Council, thank you for considering child bike safety. We live on Santa Monica Avenue and our 15-year old twins went to both Lower and Upper Laurel.
We are against making Coleman Avenue one way because it will push more commuter traffic onto Santa Monica Avenue which is not set up to handle the volume nor the speed of commuters. We already have problems with commuters short-cutting onto Gilbert from Willow Road then racing up Santa Monica Avenue.
I lived in the apartments on Coleman Avenue for years before purchasing my home. I know first hand that by removing required parking on Coleman Avenue you will not only measurably harm the hard-working individuals and families who live there—including dozens of Laurel, Hillview and MA families—but will hurt all the neighbors by forcing the Coleman Avenue neighbors to park on Santa Monica Avenue, Gilbert, Santa Margarita, Berkeley and Menlo Oaks. Then as parking in front of our houses gets taken up by the Coleman Avenue apartments who will have literally no where to park, we will be forced to petition the city to issue two-hour parking permits and limit parking in front of our own homes like what happens in downtown Palo Alto. I cannot even imagine what would happen to little Santa Monica Avenue that only has a partial sidewalk on one block on one side if suddenly 100s of cars were being parked bumper-to-bumper on it day and night while it was the main thoroughfare for everyone who used to drive on Coleman Avenue or were driving on it to avoid Willow Road. Exhaust fumes, garbage, noise, car accidents, the loss of Santa Monica Avenue as the main walking street that it is now—just to make it easier for some children to bike to school 90 minutes a day on school days.
I beseech you to start with lower impact measures such as “No Right Turn Onto Coleman Avenue 7:30-8:30 am Unless Child Is Present” and the all-way stop sign at Santa Monica Avenue and Coleman, and to avoid ruining the lives of the apartment dwellers who have nowhere else to live and to avoid ruining Santa Monica Avenue and its safe walking area.
Thank you.
The Frederickson Family
