Dear City Council Members,
Given the emails you have been receiving about Sharon Road, I am sending a follow-up email. Please note that I can't speak for
everybody in Parents for Safe Routes, but the the values I'm stating below as Founder and Chair, are what I believe the group is
about.
Sharon Road needs to become a proper Safe Route, AND so do the following streets (this is not a complete list):
Ivy DriveChilco StreetNewbridgePierce RoadRingwood AvenueColeman AvenueGilbert StreetMiddlefield/Woodland/Willow
Middlefield/Ravenswood/RingwoodRavenswood between Laurel and UniversityEncinal StreetEncinal and LaurelOak Grove between Crane and
UniversityUniversity between Crane and Santa CruzMiddle AvenueOlive StreetValpariso and Elder/PolitzerSanta Cruz/Oakdell/Sharon
Santa Cruz Avenue sidewalks/bike lanes (to County line)Altschul
Parents for Safe Routes has evolved in the two years of our formal existence. In order to achieve our goal of city-wide safety, we
believe a prioritization process must be developed and followed so that resources can be allocated fairly. We hold a seat on the
City's Transportation Master Plan - Outreach and Oversight Committee and we use our vast network of parents around the community
to provide feedback on various areas of town. In addition, we supported the development of a city-wide Safe Routes to School
program so that stakeholders can be brought together and decisions about where resources should be allocated can be made in a
strategic and transparent way.
The TMP and the Safe Routes to School program are the most appropriate ways to decide which projects to pursue and when. That
being said, while those are being developed, we understand that projects need to continue to move forward. Therefore, we support
following set council, commission and staff priorities "in the meantime." We understand that staff resources are extremely limited
and if one project is expedited, that often another project is delayed. Because we respect past lobbying efforts of others, city
finances (grant money) and staff expertise/objectivity, we do not cut the line and put one project ahead of another.
We are proud of our city-wide efforts and we do our best to not favor one side of town or one school over another. We have lobbied
SamTrans to improve busing service to kids from East Palo Alto and Belle Haven to get to M-A. We have spent over 100 hours being
on a San Mateo County Task Force to improve the safety along Alameda de las Pulgas and Santa Cruz Avenue at the "Y" to make it
safer for La Entrada kids. We supported the bike lanes on Oak Grove to enable kids traveling to and from Hillview and M-A get
across El Camino in a safer way. The volunteers who make up Parents for Safe Routes have put aside their own children's needs to
advocate for safety for the greater good.
On February 26th you will meet to set Citywide Council Priorities. This year's goal setting takes on even more weight given that
it is the first time Menlo Park is going through this process with Districts (one of which, District 3, has no Council members
residing). Now, more than ever, it is important that you, as Council members, look at the big picture of Safe Routes, and not
focus on one-off projects. Finish the TMP. Get the Safe Routes program running. Set city-wide safety standards. Develop a
city-wide crossing guard program. Direct staff to hire another civil engineer in the capital projects area dedicated to
transportation so we can do more. Let Staff, who is unbiased and fair, guide the City towards a Safe Routes infrastructure
implementation schedule that the whole community can get behind. Right now the politics of prioritization is getting in the way
getting stuff done.
YOU have the power to make Safe Routes a reality. Please do the right thing.
JenFounder and ChairParents for Safe Routes
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Jen Wolosin
Date: Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 9:54 AM
Subject: Parents for Safe Routes - Goal Setting Priorities
To:
Dear City Council Members,
Thank you for inviting the community to weigh in on what areas should be prioritized during your 2019 goal setting. As a local
advocacy group committed to getting kids to school safely via non-single occupancy vehicle trips, Parents for Safe Routes would
like you to apply a Safe Routes lens to your process. Specifically, how will the priorities you set enable children, families and
the community at large, to travel around town on bike and foot in a safer and more inviting fashion? With climate change
happening, obesity rates rising and traffic turning our streets into parking lots, there is no better time to invest in and
implement real multi-modal infrastructure. With that said, our asks include: * Close bike/ped infrastructure gaps along school
routes (at a minimum, though we would like to see a full 8-80 network to parks, offices, stores, etc.). Regardless of the TMP
process, work should not wait. To do this, expand the scope of the Safe Routes to School Coordinator that the City is hiring to
be a full-time job and have that person work on infrastructure as well as programmatic issues. Another way to increase this
capacity would be have a full-time bike/ped person on staff, that includes Safe Routes to School.
* Develop city-wide road standards that prioritize
safety and traffic calming. Palo Alto welcomes visitors with a sign saying that the speed limit within Palo Alto is 25 mph
unless otherwise noticed. They have also made huge investments in other traffic calming initiatives that remind drivers to stay
under 25 mph. Many of these tactics involve nothing more than a can of paint and some plastic sticks. We can do it, too.
* Create a city-wide crossing guard program, in
collaboration with schools and other local agencies. Making key crossings safer for kids doesn't have to wait until engineering
plans have been developed. A handful of additional crossing guards at key locations throughout town would make a huge
difference.
With regards to specific projects, Parents for Safe Routes, as a group, is hesitant to advocate for one piece of roadway to be
addressed over another piece of roadway (Coleman Avenue vs. Sharon Road vs. Middlefield/Linfield/Santa Monica vs. Ravenswood/Alma
vs. on and on). They all need attention and it is our hope that a fair and objective criteria is used in prioritizing what should
be done first. Whether this criteria is determined via the TMP process, or a one-off community meeting of key stakeholders, we
would like to see this done soon and we would like there to be a strategic road-map that states when help is coming for all areas
that need attention. Using a train station as an analogy...we all feel much calmer when we know that a train is 12 minutes away
because of the digital sign letting us know, rather than just waiting anxiously with uncertainty. * One exception to the
individual project lobbying is with regards to the Middle Avenue Bike/Ped Under-crossing. Given the timing of the Stanford
project, this must be addressed immediately. In addition, it must include improvements all along Middle (in front of Safeway,
Nealon Park, etc.) and even along Olive to Hillview, to make it a true Safe Route. If not now, when?
Safe Routes can mean many things to different people and can be a nice feel-good phrase to throw around. That being said, please
think about it in real-life terms and do so considering your own children, grandchildren and the kids in our community...what
improvements need to be made to our roads so that they can be comfortable and safe walking and biking? When you answer that
question your priorities should be clear.
Thank you for your consideration and for your service.
Sincerely,Jen--
Jen WolosinParents for Safe Routeswww.parents4saferoutes.org [http://www.parents4saferoutes.org]jen@parents4saferoutes.org
[jen@parents4saferoutes.org][https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B5BGvPHdC67QVENja3JKVVJqZHc&export=download]
