Dear Members of Menlo Park City Council and Transportation department, I am writing to you to request that you Vote NO on Alternative A for grade separation. I have several concerns! 1. Menlo Park tested closing Alma and it was a complete failure! I recall this vividly. Vehicles were backed up on Ravenswood for several hours and the neighborhood streets in Linfield Oaks experienced a significant increase in traffic. The test took place during the summer time when vehicular, bike and pedestrian traffic is at it lowest point. It was quickly apparent that closing Alma Street created new and much larger issues. How can Menlo Park possibly be considering this again? 2. Closing Alma to vehicular traffic would significantly increase the number of vehicles on the Laurel Street Peninsula Bikeway. Redirecting vehicles from Alma to Laurel Street would make this bike route extremely dangerous! 3. Closing Alma to vehicular traffic would make Laurel Street an unsafe route for children to get to and from school, and to recreational activities at Burgess Park and the library! 4. Alma Street is wide, has both bike lanes and sidewalks, and has residences on only one side of the street. It makes sense to have bikes and vehicles together on this route. 5. Currently there is no representative on Council dedicated to District 3, which includes Linfield Oaks. It is not appropriate for the City Council to make a decision that would severely impact Linfield Oaks’ neighborhoods safety and quality of life without a dedicated representative. I urge you to vote NO on Alternative A! Regards, Betsy Henze Received on Wed Jan 02 2019 - 21:40:34 PST
