Peninsula Avenue upgrades sought

The Peninsula Avenue corridor has been a high priority for the San Mateo City Council, as it “needs safer and more continuous facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists, suffers from outdated signal operations, and experiences congestion and safety challenges that limit multimodal mobility,” the report added.

Allison MacQueen, a San Mateo resident and member of local advocacy group Move San Mateo, said some of the bike lanes along the corridor are dangerously narrow, and the project would improve much-needed connection to Coyote Point.

“Peninsula is a vital nexus to creating safe walking and biking networks, and we’re looking for safety for everyone,” MacQueen said. “The city cannot build more roads. There is no more road capacity so we've got to find other ways to safely get around.”

Last September, a woman was killed when struck by a vehicle whose driver was making a left turn from North Delaware Street onto Peninsula Avenue, which was at the Burlingame-San Mateo border. According to the University of California, Berkeley Transportation Injury Mapping System, several other bike and pedestrian injuries have occurred along the corridor since 2024.

“I am in favor of projects that make it safer and slow traffic down,” Burlingame Vice Mayor Michael Brownrigg said. “There are a lot of people who live there, and a lot of cars getting to the freeway, but we need them to go more slowly and more safely, and pedestrians and cyclists who cross Peninsula Avenue need to be able to do it safely.”

Recently, San Mateo has been trying to rely more heavily on grant funding for infrastructure projects related to improving bike, pedestrian and road traffic. The City Council also approved a $16 million grant application for an infrastructure project at 19th Avenue and Fashion Island Boulevard, which will make bike lane and pedestrian improvements along the corridor, as well as make changes to the Norfolk Street intersection to mitigate frequent congestion.

But the controversial Humboldt Street bike lanes, installed in 2022, also relied on grant money, albeit federal funds, and the council recently voted to start the process of removing some of the lanes after significant neighborhood pushback. That means the city may have to pay back a decent portion of the grant, and staff have said it could impact future grant application prospects.

“Any time a city or entity says they are going to use money for a project, and that project is not kept, that is a reneging on the agreement, and there can be a clawback on funds,” MacQueen said. “I’m sure grant-making agencies are looking at this because it's a waste of everyone's time. These grants are competitive … there are other cities that have been more aggressive in creating better pedestrian and biking infrastructure, so when grant agencies are looking at who to fund, that’s part of their strategy.”

San Mateo Councilmember Nicole Fernandez said that is a "valid concern," though she anticipates less pushback on the Peninsula Avenue project.

"Unlike the Humboldt issue, it's much more of a commercial zone than it is single-family home-zoned, so I don't anticipate there being as much issues with vehicle parking as there is on Humboldt," she said.

With several other bike and pedestrian-related initiatives in the pipeline, San Mateo City Manager Alex Khojikian added that the city has a good track record and that the merits of the project application "should stand on its own."

San Mateo and Burlingame propose sharing the local match portion, with the former contributing San Mateo providing $245,000 and Burlingame providing $130,000, as San Mateo owns and operates a longer portion of the Peninsula Avenue corridor.

"This is a really important thoroughfare in my district," Fernandez said. "It's not often that you see cities coming together for projects like this. It’s usually a bigger project that cities come together for, like grade separations ... but even the modification of one street can save a life."