Dear Council Members, Along with hundreds of others, we frequently walk the paths of Willow Oaks Park. The park is used by children from the adjacent daycare center, dozens of parents and nannies bring their little ones to use the equipment in the playground, dog walkers, organized soccer and baseball teams, K-12 students from the Palo School, veterans from the Menlo Park VA (both able-bodied and those learning how to use assistive devices), and cyclists, skateboarders, and scooterist of all ages and abilities. (For ease of communication, we’ll simply refer to wheeled users as “cyclists.”) It’s a wonderful park but not without its challenges. We have had close encounters and near accidents with a number of cyclists over the twenty years we’ve lived on Willow Road. With every new school year, the number of cyclists increases leading to a dangerous mix of pedestrians and cyclists. Many students are rushing to school and often speed up to make the light at WIllow Rd. and Coleman. This danger was manifested around 9:15 AM, Wednesday, August 28, 2019, when Gloria Taffee was hit from behind by a young cyclist on his way to MA High School. The accident resulted in multiple injuries to Gloria, including fractures of the left hip and elbow. The young man was, fortunately, uninjured. We understand that accidents are by nature random. Yet we also know that steps can, and we believe, should be taken to increase the safety of everyone who walks the park sidewalks in the form of signage and path markings, examples of which are provided below. The City has experts in bicycle and pedestrian safety and transportation to guide mitigation efforts. We request that this park be given priority attention in light of this accident. Gloria is now using a walker and will need to do so for the foreseeable future until her fractures heal. Some form of rehab or possible surgery will likely follow. We’d hate to see someone else injured and trust that the City will take immediate steps to address this safety issue. Sincerely, Gloria and Steve Taffee [image: image.png] [image: image.png] [image: image.png] [image: image.png] ------ Gloria L. Taffee. M.S., NCC 415-613-6685 gtaffee_at_(domainremoved) (image/png attachment: image.png ) (image/png attachment: 02-image.png ) (image/png attachment: 03-image.png ) (image/png attachment: 04-image.png )
