San Mateo is moving forward on a project that will implement more bicycle connections at the Third Avenue and Norfolk Street intersection in the Shoreview neighborhood.
The project kicked off the initial stages in 2023, and a final plan was presented during the City Council meeting Jan. 13. The new lanes would create a separated bike connection along the Third Avenue crossing and the bike path south of the Third Avenue and Norfolk Street intersection. The effort would also upgrade traffic signals to account for different modes of transportation.
Bike advocates as well as residents voiced support for the changes, especially in light of pedestrian and bicycle deaths and serious injuries that have occurred over the past year in San Mateo and neighboring cities.
Some San Mateo residents supported the project not just for safety but environmental reasons as well.
“Climate change is upon us, and most of us have connections in the L.A. area who have been affected by the fires this past week or so, and it’s all connected,” said Maggie Trinh, who is also a member of the San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees. “We know that in order to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we need to move away from individual car trips, and the way that we can encourage that is to have safe modes of transportation.”
Another resident, Kevin Simpson, who lives in the North Central neighborhood, said the improvements will make biking to the Bay Trail a safer experience. He added that the project’s priority on public safety should be considered as the city also discusses whether to remove controversial bike lanes in the North Central neighborhood.
“For me to access our beautiful Bay Trail and beautiful Shoreline parks, which are gems of our city, I have to get on the Humboldt bike lanes and then go down to Third Avenue and throw my life into the hands of everybody of who is transiting on Third and Norfolk and Humboldt,” Simpson said. “At the same time we are talking about making these long overdue … improvements to safety here, we are talking about reducing safety for people who want to access those resources on the other end of this.”
More than two years ago, the city removed about 200 parking spaces to make way for new bike lanes west of Highway 101 in the North Central neighborhood. The move has continued to anger many residents who say the neighborhood was already struggling with a lack of parking, more so than most areas in the city.
The City Council unanimously approved moving ahead with the project at the Third Avenue and Norfolk Street intersection. Construction is anticipated to take about two months and cost about $1.25 million, most of which is funded from the federal Community Development Block Grant program.
(1) comment
Thank you, SM City Council for these much needed safety improvements.
This project is important due to its connectivity to the Humboldt bike lanes on the west side of 101. These bike lanes allow Shoreview kids (and adults) to get to San Mateo High and College Park Elementary School (as well as the SM Adult School) without the use of a car. More kids biking to school means less car congestion on these crowded and dangerous streets.
The City should stop millions of taxpayer dollars to remove the new bike lanes on Humboldt, which are supported by a majority of SM residents/taxpayers. Instead, let's look forward, not backwards, and do more safety projects like 3rd and Norfolk. Too many people are dying.
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