San Mateo's Humboldt bike lanes to stay

Bike safety advocates, who are supportive of the lanes, turned out en masse at the meeting Monday, where councilmembers were set to provide direction on whether they wanted the lanes to be taken out. 

The lanes will remain, and councilmembers also expressed support for mitigating measures to calm traffic and alleviate parking issues on Humboldt, like lighting improvements and a potential residential parking program. 

But the city should also be considering a real long-term, sustainable solution that will offer residents both the parking and bike lanes they need for traffic and pedestrian safety, Councilmember Danielle Cwirko-Godycki said, who first voiced the one-way street proposal. She acknowledged the proposition would be a major, $10 million investment. 

“I believe it deserves serious consideration, because it addresses the root of this conflict,” she said. 

A majority of councilmembers expressed support for a high-level feasibility study that would determine whether the idea could be implemented in the area, as well as community outreach to determine support. As the city is facing a deficit, questions remain around how the project would be funded. 

“I do believe making Humboldt one way, keeping the bike lanes there and adding all the safety enhancements I mentioned is the best way to give the community the safety they deserve, as well as the two things people have asked for — parking and bike lanes,” Councilmember Lisa Diaz Nash said. 

City staff did extensive community outreach on the Humboldt bike lanes issue prior to the meeting, with online and in-person surveys showing largely majority support for keeping the lanes as is rather than alternatives such as removing the lanes and turning parallel streets, Fremont and Idaho, into bike boulevards. 

Those efforts, which would have included increased stop signs, traffic circles and speed humps to make the roads safer as a detour for bicyclists, would cost the city upward of $1 million. 

Deputy Mayor Nicole Fernandez, who represents the North Central neighborhood, first expressed support for restoring some form of parking and said she’d heard from a wide variety of constituents in the historically under-resourced area who were frustrated and negatively impacted. 

“Street parking is important to service workers, senior residents who live with disabilities, families who’ve reached out to me to talk about how missing parking spaces affect their lives, how unsafe folks feel walking a half mile to their homes at night,” she said. 

Some residents, like former Mayor Claire Mack, shared similar stories during public comment. 

“I hope the bike riders in San Mateo can ride until the wheels come off their bikes,” she said. “In the meantime, there are many residents in North Central San Mateo who need some place to park their cars.”

The issue is one of equity and access, Fernandez said, though she also ultimately expressed support for a long-term solution like a one-way road as a bold, visionary move. 

Those advocating for the bike lanes during the meeting emphasized they were a public safety need, particularly for commuters and young people traveling to and from nearby schools. 

“There is a problem and the City Council needs to solve it, but taking our bike lanes, which we just got, is not the way to do it,” resident Dylan Tweney said. “Please don’t take away the one good thing the city has done for North Central in the past few years.”