Paving a way for better bike and walking routes

Lyons said officials will focus their efforts on identifying and prioritizing projects in unincorporated county communities such as North Fair Oaks or El Granada where residents have felt the current infrastructure is not conducive to biking or walking.

Because there are several pockets of unincorporated county land between cities, Lyons said the plan is also expected to help coordinate the efforts of several cities as they update similar plans and strengthen the network of safe routes residents can take by bicycle or foot.

“We really see this as an opportunity to leverage their work to help connect bicycle and pedestrian facilities,” she said.

Lyons said the plan will make projects planned in the county more competitive when it comes to securing grant funding as agencies like the Metropolitan Transportation Commission have included bicycle and pedestrian plans as criteria for individual improvement projects.

In addition to the county’s Public Works, Planning and Building and Parks departments, the planning process will also include feedback from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, which is comprised of residents and community groups, said Lyons.

As chair of the committee, Portola Valley resident Bill Kelly said work with residents already started to add sharrows, or shared-lane markings, to the intersection of Santa Cruz Avenue and Alameda de las Pulgas near Menlo Park and to restripe bike lanes on Sand Hill Road near Interstate 280. Kelly is looking to the master planning process to incorporate input from a wider swath of communities, particularly those who may not have weighed in on their bicycle or pedestrian experience in the past.

Having commuted through three cities, a town and several unincorporated stretches on his way to work in Menlo Park for years, Kelly knows from experience how many jurisdictions may have to get involved to be able to coordinate safety measures and improvements — even for short routes. With a better shot at grants and coordination among cities and the county, Kelly is hoping the plan will reduce barriers to bicycling and walking that have discouraged those who typically drive to work or run errands.

“In order to make a credible case for why a particular grant should be issued, I think it’s important to have a system that has tried to take a countywide perspective,” he said. “I think that makes for better decision-making.”

After a consultant is hired to lead the planning process in December, Lyons said planners will host will host a series of events — including public workshops, bicycle and walking tours and pop-up sessions at events like farmers’ markets — in the next year to gather community input on what projects might be needed for unincorporated parts of the county.

To ensure the plan is driven by community input, Lyons said planners will also make online and paper surveys available throughout the planning process, and noted the effort will also present opportunities to spread the word about how residents can bicycle and walk safely on routes that exist today.

“We want to make sure that everybody that wants to participate has an opportunity to talk to us,” she said.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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