atherton have to be out there to prevent reckless cars from pulling in at the last minute, speeding, and or parking in the bike lane.
I applaud the city of Menlo Park, together with last terms City Council made huge improvements on Middlefield Road, putting more space between cyclists and cars on Middlefield from Ringwood to Willow Road. And still some cars come awfully close to cyclists and faster than the speed limit, because there is little to no police presence in the morning nor the afternoon commute times. We want everyone to ride to school to reduce congestion and pollution from our streets, but we need help so that people are safe. I urge you to pressure MPPD to out in full force to protect everyone. Let’s honor Mr. Taylor’s life by protecting cyclists and pedestrians in our community.
Margarita Méndez
Lorelei Lane
