San Mateo County transit leaders weigh in on El Camino upgrades

“GBI has been going on for a while, over a decade. The land use patterns on El Camino are changing. We could not have experienced 20 years ago the number of 3, 4, 5 and higher story buildings on El Camino,” Carlos Romero, chair of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority and East Palo Alto councilmember, said. “This is the time to envision how we move people up and down that corridor in a way that’s safe, efficient and equitable.” 

According Transportation Injury Mapping data from University of California, Berkeley, about one-third of county collisions that occurred on ECR in the first half of the year involved either a bicycle or pedestrian. As a state-run corridor, however, cities are extremely limited in how they can make improvements to it, though county agencies are currently coordinating with Caltrans to make the changes.

Individual segments of the plan will be completed at different times — Burlingame, for example, is beginning a major development to underground Pacific Gas and Electric utilities and repair surfaces, sidewalks and street lights along El Camino Real. In San Bruno and Millbrae, plans are in various stages of development and have not yet begun in earnest. Residents also provided feedback during a recent meeting at the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County.

Some jurisdictions may want to focus on improved traffic signaling or crosswalks, while others place protected bike lanes at the top of their priority list, making cohesive improvements one of the main challenges of the project.  

“Do you get extra points if Belmont and San Carlos work together on segments, or Colma and South City? I think that makes a lot of sense,” Romero said. 

South City recently discussed removing a lane of vehicle travel between Hickey Boulevard and the city border to make room for protected bike lanes. In San Mateo, staff have noted prioritizing bike lanes may also come with tradeoffs, including loss of parking spaces. 

The improvements are likely to cost at least $1 billion, with half likely coming from state, federal and regional grants and other funding sources; however, minimal funding has been secured. The other half could come from the county’s Measure A and W funds, according to a recent presentation, which would be administered via the TA.