Drivers on East Hillsdale Boulevard in Foster City turn onto Edgewater Boulevard to avoid long waits in traffic.
When traffic on Highway 101 to State Route 92 backs up, which happens now practically every day, drivers naturally gravitate to alternatives such as cutting through Foster City.
That cut-through traffic has spurred a response from city officials who are organizing a workshop to present and discuss ideas on how to mitigate the problem. The workshop will take place 10 a.m. Oct. 20 at the Wind Room in the Foster City Community Center.
“We have heard your concerns about traffic. We have an idea to address cut-through traffic in our city and want your feedback,” Mayor Sam Hindi said in a press release.
Based on past discussions, the idea that Hindi referred to — a potential Traffic Relief Pilot Program — may entail left turn prohibitions on East Hillsdale Boulevard at Edgewater and Shell boulevards, among other proposals.
During peak evening commute hours, commuters headed to the East Bay often take the East Hillsdale Boulevard exit to avoid freeway backups. They travel down that road and turn left onto either Edgewater or Shell boulevards, and then turn right onto Metro Center Boulevard and line up in and around the Orchard Supply Hardware parking lot to get onto State Route 92.
Eliminating left turns at those locations may very well bring unintended consequences and part of the point of the workshop is to identify those consequences and the merits of any other proposal to mitigate congestion. Officials have also stressed that whatever proposal moves forward will likely only be implemented on a trial basis.
Congestion due to cut-through traffic has been a growing concern of residents, according to the release, and a recent traffic study commissioned by the city found that cut-through traffic is the leading cause of Foster City’s gridlock.
Cut-through traffic has also caused consternation in San Mateo. Residents of the city’s North Shoreview neighborhood specifically have noticed drivers traveling east on Peninsula Avenue and south on Airport Boulevard to reach North Bayshore Boulevard, which runs parallel to Highway 101 and along the neighborhood’s western edge, to reach the State Route 92 interchange through J. Hart Clinton Drive.
Pilot programs in that neighborhood are being explored and entail potential changes to signal timing and additional signs at the intersection at Peninsula Avenue and North Bayshore Boulevard. Some residents also called for a “no left turn” sign preventing drivers traveling southbound on South Norfolk Street from turning left onto East Third Avenue, which turns into J. Hart Clinton Drive, as they believe it would discourage drivers from trying to cut through the neighborhood on their way to State Route 92 and Foster City.
The upcoming workshop on cut-through traffic is part of a community dialogue series. In 2017, the city held a meeting on transportation and mobility and the no left turn on East Hillsdale Boulevard was proposed during that meeting.
Visit cdstrafficpilot.eventbrite.com to register for the October workshop.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
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(4) comments
The daily traffic congestion nightmare on Hwy 92 and all its approaches is caused by the imbalance between jobs and housing on the Peninsula. The solution is to build a lot more housing and a lot fewer office buildings.
Certainly, FC has met our RHNA requirements. Time for SM to get on the bus. Both literally and figuratively.
It seems that part of the East Hillsdale Exit problem is cars cutting in from the Left-hand turn lanes into Right-hand turn lanes at the last second. It causes most of the back up for drivers patiently waiting in the correct lane. Officials might look into enforcing the traffic laws,(crossing a white solid line and unsafe lane change) or repainting the turn lanes so that there are two Right-hand turn lanes further back.
Simply expecting people to wait in line seems to be too much.
How about Foster City Resident to stop using 3rd Ave for cut through traffic. I would also like local drivers to stop trying to merge onto the 3rd Ave exit at the last possible moment. This causes the cars behind you to come to a complete stop. The other three lanes continue to move slowly from Peninsula all the way to the 92.
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