Dear Council Members - I recently contacted Assemblyman Marc Berman regarding State legislation to grant Menlo Park and other municipalities greater control over speed limit designations. This capability at the municipal level would significantly facilitate complete street designs satisfying residents, bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers. The Complete Streets Commission's range of options for multi-modal street design would be considerably enhanced. I was motivated to contact Assemblyman Berman following the stalemate over the Middle Avenue bicycle lane design process. Assemblyman Berman is supportive of giving municipalities more control over speed limits. In an email back to me he wrote: "Although the deadline to introduce bills this legislative season has passed, I will also take your recommendation into consideration as a bill idea for next year’s session. I would additionally encourage you to reach out to your local City Councilmembers about these issues." I'm therefore asking for this topic to be put on the Council agenda for discussion, and for Council to formulate and pass a recommendation to our State representatives proposing appropriate legislation. It may be efficient for the Complete Streets Commission to first review legislative options and to formulate a recommendation for Council consideration. (Apologies if such a task is already in process.) Thanks very much, John Kadvany / College Avenue cc: Complete Streets Commission Chair K. Behroozi, vice-Chair A. Levin Received on Mon Oct 28 2019 - 09:43:52 PDT
