The San Mateo Sustainability and Infrastructure commissioners are weighing their options between moving quickly on the 28th Avenue and Hillsdale station bicycle gap closure project — which will create more dedicated bike lanes in the area — and soliciting more feedback from bicyclists on the best ways to construct nearby lanes.
The city’s 2020 Bicycle Master Plan identified 28th Avenue as a key cyclist route which could use better pathways and, after grant funding was secured that year, the effort kicked off in 2022. After continued conversations over the past few years, the effort was expanded from its original scope — from Edison Street to the El Camino Real intersection — to now include portions of 28th Avenue east of El Camino Real to East Kyne Street.
While staff requested feedback on the three presented design alternatives during the commission meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 4, most commissioners deferred their recommendations, partially due to their confusion over the nuances of each potential plan.
“I would like to see something happen soon, so I don’t want to delay this, but I don’t feel qualified to be able to make a recommendation on one of the alternatives … without having a tour,” Commissioner Pamela Rittelmeyer said. “I also didn’t see the [community meeting announcement] on my networks, so I would really appreciate more outreach to us in the future.”
The alternatives presented would include various combinations of one- or two-way bike facilities, and include options for signals that prioritize pedestrians, stopping all car traffic or prohibiting right-hand turns for vehicles. All alternatives would likely require some parking removal between Edison Street and El Camino Real and have some physical barriers separating the vehicle lane from the bike lane along the streets.
But some commissioners noted the difficulty visualizing some of these options and how it would concretely impact bicyclists coming to and from the Hillsdale Caltrain area. One public commenter, who stated he bikes to and from the area every day, noted some of the alternatives could put bikers at risk during evening hours as well.
Another concern surfaced by Vice Chair Kimiko Narita centered around community feedback that did not seem particularly representative of those who would be most affected.
“I don’t think we should be making recommendations based on 13 people’s comments and a stakeholder advisory committee when we have such an amazing opportunity to have someone ride Caltrain within the bike train in the Caltrain,” she said. “This [feedback] felt very standard … and it makes me really nervous because this is a highly-used station wwith dozens of cyclists using it every day,” she said.
Because the project is less comprehensive than other initiatives, Transportation Planner Sue-Ellen Atkinson mentioned the ability to delve into more robust community outreach is limited to the relatively confined scope of the project, as well as budgetary caps.
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