To the Menlo Park City Council and Transportation Department: I am a 17 year resident homeowner on Laurel St. in the Linfield Oaks neighborhood of Menlo Park. This message is to voice my strong opposition to the grade separation proposal known as "Alternative A". The blockage of vehicle access to Alma St. from Ravenswood that would result will create a significant increase in the traffic on Laurel St. with very negative consequences for neighborhood quality of life. This was shown clearly during the trial closure of Alma in 2015 and the increased use of Willow St. as a commuting corridor since then will certainly make the situation even worse. The differences between Alma and Laurel streets in their ability to cope with a volume of "through traffic" are significant and clear. Alma St. is wide, has defined bicycle lanes and the high traffic section runs past the Library, City Govt, Burgess Park and some apartment complexes with no yard area bordering the street where children might be playing By contrast, the section of Laurel between Ravenswood and Willow is narrower and has many homes with bordering yards where Linfield neighborhood children play frequently and walk to/from school. Though it has no separate bike lanes, Laurel also has significant bike traffic from both adults and (often unsupervised) children. The continued use of Alma St. as a through traffic route represents no change in the in the safety risk and noise level of the area. The use of Laurel St. for this purpose (as would result from Alternative A) makes a now safe, quiet, primarily residential street notably worse in both respects. I urge the City Council and Transportation Dept to look at other approaches which allow continued vehicle access to Alma from Ravenswood. The proposed "Alternative C" is an example as is the use of a traffic signal at the Alma/Ravenswood intersection which has train preemption. Adoption of one of these or other similar solution will help keep Linfield Oaks the safe, pleasant neighborhood that I, like so many others, have long been proud to call home. Regards...............................William Lind 341 Laurel St. Menlo Park, CA Received on Wed Jan 02 2019 - 23:09:24 PST
