San Mateo officials look at Managed Lanes

Expected to extend from Whipple Avenue to Interstate 380 on the San Mateo County stretch of Highway 101, the Managed Lanes project entails the construction of an additional lane in each direction on the stretch of Highway 101. The project will also extend south of Whipple Avenue to San Antonio Road in Santa Clara County, a segment of the project Leo Scott, a consultant with the firm Gray-Bowen-Scott, said would take shape in February when construction begins.

Though work on the northern segment is not expected to start until the end of 2019, Scott said construction will include connecting existing auxiliary lanes to create a new lane while converting the far left lane in each direction into a managed lane with signs and lighting.

Though planners of the multi-agency project initially planned on relocating sound barriers on both sides of Highway 101 in San Mateo, in recent months they opted against relocating the wall lining the southbound side of the freeway to avoid disturbing a gas pipeline close to the existing sound barrier, explained Scott. Because the wall on the west side of Highway 101 no longer needs to be moved, Scott said a previously-planned relocation of the pedestrian overcrossing at Monte Diablo Avenue would also not be necessary.

Scott said the sound barriers east of Highway 101 will be moved several feet, requiring changing to the configuration of North and South Bayshore boulevards between Newbridge and East Poplar avenues, including a narrowing of some lanes to 10 feet or 11 feet wide.

Concerns have been lodged from residents on both sides of the freeway about whether the existing wall heights, which vary from 8 feet tall for a nearly 2-mile stretch of the wall on the west side to up to 16 feet for a portion of the eastern side, will adequately mitigate freeway noise once the changes take shape. Scott said community meetings held Nov. 28 and Dec. 5 were aimed at addressing questions residents had about a noise study conducted earlier in the year and concluding increasing the walls’ heights would be not be feasible given the costs.

Because increasing the height of the walls on the west side of the freeway to 16 feet, the maximum height, would require replacing the existing walls, the cost to replace all of the short walls on the west side was estimated at $51.3 million to $57.9 million. The cost of increasing the heights of the wall segments to be relocated on the eastern side is estimated at $405,000, and Scott noted the city will be responsible for paying for increases in the height of the walls.

Slated to cost $514 million, the Managed Lanes proposal will be largely funded by a combination of state and local funding.

With questions about whether the placement of receptors used in the noise study could accurately capture the effect of noise emanating from the freeway, Central neighborhood resident Laurie Watanuki voiced concerns about leaving the height of the walls on the western side as they are while more lanes are added to Highway 101. She asked whether studies of the project gauged the impact of the project on the amount of particulate matter residents are exposed to, and also wondered whether the noise receptors used in the study measured the impact on residents in multi-story buildings.

Watanuki urged officials to consider working with Caltrans, which manages and maintains Highway 101, to find the funding needed to maximize the height of the sound barriers on the west side of the freeway.

“We need more time, we need a plan to fund the sound wall project from [East] Fourth Avenue to Sunnybrae [Boulevard] at maximum height,” she said, according to a video of the meeting. “We now have 12 lanes with two express lanes versus the 10 current lanes that we have on 101. I feel we’re going to have great impacts.”

Kevin Krewson, senior environmental engineer with Caltrans, said the receptors were placed in areas of frequent use and readings were taken on days when the weather was calm. He noted the noise measurements are typically taken at the ground-floor level, and said an analysis of the particulate matter in the air were not included as part of the study.

Deputy Mayor Maureen Freschet asked why the wall on the western side only reached 8 feet in height, and Public Works Director Brad Underwood said though the construction of the wall preceded his time with the city, he believed business owners requested a lower wall height so their signs could be seen by drivers traveling on Highway 101.

In response to Councilman Rick Bonilla’s suggestion planners consider the increased heights of residential developments east of Highway 101, Underwood also cautioned officials to consider alerting business owners east of the freeway about the possibility of a taller sound barrier to gauge whether they have concerns about such a change.

Councilmembers also considered whether the relocated walls on the east side of Highway 101 will match the walls on the west side, and also whether to include $8,000 medallions on the new wall to make them more aesthetically pleasing. Mayor Diane Papan expressed interest in seeing how vegetation could be used to soften the look of the sound barriers.

Underwood noted the San Mateo County Transportation Authority is a partner in the project and suggested officials consider asking the agency to help fund an increase of the sound barriers. City Manager Drew Corbett expected the city could come up with $400,000 to $500,000 to fund taller walls, and Councilman Eric Rodriguez expressed interest in having the Transportation Authority fund the change.

“I would be in favor of looking to see if the [Transportation Authority] would fund it,” he said. “I’m a little bit more hesitant if the city was going to fund it.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106