Dear City Council Members and Staff,
I’m writing to support moving forward with the Middle Avenue Pedestrian and Bicycle Rail Crossing project and to urge the City to prioritize getting this project fully designed and shovel-ready while continuing to close the remaining funding gap.
This project has now been in progress for close to nine years. Please drive this forward now.
For our family, this is the single most important infrastructure project in Menlo Park. We have children at Hillview and Oak Knoll, and we/they spend a lot of time biking and walking to Burgess Park and along Middle Avenue. This crossing directly affects their long-term independence.
One of the biggest safety benefits of this project is that it enables a safer, more controlled way to cross El Camino Real by shifting crossings away from even more dangerous intersections at Menlo / Ravenswood and Sand Hill / Palo Alto Ave. At the same time, it’s not safe. I strongly encourage the City to treat the Middle Avenue crossing of El Camino as an important part of this project. For many Hillview students, this will become the primary route across El Camino. Trusting middle school students to wait through long light cycles and navigate turning traffic is not a real safety strategy. We have already seen students die at similar crossings in Palo Alto. Please consider measures to make this the safest bike / pedestrian crossing on all of El Camino by designing a flow that does not depend on perfect behavior from children and distracted drivers.
This underpass and street crossing project is exactly the kind of infrastructure that shapes how safe, bikeable, and family-friendly Menlo Park will be for decades. Please drive this forward and make it a priority to move from planning into execution.
Thank you for your work and for continuing to invest in long-term safety and livability for all of us in our city.
Sincerely,
Tim Gernitis
Allied Arts
