Dear City Council Members,
My family and I appreciate your service to our community very much. I attended my first City Council meeting on August 23, 2022 and was shocked to learn about the number of high-impact projects going on in our city across all 5 Districts. I came away feeling grateful for each and every one of you for all that you have done, and continue to do, for our community. Thank you! And thank you for working so well together.
As new District 4 residents, the Middle Avenue Complete Streets project is a top priority project for our family and we support Option 2 - Class II Buffered Bike Lanes, raised crosswalks with enhanced visibility, no parking on either side of Middle Ave., and a lower speed limit on Middle Ave. from El Camino to Olive St.
Resident Michael Lambert raises a very good point, however, about the need for parking on Middle Ave. for some residents, and I think no parking windows when kids are riding to and from school in some areas meets the needs for safety and parking as long as there are clearly marked bike lanes on both sides of the street and a lower speed limit.
His reminder about reducing speed is also very sound and I encourage the city council to be brave and reduce speed from 30mph to 25mph on Middle Ave. to improve safety. Middle Ave. is evolving into a major biking corridor from Burgess Park, through El Camino up to Olive St. Lowering the speed limit is in line with that new identity.
The Middle Avenue Complete Streets project is a unique opportunity to make a lasting infrastructure statement that elevates biking as a viable (read safe) method of transportation in and around Menlo Park from our youngest riders going to and from school, or the library, to our daily commuters riding to work. Speed must be reduced. A visually clear and defined bike lane from El Camino to Olive must be designed and maintained on both sides of Middle Ave. Raised and flashing crosswalks - the same design from El Camino all the way to Olive St. must be used when a crosswalk is added. And the same goes for treatment for parking from El Camino to Olive St. Otherwise, the project will not hang together as a cohesive whole and rider safety will suffer.
Again thank you for your service and hard work for our community.
Sincerely,
Joy Sykes
Kenwood Drive
P.S. Thank you Mayor Betsy Nash and District 5 City Councilmember Ray Mueller for hosting the community connection conversation on 9/3 at Lyle Park about the Middle Avenue Complete Streets project. It was a pleasure meeting both of you.
