Months of planning and smaller approvals have resulted in a finalized streetscape master plan for San Carlos downtown, which will guide incoming improvements of the area into a pedestrian-oriented and inviting public space in the growing city.
At Monday’s meeting, the San Carlos CIty Council approved the street design plan for the heart of downtown, centering around Laurel Street from San Carlos Avenue to Arroyo Avenue. The masterplan sets the design tone for the change in character of downtown streets while paying attention to establish a network of travel.
“This is a commitment to a new downtown for San Carlos,” Councilmember Neil Layton said. “One that is already great that we think we can make even better by putting money into it over a long period of time.”
Adopting the plan doesn’t approve particular streetscape design for construction, but rather a “holistic and comprehensive guide for downtown transformation,” said City Planner Lisa Porras.
The updated designs look to accommodate the flow of cars, buses, bicycles and pedestrians, focusing San Carlos streets to invite varying travel experiences to the “living room” of San Carlos’ downtown, Consultant Jim Stickley said.
Key features included in the masterplan include pedestrian priority zones, wider sidewalks apt for outdoor dining and retail, reducing vehicle lanes, establishing plazas for public use and new paving, street trees and landscaping.
The 600 and 800 blocks of Laurel Street will extend the closed pedestrian path of the 700 block in the center. Current plans look to expand the current nine-and-a-half-foot sidewalks to 20-foot sidewalks to provide space for outdoor dining, pedestrians and street trees. Vehicle traffic will remain one lane in each direction, but the parallel parking spots will be replaced with parallel parking posts on only one side of the street.
The streetscape plan looks to develop San Carlos Avenue with the “same quality of experience” as on Laurel Street. Plans for the sidewalk design are closely similar to those on Laurel Street. Vehicle lanes will be reduced to one lane in each direction with a center turn lane, a major reduction on a well-traveled thoroughfare, and protected bike lanes will be included.
The area of focus on El Camino Real also looks to implement protected bike lanes on both sides, and a reduction from three southbound lanes to two. Center medians will remain, where greening is proposed in addition to implementing trees on both sides of the street.
Cross streets include Cherry and Olive streets, which will be updated, but maintain their status as shared single lanes in each direction with parallel parking on each side of the streets. Arroyo Avenue improvements will increase sidewalk width and also include shared single lanes. For Brittan Avenue, proposed plans to reduce down to one travel lane in each direction with a center turning lane is optional, whereas other street plans are more formal recommendations.
Forty-seven parking spaces will ultimately be lost with the current proposed plans, which would be a 4% reduction to public parking available. Staff and consultants found that even during peak hours, there are readily available spaces within one block of the downtown, suggesting the viability for a reduction in parking spots for the intent to promote alternative modes of transportation.
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All streets will also be brought up to code for accessible spaces, which will ultimately add more than 30 parking spaces that are compliant with the American Disabilities Act, staff noted.
A 13-phase strategy is included in the plan, but project approval will remain up to the City Council’s decision and availability of funds. Implementation and development costs are estimated on 2024 numbers, and will likely increase in coming years as costs continue to grow.
Securing multiple funding sources will be key to make sure the project does not provide any undue strain on the city budget, Porras said.
Councilmember John Dugan spoke to the long-term ambitious plan. Funding and city priorities will guide how fast implementation may occur.
“This is not going to be one budget cycle, this is not going to be one council, this is really a broad, far ranging project,” Dugan said.
The plan is a gift for future generations where in “good years,” improvements can move forward, and in “tough years” it can be slowed down, Dugan said.
Design drawings are currently underway for the 700 block of Laurel Street and Harrington Park, and the City Council will convene again May 12 to review the designs for the proposed pavilion and water feature. City staff and consultants are hoping to break ground on construction of Harrington Park in the fall of 2025.
The streetscape masterplan is one portion of the larger Downtown Specific Plan that will likely be released for public consideration this summer and final adoption this fall.
“It is my hope that this plan is illustrative, and that it is evergreen and that it is not tossed aside in 10 years because this is something that we have put a lot of thought into,” Mayor Sara McDowell said. “I know things change when you’re constructing on the ground, but it is my hope that this is something that is a foundation for the transformation of our downtown.”
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