The vision for its new Redwood City Transit District, where multimodal transportation and everyday living are blended cohesively, is nearly complete, receiving wide praise from local agencies and planning commissioners who discussed the matter Tuesday.
“This is a great project. It’s a win win,” Planning Commission Chair Rick Hunter said during Tuesday’s special meeting. “It gives the city and the region so many things. If there was ever a place in the city for density and well-thought-out density it’s right here.”
The Transit District, spanning more than 16 acres in the heart of downtown Redwood City, is meant to create a transit hub blended with residential and commercial uses or what officials have referred to as a “transit village.” With that vision, substantial redevelopment is coming to the area which will see about a million square feet of office space and 1,100 new homes replace the Sequoia Station Shopping Center.
To accomplish its vision, the city would have to amend its General Plan and Downtown Precise Plan to allow for more residential and commercial projects to be built given that development caps built into the 2011 document have recently been met.
Strong support for the proposal poured in on Tuesday from a number of local organizations including the Greenbelt Alliance, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Housing Leadership Council, Housing Action Coalition, Northern California Carpenters Union, Chamber San Mateo County and the San Mateo County Economic Development Association.
Representatives from each organization touted the district’s potential as one that will create a safer, walkable and livable corridor when affordable housing and accessible transportation meet. Echoing those assertions was Dahlia Chazan, deputy chief of planning for Caltrain.
The transit agency has plans to upgrade and expand its service in the coming years, which will include separating tracks from roads, moving its station slightly north and adding two additional tracks to the downtown station.
“The Transit District will bring quality of life benefits to the area by improving local traffic flow and access to transit, restaurants, businesses and vital services, helping invigorate the economic vitality of Redwood City and the region while allowing train service to increase and meet statewide and regional mobility needs,” Chazan said. “We appreciate Redwood City’s commitment to encouraging transit oriented development and expanding access to transit service on the Peninsula. … We look forward to continuing to work together to achieve these goals.”
Commissioners joined in on praising staff’s proposal, which has been in the works since 2019 when the City Council first directed staff to create a Transit District. Commissioner Kevin Bondonno, who has been part of the process since the beginning, said the proposal is a reflection of all the work and input from both staff and the community.
Commissioner Isabella Chu, a newer member of the commission but longtime community participant, also lauded staff for what she said is a “bold” plan that has garnered “overwhelmingly positive feedback.”
Recommended for you
Though the proposal has received substantial support, Chu encouraged staff to go even further with the plan by eliminating private vehicle traffic along Franklin Street, creating a bike and pedestrian only space in the center of the city, a recommendation supported by other commissioners.
“If this is meant to be a transit district, it could be the one island in Redwood City where you really are safe from being hit by a car,” Chu said.
Alternatively, Commissioner Kimberly Koch said she supports the idea of a pedestrian and bike friendly boulevard but also encouraged commissioners to consider the needs of seniors and disabled residents who may need more direct access than would be allowed if the area was cut off to traffic.
“I know that everyone wants to push to make certain parts of this really pedestrian and bike friendly. I understand. I agree wholeheartedly with that,” Koch said. “I also want people to keep in the back of their mind the seniors in our community and those that are differently abled because they may want to be able to have access to certain areas and we don’t want to block them out, we don’t want to keep certain areas so they’re not going to feel welcome or so they really are going to be non-accessible.”
Chu and Commissioner Chris Sturken asserted though that closing off the street to vehicle traffic would actually benefit those with disabilities and seniors. Sturken noted parking would be available in nearby underground parking with elevators. Chu argued a majority of people with disabilities do not drive and often avoid public spaces due to being highly vulnerable to being hit by drivers.
Much of the Transit District vision already incorporates greater pedestrian and bike safety improvements including protected bike lanes and wider sidewalks but, by closing off the streets to cars, they argued more members of the public would feel safe, welcomed and encouraged to travel into the area.
But Jessica Manzi, the city’s Transportation manager, said shutting off Franklin Street to all vehicle traffic could create problems down the road such as congestion on other streets and access issues for delivery trucks and emergency vehicles. Instead of incorporating the suggestion at the district level, Manzi said the matter would be best addressed and studied at a more focused project level.
Commissioners ultimately voted unanimously to approve the requested amendments without directing staff to make additional changes. Next, the matter will come before the City Council Nov. 28 for final action.
I went to the meeting and one speaker, James Clifford, noted the lack of interest in east-west traffic. He recalled that the city once had a bus system that drew national attention for its efficiency. He proposed that a study be conducted into possibly bringing it back. hope his suggestion if taken seriously.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(1) comment
I went to the meeting and one speaker, James Clifford, noted the lack of interest in east-west traffic. He recalled that the city once had a bus system that drew national attention for its efficiency. He proposed that a study be conducted into possibly bringing it back. hope his suggestion if taken seriously.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.