San Carlos OK’s $7 million for Highway 101 project

Expected to cost more than $30 million, plans to update the existing interchange with a new design and to add a pedestrian and bicycle bridge just south of it had been on hold until the San Mateo County Transportation Authority supplemented a previous grant with close to $4 million in December.

Though Councilman Mark Olbert noted the hard work on the part of city officials to obtain funding for the project, he took issue with the project’s ballooning costs over the years and voted against approving the funds. Noting increased construction costs and other unanticipated costs have pushed the city’s share of the project to some $11 million, Olbert wondered if the funds could be used toward other ideas that could benefit residents more.

“Despite great and very much appreciated … efforts by our sister agencies, it still requires a massive investment of city funds,” he said.

Olbert added he hadn’t heard feedback from residents and business owners in support of changes to the interchange other than a desire for increased bicycle and pedestrian access, and asked city engineer Grace Le what the project’s main goal is and if planners could instead focus on building a new pedestrian and bicycle overcrossing at a lower cost.

Le said redesigning the interchange’s cloverleaf entrances and exits and creating a new connection for pedestrians and bicyclists is expected to improve safety for all passing through the interchange. By replacing two of the four cloverleaf entrances with additional lanes and traffic signals at Holly Street, the new design could reduce the current weaving between drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians traveling across Highway 101. Le added that the design of the project has included both the interchange and overcrossing improvements as a package, and that the latest design was close to obtaining needed Caltrans and federal permits.

For resident Holly Jones, the changing nature of Holly Street, where she lives, weighed heavily as she considered the interchange improvements. Worried the changes could increase the traffic volume on Holly Street, Jones wondered if a study of the traffic patterns on the major city thoroughfare could be studied first.

“I think there’s a lot of unfinished business,” said Jones. “I feel like we’re putting the cart before the horse.”

Le said a Holly Street corridor study would come before the council in the coming months, and also responded to resident Tim Hilborn’s concerns about how the project would affect bicycle access in nearby neighborhoods, adding it would be studied comprehensively as the city takes another look at its bicycle master plan this year.

Though Councilman Ron Collins acknowledged the high cost of the project, he noted its proximity to two new hotels and offices recently purchased for biotech companies on the city’s east side. With the influx of employees working near the interchange would come traffic implications, Collins said, adding the improvements could expand the interchange’s capacity to serve the uptick in activity.

“We have an interesting, actually, a unique east side that has become very attractive to a lot of new businesses coming in,” he said.

Councilman Matt Grocott added revenue from the new developments would likely pay for the city’s share of the improvements and noted other cities have similarly improved safety at Highway 101 interchanges like Ralston Avenue and Hillsdale Boulevard in keeping with the changing traffic patterns.

Vice Mayor Cameron Johnson, who also serves on the board of the Transportation Authority, looked to the project’s potential to ease congestion on Highway 101. By facilitating flow of cars on and off the major Bay Area artery, the updated interchange could help not only San Carlos residents but those living in the region avoid Highway 101 slowdowns, said Johnson. Noting improving safety made sense as a city goal, he said the Transportation Authority is looking to improve traffic flow to cities across the Peninsula and the Bay Area at large.

“If you’re thinking countywide what you’re thinking about is traffic flow on 101,” he said. “If you are driving north on 101 in the evening and you want to get home for dinner to see your kids, and you start slowing slow down on Whipple and then you slow down at Woodside … this project will help you.”

In other business, the council approved plans to renovate the San Carlos Youth Center with a remodeled kitchen, gym improvements and new floors and front desk. Equipped with a full-size gymnasium and dance studio, the aging facility has hosted after-school programs such as sports activities and drop-in hours for almost 20 years.

The council also approved light green paint for four new poles to be installed at the San Carlos Caltrain station as part of the Caltrain electrification project. The poles and wire connecting them are part of an overhead contact system expected to power a new electric fleet. Though some poles slated for stretches of the track running through residential areas are to be painted a darker green, the council directed staff to look into painting all of the poles, which would otherwise remain unpainted, along tracks in the city the same dark green color.

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