My wife and I have been driving Meals on Wheels routes through various parts of Redwood City for more than 10 years now. But recently our regular route gained a client in one of the manufactured home communities along East Bayshore Road south of Seaport Boulevard. The first time they appeared on our route we went to them last, after serving a client living at the end of Redwood Shores. Leaving the Shores, I got on Highway 101, aiming to exit the freeway via the Woodside Road/Seaport Boulevard off-ramp. But that was a mistake. Although we needed to go east, we nevertheless had to suffer through a long backup of cars along the freeway, nearly all of which were heading west. Eventually, we made it past where that off-ramp splits but, right then, I vowed to rearrange our route to avoid that particular off-ramp in the future.
As many Redwood City residents know, the Highway 101/Woodside Road interchange is a challenging one, no matter which way you approach it. For instance, vehicles heading north on Highway 101 and exiting at Woodside Road with the aim of heading west are given very little time or warning to get out of the right-turn-only lane to Veterans Boulevard they find themselves in. Southbound freeway traffic exiting at Woodside doesn’t even have the option to turn at Veterans Boulevard. The bottom of the ramp is beyond Veterans and already at the Broadway intersection in a lane adjacent to, but not yet joined with, Woodside Road. Oddly enough, vehicles then merge with Woodside Road in the middle of the intersection of Woodside Road and Broadway. And then there is that single lane for southbound freeway traffic that splits just after diverging from the freeway; I’ve seen some spectacularly dangerous last-minute merges from drivers apparently unwilling to endure the frequent long backups.
All of that is just what cars and trucks have to deal with. Given that there are no sidewalks, crosswalks or bike lanes, one would have to be suicidal to attempt to navigate the area either on foot or by bike. So, in short, the Highway 101/Woodside Road interchange is dangerous for all, and a traffic bottleneck for many. This is why Redwood City has been trying to get the interchange as well as the nearby intersections redesigned for so long.
The first community meeting on the project was held more than 10 years ago, in March 2014. Actual design work began in 2017 and is apparently still underway. Thanks to two large grants totaling $153 million being awarded in 2024, however, the project has now secured $369.8 million of the $384 million estimated project cost. As for the remaining $14.2 million, Redwood City, in conjunction with Caltrans, recently applied for state funding to cover that final amount. Although a response to their application isn’t likely until June, Redwood City has already taken the first steps toward acquiring the needed parcels and easements. Assuming that the final piece of the funding puzzle does come through, the hope is to commence construction in 2026, with the project being completed in 2030.
Cleaning up a complex interchange is going to take a complex project. The plans for this project, however, make a lot of sense. First and foremost, that single southbound exit lane that causes so many backups will become two side-by-side exit lanes. Instead of them then splitting — one east and one west — they will fan out first to three lanes and then to five (two left-turn-only, three right-turn-only) that will meet Woodside Road at right angles where Veterans Boulevard meets it today. As for Veterans Boulevard, it will no longer meet Woodside Road at all, but instead will “fly over” that street and merge directly with Highway 101. Thus, Veterans Boulevard south of Chestnut Street will then entirely be a dedicated freeway on-ramp (for southbound traffic) and off-ramp (for northbound freeway traffic).
These changes should go a long way toward smoothing out the issues for cars and trucks. As for pedestrians and cyclists, not only does the plan show new crosswalks and bike lanes alongside Woodside Road out to Blomquist Street, but, more intriguingly, there will also be a dedicated bike path (that would, I believe, also accommodate pedestrians) following the train tracks serving the Port of Redwood City. This new pathway will connect the Broadway and Woodside Road intersection with the one at Blomquist Street and Seaport Boulevard, as well as with the one at Veterans Boulevard and Chestnut Street — all with no street or rail crossings.
This project won’t be cheap, and it will take time, but it is badly needed; traffic in this part of Redwood City is only going to get worse as the large developments either planned or already underway come online. To my mind, it can’t come soon enough.
Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.
Studies by Universities like UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA have shown over and over again that these projects never improve congestion, they increase it.
- if you want more diabetes you provide more sugary drinks and cheaper.
- if you want more obesity you provide more bad food and cheaper.
- if you want more cancer you provide more cigarettes and cheaper.
- if you want all of the above, you provide more car lanes, more parking and make it cheaper.
The fact that cars are getting bigger and bigger tells us that people consider driving and parking as very cheap.
The ped/bike infrastructure in this project is a joke and only done, so the project leaders can tap into $150M of "multimodal funds" for what is a predominantly car-centric project with little to no multimodal features.
This project will increase car violence, air pollution, noise pollution, GHG emissions, and is going to waste $500M in the process since congestion will be back bigger and within just 2 years. It's all in the math and the project teams knows it already.
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Studies by Universities like UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA have shown over and over again that these projects never improve congestion, they increase it.
- if you want more diabetes you provide more sugary drinks and cheaper.
- if you want more obesity you provide more bad food and cheaper.
- if you want more cancer you provide more cigarettes and cheaper.
- if you want all of the above, you provide more car lanes, more parking and make it cheaper.
The fact that cars are getting bigger and bigger tells us that people consider driving and parking as very cheap.
The ped/bike infrastructure in this project is a joke and only done, so the project leaders can tap into $150M of "multimodal funds" for what is a predominantly car-centric project with little to no multimodal features.
This project will increase car violence, air pollution, noise pollution, GHG emissions, and is going to waste $500M in the process since congestion will be back bigger and within just 2 years. It's all in the math and the project teams knows it already.
This is a bad project ALL THE WAY.
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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.