Highway 101 ramps plan back into gear

In the past, some officials and residents expressed concern about the potential need to acquire properties along Amphlett Boulevard to make room for the new interchange. Now, transportation experts are in the midst of studying the feasibility and environmental impacts of two preliminary design alternatives.

Currently, the five-way intersection at Poplar Avenue and Highway 101 has unregulated traffic coming off the freeway with drivers from three other directions trying to cross or enter the highway. The city is in the midst of completing safety improvements along the neighborhood road on the west side of the highway as a short-term solution. With traffic patterns expected to change, providing access to southbound and northbound Highway 101 at Peninsula Avenue is thought to be a better solution.

A large office complex just east of the highway has been proposed in Burlingame and could bring thousands of new workers to the vacant former drive-in site just north of Coyote Point. Now, some are wondering whether the already problematic ramps at Poplar Avenue can handle the increased load.

“I consider Burlingame to be a very important stakeholder in this process [and] they’re going to have a strong voice in this,” said San Mateo Mayor Joe Goethals. “The Peninsula off-ramp is going to become an important part of traffic flow out to their new development. … I do think we’ll see an increase and Poplar is not designed for that level of service.”

No decision has been made, but engineers are now returning to both city councils to update communities on their work. On Monday, the San Mateo City Council received an informal presentation about the status of the project and the Burlingame City Council is expected to do the same early next month.

The multi-agency collaboration may require a thumbs-up from Caltrans, both cities and other stakeholders such as the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, which helped to fund an initial project study.

The public was last updated during a June 2015 community meeting in Burlingame when San Mateo and Caltrans announced they were proceeding with project studies. Many attendees left with unanswered questions as officials noted there would be more consideration in the coming years.

“There were a lot of questions and what we expressed was this is the phase that will answer some of those questions,” said San Mateo Engineering Manager Gary Heap, according to a live video of Monday’s meeting “We’re going to be going through this with open eyes [and] like the community, to learn a lot.”

Currently, two design alternatives include aligning southbound on- and off-ramps on the east side of Highway 101 along Amphlett Boulevard. Alternative 1 is estimated to cost $61.5 million and would have a smaller footprint by keeping the ramps tighter against the highway, therefore potentially requiring less right-of-way acquisition. However, that option may require Caltrans to provide exemptions to its design guidelines. Alternative 2 would involve spreading the ramps out a bit further from the highway, but would meet more of Caltrans’ standards and could potentially add capacity for more cars. That option also includes potentially widening the overpass bridge and could cost $76.4 million, according to city staff and consultants.

San Mateo Deputy Mayor David Lim, who voted against proceeding in 2012, said he remains concerned about the potential to uproot businesses through eminent domain proceedings and wants to ensure local property owners are heavily engaged in the process.

He emphasized that no decision has been made, and would like to see more data about the safety hazards at Poplar Avenue.

“In 2012, I was opposed to both options,” Lim said. “I want to see accident studies and findings that the Poplar on-ramp is substantially more dangerous to reach the conclusion that we need to take people’s property.”

Heap and consultants estimated there’s a long road ahead before findings can be made about the alternatives. The current Caltrans project approval and environmental document phase began in July and is expected to take two years. Final design and right-of-way proceedings could to take almost three years and, if approved, construction would take two years likely finishing in late 2024, according to Heap and consultants.

In the meantime, they plan to approach the Burlingame council Dec. 5 and host at least two public community meetings in 2017.

Visit www.cityofsanmateo.org/peninsula for more information.

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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