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HomeMy Public PortalAboutApril 1, 2024 City Council Emails701-32 DOCUMENTS IN THIS PACKET INCLUDE: LETTERS FROM CITIZENS TO THE MAYOR OR CITY COUNCIL RESPONSES FROM STAFF TO LETTERS FROM CITIZENS ITEMS FROM MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS ITEMS FROM OTHER COMMITTEES AND AGENCIES ITEMS FROM CITY, COUNTY, STATE, AND REGIONAL AGENCIES Prepared for: 4/1/2024 Document dates: 3/25/2024 – 4/1/2024 Note: Documents for every category may not have been received for packet reproduction in a given week. From:Tran, Joanna To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed; Gaines, Chantal; McDonough, Melissa; Eggleston, Brad; Kamhi, Philip; Star-Lack, Sylvia; Horrigan- Taylor, Meghan Subject:City of Palo Alto Letter: Caltrans Vehicle Dwellers (Caltrans Proposed SR 82/El Camino Real Bikeway Project) Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 3:18:03 PM Attachments:Caltrans Vehicle Dwellers letter - 04.01.2024.pdfimage001.pngimage003.pngimage004.pngimage006.pngimage007.pngimage008.pngimage009.png Dear Council Members, Please see the attached letter sent to Caltrans today regarding the Caltrans Proposed SR 82 / El Camino Real Bikeway Project. For any questions, please contact Chantal Gaines, Deputy City Manager at Chantal.Gaines@CityofPaloAlto.org Thank you, Joanna Joanna Tran Executive Assistant to the City Manager Office of the City Manager (650) 329-2105 | joanna.tran@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org April 1, 2024 Dina El-Tawansy District Director Caltrans Bay Area 111 Grand Ave. Oakland, CA 94612 dina.el-tawansy@dot.ca.gov Subject: City of Palo Alto’s Follow Up Regarding Notification and Outreach to Vehicle Dwellers Related to the Caltrans Proposed SR 82 / El Camino Real Bikeway Project Dear Ms. El-Tawansy, The City of Palo Alto is writing in response to recent meetings and questions from Caltrans staff regarding the outreach and notification plan from Caltrans related to the Caltrans Proposed SR 82 / El Camino Real Bikeway Project. A summary of the questions received is attached. This project is important to our community to repave this vital corridor and provide a safer corridor for all users. As currently proposed, this project will lead to the displacement of many vehicle-dwelling neighbors. As a precursor to the responses below, we note that the impact of this could be minimized if Caltrans were to approach the work in phases (i.e., “no parking” for a portion of El Camino Real at a time while work is being done) and the parking removal is temporary and limited to the duration of actual construction activities. Caltrans recently notified the City that it expects the City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara's Continuum of Care to perform the outreach steps needed for Caltrans Proposed SR 82 / El Camino Real Bikeway Project. Both the City and the County have shared interest in helping vehicle-dwelling neighbors on El Camino Real but have raised several issues about the Caltrans characterization that it is the City’s or County’s responsibility to perform outreach as part of the Caltrans process. In the absence of any agreements on file related to these services, the responsibility for such outreach for this Caltrans project formally rests with Caltrans as the sponsoring agency, as opposed to the City of Palo Alto or the County of Santa Clara. We understand that there are specific steps which must be taken in terms of notification and informing vehicle-dwelling neighbors of other resources available to them. This should be a multi- step process done by Caltrans to give the families as much time as possible to try to take advantage of the services suggested. We request that Caltrans issue the initial notification to vehicle dwellers on the corridor of the pending Caltrans project and the need for the vehicles to relocate. The County can assist in outreach after the households have been notified by Caltrans of the need to relocate and the exact date by which they must relocate. This outreach may include assessment and connection to services but, given the scarcity of available beds and housing, this may not include the immediate offer of a bed or housing. It is also Caltrans responsibility to formally notify the vehicles with the tow-notice at the appropriate time and, if necessary, for Caltrans to actually tow the vehicles. There seemed to be some confusion on roles and responsibilities related to the City, County, and nonprofit partners in the outreach and formal notice and towing process. One particular interaction referenced was in a February 15th meeting between City staff and the Caltrans encampment team. The encampment team left that meeting and later reported that the City held the responsibility related to outreach to the vehicle-dwellers prior to any notification to the vehicle dwellers by Caltrans. However, at that meeting, both City and County staff noted that the outreach organizations in the area currently working with the vehicle-dwellers on El Camino Real are not under contract for outreach services with either the City nor the County. Staff did not make a commitment during that meeting to assume Caltrans’ duties in this regard; City staff only offered to ask the voluntary outreach organizations to provide supplementary outreach to vehicle-dwellers. Given that only Caltrans knows the construction schedule, only Caltrans is in a position to make these first early notifications. While the City is committed to continuing to creatively problem-solve with Caltrans about options for the vehicle-dwelling families along the El Camino Real corridor in Palo Alto, it is also important to be clear on roles. Caltrans referenced their responsibility to document outreach and services offerings as well as their responsibility to do notification steps and any enforcement action that may need to take place. Caltrans should also start the process by providing a specific notice about the project to the vehicle dwellers and businesses along the corridor with specific project timing. City staff requested the detailed project schedule with more than a three-week outlook from Caltrans. This information would allow the City, County, and nonprofit partners to be more effective in coordinating viable additional resources to augment the work that Caltrans offers as outreach to this specific population. The City team looks forward to receiving the detailed project schedule and timeline as we continue this very important discussion. We also look forward to Caltrans providing the initial early notification specifically to vehicle dwellers and businesses along the corridor, identifying dates when parking will be impacted, to officially start the process before any additional County outreach work will occur. This notice would be more specific than the broader Project Fact Sheet previously issued. Sincerely, Ed Shikada City Manager cc: Nick Saleh, Project Management District Division Chief Debra Nelson, Office Chief, External Operations and Engagement Kathryn Kaminski, Deputy Director, Office of Supportive Housing, County of Santa Clara Philip Kamhi, Chief Transportation Official, City of Palo Alto Brad Eggleston, Public Works Director, City of Palo Alto Meghan Horrigan-Taylor, Chief Communications Officer, City of Palo Alto Chantal Cotton Gaines, Deputy City Manager, City of Palo Alto Melissa McDonough, Assistant to the City Manager, City of Palo Alto Sylvia Star-Lack, Transportation Planning Manager, City of Palo Alto Attachment: Responses to Concerns and Questions Raised from Debra Nelson, March 27, 2024 Attachment: Responses to Concerns and Questions Raised from Debra Nelson (email dated March 27, 2024) Clarifications: • The Caltrans staff email referenced the following: “[The] City, County and Caltrans agree anywhere from one to two years, this corridor has been an “unofficially City/County sanctioned” encampment within Palo Alto. There have been no removal attempts by the State, nor expressed concerns from the City and County to the State by virtue of explicit requests to remove.” o City Response: The City disagrees with this statement. The City requires vehicles to move every 72 hours per our code. Most vehicles comply with the requirement to move every 72 hours; there is no guarantee of where they will relocate after moving. The Palo Alto Police Department routinely issues warnings for 72-hour violations and issues citations and tows abandoned vehicles as appropriate. Responses to Questions: 1. Is there still concern from City Manager/Deputy City Manager/County of Santa Clara regarding noticing that the role of providing outreach is not Department of Transportation? Caltrans does not provide outreach, and has no services/shelters, being that is not our funding purpose. Yes/No City Response: This is addressed in the letter. This is a Caltrans project and Caltrans should do the initial notification. Such notification has not yet been done specifically to the businesses nor vehicle dwellers along El Camino Real. 2. Has any official outreach occurred since Caltrans requests made on 3/15 and 3/25? Yes/No City Response: As noted related to #1 above, Caltrans has not performed the initial notification to the vehicle dwellers and thus the City and County are unable to formally note outreach done to be included in your Caltrans documentation process to support future decisions Caltrans will need to make regarding actions related to vehicles. 3. Does the City/County have any potential relocation offers for the persons experiencing homelessness who are sheltered with RVs along the corridor? Yes/No City Response: After Caltrans provides the initial notification to vehicle dwellers on El Camino Real, the County will share any resource options available to vehicle dwellers. Note: the amount of available relocation options in Santa Clara County are very limited. 4. Do both the City/County know how many estimated persons (not individual RV count) are at this location? City Response: No additional information available at this time. 5. Has any communication regarding noticing the persons that nearing June, Caltrans will need to begin the paving of Bike Lanes? Yes/No? For either reply- are there pending plans to do so? City Response: The Caltrans project schedule is a repaving project starting later this year and subsequently the bike lanes, pending City Council action in April 2024 locally. To the specific question here, this initial communication is Caltrans responsibility given this is a Caltrans project and City action is pending. This type of initial notification about an upcoming project and the need for the site to be clear for the project is always the responsibility of the entity performing the project. In this case, that is Caltrans. We look forward to details about when this notification will occur, and the County can do some outreach thereafter. 6. Has the City/County communicated any of these needs for outreach to your “grassroots” organizations/persons of familiarity who are working with the persons living in RVs? Yes/No? If no, I note- it was suggested to leverage their ongoing relationship, albeit the “grassroots” is not obligated contractually or otherwise. City Response: Informally, the City and County have activated partners to help vehicle dwelling residents along the corridor. These partners are not under contract with the City for outreach services, thus any work they perform would not be used as part of the Caltrans documentation for future vehicle removal. Even with these efforts, Caltrans is still responsible for the official notification to start the process. 7. How many children do you estimate are living in the RV’s? If you don’t know exactly, I recall it was mentioned on 3/15 “families with children”- thus, an estimate is helpful. City Response: We do not have this information at this time. 8. Is the City/County exploring emergency funding/housing solutions to offer? Yes/No? City Response: We do not understand this question. 9. Are there currently plans to enact parking ordinances once the project has been completed? Yes/No/Unknown City Response: There is a 72-hour restriction already in place. From:John Ralston To:Council, City Subject:El Camino Real bicycle route conversion Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 12:57:37 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from john_ralston@att.net. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. To the members of Palo Alto City Council: My name is John Ralston. I have lived in the Palo Alto area for 25 years, first in Palo Alto and then Mountain View. All that time I have bicycled regularly, to work as an administrative assistant at Stanfordand as a substitute teacher in Palo Alto Unified School District. I estimate that I have bicycled over 40,000miles, and while that may seem a lot, it means averaging about 2,000 miles per year not using anautomobile. So I may say I have been a devoted cyclist. I urge you NOT to approve the proposal to convert, modify - whatever - El Camino Real into some sort ofhybrid commercial and bicycle route. If this sounds strange coming from one like myself, let me brieflyexplain. First, Palo Alto already has a very good cycle route along Bryant Street, from the downtown allthe way to the San Antonio Road border at Mountain View (I used the route regularly myself). BryantStreet is well-marked for bicycles, has barriers to through automobile traffic (with space for cyclists topass through safely), passes three schools - Palo Alto High, El Carmello Elementary, and Jane StanfordMiddle) - and, crucially in my opinion, is almost entirely in residential neighborhoods, so cyclists do notcompete with delivery trucks or other commercial vehicles. Parallel to El Camino, it is convenient and farsafer, particularly for school children. True, it is about five blocks northwest of El Camino, but that'snothing for an experienced or even casual cyclist. A north-south bicycle route alternative to El Camino is more challenging, and in my opinion is one onwhich your board should concentrate, rather than considering El Camino as a bike route. A current routegoes southeast from about the area of Escondido Elementary School at Stanford Avenue, crosses PageMill Road, and goes up through Bol Park to Gunn High School, where it turns left at Arastradero Roadand connects to a bicycle route past Alta Mesa Cemetery, over Adobe Creek and to Mountain View. Thisis not completely parallel to El Camino, and the Bol Park bike path also accommodates hikers, parentswith strollers, and dogs. I suggest therefore that the board explore some route through the residentialneighborhoods between Bol Park and El Camino Real, possibly connecting with the path by Alta MesaCemetery; hopefully there is one similar to Bryant Street. I understand that getting more cyclists to useboth Bryant Street and the southwest route requires educating them to the about their availabilities, butwith all the accessible on-line and print information available nowadays - in Silicon Valley, no less - this issurely possible. Finally, consider the disadvantages and dangers in the El Camino Real proposal. It is almost entirelycommercial, meaning that private cars, delivery trucks, etc. use it for temporary or long-term parking. Removing parking spaces will undoubtedly cause hardship to businesses, but will not even provide a saferoute for cyclists. Delivery trucks block views around them; motorists open the drivers doors into cycleroutes, even marked ones; finally, trucks and cars will have to navigate around the bike route, which risksbicycles; suffice it to say that the hybrid uses are not compatible (San Francisco's Valencia Street, asrecently reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, is one example). Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to learning about the results of your meeting. John Ralston1774 Peacock AvenueMountain View, California 94043john_ralston@att. et (650) 282-5336 From:Piet Canin To:Council, City Subject:Please approve Bike Lanes on El Camino Real Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 12:52:09 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from pietcanin@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council Members, Please approve bike lanes on El Camino Real, and pass the resolution to remove car parking on El Camino Real to install bike lanes. This is an important step in making El Camino Real safer for cyclists and other road users. It makes this busy corridor more seamless from one city to the nex as neighboring cities like Mountain View have alreadysupported adding visible and continuous bike lanes on El Camino Real. I live a few blocks from El Camino Real and bike on it several times a week. Bike lanes onthis street would make me feel a whole lot more comfortable while I bike to my nearbydestinations. Thank you for your consideration to make Palo Alto a better and safer place to bicycle foreveryone. Piet Canin3661 Park Blvd, Palo Alto, CA 94306 From:Katie Causey To:Council, City; Clerk, City Cc:Sandhya Laddha Subject:Support Bike Lanes on El Camino Real Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 11:35:04 AM Attachments:PaloAltoElCaminoReal.pdf Some people who received this message don't often get email from katie@bikesiliconvalley.org. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello, Attached is SVBC's letter of support for Bike Lanes on El Camino Real. Thank you! Katie Causey she/her/hers | 庄可欣//莊可欣 Community OrganizerTogether we can make our community better through biking - Ways to Give Twitter @bikeSV | Instagram @bikesiliconvalley Building healthier and more just communities by making bicycling safer and more accessible for all 155 S 11th Street, San Jose, CA 95112 | bikesiliconvalley.org | 408-287-7259 April 1, 2024 Palo Alto City Council 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: April 1 City Council meeting. Agenda Item #11 Dear Palo Alto City Councilmembers, On behalf of Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) and its members across San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, we are writing to request you to pass a resolution to remove parking on El Camino Real to install bike lanes. The City of Palo Alto is being presented with a rare opportunity to build bike lanes on El Camino Real (ECR) at no cost to the city, as a part of a Caltrans repavement project along with the Cities of Los Altos and Mountain View to be implemented. This marks Caltrans' inaugural project on ECR incorporating infrastructure for people biking, presenting Palo Alto with an opportunity to pioneer the inclusion of green-painted bike lanes, delineating bollards, and bike boxes at intersections along this crucial corridor. SVBC supports bike lanes on El Camino to reduce traffic crashes, reduce congestion, reduce vehicle miles traveled, support the Housing Element and future residents of new housing developments, improve sight lines and safe systems, and take advantage of this once-in-a-decade opportunity to make El Camino the Grand Boulevard we all desire. SVBC shares the vision of the Grand Boulevard Initiative where El Camino Real is a thriving, vibrant, inclusive corridor that fosters a dynamic community where people can seamlessly live, work, shop, play and connect, prioritizing efficient transit and active transportation to enhance the overall well-being and quality of life for all. SVBC agrees that this project is not 100% perfect, it needs several more safety elements to have the envisioned benefits. At the same time, we would like to emphasize that this is just the beginning, it is the first step toward a corridor that is safe for all its users including people walking, biking, and driving. Along with this letter we are including an appendix which talks about past plans and efforts along El Camino Real, crash data, concerns around parallel routes, parking and consumer behavior, and more to provide a more holistic picture of all the benefits this project can provide. ECR stands out as the only non-freeway corridor that connects the Peninsula from Daly City to San José. This, coupled with the concentration of housing and businesses along this corridor, makes it the essential North-South route. ECR presents a crucial opportunity to create vibrant and complete communities – not just for the motor vehicles it was primarily designed for but to prioritize alternative and more sustainable modes such as biking and walking. ECR remains a high-injury roadway where more bicyclists and pedestrians are getting hit every day. This indicates that despite being unsafe, the corridor Building healthier and more just communities by making bicycling safer and more accessible for all 155 S 11th Street, San Jose, CA 95112 | bikesiliconvalley.org | 408-287-7259 continues to be heavily used by people walking and biking. Lastly, El Camino Real is poised to welcome thousands of additional new residents as part of planned and proposed housing developments. We must do everything to promote alternatives to driving that enable safe travel options, reduced car trips, and a healthy community to call home. Thank you for being an innovative bike leader in the Bay Area, through your policies, programs, and projects over the years. We are positive that the City of Palo Alto will take the necessary steps required to move forward with this project, once again setting a precedent for other cities. Sincerely, Clarrissa Cabansagan Executive Director Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition APPENDIX 1.Past Plans Detailing El Camino Real as a Preferred Bicycle Route This is a short collection of the most recent and most relevant planning documents that look at enhanced bike lanes on El Camino Real in the Palo Alto area. ●Grand Boulevard Initiative -This initiative aims at developing El Camino Real Corridor as a multimodal boulevard that is safe and efficient for pedestrians,bicycles,transit,and automobiles of all ages and abilities.A detailed section of El Camino around California Avenue was analyzed in great detail and with specific recommendations,strategies,and alignment options. ●Joint Venture Managers Mobility Partnership -In 2019,a partnership between the managers of four Silicon Valley cities (Palo Alto,Mountain View,Redwood City,and Menlo Park)and Stanford University completed a feasibility study to identify a preferred route for a long-distance, high-quality,separated bikeway that connects these cities.The study identified El Camino Real as the preferred corridor for the Peninsula Bikeway. ●2021 VTA Bicycle Superhighway Implementation Plan -El Camino Real is identified as one of the top 9 superhighway alignment locations. ●Caltrans District 4 Bike Plan 2018 -El Camino Real is identified as a location for Bay Area Bicycle Highway in the plan. Further Related Plans Supporting a Bike Lane on El Camino ●Palo Alto Sustainability Climate Action Plan (S/CAP)-Our very own S/CAPalso calls for developing regional and local bicycle highways to provide uninterrupted bike commutes.It also calls for implementation of the following policies as part of meeting our climate goals,all of this would be brought together with the addition of bike lanes on El Camino Real: T1.19.2:Prioritize investments for enhanced pedestrian access and bicycle use within Palo Alto and to/from surrounding communities T8.8.1:Identify and improve bicycle connections to/from neighboring communities in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties to support local trips that cross city boundaries. These changes to our roadways are anticipated to result in 12-18 million residential vehicle miles traveled (VMT)reduced by 2030 (a 4%to 6%VMT reduction by 2030),54-63 million commuter VMT reduced by 2030 (16%to 19%),and:22-36 million VMT reduced by 2030 (6%to 10%VMT reduction by Building healthier and more just communities by making bicycling safer and more accessible for all 155 S 11th Street,San Jose,CA 95112 |bikesiliconvalley.org |408-287-7259 2030).These anticipated reductions will not happen if we do not give people the opportunity and ability to bike to more places,more often. 2.But We Have Parallel Routes Yes,the City of Palo Alto has great parallel routes to El Camino Real like the Park Blvd and Bryant blvd. And so do some other cities along the corridor.As the map below shows,the alternative routes are neither direct nor intuitive and neglects the fact that more and more people bike to run errands and need direct and convenient access to business,retail,and services which often lie on El Camino Real and not on the parallel routes.Our Palo Alto members have specifically flagged the fact that the parallel routes exclude residents of Barron Park and College Terrace,as well as workers at the Stanford Research Park.For these areas,El Camino Real is the most realistic and easy to access connection to businesses, retail,schools,Stanford University,and services. 3.Road Violence Data Building healthier and more just communities by making bicycling safer and more accessible for all 155 S 11th Street,San Jose,CA 95112 |bikesiliconvalley.org |408-287-7259 El Camino is 0.5%of all streets in Santa Clara County,yet 2%of all roadway collisions and 3%of all collisions involving people walking or biking occurred on El Camino from 2012-2022.From 2012-2022, ECR in Palo Alto alone saw 11.8%of total crashes which included 14%of total fatalities.In total numbers, this is 123 total crashes,two people killed,and 29 injured. This data indicates indicates two primary things: 1.In its current condition,ECR is not safe and also not advisable for those walking and biking. 2.At the same time,given the high concentration of bike/ped collisions,it shows people are still walking and biking because of several needs and necessities calling for the urgent need to make this corridor safe. The collision assessment in the Grand Boulevards Plan says that the four most common crash types along El Camino Real are related to high speed traffic,wrong way bicycling,side streets and driveways,and red-light violations.Solutions to address these collision types include daylighting or green paint at side streets and driveways to improve sight lines and visibility for bicyclists,and traffic calming to reduce speeds -such as what is proposed as part of the Caltrans repaving plan. Jan 1,2012 -Dec 31,2022 Palo Alto San Mateo County Santa Clara County Total #of crashes on ECR 127 2144 1519 #of fatal crashes 2 35 19 #of pedestrian crashes 37 (24%of crashes in SCC)319 (14.9%)154 (10.1%) #of bike crashes 92 (40%of crashes in SCC)180 (18.4%)235 (15.5%) Source:Tims.berkeley.edu 4.The Parking Question ECR in Palo Alto includes about 250 parking spaces.(Please note,at least 100 of these are along Stanford properties,where many of our neighbors live in RVs and where there are no existing businesses). On-street parking on El Camino Real is currently permitted in a patchwork fashion -there are large stretches of red-curb areas designated as no parking zones,several spaces interrupted by driveways along with several off-site parking lots which includes several multi-storey parking lots like the ones along California Avenue which are often underutilized because people want a convenient on-street location to park. Building healthier and more just communities by making bicycling safer and more accessible for all 155 S 11th Street,San Jose,CA 95112 |bikesiliconvalley.org |408-287-7259 Parking occupancy data for other areas of El Camino are unknown but can be inferred from the Mountain View and Los Altos studies conducted.Average weekday parking occupancy was well under 50%and even lower on weekends in both Mountain View and Los Altos. There is a misconception that loss of parking will lead to loss of business.There have been several studies that bikes actually are good for business!-After a protected bike lane was installed in New York City,businesses saw a 49%increase in retail sales with fewer commercial vacancies.A study in Toronto concluded that those who arrive by bike or foot spend more dollars per month on average than those who arrived by car.And more locally,when new bike lanes were installed on Valencia Street in San Francisco,2/3 of merchants saw a positive increase in sales.We know that almost half of customers arrive at University Avenue by means other than a car. SVBC talked to several business owners along the corridor and many agreed that removal of parking would improve sight lines and reduce conflicts between people driving,walking and biking. 5.What about our RV-dweller neighbors? SVBC understands this housing crisis is entrenched and not likely to be solved anytime in the near term. For our neighbors living in RVs,including many who are school-age children,removal of parking along Stanford-owned lands would be devastating.Fortunately,on Southbound ECR from Stanford Ave to Quarry road which is the primary stretch where several motorhomes are parked,there is an existing Class-I trail on the Stanford property.We urge the City and Caltrans to retain the parking for this stretch in the interim until a permanent relocation solution is determined.We should also engage with Caltrans, Stanford,and homeless services partners immediately to begin discussion about how this issue should be tackled (in person and not with letter or email correspondence,this issue is too important). 6.What About Lane Reduction The 2007 El Camino Real Master Plan found that based on an analysis of future traffic volumes,no reduction in lanes along El Camino would be feasible within 400 to 600 feet of Page Mill Road.According to VTA,the agency has evaluated many alternatives for a Bus Rapid Transit for the El Camino Real corridor,including various lengths of bus-only lanes.After coordination with many of the jurisdictions along the corridor between 2010 and 2014,including the City of Palo Alto,it became clear that unanimous support for removal of Travel Lanes was insufficient to advance any of the designs.As a result of this discussion and opposition of dedicated transit lanes on El Camino,the City Council called for maintaining a 6-lane cross-section in the City’s Comprehensive Plan 2030,which was adopted in November 2017. Building healthier and more just communities by making bicycling safer and more accessible for all 155 S 11th Street,San Jose,CA 95112 |bikesiliconvalley.org |408-287-7259 7.Palo Alto is Not an Island -It’s About Connectivity Different cities have different proposals and recommendations for El Camino Real.Regional and state agencies also have some projects in the pipeline.The following table is a compilation of all the recommendations and projects in the pipeline along with details and timelines.If things move as scheduled,most of El Camino Real from Daly City to San Jose will have bike lanes before the end of this decade 8.YES To Even More Future Improvements Is the Caltrans repaving plan perfect?No.The corridor has wider lanes which should be reduced to 11’ outer lanes and 10’other lanes.The proposed protections between bike and vehicle lanes are not ideal. The plan does not adequately address with a high-level of safe crossing infrastructure intersections that are identified as El Camino Real school crossings in the city’s Walk &Roll maps and much more! Let’s be proactive and get these improvements into our pedestrian and bicycle plan,which is being updated right now! Building healthier and more just communities by making bicycling safer and more accessible for all 155 S 11th Street,San Jose,CA 95112 |bikesiliconvalley.org |408-287-7259 From:Katherine Dumont To:Council, City Subject:April 1 2024: City Council Agenda item 11, Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 11:28:24 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from khdumont@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Honorable City Councilmembers, I bike Palo Alto. I also walk and drive Palo Alto. My husband and I frequent many El Camino Real businesses in Palo Alto on a regular basis, including dentist’s and doctor’s offices, grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, bike shops, and a physical therapy office. I strongly support a resolution by City Council to remove parking on El Camino Real (ECR) and add bike lanes to make the streets safer–not just for me, but for all users. We have a safety problem on ECR in Palo Alto. It’s been documented in the reported accident rate, but we know from anecdotal evidence that the actual number of incidents is much, much higher. As a volunteer for Silicon Valley Bike Coalition, I recently helped survey dozens of businesses along ECR in Palo Alto. Business owners and operators mentioned safety as a major concern. They have a front row seat on ECR, and they report daily near-misses between the cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers they see coming and going. As a user of ECR, these stories resonate with me. As a driver, parked vehicles near driveways and intersections obstruct my view, whether I’m traveling along ECR or entering ECR. Cyclists and scooters come up on the sidewalk to avoid ECR, which is understandable, but it adds yet another element of danger, especially when they’re coming from the right. It can change the driving dynamic from hazardous to deadly in a split second. As a pedestrian, I’m now having to be aware of cyclists and scooters in my right of way, sometimes coming up on me from behind, and almost always without warning. As a cyclist, parked cars are a constant hazard, because I never know when someone is going to open a door into my right of way or pull out into traffic without seeing me. And yes, both my husband and I have ridden on the sidewalk for short stretches, to get to our destination on ECR and avoid the dangers of riding on the street. As studies in many US cities have shown, when parking is removed on busy streets, the rate of accidents goes down. As the volume of users continues to rise along ECR, it’s neither wise nor safe to continue to allow vehicle parking. We didn't get here overnight. We got here little by little, with each decision that prioritized convenience for a few users over the safety and comfort of the majority of users. But the future depends on the steps we take now, so I urge the City Council to vote tonight to eliminate parking in order to create a safer future for all users of El Camino Real. Thank you, Katherine Dumont Menlo Park From:Ken Kershner To:Council, City Cc:Star-Lack, Sylvia; Kamhi, Philip; khdumont@gmail.com Subject:Businesses and Bikers Interests are Aligned ECR Bikeways Agenda April 1 Item 11 Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 11:23:03 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Along with Katherine Dumont, I canvassed over 50 businesses on ECR in Palo Alto and shared information about the proposed Caltrans repaving plan and PA TMA Transit passes in January, February and March. We built an open source citizens' database of the ~188 businesses along ECR and counted the on-street to off-street parking available. Our key finding is the ratio of 9:1 off-street to on street parking showing that parking removal is not a hardship for most businesses except near Evergreen Park, where some RPP mitigation is recommended. Our spreadsheet database is here. And our presentation that was given to the PTC meeting March 16 is here. This has also been shared with the Chamber of Commerce. I strongly support removing on-street parking and installing protected bike lanes on El Camino Real as part of our city's Vision Zero commitment as well as our 2030 S/CAP 40% of work trip goal. I am grateful for Caltrans Complete Streets guidelines and the state funding. As someone who drives and bikes, separating bicycles from traffic by eliminating parking not only protects cyclists, but increases predictability for drivers by removing visual obstacles that can obscure people walking, biking or driving. A designated bike lane will also reduce today’s pedestrian and biker conflicts on the sidewalks. For businesses, protected bike lanes provide better access for employees and customers, while traffic calming creates a more inviting pedestrian environment that's been proven to boost retail sales. Cars are not customers, people are. People arrive by bike and walking as well as by car and bus. Studies have shown that bikers spend more per visit probably because they thoughtfully chain together their errands and shopping into fewer trips. Bikers are underserved by today’s car-centric ECR. Businesses can seize the opportunity to expand their customer base to more bikers and pedestrians. Yes, businesses may need to educate customers to park behind their store or on a side street but it’s a small adjustment that is more short term inconvenience than a hardship or lost revenue and well worth the benefits. Every biker is one fewer car. El Camino today is a stroad - S-T-R-O-A-D - a frankenglom of a Road - designed for efficient travel between distant destinations and a Street with pedestrians, cyclists and cars being used for shopping and errands - in a phrase Streets, and especially Complete Streets are for business, roads are for travel. More people biking means more customers, less congestion, reduced emissions, and a safer, more sustainable El Camino Real. Removing parking is an evidence-based Vision Zero best practice that many cities have embraced to eliminate one of the most common causes of collisions - obscured visibility. Hoboken, NJ a city of 60 thousand has proven this with 7 years of zero deaths. This road redesign presents a rare opportunity to truly prioritize safety over parking convenience. Maintaining the status quo with parking allows for an unacceptable number of crashes. I urge you to redesign El Camino as a Complete Street serving all modes by approving parking removal and protected bike lanes now, while continuing to plan intersection and hardscape upgrades. We cannot call ourselves a Vision Zero city while preserving an outdated, high-injury corridor design. Thank you. -- Ken Kershner | Co-Founder & CEOCell 650-248-9059 | Email k en@triomotors.coTrio Motors | Palo Alto From:Deborah Goldeen To:Council, City Subject:60 seconds is not enough time Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 10:40:11 AM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from deborah.goldeen@sonic.net. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ With the UN ceasefire resolution and protests in Israel calling for a general election, maybe we will get lucky and the resolutionists will give tonights meeting a pass. But if they show, does that mean everyone attending to speak to item 11 only gets 60 seconds? Three minutes isn't necessary. But one minute can't be done. What are we supposed to do, make our comment into Haiku? From:Betsy Megas To:Council, City Subject:Please put Bike lanes on El Camino Real (item 11, April 1, 2024) Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 9:11:41 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from dvortygirl@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor Stone and City Council: I hope you will take this once-in-a-few-decades opportunity to put bike lanes on El CaminoReal. Create a continuous bicycle corridor El Camino Real is one of the few surface streets that runs the full length of the peninsula andbeyond. I'm writing to you from Santa Clara, where we will be getting parking removal and bike lanes in an upcoming (2026) Caltrans project. Mountain View has similar bike laneplans. We need continuous bike lanes, not a patchwork or checkerboard that starts and ends at city lines. Address existing dangers and demandI hope you've seen a map of collisions on El Camino Real. It's a problem for all the cities it runs through, both high-stress and high-risk, especially for people walking and biking. Thesolution is not to banish bikes to circuitous side streets but to make El Camino a safe place. The crashes that already happen there speak to not only the danger but also the demand. Eventhough I don't visit Palo Alto very often and I try to avoid biking on El Camino in general, I've biked on El Camino in Palo Alto, because that was where my destination was. Improve safety for everybodyParked cars on the street can block the view for drivers pulling in and out of driveways. Drivers and pedestrians, too, will be safer when parking is removed, and safe places to bikekeep bikes off the sidewalks. In Santa Clara, this concern was one of the factors that led our council to decide in favor of removing parking and approving Caltrans's bike lane build as aninterim measure until the Central Bikeway is designed and funding sought. Bikes mean business There's a common concern that removing parking will decrease business, but it doesn't seem tohold up to real results. When people don't spend as much on driving and parking, they have more to spend on restaurants and shopping. When it's comfortable, bike and foot trafficincrease. Downtowns like Palo Alto's thrive in spite of car traffic; not because of it. This is an opportunity to make El Camino a friendlier, more inviting place to be a human outside of acar. I regret that I will have a schedule conflict this evening and will not be able to attend the council meeting to present these arguments in person. I hope you will support bike lanes and parking removal on El Camino Real in Palo Alto, andjoin the growing number of cities doing the same. Many thanks, Betsy Megas Santa Clara Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory CommitteeVTA Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Member/volunteer, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalitionspeaking for myself From:doria sTo:Council, City Subject:Fwd: Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 9:03:11 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments andclicking on links. ---------- Forwarded message ---------From: doria s <doriasumma@gmail.com>Date: Mon, Apr 1, 2024 at 9:00 AMSubject: To: doria s <doriasumma@gmail.com> Interesting article about real safety improvements for bikes/peds In Hoboken, New Jersey. https://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2024/03/10/new-jersey-street-parking-traffic-deaths/stories/202403100009#:~:text=Street%20parking%20was%20already%20scarce,bid%20to%20end%20traffic%20fatalities. Best, DoriaDoria Summa(650) 867 7544 Mobile -- Doria Summa(650) 867 7544 Mobile From:Zafarali Ahmed To:Burt, Patrick; Council, City Cc:Katie Causey Subject:A personal story from Park Blvd: we can do better. Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 8:53:19 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from zafarali.ahmed@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Council Member Burt, I wanted to share a personal story that happened to me during the weekend a few weeks ago on Park Blvd. Me and my partner were trying to access the Xfinity store on El Camino Real.We decided to chart our circuitous route to avoid ECR: 1. Use the Bryant ave bike Blvd 2. Go under Cal Ave crossing 3. Turn left on Park bike Blvd. 4. Ride Park Blvd until Olive Ave 5. Use olive ave to make our way to the sidewalk on ECR. For every part of this trip, we can do better. 1. I ride Bryant Ave quite often and it could do with some more traffic calming. Since there are no stop signs on it I frequently see cars gunning it and overtaking kids huddled togetherriding to/from school. Furthermore, cars frequently misjudge who has the right of way when crossing at Bryant, the slow bicycle or the big SUV? The intersection at N California andBryant is particularly bad: frequent fast cars and it only requires a small mistake or distracted driving to end with a disaster. 2. Cal Ave crossing is too narrow requiring a dismount. 3. The short stretch from the underpass to park Blvd is quite stressful, lots of cars entering andexiting Mollie stones and the big parking garages. 4. On park Blvd between cal ave and olive my partner and I were riding side by side when abig lorry came up behind us at a high speed honked and proceeded to accelerate forcing me into my partners path almost leading to a crash. As you can imagine this rattled us quite a bit. 5. Sidewalk riding involves having to be alert for pedestrians and cars entering and exiting the lots. This happens every time I need to access a business/leisure on ECR (including RealProduce International or the Stanford Dish). I address you directly because I want to highlight that having alternate routes are not sufficient replacements for direct access. If we applied this logic to motorists we could ask them to alldrive the 101 and reclaim ECR into a pedestrian paradise. The reality in all of these spaces is: bikes are a guest and our infrastructure needs to be better if we are to reach our safety, climate,health and sustainability goals. So in summary, please pass a resolution to remove parking add the protected bike laneson ECR. The plan is not perfect, but I have confidence that after seeing this much support forit, Palo Alto will prioritize improving upon the lanes and intersections building a solid backbone for current and future users of ECR. I am happy to follow up more on how I can see my trip change in 2025 when these lanes are done and Palo Alto has taken some leadership in fixing the gaps in its network. Thank you,Zafarali Ahmed From:George Lu To:Council, City Subject:ECR Bike Lane Public Comment Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 8:45:16 AM Attachments:Responses to George Lu - Palo Alto PTC - ECR Bike Lane Questions 3.11 (3).pdf Some people who received this message don't often get email from georgeglue@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Council, I’m writing to express support for El Camino bike lanes. I don’t take this lightly. I am concerned about the number of cyclist-car conflicts on El Camino. Just as we can’t allow status quo issues to continue, we must ensure future bike lanes are safe. Ultimately, I see parallels with Council’s decision to close Cal Ave to vehicle traffic. In that case, we didn’t have all the answers, but we had (1) a vision of a more livable community and (2) optimism that we could realize that future. There’s enough existing and future ridership to warrant a new bike lane. However, my major concern is Caltrans’ design, which is barely acceptable. 1. There are several particularly unsafe segments. See attached PDF of specific issues from the 3/13 PTC / HRC meeting (and Caltrans’ unsatisfactory responses). 2. The design can be reasonably good if we apply modest fixes to key issues, like eliminating sharrows and improving routing. For example, the current design asks cyclists to merge into a traffic lane once they enter Menlo Park. 3. With further improvements (including concrete-less quick build options for intersections or bus islands), the bike lane could be very good. Caltrans promised to be responsive to community feedback; Council must hold them accountable. Caltrans’ expected completion date is Fall 2025, so we still have some time to constructively resolve key issues. Overall, I urge the council to: 1. Support the bike lanes. Our motion can include conditions to push Caltrans to follow their own DIB-94 safety guidelines and eliminate sharrows. 2. Escalate to our state representatives. If we send a clear message, our representatives can pressure Caltrans to stay engaged and secure funding. 3. Direct staff to make El Camino safer. The city should aggressively identify and prioritize a slate of projects, like (a) red light enforcement cameras, (b) resolving right- of-way issues so Caltrans can build bus islands, and (c) restrictions on new ECR driveways. I believe Palo Alto can live up to its ideals for safety, livability, and sustainability. We should seize this opportunity and put in the work to make these bike lanes successful. Best George (speaking for myself, and not the PTC of course) El Camino Bike Lanes – Caltrans Questions General Questions The goal of these questions is to understand the broader context of these bike lanes, and how similar projects have proceeded elsewhere. 1.Can you confirm if DIB-94 guidelines apply to this project? If not, why not, and are there any alternative standards that we can reference? Yes. DIB 94 guidelines were applied for the new bikeway design. 2.Does Menlo Park have plans to add bike lanes? If so, is there any timeline or design concepts that you can share? We are not aware of any plans for adding new bike lanes by Menlo Park currently. 3.Can you share examples in the last ~5 years where Caltrans rolled out similar Complete Streets concepts? ○Ideally, we can see examples from arterials in mid-size cities, with a mix of protected and unprotected bike lanes. A simple list of examples would suffice, but it’d be great to see any more detailed notes or case studies if those are available. -East 14th St in Ashland (Unincorporated Alameda County) uses more permanent materials but has a mix of bike lanes and separated bike lanes throughout the corridor on Caltrans Road. -Hwy 152 in Gilroy used a repaving project to incorporate bike lanes on 1st St. This project installed buffered bike lanes with no vertical separation. -Hwy 12 Broadway in the City of Sonoma also used a repaving project to incorporate bike lanes. This project installed buffered bike lanes with no vertical separation. Physical Design Questions The goal of these questions is to understand safety risks and opportunities within existing designs. Protective Buffer Questions 1.Can we extend protective buffers more aggressively at intersections? a.Specifically, I’ve found several cases where the protective buffer ends 20+ feet before an intersection, which allows drivers to take fast right-turns through the cycling lane. (Similar conditions exist at Vista Ave, Dinah’s Court, etc.) b. For reference, see the highlighted section at Deodar, where: (1) protection ends ~50 feet ahead of the intersection; (2) there seems to be no driveway or bus stop; and (3) the travel lane is sufficiently wide to include a buffer. In accordance with Caltrans standards, there should not be protective buffers at intersections 50 ftto 200 ft. 2. What are the exact guidelines for the width of bike lanes and protective buffers? Would it be feasible or sensible to convert 7’ bike lanes without any protective buffer to a 5’ bike lane with a 2’ buffer? a. There are several unprotected sections with a 7’ bike lane, without other conflicts like bus stops and driveways. Presumably, these areas are unprotected because the right-of-way is too narrow to include a buffer. However, these unprotected 7’ lanes could plausibly become a narrower bike lane with a 1.5’ to 2’ buffer. (To be clear, I’m not saying this is the right tradeoff – I’m just asking whether this is reasonable.) b. For example, see some highlighted sections near Sheridan and Grant, where a 7’ bike lane abuts a 12’ car lane. Bike Box Questions 3.Can you confirm whether cars will be allowed to make a right-turn on red at bike boxes? How does Caltrans determine which intersections get a bike box? a.I’m trying to understand if it’s reasonable to add more bike boxes, especially along city recommended / safe school routes. Bike boxes were picked for locations to either reduce turning collision (California Ave) or to act as a wayfinding to direct cyclists to turn (Embarcadero). This counter measures increases cyclists’ visibility to motorists and to allow bicyclists to get ahead of queuing traffic during the red signal phase. Bike boxes can be used with a ‘no turn on red’ sign to clarify that the motorist cannot make a right turn on red. 4.How did you decide the placement of the ‘Two-Stage Turn Queue’ bike boxes at Stanford Ave and Embarcadero? The purpose of the bike box at Embarcadero and Stanford Ave is to direct northboundcyclists to the bike path along Stanford University. The green cross bike at theintersection is also serving this purpose. The bikeways end here, and it is not advisablefor cyclists to attempt to maneuver the undercrossing/ on ramps at Palm Ave/UniversityAve. This design is consistent with the MassDOT Separated bike lane design guide onhow to transition from a two-way bikeway (Mass DOT page 86). a.My understanding is that these are the only left turn bike boxes along El Camino in Palo Alto. I worry that if there are only two bike boxes of their type, that neither cyclists nor drivers will understand how to use them. b.I also worry that the green bike box in the middle of Embarcadero will be misperceived as a signal that the bike lane continues onward. Moving cyclists might not realize that the box is intended for left turns only, and instead think the box is part of green striping that invites them to keep riding forward into an No buffer required before and after T-section from 50' to 200' At this location, bike lane width varies from 5 to 7 feet. unprotected 22’ car lane. Route Design 5.Did Caltrans consider extending the Northbound bike lane from Embarcadero to Encina Ave? a. See how the area seems sufficiently wide, with a ~22’ right travel lane.The route wasn’t extended to Encina Ave, because the bikeway would have to end priorto University. The signalized intersection at Embarcadero offers a way for cyclists totransition to the Stanford Path. b.By continuing to Encina Ave, there’s a more natural way for cyclists to reach Caltrain, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Town and Country, and the Embarcadero Bike Path. There are positives and negatives about continuing the bikeway to Encina Ave. While it does provide more connections to the Embarcadero Bike Path, Churchill and Embarcadero Rd both have connections to the Embarcadero Bike Path as well. The design didn’t want to encourage cyclists to proceed northbound on El Camino after Embarcadero Rd. The bike box has a left arrow pointing cyclists toward the Stanford Path. c.As noted above, I think the green bike box + abrupt end of the bike lane is potentially dangerous, inviting cyclists to ride straight where they have no protection. By continuing the bike lane forward, we could add green paint that wraps around the corner of Encina, which signals that cyclists should continue through the Embarcadero bike path. 6.How are cyclists expected to continue north-bound in Menlo Park after Sand Hill? a.See how the north-bound intersection at Palo Alto Ave contains two flowing, fast right turns (one onto Palo Alto Ave; one off of Palo Alto Ave). It’s not clear how the bike lane then continues into Menlo Park. This is the end of Caltrans paving project limit so the bikeway ends after Sand Hill. The current design tried to continue the bikeways as long as possible before dropping it. 7.Have there been attempts to limit fast turns onto El Camino? More specifically, is there any communication with the county about Page Mill Road? The County informed the future project to improve this intersection and plan to begin after the Caltrans paving project is completed. The draft plan shows extending the corner sidewalk and removing the right turn lane at the porkchop island. a.For example, the highlighted section of Page Mill includes a porkchop / pedestrian island. Cars drive through that channel extremely quickly, and sight angles are awkward. It seems likely that the bike lane will be used as an extremely dangerous merging lane for cars. Ideally we can coordinate with the county to eliminate the porkchop (or at least add signs, lighting, more green paint, etc.). b.Note there are other fast-flowing right turns (like at Los Altos Ave and Palo Alto Ave) though none seem as dangerous as Page Mill. 8.At locations where protected bike lanes abruptly end, will there be signs to warn cyclists and drivers? What will the signs say? Sharrow markings are used to warn cyclists that a bike lane is ending. a.See intersection at Sheridan. Inexperienced cyclists may panic if they suddenly realize they’re sharing a car lane. (Similar conditions exist at Embarcadero, Churchill, etc..) 9. What are the design guidelines for lane width, including for bus lanes? a. Potentially lanes could be slightly narrowed (like from 11’ to 10.5’ for the central lanes, and 12’ to 11’ on the outer lane). This could allow a narrow Class 2 bike lane at Sheridan, rather than having to resort to sharrows. All the lane width will be reduced to 11’ and a class II bike lane will be placed here. Misc Design Questions 10.Can you briefly discuss any drainage improvements? Are there any guidelines for the design of sewer grates? There is no drainage improvement work in Palo Alto under this paving project. Most of the grates are shown as bicycle proof ones but we need to review all the existing grate types. a.I want to make sure we take reasonable steps to prevent flooding2, and avoid accidents where bike wheels get caught in grates. 11.Could design improvements for bus lanes be in scope? How much money or time would Caltrans need to consider a design like the example from DIB-94 below, where the bike lane is slightly elevated? There is insufficient Caltrans Right of Way to accommodate the separated bus lane as the figure/ example below. Figure 7-G - Diagram of an integrated bicycle/pedestrian zone at a bus stop (MassDOT Separated Bike lane Guide) From:Kay Chien To:Council, City Cc:Guagliardo, Steven Subject:Comments re: Caltrans SR82 El Camino Real Bikeway Project - April 1, 2024 Discussion Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 8:01:57 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from kchien47@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. To whom it may concern, I'm the property owner of 3239 El Camino Real, Palo Alto and my tenants have expressed thefollowing concerns regarding the SR82 El Camino Real Bikeway Project. I'm asking the City of Palo Alto to take their concerns into consideration as these are the business owners whospend their daily life at the property and will be the people directly impacted by the SR82 El Camino Real Bikeway Project. Roadside Parking will be Limited - Many tenants are Retails which their consumers will park on the road side if the parking space in the building is full. Unlike the nearbyCalifornia Avenue or downtown Palo Alto which have several public parking structure available, there are not many public parking space available in the area of the El CaminoReal Bikeway Project. In the Letter that City of Palo Alto issued regarding SR82 El Camino Real Bikeway Project, the tenants did not see the City address how they areplanning to "replace" the roadside parking that will be taken away for the bike lanes and are concerned. Having convenient parking for my tenants' consumers is very importantto their business and they would like City of Palo Alto to address the plan for parking in the area.Bicyclists' and Drivers' Safety - Many tenants would like the City of Palo Alto to be more clear about how the City is planning to protect the safety of both Bicyclists' andDrivers' when they are passing/coming in-and-out of the property. Will there be devices in placed for the bikers / cars to slow down or give them an warning? Many tenantsrecalled a couple close encounters between aggressive bikers/ drivers in the past few months. Sincerely, Kan-Hui Chien From:Frank Viggiano To:Council, City Subject:Please Remove Street Parking on El Camino Real and Replace it with Protected Bike Lanes Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 7:18:48 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. As a nearly lifelong Palo Alto resident and local cyclist I am writing to you to strongly urge you to allow CalTrans to proceed with their plan to remove street parking on El Camino Real and replace that space with bike lanes. El Camino as it currently is not safely accessible to cyclists. Despite this, we know that many cyclists do attempt to bike to ECR-based businesses and residences. Because cycling out in the traffic lane is rather scary, many of these cyclists end up riding on the sidewalk, which in turn endangers pedestrians (and we have heard this feedback from ECR merchants). In addition, the parallel-parked cars block sightlines, increasing the chance of collisions between autos and bikes or pedestrians, and even between autos and other autos. If you have tried to pull out of an ECR parking lot in your car, you have probably experienced this issue. I know that the biggest obstacle people have with this proposal is the loss of parking spots. However, the number of parking spots on the street is very small compared to the number of spots in the lots of the El Camino Real merchants (9 to 1 in favor of the lots). On the west side of ECR we have found that most of the occupied parking space is taken up by RV dwellers, a situation which the City needs to find a way to satisfy in a way that is safer for both the RV dwellers themselves and other users of the road – perhaps using the parking lot of one of the many unoccupied office complexes in Palo Alto. The City has invested heavily on public parking lots and parking structures, but in this case the safety concerns should take priority over a few more parking spots. There are legitimate reasons that we don’t allow parking everywhere, and having parallel parking on a road such as ECR is simply not best practice. Our neighbors in Mountain View and Los Altos have already agreed to this move to remove parking as part of this CalTrans repaving project, and, as a link up and down the peninsula, continuity and uniformity on this corridor is important. Replacing street parking with protected bikeways is a trend in many cities and towns throughout the US. Cambridge, MA is one such example which is in the process of replacing street parking with protected bike lanes on all of its larger streets. These changes have not adversely affected business at retailers located on those streets. And as someone who travels there on a regular basis, I can attest that these changes have also greatly improved the physical attractiveness of these streets, a factor which actually helps retail activity. The businesses on Palo Alto's ECR are hurting partly because, in its current state, it is not a very inviting place. We need to make it a beautiful grand boulevard that welcomes people to shop and eat there. Some have pointed out that the proposed design for ECR is not perfect, but we should focus on the improvement over the current status quo. Further improvements can be made in the future, and will be even more optimal after seeing exactly what worked and what didn’t. As those of us who made their careers in Silicon Valley have learned, it is better to make iterative changes and learn from those changes with real world feedback than to spend years trying to come up with a perfect design ahead of time before making any implementation. In summary, I'm so happy that we have this opportunity to jump start the improvement of El Camino and help make it the thriving boulevard it could be, and I hope that you will give CalTrans the go ahead to continue with their plan. Thank you for your time, Frank Viggiano View this email in your browser. Visit us on www.lwvpaloalto.org, Facebook, and Instagram. APRIL VOTER April 1, 2024 In this Issue Message from our Co-Presidents LWVPA Updates LWVPA Annual Community Appeal LWVPA Annual Membership Meeting LWVPA Thursday Conversation From:LWV Palo Alto VOTERTo:Council, CitySubject:LWVPA April VOTER: Your Support for LWV Palo Alto is Needed More Than Ever!Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 6:34:34 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Subscribe to our Google Calendar Board Meeting Highlights Advocacy Report In Case You Missed It: LWVPA Virtual Speaker Event with Rachael Myrow April is National Arab American Heritage Month Message from our Co-Presidents Dear Palo Alto Leaguers, March Madness! Between college sports (Go Stanford Women’s Basketball!), the start of the baseball season (Go Giants!), and the ultra- close primary election for our new congressperson, what a month it’s been! Amidst the madness, our League kept its collective feet on the ground, working diligently to improve voter education and maintain fairness and equity in our political systems. Thank you to our Membership Chair Sunny Dykwel who held a welcome and orientation for new members at her home to channel their enthusiasm into the League efforts of most interest to them. Remember to invite your friends and colleagues to join our League and get involved in protecting democracy at our local level. Another thank you to Erika Buck and her Nominating Committee members, Hannah Lu, Sunny Dykwel, Sheryl Klein, Paula Collins and Sonya Bradski, who have been developing a proposed slate of Board members for the coming year. This is one of the most important annual efforts since effective Board leadership is critical to the continuing vitality of our League. The committee has worked hard to identify the talented women who will make up next year’s proposed Board, to be presented for a vote at our Annual Meeting in May. Regarding the Annual Meeting, be sure to Save the Date! Sunday, May 19th, from 12:30-2:30 pm, at the Palo Alto Baylands Golf Links, with a light lunch provided. We’ll announce our special speaker soon. Registration information is below in this newsletter. Operational matters have also been a priority as we shrink our office at the PCC (Peninsula Conservation Center) building. We will be sharing space with another PCC tenant due to our decision to scale our office space to just what we need on an ongoing basis, as well as to explore digitizing important “memories” or historical documents that are valuable to preserve the history of our League. The details will be announced once everything is finalized. To close out the month, on March 27th we held a virtual speaker event arranged by Events Chair Myra Lessner and her team and featuring Rachael Myrow, Senior Editor of KQED's Silicon Valley News Desk, addressing the topic of "Free Speech in the Digital Age & The Mass Extinction of American Journalism.” This topic is of great concern to those dedicated to a strong democracy as there is nothing more important to informed voting than the protection of free speech and a free press. Thank you to Myra Lessner, Louise Valente and the Events Team for this critical work. And now it’s April, bringing showers (that bring May flowers!) and hope for rebirth and renewal. Coming up on Thursday, April 25th is our renamed “Thursday Conversation” informal meetup, welcoming members of the Stanford Local Government Affairs team to learn about the current Stanford Community Plan, from 4:30-6 pm at Homewood Suites. Thanks to Megan Fogarty for making the arrangements and Matt Dolan, GM of Homewood Suites, for hosting. April will also bring the solar eclipse phenomenon, but nothing can eclipse the fervor with which our League volunteers devote their precious time and talent to our mission. We know you share our mission of empowering voters and defending democracy; however, in an all-volunteer organization, we cannot do this work without your financial support. We are kicking off our annual community appeal with a goal of raising $25,000 for our 2024- 25 activities. In a critical year for our local community and the country, we hope you will step up with a generous donation. Look for our appeal that will arrive in your mailbox this week or make a donation following the instructions below in this newsletter. Thanks to all of you who help, in small and big ways, to keep the work of our League as successful and valuable to our community as it is. Judy and Nancy LWVPA Updates LWVPA Annual Community Appeal Your support for the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto is needed more than ever! We have a goal of raising $25,000 to support our League's volunteer-run operations and activities this year. Your donation supports our nonpartisan candidate forums and enables us to publish unbiased voter guides, register voters of all political persuasions, encourage all citizens to vote, hold public education forums on important issues, publish the Voter, send action alerts, and lobby for change in a nonpartisan manner. We hope you will continue your generosity as this year will be pivotal in making democracy work. Look for our appeal that will arrive in your mailbox this week or find out how to give below. For detailed instructions, go to our website, www.lwvpaloalto.org and click the Donate box. For a tax-deductible donation, you can mail a check payable to LWV California Education Fund, or LWVCEF. You can also donate to the LWV Palo Alto General Fund by sending a (non-deductible donation) check payable to LWV Palo Alto if you prefer to support the vital and important efforts of running our League. Mail all checks to: League of Women Voters of Palo Alto 3921 E. Bayshore Road Palo Alto, CA 94301 You can also donate to the LWV Palo Alto General Fund online by using PayPal. Thank you for being a valuable partner in the critical work we do. Donating to the League is an investment in democracy, and your financial support allows us to deliver on our mission. - Mary Nemerov, Fundraising Chair LWVPA Annual Membership Meeting Sunday, May 19, 2024 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm Light Lunch Will Be Included Baylands Golf Links 1875 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 We are excited to invite all members to join our 2024 Annual Membership Meeting, the most important gathering of the League year! Members will accomplish the following objectives of the meeting: Approve a 2024-2025 budget Adopt our top program emphases for 2024-2025 (Palo Alto) and for 2024-2026 (National) Elect new officers, directors, and a nominating committee Hear a special speaker, to be announced soon Registration is open now. Your participation is critical to help shape the important work that we do for the coming year. It's also a great opportunity to connect with fellow League members in-person. Your early registration is most appreciated to help us plan. We look forward to seeing you there! LWVPA Thursday Conversation Thursday, April 25 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Homewood Suites by Hilton 4329 El Camino Real, Palo Alto We will be joined by Kelly Kline and Maya Perkins of the Stanford University Office of Government Affairs for a conversation about Stanford land use and the recently approved Santa Clara County Stanford University Community Plan. Please note that our First Thursdays has been renamed to Thursday Conversation. These informal get-togethers can now be on any Thursday of the month to provide flexibility in scheduling. These gatherings will feature interesting conversations on topics related to our community and provide a place where we can share ideas and build community in an informal way. We invite everyone to join us! Register Now LWVPA March 2024 Board Meeting Highlights The March 26 Board meeting included a report from the Nominating Committee, discussion on steps to reduce the size of rented office space and to archive historic materials, and planning for our upcoming Annual Membership Meeting. Approved Motions: Authorize the Co-Presidents to 1) enter into agreement with Peninsula Conservation Center building management for a shared office space with Canopy (one-third to one-half of current office space and rent, plus continued access to conference rooms); 2) authorize purchase of new furniture not to exceed $800; and 3) donate unused furniture and equipment (excluding the 2019 Dell laptop that was never used). Approve consent calendar including approval of minutes. Our next Board Meeting is on Tuesday, April 23. All members are welcome to join the meeting by emailing contact@lwvpaloalto.org. - Megan Swezey Fogarty, Secretary Advocacy Report National Advocacy The League of Women Voters is at the forefront of the most important voting and reproductive rights cases across the United States. New Hampshire: Following robocalls featuring a deep-faked President Biden’s voice urging people not to vote in the New Hampshire primary, the League of Women Voters filed a federal lawsuit to block the use of AI technology to intimidate, threaten, coerce, or deceive voters. The message, sent two days before the New Hampshire primary, falsely implied that the voters could not vote in both the primary and general elections and urged voters to “save” their vote for November. Many calls spoofed the phone number of the former Democratic party chair, making it seem that the robocalls originated with her. The lawsuit argues that the robocalls violated laws that protect voters from intimidation, threats, coercion, and deception: the Voting Rights Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and related state laws. Florida: LWV Florida filed a federal lawsuit challenging a state law that imposed severe restrictions on voter registration activities by the League and its partners. Pennsylvania: LWV Pennsylvania and co-plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit to count absentee ballots that were returned and properly sealed by the statutory deadline but were rejected for being incorrectly dated. Alabama: The League of Women Voters of Alabama issued a statement after Governor Ivey signed SB1, which makes it a felony to assist in the distribution, filling out, delivering, and ordering of absentee ballot applications in Alabama: "Voters deserve equal and fair access to the ballot, including the option to vote by absentee ballot, and many Alabama voters with disabilities rely on the help of neighbors and voter assistance organizations to successfully cast their absentee ballot... We will continue to fight unjust laws like SB1.” LWV Arizona and members of the business community filed an amicus brief in the Arizona Supreme Court against reinstating an 1864 abortion ban. LWV Utah filed an amicus brief in the Utah Supreme Court supporting plaintiffs seeking to overturn Utah’s abortion ban. LWV United States (LWVUS) joined an amicus brief filed in Idaho v. United States and Moyle v. United States cases before the US Supreme Court. The cases concern whether states, after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, can block pregnant people from getting emergency abortion care in hospitals, which would have devastating implications for pregnant people facing medical emergencies. - Lisa Ratner, Advocacy Chair In Case You Missed It LWVPA Virtual Speaker Event with Rachael Myrow: Free Speech in the Digital Age & the Mass Extinction of American Journalism American journalism is struggling to keep up and struggling to stay alive. KQED's Rachael Myrow discusses the state of journalism, the larger trend lines, as well as the challenges in the digital age. April is National Arab American Heritage Month Watch the Recording Now Stay Informed! Sign Up for LWV California & LWVUS News & Alerts Click here to sign up for LWVC Newsletter and LWVC Action Alerts Click here to sign up for LWVUS Email News (at bottom) and LWVUS Action Alerts How to contact your elected officials All your elected officials United States President Joseph R. Biden (202) 456-1414 Senator Laphonza R. Butler (202) 224-3841 Senator Alex Padilla (202) 224-3553 Rep. Anna Eshoo (650) 323-2984 California Governor Gavin Newsom (916) 445-2841 Senator Josh Becker (650) 212-3313 Assemblymember Marc Berman (650) 691-2121 Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian (650) 965-8737 joe.simitian@bos.sccgov.org Other Areas in California Locate your elected officials by using your street address JOIN A TEAM Learn More About Our Teams and Programs on our Website! Facebook Website Instagram Copyright © 2024 League of Women Voters Palo Alto, All rights reserved. From Voter Recipient List Our mailing address is: League of Women Voters Palo Alto 3921 E Bayshore Rd Ste 209 Palo Alto, CA 94303-4303 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Questions? Please contact communications@lwvpaloalto.org. From:Tim Oey To:Council, City Subject:Yes, Bike Lanes on El Camino! Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 1:16:52 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from oey@post.harvard.edu. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Honorable Mayor and Palo Alto City Council, Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Caltrans has given Palo Alto an opportunity to expand itsbike network and make El Camino safer for bicyclists AND everyone else. The more who bike (instead of drive), the safer it is for everyone now (collisions) and in the future (pollution,climate change, health, etc). People already are biking on El Camino. We need to make it safer for them and also safer for all the others who need to bike on El Camino to reach businesses there and take more directroutes to wherever they need to go. I'm a bicycle instructor and a strong and confident rider. I have successfully taught some students to ride on El Camino. However it still takes considerable courage to navigate thisroute. Caltrans's proposed updates to El Camino are not perfect but they are a big step forward. Palo Alto has been a leader in making it safer for bicyclists and pedestrians yet it still hassome facilities that need major improvements. Roll with the Caltrans project and use it as a base to continue to make improvements. It is well worth removing some parking spots. Itsaves money and saves lives. Thanks! Tim Oey Zero Waste Engineer, ZeroW.orgLeague of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor #6033 From:Sharlene Liu To:Council, City Subject:YES on El Camino Real bike lanes, Option B Date:Monday, April 1, 2024 12:42:33 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from sharleneclimbsamountain@gmail.com. Learnwhy this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Palo Alto City Council, I support removing parking on El Camino Real and installing bike lanes. Specifically, Isupport Option B in the Agenda Packet: Adopt a phased approach that implements the Caltrans proposed bicycle lanes now and acknowledges additional analysis is needed to both incorporate a Safe SystemsApproach to the design yet establishes bike facilities that take into account future housing development on El Camino Real. I will be a frequent user of the ECR bike lanes when they are built. I live in Sunnyvale andhave to commute (by bike) to and in Palo Alto periodically for medical appointments and for dining. Because I'm not very familiar with PA, I have to first consult a map to identify a safebike route that is parallel to ECR. If bike lanes were installed on ECR in PA, I would be able to take ECR through PA instead of a circuitous alternative route. ECR is a major thoroughfare for people to reach the downtowns of all the cities on thepeninsula. Unfortunately, it currently accommodates mostly vehicles, and not bikes. We need to make it safe for bicyclists so that people can bike in PA safely and conveniently. Pleasepaint in bike lanes now, and then further improve its safety by incorporating a Safe Systems Approach to the design. Thank you!Sharlene Liu Sunnyvale Resident From:President LWVPaloAlto To:Council, City Cc:Lisa Ratner; Judy Kleinberg Subject:Agenda Item 11, Bike Lanes Comment LWVPA Date:Sunday, March 31, 2024 11:06:16 PM Attachments:LWVPA 4.1.24 Bike lanes.docx CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. April 1, 2024 Re: Agenda Item 11, City Council Meeting, April 1, 2024 (Protected Bike Lanes on ECR) Dear Mayor Stone and Council Members: The League of Women Voters of Palo Alto supports creation of protected bike lanes by CalTrans on El Camino Real but urges the City and CalTrans to take into serious consideration the safety concerns and design changes suggested by consultants Fehr & Peers to comply with the "safe system approach." Without those changes, the consultants state "the plan fails to account for high speeds of motorists along El Camino Real which would impose significant risks." The current plan probably isn't safe for bikes. Our League's Transportation Position supports city actions that minimize the use of single occupant vehicles, is safe and convenient for motorized vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians, and reduce greenhouse gases. The transit system should address the mobility needs of all, and be designed to reach employment, educational and shopping locations. Protected bike lanes planned by CalTrans are a good first step in creating a safe infrastructure for people who walk or bike on El Camino Real in conformance with our city's Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP). Protected bike lanes will help reduce vehicle miles traveled by single occupant vehicles and increase the share of transit by walking and biking, helping us reach our climate goals for 2030. Hundreds of new homes are planned for development along El Camino Real. Students will need a safe way to ride their bikes to school, as will people with various income levels and transportation needs, including food delivery workers, teens, service workers, and people who just prefer traveling by bicycle. Protected bike lanes will help serve the mobility needs of all. Sincerely, Nancy Shepherd and Judy Kleinberg Co-Presidents LWV Palo Alto 3921 E. Bayshore Road, Palo Alto CA 94303 (650) 903-0600 www.lwvpaloalto.org April 1, 2024 Re: Agenda Item 11, City Council Meeting, April 1, 2024 (Protected Bike Lanes on ECR) Dear Mayor Stone and Council Members: The League of Women Voters of Palo Alto supports creation of protected bike lanes by CalTrans on El Camino Real but urges the City and CalTrans to take into serious consideration the safety concerns and design changes suggested by consultants Fehr & Peers to comply with the "safe system approach." Without those changes, the consultants state "the plan fails to account for high speeds of motorists along El Camino Real which would impose significant risks." The current plan probably isn't safe for bikes. Our League's Transportation Position supports city actions that minimize the use of single occupant vehicles, is safe and convenient for motorized vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians, and reduce greenhouse gases. The transit system should address the mobility needs of all, and be designed to reach employment, educational and shopping locations. Protected bike lanes planned by CalTrans are a good first step in creating a safe infrastructure for people who walk or bike on El Camino Real in conformance with our city's Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP). Protected bike lanes will help reduce vehicle miles traveled by single occupant vehicles and increase the share of transit by walking and biking, helping us reach our climate goals for 2030. Hundreds of new homes are planned for development along El Camino Real. Students will need a safe way to ride their bikes to school, as will people with various income levels and transportation needs, including food delivery workers, teens, service workers, and people who just prefer traveling by bicycle. Protected bike lanes will help serve the mobility needs of all. Sincerely, Nancy Shepherd and Judy Kleinberg Co-Presidents From:President LWVPaloAlto To:Council, City Cc:Judy Kleinberg; Lisa Ratner Subject:LWV Palo Alto Comment on item 11; Caltans bike lanes Date:Sunday, March 31, 2024 11:05:42 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from president.lwvpaloalto@gmail.com. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. April 1, 2024 Re: Agenda Item 11, City Council Meeting, April 1, 2024 (Protected Bike Lanes on ECR) Dear Mayor Stone and Council Members: The League of Women Voters of Palo Alto supports creation of protected bike lanes by CalTrans on El Camino Real but urges the City and CalTrans to take into serious consideration the safety concerns and design changes suggested by consultants Fehr & Peers to comply with the "safe system approach." Without those changes, the consultants state "the plan fails to account for high speeds of motorists along El Camino Real which would impose significant risks." The current plan probably isn't safe for bikes. Our League's Transportation Position supports city actions that minimize the use of single occupant vehicles, is safe and convenient for motorized vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians, and reduce greenhouse gases. The transit system should address the mobility needs of all, and be designed to reach employment, educational and shopping locations. Protected bike lanes planned by CalTrans are a good first step in creating a safe infrastructure for people who walk or bike on El Camino Real in conformance with our city's Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP). Protected bike lanes will help reduce vehicle miles traveled by single occupant vehicles and increase the share of transit by walking and biking, helping us reach our climate goals for 2030. Hundreds of new homes are planned for development along El Camino Real. Students will need a safe way to ride their bikes to school, as will people with various income levels and transportation needs, including food delivery workers, teens, service workers, and people who just prefer traveling by bicycle. Protected bike lanes will help serve the mobility needs of all. Sincerely, Nancy Shepherd and Judy Kleinberg Co-Presidents LWV Palo Alto From:holzemer/hernandez To:Council, City Subject:Agenda Item #10 -- CalTrans" Proposal to add bike lanes on El Camino Real Date:Sunday, March 31, 2024 9:21:56 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from holz@sonic.net. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Honorable Mayor Stone and Council Members, I would like to add my voice, serious concern, and objection over the new CalTrans proposal to add bike lanes to El Camino Real, which is a major state highway (State Route 82) and isone of the most heavily used traffic routes throughout our City. My concerns are divided into two separate areas -- 1) bicyclist safety and 2) elimination ofstreet parking for commercial properties along El Camino. As for bicyclist safety, I find it somewhat surprising and even astounding that anyone wouldwant to ride their bike on El Camino within inches of fast moving vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, etc.) traveling at times over 40 or 45 miles an hour! What happens if a cyclist has amechanical breakdown (flat tire, gear malfunction) and slowly wanders out of their narrow lane into ongoing traffic? There are many numerous possible scenarios that would lead veryquickly to fatal accidents or serious major injuries. On top of that, is the vehicle driver distraction factor. I've seen it myself. Vehicles that are traveling next to bike lane are oftendistracted by what the cyclist(s) is doing in that lane. This leads to distracted driving for those vehicles, when drivers should be focused on the cars and traffic around them. I suggest this isthe wrong road to put bike lanes on and there should be other alternatives that the City should suggest to CalTrans. The elimination of street parking for the commercial businesses along El Camino should also be a non-starter for the City. I was involved several years ago when the City and the Councilintroduced the Evergreen Park/Mayfield Parking Permit Program. One of the specific goals of that effort was to try to eliminate the need for commercial businesses, along El Camino, fromparking in the Evergreen Park neighborhood and adding that parking for employees along El Camino. If street parking is eliminated on El Camino, you will have more commercialbusinesses, their employees, their customers parking in the neighborhood again -- something the Council and public said they wanted to eliminate. I think the City should do its ownspecific needs analysis on what the parking needs are along the El Camino corridor and only then discuss with the public and CalTrans what changes or adaptation should be consideredalong this major thoroughfare. I sincerely hope you will not support the CalTrans proposal for adding bike lanes to ElCamino. Thank you. Terry Holzemer 2581 Park Blvd. #Y211 Palo Alto, CA 94306 From:Andrea Eckstein Gara To:Council, City Cc:Hilary Glann Subject:Agenda Item #11 / Council Meeting on Monday April 1 Date:Sunday, March 31, 2024 8:07:53 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from aegara@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Palo Alto Councilmembers, 350 SV Palo Alto urges you to adopt bike lanes on El Camino, as per the Caltrans plan. This is very much in keeping with the city's priorities, and investing in safer infrastructure for people who walk or bike on El Camino Real and throughout the city is a necessary action identified in the city’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan. Additionally: In order to reach our 2030 emissions reduction target, the city needs to reduce total vehicular miles traveled as well as increase the percentage of local work trips that are made with bikes, walking and public transit. We cannot meet those commitments without new infrastructure. El Camino is a major connection to jobs, shopping, and services and would help with our needed VMT reductions. Hundreds of new homes are planned for development along El Camino Real. We need to ensure these new neighbors don’t just add to the road congestion. Let’s give them the option to safely bike. This is an equity issue: bikers using El Camino are often those making the lowest incomes, including service workers and food delivery drivers. Let’s make our city streets safe for everyone; reduce our climate emissions; provide a clear connection to jobs, homes, and adjacent cities; and take the first steps toward making El Camino Real the grand boulevard we all want it to be. Finally, we have to make sure that new bike infrastructure is indeed safe. We recommend that the City Council persuade Caltrans to adopt the safety improvements suggested by consultants Fehr & Peers to provide more protection for cyclists at intersections as well as narrowing lane width for cars to accommodate wider bike lanes/buffer zones for cyclists. Studies have shown that narrower car lanes reduce car speeds and crashes. https://narrowlanes.americanhealth.jhu.edu/ Respectfully, 350 SV Palo Alto Steering Committee From:Alan Wachtel To:Council, City Subject:Proposed El Camino Real bikeways (April 1 meeting, agenda item 11) Date:Sunday, March 31, 2024 6:44:43 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from alan.wachtel@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Members of the Council: You're being asked to make a snap decision on whether to remove parking on El Camino Real for bikeways, at the last second and on the basis of incomplete information. I share yourfrustration. I'm a long-time member of the City's Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee, but I can't speak for that committee, only for myself, because PABAC has never been given achance to offer recommendations to the City on most of the issues this project presents. I'm also a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and I've published bicyclesafety research (conducted in Palo Alto) in the institute's journal. In addition, from its formation in 1992 until it was dissolved in 2018, I was a member of the California BicycleAdvisory Committee (CBAC), which advised Caltrans headquarters in Sacramento. From 1999 to 2013, I served as CBAC's chair. I'll comment only on the proposed bikeways. Parking removal is a separate policy issue. This is not to imply that you should accept what I say on my authority, only that it deserves yourattention on its own merits. See my comments on the staff's proposed alternatives at the bottom. The proposed bikeways do not address the causes of car-bike collisions After maintaining that its collision statistics could not differentiate, and declining to give theCity access to them for its own analysis, Caltrans acknowledged last month that about two- thirds of the bicycle collisions in the El Camino corridor in Palo Alto occur at intersections,and half of all collisions involve bicyclists crossing El Camino, rather than traveling along it. Caltrans statistics also show that 79 percent of these bike crashes are broadside. Only 6percent are sideswipes, and rear-end crashes are too few to enumerate separately; they're lumped under "other" at 12 percent. These figures are consistent with those from the Bicycleand Pedestrian Transportation Plan update in progress and with the Safe Streets for All plan currently under development, and imply that intersections are the primary collision sites. Bike facilities along El Camino Real between intersections do not prevent crashes at intersections. Moreover, the Class IV separated bikeways proposed in some locations aredesigned to address sideswipe and rear-end crashes, which are infrequent. They do nothing to reduce broadside crashes, which are the most common type, and in some case may actuallyincrease their frequency. Although the proposal includes some general intersection upgrades that might improve safety,the best way to address bike and pedestrian safety in this corridor would be to identify the precise causes of collisions by analyzing crash reports and implementing corresponding context-related countermeasures. This project might well have overlooked many of the mostimportant safety improvements. We also do not know whether these crashes show a demand for bicycle facilities along ElCamino, as Caltrans maintains, rather than crossing it. As of last report, Caltrans had not taken the elementary step of counting bicycles along or crossing El Camino. This means it will alsobe impossible to evaluate the effects of any bikeways that might be installed in increasing bicycle traffic. Certain proposed bikeways may actually increase bike-car collisions Separation does not always, or even usually, need to mean a physical barrier. Class II bikelanes, delineated by paint or cross-hatched buffers, are suitable for this project. Lane stripes serve the purpose of demarcating space for bicycle traffic and indicating travel paths for bothmotorized and nonmotorized traffic, just as all longitudinal lane striping does. We do not expect physical barriers between every lane of vehicular traffic. Caltrans makes much of Design Information Bulletin (DIB) 94, "Complete Streets: Contextual Design Guidance," which recommends Class IV physically separated bikeways on high-speed,high-volume roads. DIB 94's uncritical endorsement, which unaccountably neglects the importance of minimizing and regulating crossflows, is difficult to understand in light of long-standing guidance whose reasoning remains valid and in effect. The City would be well served by expanding its outlook beyond DIB 94 to a broader range ofdesign guidance, including the Caltrans Highway Design Manual, other DIBs, and the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. For instance, DIB 89, "Class IVBikeway Guidance," includes the following statement, which applies to both major and minor intersections and driveways: "Intersection crossing points offer unique challenges to the design and operation of a separated bikeway. [T]he usability and safety of the separated facility depends heavily on the manner inwhich intersections, driveways, and alleys, as well as pedestrian facilities, interact with and connect to the separated bikeway and bikeway network. The bikeway must provide adequatevisibility at intersections, driveways, and alleys, to avoid right or left hook collisions in which vehicles turn in front of bicyclists traveling straight. As such, it is critical that careful thoughtand planning go into the design of all intersections, driveways, and alleys located along a bikeway." Bikeways that remain barrier-separated too close to driveways or intersections prevent motorists from merging toward the curb in advance of turning, as required by law and gooddriving practice, forcing them instead to make a nearly 90-degree turn. This creates the type of geometric conflict popularly known as a right hook, a well-known and common type of bike-car crash. Bicyclists--including the increasing number of faster e-bicyclists--must overtake turning vehicles in what for many drivers is their right rear blind spot, while traveling at fullspeed and expecting to have right-of-way, magnifying the chance of a collision. Lanes of traffic intended for vehicular travel would never be designed with right turns from the left ofthrough traffic. Excessive physical separation therefore has the potential to create new broadside conflicts, which did not exist before, at every driveway and minor intersection. In this way, Class IV separated bikeways resemble the sidewalk bicycling they are meant to supersede. It has been firmly established for many years (including through my own work) that bicycling on sidewalks adjacent to busy streets, though it might seem safer, can actuallycause more bike-car collisions than riding on the street itself. Bicyclists on sidewalks may feel separated from cars, but in fact they encounter unexpected conflicts with crossing and turningtraffic at intersections and driveways, at locations where neither party expects or can easily see the other. Class IV bikeways too close to driveways or intersections have the potential tocreate the same type of conflicts, with the same false sense of security. You would never know any of this from reading DIB 94. The Safe System Approach hasanalogous blind spots, which there is no need to go into further. The high density of high-volume commercial driveways along El Camino Real, and thefrequent unsignalized minor cross streets, make it particularly unsuitable for Class IV bikeways in most locations, other than the Stanford and Palo Alto High School frontages. Itwould be preferable to drop at least the flexible delineators, and possibly the painted buffer, 100-200 feet before driveways and intersections, as is done when solid bike lanes stripesbecome dashed. But Caltrans acknowledges that often there is simply not enough space between driveways to do this. Barriers should not be installed in such locations. It is hard to be sure exactly what mitigation measures Caltrans does intend, and whether they comply with the guidance of DIB 89, because the plans are insufficiently detailed. It's understandable that there is widespread popular enthusiasm for separated bikeways (often erroneously referred to as "protected bike lanes," though they are neither). But they may infact intensify the broadside turning conflicts that are already among the most frequent, and less experienced bicyclists are most at risk. This is why even Caltrans acknowledges thatproposals for more separation even closer to intersections are inconsistent with good design practice. The Fehr & Peers memo The memo from Fehr & Peers correctly identifies many of the potential shortcomings inCaltrans's proposal, but it also offers several misguided suggestions that would not be in bicyclists' best interest. The memo finds that: "The proposed design does not address the high-speed conditions for through and turningmovements, which contribute to the greatest kinetic energy risk (and therefore severe injury and fatality risk) for vulnerable road users in the corridor. In particular, the proposed designretains the number of vehicle travel lanes, retains wide travel lanes, removes the 'friction' associated with on-street parking, and does not address turning movement speed at theintersections/conflict points. High speed and/or uncontrolled vehicle conflict points for pedestrians walking along and across El Camino Real are not addressed." I fully agree. The greatest improvements to traffic safety for all travelers on El Camino Real would be to reduce vehicle speeds and minimize intersection conflicts. This should commandthe highest priority. However, F&P also recommend extending physical separation of Class IV bikeways all theway to certain intersections. This treatment conflicts with the well-reasoned design guidance of DIB 89 and should not be implemented, unless the resulting conflict can be resolved by special treatments such as separate signal phasing for bicyclists, which might be useful atdifficult intersections like Page Mill Road. PABAC has had minimal opportunity to participate in this process PABAC saw draft plans for the El Camino Real project at our meeting last May, though no one from Caltrans was present to explain them or to answer questions. Instead we submitted alengthy list of written questions, which went unanswered for nine months, until March 5, when Caltrans finally responded as part of this current initiative to generate public support fora proposal they had already settled on more or less unilaterally. Even so, many of our concerns were never actually addressed, only marked as "Noted." In response to Caltrans's request in November for parking removal, City Manager Shikada wrote to Caltrans with a number of questions about the project. PABAC was not consulted incomposing this letter and only learned of it when it was posted on the City's website. Caltrans gave a presentation on this project to PABAC on March 7. The committee was ableto ask questions, but was given no opportunity to discuss the project afterward or to make recommendations to City staff. PABAC was not consulted on City Manager Shikada's follow-up letter to Caltrans on March 14 and did not see that letter or the accompanying memo from Fehr & Peers until they were posted on the website. The staff report for this April 1 Councilmeeting likewise does not contain any comments or recommendations from PABAC. If PABAC has been shut out partly for reasons of timing, that only indicates a rushed andpotentially error-prone process. Alternative actions I urge you to think carefully about these issues before making any decisions. Removing parking from El Camino would facilitate bicycling there, by making more roadway widthavailable and eliminating the hazards of opening car doors. Class II bike lane striping, and even buffering, would help to identify and separate parallel travel paths. But in most locations,barriers have the potential for unintended consequences. Caltrans and the City also need to do much more to identify the causes of and mitigate bike crashes crossing, rather than along, ElCamino Real. The staff reports suggests the following alternative paths (my comments below each item): A. Defer action related to bike lanes until Caltrans provides a Safe System Approach Design that is DIB-94 compliant. Avoid focusing narrowly on DIB-94 or the Safe System Approach and their excessive emphasis on separated bikeways, which can introduce unexpected conflicts. Look for a designthat also complies with the Caltrans Highway Design Manual, the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and DIB 89, and that prioritizes speed reduction andintersection design, which have the greatest potential to improve safety. Also ask Caltrans for counts of bicycles traveling along and crossing El Camino, distinguishing those in theroadway from those on the sidewalk and those traveling with traffic from those against it. B. Adopt a phased approach that implements the Caltrans proposed bicycle lanes now andacknowledges additional analysis is needed to both incorporate a Safe System Approach to the design yet establishes bike facilities that take into account future housing development on ElCamino Real. The Caltrans proposal includes Class IV separated bikeways near high-volume commercialdriveways that call for closer attention before the City accepts them, along with the other issues listed in my comment on Alternative A. This would not delay the project. C. Defer action pending a Caltrans feasibility analysis on travel lane reductions to support parking protected bike lanes. This would be a terrible idea. Parking-separated Class IV bikeways (not "bike lanes," which are distinct in design, law, and function) trap bicyclists in a narrow channel, making it difficultto pass slower bicyclists, avoid debris or potholes, or turn left; expose bicyclists to car doors opening on the passenger side; and obstruct sight lines approaching driveways or intersectionswhere cars and bikes must interact. D. Align decision of bicycle facilities on ECR with the update of the BPTP to complete in late2025. This may be unrealistic. El Camino Real will be and needs to be paved now. Even a futureproject that only needs to realign lane stripes would potentially be disruptive. It would also likely shift costs onto the City. In fact, this might be true of any alternative that doesn'tconform to Caltrans's repaving schedule. And I would add to all alternatives: Insist that PABAC be consulted in all pedestrian- andbicycle-related decisions. That is what a Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee is for. Staff and the Council are under no obligation to follow our advice, but you ought to knowwhat it is. ~ Alan WachtelPalo Alto From:Aram James To:Binder, Andrew; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Rosen; Reifschneider, James; Robert. Jonsen;kenneth.Binder@shf.sccgov.org Cc:<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Angel, David; Wagner, April; Baker, Rob; Bill Newell; Bryan Gobin; Cindy Chavez; Council, City; D Martell; Daniel Kottke; Emily Mibach; Enberg, Nicholas; Jensen, Eric; GRP-City Clerk; GRP-City Council; Human Relations Commission; Joe Simitian; Linda Jolley; Lotus Fong; Van Der Zwaag, Minka; Palo Alto Free Press; Sheriff Transparency; Supervisor Otto Lee; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Perron, Zachary; Lee, Craig; cromero@cityofepa.org; district1@bos.sccgov.org; Figueroa, Eric; Foley, Michael Subject:Request on deputy gang probe is flouted Date:Sunday, March 31, 2024 2:36:00 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Request on deputy gang probe is flouted https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=d617c6d2-85ab- 44cb-a571-bf7c3b15fb3e&v=sdk From:Aram James To:<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Angel, David; Binder, Andrew; Bryan Gobin; Cecilia Taylor; Cindy Chavez;Council, City; D Martell; Damon Silver; Daniel Kottke; Dennis Upton; Don Austin; Ed Lauing; Enberg, Nicholas;Jensen, Eric; GRP-City Council; Greg Tanaka; Human Relations Commission; Jay Boyarsky; Hornung, Joel; JulieLythcott-Haims; KEVIN JENSEN; Kaloma Smith; Karen Holman; Linda Jolley; Lotus Fong; Lydia Kou; Van DerZwaag, Minka; O"Neal, Molly; Pacific GrovePD; Palo Alto Free Press; Reifschneider, James; Salem Ajluni; Shikada,Ed; Stump, Molly; Supervisor Otto Lee; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Tom DuBois; Vara Ramakrishnan; WILPFPeninsula Palo Alto; Perron, Zachary; dennis burns; Figueroa, Eric; Tannock, Julie;kenneth.Binder@shf.sccgov.org; Foley, Michael Subject:From the archives of Aram James JAMES AND KONDA: THE TIME HAS COME FOR A POLICE CRIMES UNIT Aram James and Richard Konda - SV De-Bug - August 20, 2020 - 7 minute read Date:Sunday, March 31, 2024 10:47:31 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. JAMES AND KONDA: THE TIME HAS COME FOR A POLICE CRIMES UNIT Aram James and Richard Konda - SV De-Bug - August 20, 2020 - 7 minute read FYI: From the archives of Aram James https://www.siliconvalleydebug.org/stories/james-and-konda-the-time-has-come-for-a-police-crimes-unit From:Aram James To:Angel, David; Angie, Palo Alto Renters Association; Cindy Chavez; Council, City; D Martell; Don Austin; EdLauing; Human Relations Commission; Jack Ajluni; Jeff Moore; Joe Simitian; Josh Becker; Julie Lythcott-Haims;KEVIN JENSEN; Kaloma Smith; Linda Jolley; Lotus Fong; Michelle; Zelkha, Mila; Van Der Zwaag, Minka; O"Neal,Molly; Palo Alto Free Press; Bains, Paul; Salem Ajluni; Sean Allen; Shikada, Ed; Stump, Molly; Supervisor OttoLee; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Vara Ramakrishnan; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; dennis burns;district1@bos.sccgov.org Subject:Bowman calls Netanyahu a ‘maniac,’ demands removal from office Date:Sunday, March 31, 2024 9:53:04 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Bowman calls Netanyahu a ‘maniac,’ demands removal from office https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4565728-bowman-calls-netanyahu-a-maniac-demands-removal-from-office/amp/ From:Chris Parry To:Council, City Subject:Public comment for 4/1/2024 City Council Meeting; Agenda Item No. 11 Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 9:58:08 PM Attachments:Letter to PA City Council.pdf [Some people who received this message don't often get email from kahscho@gmail.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clickingon links.________________________________ Dear Palo Alto City Council, I’m submitting the attached letter to comment on Agenda Item No. 11 for the April 1, 2024 City Council meeting. Regards, Chris Parry March 30,2024 Palo Alto City Council City of Palo Alto city.council@cityofpaloalto.org Re:Letter in of Support Replacing Street Parking with Bike Lanes on El Camino Real (Item 11 on the Agenda for April 1,2024 City Council Meeting) Dear Palo Alto City Council, I am a Mountain View resident who frequently commutes to destinations in Palo Alto –via bicycle and driving.I am writing in support of the proposal to remove street parking on El Camino Real and to install protected bike lanes in that space. I’m concerned that in El Camino Real’s current layout,the street parking creates unsafe conditions for drivers.This is illustrated by the picture below (taken from Google StreetView, depicting the stretch of El Camino Real near Wilmer Hale in Palo Alto). I would ask you to imagine that you are the driver of that Black SUV in the above picture who is trying to make a right hand turn onto El Camino Real.Many of the cars are traveling down El Camino at high speed.Then there are several parked cars on El Camino (e.g.,the white SUV)that are obstructing the driver’s view of oncoming traffic. I frequently encounter this problem when I drive to locations on El Camino Real.When I exit the parking area to merge onto El Camino,the cars parked on the road obstruct my view. This problem gets worse when oversized vehicles are parked there –e.g.,delivery vans,trucks, RVs.If street parking were replaced with protected bike lanes then drivers would have a clear view of oncoming traffic when turning onto El Camino Real. Needless to say,adding bike lanes would also make El Camino Real safer for cyclists.The conditions on El Camino Real today are extremely unsafe for cyclists –a high volume of fast moving traffic with no separation between cars and bikes.Despite these unsafe conditions, there are some cyclists who still ride on El Camino Real.Unfortunately,there have also been a number of collisions –which will continue to happen in the future unless the current street design is changed. I’ve heard some concern expressed regarding the impact that removing street parking would have for businesses that do not have an off-street parking area.In my experience,most businesses on El Camino Real have parking lots off the street.For those that don’t,there is usually parking available on nearby side streets that is only a short walk away (i.e.,less than a block).Trading a little bit of inconvenience for improved public safety seems like a worthwhile investment. I urge the Council to vote in favor of removing street parking from El Camino Real and replacing that space with protected bike lanes. Sincerely, Chris Parry Mountain View resident From:Natalie Geise To:Council, City Subject:Council Meeting Apr 1, Item 11 - Caltrans’ Repaving Project of El Camino Real Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 6:10:38 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from natalie.geise@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council Members, I am writing to support a resolution to remove parking on El Camino and install bike lanes. Ihave ridden my bike on El Camino (when I have forgotten a turn to stay along recommended bike routes) and I would do so much more willingly with the addition of bike lanes. I live halfa block off of El Camino in the Mayfield neighborhood and would love the option to bike to places like Real Produce Market, Dumpling City, and State of Mind Pizza. I have summarized and linked a few studies below on similar bike lanes. Each of the studieslinked below addresses a safety concern seen raised at the previous public meetings. I share those concerns, but based on the data, I am reassured that the proposed bike lanes will bothprotect the riders who already bike regularly on El Camino, as well as those who may start riding more often. Please support this resolution and work with Caltrans to make proposed bike lanes even saferthrough some of the specific suggestions put forth by the City's consultants and at the PTC meeting such as addition of bike boxes, restriction of rights-on-reds, and elimination ofsharrows. Thanks, Natalie Concern: El Camino is a high speed road, inappropriate for bikes A study of 37 miles of urban arterial roads in Florida where bike lanes were installed showed that the bike lane had positive safety effects for all crashes and bike crashes.They found that after adding a bike lane, numbers of crashes were reduced by 22% for all crashes and 62% for bike crashes. They also studied the impact of annual averagedaily traffic and number of lanes and found crash modification factors (multiplicative factor that indicates the proportion of crashes that would be expected after implementinga countermeasure) of less than 1 for roads with very similar traffic levels and lane numbers as El Camino. This study did remove intersection crashes and did not look atbike traffic rate changes over time. (link) Concern: The proposed bike lanes do not provide enough buffering, separation orprotection An analysis from New York City measured the changes in cyclist risk (cyclist injuriesper 10M cyclists per mile) before and after installation of bicycle projects. The study showed a risk reduction of -32% across all study projects of conventional bike laneinstalls (which they define as "a lane defined only by paint, sometimes referred to as Class II Bicycle Facilities") and improved safety on all classes of streets (low, medium,and high volume). (link) Concern: If ridership increases, there may be an increase in total crashes even is the riskis reduced Another study in New York City looked at the installation of on-street, unprotectedbicycle lanes did not find statistically significant increases in crashes or KSIs for areas where lanes were installed compared to similar roads with no bike lanes, for either ofsegment or intersection crashes. The study did not control for increases in traffic on the routes, but noted importantly that bicycle ridership volume in the city increased duringthe study period, with a 123% increase during the study period. (link) From:Loran Harding To:Loran Harding; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; bballpod; bearwithme1016@att.net;fred beyerlein; Leodies Buchanan; David Balakian; boardmembers; Council, City; Cathy Lewis;cramirez.electriclab133@gmail.com; dennisbalakian; dan.richard@earthlink.net; Doug Vagim;dallen1212@gmail.com; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu;Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; Sally Thiessen; Joel Stiner; jerryruopoli; kfsndesk; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; Kevin.Nower@bestbuy.com; nick yovino;news@fresnobee.com; newsdesk; russ@topperjewelers.com; margaret-sasaki@live.com; Steve Wayte; MarkStandriff; Mayor; maverickbruno@sbcglobal.net; merazroofinginc@att.net; MY77FJ@gmail.com; terry; tsheehan;vallesR1969@att.net; yicui@stanford.edu Subject:Fwd: GM will make H2 Med. Duty truck Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 4:35:19 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>Date: Fri, Mar 29, 2024 at 9:44 PM Subject: GM will make H2 Med. Duty truckTo: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Saturday, March 30, 2024 To all- Scotty Kilmer says in the vid below that GM will make a med. duty truck to run on H2. Lots of fed. $ to get this started. Kilmer tells here why it makes sense: GM's CEO Just Said, "Screw Electric Cars, We're Building This Instead"(youtube.com) These fuel like gasoline, i.e. fast. The H2 is in liquid form so it is COLD. The nozel can stick it's so cold. See vids on the Toyota Marai. Morai? The H2 pumps for it are only in S.Calf for now. Iceland was running buses on H. Some oil Co. in Bakersfield says it will set up a H plant. Put positive and negative electrodes in water, turn on the e-, and hydrogen bubblescome off of one electrode and oxygen bubbles come off of the other one. Called electrolysis of water. No big batts but you do have to have very strong tanks for the H2. It is under pressure. Coola gas enough and it liquifies. Fuel cells, which Elon has called fool cells. GM was working on H2 powered vehicles around 2000. Wash. DC and LA. SUVs and every year the fuel cell stack got lower. GM haslots of experience with fuel cells. A H atom enters the fuel cell. The electron goes off around a circuit. That is electricity driving motors. The proton goes through a membrane. The electron comes back, this time onthe same side of the membrane as the proton, they join and you have a complete H atom again. Two of those join with an oxygen atom which the car inhales from the outside, and you have a molecule of H2O, water, which dribbles out the tailpipe onto the road. No carbon involved atall. No CO2 emissions. You do need electricity to hydrolyze the water. Source: Solar, wind, and, I think, those new small nuclear reactors which are being tested now at the National Lab in Idaho. Someday,limitless electricity from fusion. They'll get that, but I'll be surprised if it's before the year 2100. In the mean-time, the seas will rise six feet by 2100 if we don't make huge progress inreining in CO2 production. Then 16 more feet the next century. That's provided the permafrost doesn't melt. When it does, it releases methane, CH4. It is 16X more potent as a GHG thanCO2. An ice-free planet will see a sea level rise of 230 feet from here. Even six feet will cause chaos. And, if you've really run out of things to worry about, Prof. Noah Diffenbaugh at Stanfordsays that by 2070 we will continue to have huge precipitation in the Sierras. Problem is, it will all be as rain, not snow. Forty-six years. Going back, 46 years ago was 1978. Check with Prof.Diffenbaugh. L. William Harding Fresno, Ca. From:Scott Kenealy To:Council, City Subject:Parking and Bike Lanes on ECR Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 3:53:33 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from kenescott@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello councilmembers, There is a vote up at the April 1st meeting regarding whether El Camino Real should maintainstreet parking or whether protected bike lanes should be installed. I'd like to express my support for installing protected bike lanes. There are two reasons I support this:- I would be more likely to ride up to Palo Alto for shopping and dining if it were easier to get there by bike. I have a car but I prefer going places I can get to on my bike.- As a general rule, I think moving vehicles should get priority over non-moving vehicles on streets. Businesses can band together to build an off-street garage for their customers that wantto park, but they can't do anything about customers having a bad route a mile away. I live in Sunnyvale, but I do like to spend my weekends riding my bike to the various downtowns and grabbing coffee and lunch. I recently went to downtown Cali Ave for Zareensand Backyard Brew one nice weekend, but because ECR is hostile if you're not a car, we took a roundabout way. I've also tried smaller streets between ECR and Caltrain on my bike toget to Palo Alto, but it's quite unpleasant and I don't think I'd do it again. Mountain View is adding lanes on ECR, so if Palo Alto did the same, I'd likely visit your businesses much more. Thank you,Scott Kenealy From:YORIKO KISHIMOTO To:Council, City Subject:Item 11: bike lanes vs. parking on El Camino Real Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 3:49:31 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Item 11: Potential Approval of Resolution to support El Camino Repaving Project by Replacing Car Parking with Bicycle Lanes Dear Mayor Stone and Honorable City Council members: Carpe diem! Please approve Option B of your alternate paths by adopting a phased approach that implements the Caltrans proposed bicycle lanes now and acknowledges additional analysis is needed to both incorporate a Safe System Approach to the design yet establishes bike facilities that take into account future housing development on El Camino Real. I am so grateful that our state agency, Caltrans, has committed to a complete streets philosophy in its planning and goals and our neighboring cities like Mountain View have already supported adding visible and continuous bike lanes on El Camino Real. In adopting Option B, the city would need to commit to a serious program of designing and finding the funding for all the intersections and crossings. We also need to design a feasible way for VTA buses to pull over and to pick up and discharge passengers without creating safety hazards for bicyclists. I would use the bicycle lanes myself sometimes in biking to the headquarters of Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District near Showers and El Camino from Palo Alto. Currently when I bike there, I do enjoy the side routes of Bryant bike and Park boulevards and California Avenue in Mountain View. But I need to wind my way on half a dozen streets vs. two streets if I could go straight down El Camino - it’s simply more straight forward. As a regional and state bike facility, it would be a major asset for workers and residents especially as we add more and more housing on this street. Taking away rows of parked cars and dedicating them for prominent green bike lanes would in itself transform the look and feel of ElCamino Real. I strongly support the city doing everything it can to make El Camino usable but safe by reducing unsafe speeding, by improvingall the intersections to make them safe to cross, and allowing Caltrans to move forward by removing car parking on the streetand replacing them with green bike lanes. Thank you very much for your hard work and attention to this important decision. Yoriko Kishimoto Former Mayor of Palo Alto 251 Embarcadero Rd, Palo Alto From:Jo Ann Mandinach To:Council, City Subject:Comcast on track to bring ultra-fast fiber internet service to Palo Alto - Silicon Valley Business Journal Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 2:17:29 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from joann@needtoknow.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2024/03/29/comcast-ultra-fast-fiber-internet-palo-alto.html COMCAST?? Whatever happened to PA's ridiculously expensive AT&T Fiber To The Home? Are we still stuck paying for that, too?? From:Bruce England To:Council, City Subject:RE: City Council Agenda Item 11 - Discussion of Caltrans’ Repaving Project of El Camino Real, Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 12:10:37 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from bkengland@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear members of Palo Alto City Council: Like others in your community and in the region, I value any safety features that can make ElCamino safer for those walking and biking through the space, including adding bike lanes that are currently lacking and any related infrastructure to support the additions. As you know, El Camino in its present design is nearly exclusive to serving motor vehicles,and this doesn't take into account the reality that bicyclists use this transportation route, and more would if it were adequately safe. As we move into an era where active transportation is being prioritized in our jurisdictions,and when cities north and south of you are having related discussions, the time is right to course correct and for Palo Alto and Caltrans to work together to make the bike lane changesunder consideration at your upcoming City Council meeting. Best regards, Bruce England328 Whisman Station Drive Mountain View, CA 94043 From:Dhruv Khanna To:Office of Supervisor Sylvia Arenas; Office of Supervisor Otto Lee; Office of Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; CountySupervisor Joe Simitian; Cindy Chavez; Board of Directors; Council, City; San Francisquito Creek Joint PowersAuthority Cc:Kevin Fisher Subject:Fw: Sponge areas for flood control Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 10:42:34 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Honorable Supervisors of Santa Clara County, Directors of Valley Water, City Council Members of the City of Palo Alto and Exec Director of the San Francisquito Creek JPA: Please see the forwarded article below from the New York Times. For more than the past 25 years, our relevant government agencies have ignored the cheapest and most efficient and effective solution to the flash flooding of the San Francisquito Creek: flooding the creekside Stanford Golf Course with gates, trenchesand walls that can be activated to deal with the flash flooding of the San Francisquito Creek. It is an absolute scandal that the government agencies (including your agencies)have been seemingly endlessly churning this issue and are continuing to ignore the easiest, public interest solution -- with the invocation of eminent domain if Stanford University is recalcitrant. The Stanford Golf Course is creekside. It has acres that can be flooded temporarily to address the flash flooding problems of the creek withminimal cost and inconvenience. It is far less expensive and a better solution than the ones the JPA has been wrestling with -- channel management etc -- with very little success. The existing Pope-Chaucer Bridge IS a choke point that has shifted flood risk upstream to residents of the Duveneck Elementary School neighborhood. Temporarily flooding the Stanford Golf Course is the most efficient solution that best serves the public interest. Thank you for considering these simple points, and I request a response from each of your agencies within the next thirty calendar days. Thank you, Dhruv Khanna, 742 Alester Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94303 ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Dhruv Khanna <dhruvkhanna2002@yahoo.com> To: Dhruv Khanna <dhruvkhanna2002@yahoo.com> Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2024 at 09:26:48 AM PDT Subject: Sponge areas for flood control https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/climate/sponge-cities-kongjian-yu.html? unlocked_article_code=1.gk0.1nNe.J4axOVnD5Wmg&smid=url-share Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone From:Robert Neff To:Council, City Cc:Neff, Robert Subject:4/1/24 Item 11: ECR Repaving Project Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 9:25:56 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Palo Alto City Council March 30, 2024 Re: April 1, 2024 Item 11, El Camino Bike Lanes Honorable Council Members, Regarding Item 11, on the April 1, 2024 agenda, El Camino Real Paving Project: I write in support of staff option B, “Adopt a phased approach that implements the Caltransproposed bicycle lanes now and acknowledges additional analysis is needed to both incorporate a Safe System Approach to the design and establish bike facilities that take into account future housing development on El Camino Real.” I think converting parking to bike facilities, and pedestrian improvements is the right approach to El Camino Real long term, and taking advantage of this CalTrans repaving project as anopportunity to move forward at low cost should not be missed. I think if the other choices offered in the staff report are taken, then we will likely see no change in the streetscape on El Camino Real for 10 or 20 years, much like the previous 40 years. We know we need to make ourtransportation systems support active transportation and transit better, to improve the street, and to meet our long term sustainability goals. This is a fiscally effective way to get started. Additional improvement should be expected, as improvements in bike facilities, pedestrian crossings, and traffic corridors are ongoing throughout the city. Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good. Removing parking needs analysis and a plan for existing users of free parking on El Camino. Between now and the actual repaving and restriping in 2025, plans can be made. Volunteer andcity efforts to quantify current use have shown that while 90% of the parking on ECR is already “on-site” and off-street, there are sections that are heavily used with the current free parking. If parking must be maintained in some blocks, then let’s identify those locations, put a user priceon that parking, and support development of a plan to mitigate the impact to bicyclists and pedestrians. I hope you will move us forward on this, and adopt a version of staff option B. Thank you for your service to the city of Palo Alto. – Robert Neff Emerson near Loma Verde A volunteer led report on parking occupancy is here: 2024 El Camino Real Parking Occupancy Survey 1p1https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZPt2RVRrYEB6gnFlBHupzj_1tkSnmGZQTp87mpLywo/edit? usp=sharing A volunteer led report on on-site parking is here: Snapshot ECR Canvassing 3/4/2024 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1A5mOhz8k4XWYwVLcuKUvEr1qgyk-0ViQ6sFw3_k2U- U/edit?usp=sharing -- -- Robertrobert@neffs.net From:Serge Bonte To:Council, City Subject:re: 4/1/24 Meeting Agenda Item 11 - Discussion of Caltrans’ Repaving Project of El Camino Real, Including Replacing Existing Parking with Bicycle Lanes, and Potential Approval of a Resolution to Support this Project; CEQA status – categorically exempt. Date:Saturday, March 30, 2024 8:29:51 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from sbonte@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Honorable Mayor and Palo Alto City Council: I am writing as a Mountain View neighbor in support of allowing Caltrans to put bike lanesand other safety improvements along the Palo Alto portion of El Camino Real. First, since Mountain View and Los Altos will be getting bike lanes on their sections of ECR, nobody would want the bike lanes to just disappear when crossing into Palo Alto. That initself would be unsafe. Second, I certainly agree there are far safer parallel routes in Los Altos, Mountain View and Palo Alto. However, like many residents in our cities, I do have to navigate a portion of ElCamino Real in order to reach these parallel routes. Navigating ECR always entrails crossing it but also biking on a small section when intersections are not aligned (for instance El Monteand Escuela in Mountain View). Also, as more housing is built along El Camino Real, in order for these residents to reach these safer parallel routes, they will need to navigate a smallsection of El Camino Real (from their home to the nearest corner). While I don't think folks will use the Caltrans bike lanes for long distances, the bike lanes and other improvements (higher visibility crosswalks, bike markings at intersections...) will greatlyimprove safety for all local cyclists and pedestrians who have to navigate a portion of El Camio Real on a daily basis. Again, please support Caltrans move to add bike lanes along El Camino Real. Sincerely Serge BonteMountain View From:Loran Harding To:Loran Harding; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; bballpod; bearwithme1016@att.net;fred beyerlein; Leodies Buchanan; David Balakian; boardmembers; Council, City; Cathy Lewis;cramirez.electriclab133@gmail.com; dennisbalakian; dan.richard@earthlink.net; Doug Vagim;dallen1212@gmail.com; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu;Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; Sally Thiessen; Joel Stiner; jerryruopoli; kfsndesk; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; Kevin.Nower@bestbuy.com; margaret-sasaki@live.com;maverickbruno@sbcglobal.net; merazroofinginc@att.net; Mark Standriff; Mayor; nick yovino;news@fresnobee.com; newsdesk; russ@topperjewelers.com; Steve Wayte; terry; tsheehan;vallesR1969@att.net; yicui@stanford.edu; MY77FJ@gmail.com Subject:Fwd: How much will Tesla robotaxi rides cost? Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 10:52:42 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>Date: Fri, Mar 29, 2024 at 10:27 PM Subject: Fwd: How much will Tesla robotaxi rides cost?To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Friday, March 29, 2024 To all, Including to Elon Musk and Mary Barra Good analysis here: This is a dry speadsheet estimating the cost to Tesla per mile for arobotaxi ride. And, accordingly how much they will have to charge per mile to make a profit. Maybe 25 cents per mile will have to be charged, v. $2.50 per mile now with Uber andLift. Wow. How Much Will Tesla Robotaxi Rides Cost? (youtube.com) First Zoox ride: My first rides in a Zoox Robotaxi (youtube.com) This impresses. Zoox Driverless Shuttle on Foster City Public Roads (youtube.com) Zoox being tested in Vegas: Driverless robotaxis coming to Las Vegas (youtube.com) One hour in a Zoox fully autonomous vehicle in some of San Francisco's most difficult traffic situations: This will impress you wrt autonomous if it has not already: 27 minutes Wow. Don't miss this: Zoox: ~1-Hour Fully Autonomous Drive in San Francisco with Commentary(youtube.com) How Chinese EV giant BYD is taking on Tesla: How Chinese EV Giant BYD Is Taking On Tesla (youtube.com) Norway is an EV Utopia while the US struggles. Notice they speak English. How's yourNorwegian? How Norway Built An EV Utopia While The U.S. Is Struggling To Go Electric | CNBC Documentary (youtube.com) L. William Harding Fresno, Ca. Note to Ch 30 ABC in Fresno. Your streaming of the ABC World News Tonight is a disaster. Macroblocking, drop outs. You hear 3 words out of 5. Jams and blocks. Then yourlocal Ch 30 News is only a little better. But Ch 24 is rock solid. Zero issues. I think the satellite carrying ABC world news tonight is losing a lot of controls the signal should have,and so all the trouble. Uplink or down link or sat. Something is wrong. I see it streamed thru my modem broadcast out to my Sammy OLED. BTW see GM will produce med. duty trucks using H2 fuel cells. Big fed money to get itgoing. See Scotty Kilmer. He says it makes sense for a commercial operation. LH From:Bruce Dughi To:Council, City Subject:Please add bike lanes on El Camino Real Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 8:51:09 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from bdughi@yahoo.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello Palo Alto City Council, Please remove parking to make room for bike lanes on El Camino Real. I appreciate the extensive analysis but disappointed to see nothing regarding our Climate Crisis-- the most existential issue of our time. Please consider green house gas reductions from a safe/convenient bicycle network. I particularly appreciate the bike lane connection to the housing element with dense housing concentrated along ECR. I just want to thank you for all you have already done for cycling. I read your ATPgrant application for E Meadow Dr and was most impressed with your willingness to remove parking there. Also, your work along Arastradero is impressive. Let's keep the momentum going in one of the most important and direct routes in town. If ECR is important to drivers, it is equally important to cyclists. As a resident of the East Bay, the bike lanes on Dumbarton enable me to visit Palo Alto by bicycle and I love my visits. Rest assured that plenty of cyclists on my side look to Palo Alto for leadership and look forward to enjoying Palo Alto's superior bikeinfrastructure. Thanks. Bruce From:Mahesh S To:Council, City Subject:Request to support resolution to promote bicycling along El Camino Real Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 7:43:31 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from ms24749@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello, My name is Mahesh. While I am not a resident of Palo Alto, I was until recently a resident ofSunnyvale and would often travel to Palo Alto via VTA/Caltrain/bike to enjoy the city on the weekends. Hence, I feel obligated to send this email with my thoughts & suggestionsregarding bike lanes along El Camino Real. I learned from my friends that the Palo Alto City council meeting is scheduled for April 1st,and the council will vote upon a resolution regarding installing bike lanes along El Camino Real. I simply want to write to you to request you to support the resolution and replace the on-streetparking with bike lanes along El Camino Real. I support pro-biking and pro-walking improvements to city design. I will try to explain my arguments further below, 1). Removing on street parking improves visibility for on-road cars and pedestrians. There will be no blocked cars blocking the view when pedestrians are trying to cross the street. 2). It helps reduce the idle time spent driving around looking for parking. If the only parking Ihave are parking lots I'll not spend time driving around looking for on street parking. This means less cars, less pollution, less inconvenience for everybody! 3). But most importantly, it will help promote biking and walking. The streets will "feel" a lotsafer for pedestrians(and it is safe), especially parents with young children who would otherwise be worried about their children getting hit. Walking more not only improves overallphysical health, but it can help locals discover local businesses, bump into friends and colleagues on the sidewalks leading to more socializing, etc. This can have great impacttowards improving ones mental health as we all need a bit of socializing in our daily routines. 4). I recently shifted to San Francisco. A key reason was the availability of public transportation and more bike friendly lanes. I understand it can be difficult to balance theneeds of car parking demands and pedestrian safety. SF suffers from this as well. But the scale is heavily weighed down towards cars. Tilting the scale even a little bit towards pedestrians &cyclists can benefit everyone a great deal. I hope to see the resolution pass, and Palo Alto implement more bike lanes. I always enjoyvisiting the city on the weekends and walking through University Avenue and visiting places like Cafe Venetia, Ramen Nagi, etc. Thank You,Mahesh S. From:Rob Schreiber To:Council, City Subject:Bike lanes and parking places Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 7:15:52 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from r_schreiber_98@yahoo.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. It's a tradeoff, but I think safety (I have often biked on ECR, when there isn't a good alternative) and traffic flow are more important than a small number of parking places. I hope you will approve of the plan to add the bike lanes. Rob Schreiber From:Abello, Emmanuel Cc:LAFCO Subject:Now Available - Agenda Packet for the April 3, 2024 LAFCO Meeting at 1:15 PM Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 6:29:52 PM Attachments:image001.png Some people who received this message don't often get email from emmanuel.abello@ceo.sccgov.org. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. The agenda and staff reports for the April 3, 2024 LAFCO Meeting are now available on the LAFCO website at this weblink: https://santaclaralafco.org/meetings/commission-meeting-2024-04-03-201500 Regards, Emmanuel Abello Associate Analyst, LAFCO of Santa Clara County 777 North First Street, Suite 410, San Jose, CA 95112 (408) 993-4705 | Mobile: (669) 321-9704 | Twitter: @SantaClaraLAFCO | www.SantaClaraLAFCO.org From:Ian M To:Council, City Subject:Bike Lanes on El Camino Real Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 4:29:02 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from ianz.morris@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello,I fully support adding bike lanes to El Camino Real and I'm really excited to hear about this project. Passing this resolution to remove parking for bike lanes is critical to fighting climatechange and improving safety for all citizens. Biking is my favorite and preferred form of transportation. I've met so many wonderful people, and been to many great places andbusinesses that I would've just passed by in a car. My biggest concern when going somewhere is if it will be safe to bike there. Creating these bike lanes will provide that safety andaccessibility to the many people who already bike on El Camino, and many more will follow. It will create a place people want to be, building community and supporting local businesses.Please, pass this resolution and make El Camino Real the best it can be! Thank you. - Ian Morris From:Bilingual Montessori To:Council, City Subject:Bike lane Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 4:16:00 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from info@pabilingualmontessori.com. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Council, As owner of El Camino Montessori, a bilingual preschool on El Camino Real, I fully supportinstalling protected bike lanes along this corridor. The safety of our students, families and staff is paramount, and this plan directly enhances safety by removing parking that obscuresoncoming traffic and slowing travel speeds. Many parents bike their young children to instill healthy habits early on. However, the lack of dedicated cycling infrastructure currently forces them onto sidewalks meant for pedestrians ordirectly next to fast-moving traffic - both unsafe situations. The proposed bike lanes provide a protected space for families to travel to our preschool safely by bike or foot. Crucially, removing curbside parking will vastly improve sightlines for drivers exiting oursmall lot or the overflow spaces kindly provided by our neighboring motel. Larger vehicles routinely obscure visibility of oncoming traffic, creating dangerous merging situations.Daylighting intersections enhances safety for all El Camino users. The anticipated increase in active transportation aligns with our Montessori principles of nurturing the whole child through exercise, fresh air and environmental care. This upholds ourphilosophy far better than the current car-centric corridor. I urge support for this safety-focused, multi-modal plan investing in our community's long- term health, economic vitality and sustainability. Prioritizing accessibility and transportationoptions secures a bright future for our children. Let's make the right choice today. -- Best regards, Vega Palo Alto Academy Bilingual Montessori4232 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 739-0137https://www.pabilingualmontessori.com/ check us out on social media! Facebook Instagram From:steve rutledge To:Council, City Subject:I oppose bike lanes on El Camino in Palo Alto Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 4:09:06 PM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from rutledgesteve@yahoo.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Dear City Council members, I am a long-term resident of Palo Alto. I oppose putting bike lanes in Palo Alto. Besides taking away precious parking spots for the small businesses that line El Camino, I feel that having bikes on El Camino will be a dangerous situation, especially at corners when cars are turning right. During rush hours and lunch hour, the traffic at the corner of El Camino and Cambridge Avenue is very busy. When I try to turn left onto El Camino, it’s common to have all of the lanes on El Camino full of cars in all lanes. If one lane on both sides is taken away from cars and allocated to bikes, the congestion on El Camino will be much worse. When you add in the buses on El Camino that run regularly and veer into the right-hand lanes after leaving the bus stop, you have a recipe for disaster. Will the buses see the people on bikes behind them as they veer into the right-hand lane? Please don’t allow bike lanes to be added to El Camino. Thank you. Julie Beer 334 College Avenue Apartment E Palo Alto CA 94306 Sent from my iPhone From:David Sacerdote To:Council, City Subject:Please approve bike lanes along El Camino Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 3:41:58 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. The proposed plans aren't ideal, but are far better than what we have today, and nothing in them rules out future changes to improve safety and lower automobile use. Cyclists currentlyhandle similar high speeds along Foothill/Juniper Serra with crashes there being rare. As such, the Caltrans proposal for bike lanes is an improvement over the current situation. Thanks for approving it David Sacerdote 3716 Starr King CirclePalo Alto, CA 94306 From:Maureen McNally To:Council, City Subject:“Fire station” #4 ?? Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 1:23:14 PM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from moemcnally@sbcglobal.net. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Hello , I am concerned about the lack of a real fire truck at the temporary fire station at Cuberley. Especially when there is disruption on alma and middlefield due to train upgrades. Can you please address this? Thank you so much . Maureen mcnallly 420 adobe place Palo Alto From:Office of Supervisor Susan EllenbergTo:Council, CitySubject:D4 March NewsletterDate:Friday, March 29, 2024 10:00:32 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from supervisor.ellenberg@bos.sccgov.org. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Greetings D4 residents & friends - Happy Women’s History Month (March)! Our county is fortunate to have strong and passionate woman leaders throughout our organization and in our community partners. When women play a greater role in governing bodies, nonprofits, higher educational institutions and businesses, we see more policies and practices that allow families, children and older adults to thrive. And while our Board of Supervisors has seen many exceptional male leaders over the decades, many of whom championed childcare, improvements to the foster system, expanded resources for survivors of intimate partner violence and other issues that predominantly impact women and children, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited that next year will mark an historic first with 4 women on the Board at once. Until then, however, there is much work being done – here are some highlights from the past month: School Wellness Centers Update When I introduced the Children’s Roadmap to Recovery in 2022, one of the three components of that roadmap recommended investing in school- based wellness centers. My colleagues supported my request to allocate $10M in ARPA funds to this effort. The Probation department and two private foundations also made contributions for a total of $13.2M that is now being invested at 40 schools across Santa Clara County which will receive grants to create or expand school-based wellness centers and improve access to behavioral health resources. This initiative is dear to my heart. As a former school board member, I know how dearly these resources were needed at our schools and it is exciting to be able to meet that need now. Budget Inventory Update Applications for one-time grants and sponsorships for community-based organizations (501c3) are available now through the annual “inventory” process. Applications for funding through District 4 will be evaluated based on the potential impact on County-wide priorities. Applicants will also be required to submit a brief implementation update in October 2024, a mid-year progress report in February 2025, and a final evaluation summarizing the impact of the program. Applications are due by April 22 and can be submitted via email to stephen.yodz@bos.sccgov.org. Childcare Symposium My office partnered with Joint Venture Silicon Valley to offer a symposium on the economic case for childcare. The program was hosted by Applied Materials and included a presentation by Berkeley economist Anna Powell panel discussions with elected officials representing state, county and city government, as well as employer-providers (NASA- Ames), private sector providers (Building Kidz) and business associations (San Jose Chamber of Commerce). A team from Accenture facilitated workshops and conversation and Congressmembers Ro Khanna and Adam Schiff sent video messages of support for childcare as a public good and essential to economic stability. Leadership San Jose I ran this program at the San Jose Chamber of Commerce several years ago and this year had the opportunity to speak with the 2024 cohort about County government at large, as well as share the work our County is doing to expand access to mental health and substance use disorder services. My distinguished co-panelists included Judge Erica Yew of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, Deputy Public Health Director Sara Rudman, and Chief Program Officer of Residential and 24/7 programs at Momentum for Health Eleonore Pace. Imperial County Visit This month I visited Imperial County to learn more about the proposed creation of “Lithium Valley” where several companies are working to use the byproduct of geothermal energy - a mineral rich brine – to extract lithium from the brine through a process that proposes minimal water usage, extremely low carbon emissions, and high efficiency. As part of my role as a California State Association of Counties Officer, it’s important for me to understand the issues, challenges & opportunities faced by counties across the state. As a Santa Clara County Supervisor, I’m always interested in work other counties are doing and looking for best practices we might embrace here, in this case around workforce and economic development. The more I learn and the broader my experiences, the better I can strengthen our community at home! Behavioral Health Blog Post I have shared my story of my struggles with depression in past pieces and this month, with her permission, relate some of my daughter’s mental health challenges, as well as how difficult it was for me as a parent to navigate the system. Declaring mental illness and substance use disorders a public health crisis in January 2022 was a deliberate policy decision but it was also deeply grounded in my own experiences and understanding of how difficult it can be to access care and navigate complex systems, including insurance companies that are loathe to cover mental health related expenses. This month’s medium post highlights some of the ever-growing body of work the County is doing to expand services to mental illness and substance use disorders – I'm very proud of what we’ve accomplished while acknowledging how much more is yet to do. I hope you’ll take a read! Podcast: & Just One More Thing! Need a little more information on what is going on in the county? Well, I’ve got you! This month I am excited to kickstart my very own podcast – & Just One More Thing. There are so many times where I leave board meetings or community events and feel like I still had thoughts to add to the discussion, and this podcast allows me to directly share that extra insight with everyone in our community. In this first episode I sit down with California State Association of Counties President and San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson to talk about childcare. You can join me on this journey through our YouTube channel or Spotify page! For regular updates on County efforts to end and prevent homelessness, visit the county’s Measure A page and the Community Plan to End Homelessness. Warmly, Susan Ellenberg Board President Santa Clara County Supervisor, District 4 70 West Hedding East Wing, 10th Floor San Jose, CA 95110 (408) 299-5040 Email Supervisor Ellenberg District 4 Website Unsubscribe from future messages. From:David Coale To:Council, City; Shikada, Ed Subject:Approve bike lanes on El Camino Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 9:12:35 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from david@evcl.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor, Council members and Staff, I support bike lanes on El Camino. As a cyclist, I have been struggling with this for a while now as my concerns are similar to many Council members – how will this really make El Camino safer? In particular, how does this address the major causes of cycling crashes (80%), the right hook or broadside crashes? By removing parking on El Camino, this will improve visibility and sight lines for cyclist and car drivers. With the addition of protected bike lanes, this will help bring attention to motorists about the presence of cyclists in this corridor and give cyclists a safer place to ride (no door zone to worry about). This should help address the major cause of cycling crashes on El Camino. Reducing the speed of traffic on El Camino will also make this route safer. The easiest way to address this is to reduce the width of the left two travel lanes to 10 feet. Reducing lane width has been shown to decrease speeds in these situations. The right-most lane would then have more room for the bike lanes and bus stops. As I understand it, VTA has OK’ed the reduced width of the left two travel lanes, but Caltrans is still using their old outdated guidelines of 11 feet. Here is where Palo Alto can make El Camino even safer: Approve the removal of parking on El Camino on the condition that the left two travel lanes are 10 feet wide. This will reduce the car speed and increase width of the right lane to better accommodate bike lanes and bus stops. This additional reduction in lane width is also called for as 30% of all crashes on El Camino, from San Jose to SF (as I understand it) are in Palo Alto, so this calls for additional road treatments for safety measures in Palo Alto. Should Palo Alto decide not to support these free safety improvements that could be completed within a year’s time, Palo Alto will be liable for crashes in this corridor. Please note again, that these improvements are free to Palo Alto and will be done in short order. While this project is not perfect, Palo Alto could never come up with other improvements, of any kind, to address safety on El Camino for many years. Please do not miss this opportunity to make El Camino safer for all road users, support our SCAP goals and alternate transportation that will be needed for all the future housing coming to El Camino. Sincerely, David Coale Barron Park From:Jane Harris To:Council, City Subject:El Camino Bike Path Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 8:39:36 AM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from janeharris230@gmail.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ I am a long-term resident/homeowner in the Southgate neighborhood. I want to express my support for bike lanes on El Camino. From my experience i find it difficult to ride my bike to many locations currently - requiring crossing the railroad, having to go well out of my way, etc. and i welcome the addition of bike lanes on El Camino. I understand it would require removing parking spaces which i know is always an issue, but i feel the safety and promotion of bicycles is more important. Hopefully there could be some handicapped parking. I understand the concern over RVs, but i don’t see that as a permanent solution and frankly have had concerns about the safety of parking RVs along El Camino, especially given many of them extend into the driving lanes, not to mention we should not promote transient residency along a major transit corridor. El Camino should be used for the purpose it was intended for - transportation, not housing. Thank you for your consideration. Jane Harris 230 Sequoia Ave Palo Alto From:Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce To:Council, City Subject:Last Few Days!: Town & Country Village Bunny Hop Scavenger Hunt Date:Friday, March 29, 2024 8:31:57 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from info@paloaltochamber.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Town & Country Village Bunny Hop Scavenger Hunt promo Join us at Town and Country Village from Friday, March 22 to Saturday,March 30, between the hours of 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm daily for our “Bunny Hop” scavenger hunt! Families will begin and end at Books Inc. where they will receive and redeem their scavenger hunt map. The participants will “HOP” their way around Town & Country Village through the participating merchants in search of the hidden bunny inside each participating store. Once the bunny has been spotted, participants will take their map to the front desk to get it stamped, and then hop to the next location. Participants that complete the scavenger hunt and return their maps to Books Inc. will be entered in a grand prize giveaway which includes offers from Town & Country Village participating merchants. Participants need at least 12 stamps to enter the giveaway. Winner will be randomly chosen and announced the week after Easter. Happy hopping and good luck! Participating tenants (and special treats they are offering!) include: Howard’s Shoes For Children $10 off for same day shoppers El Merkat by Telefèric candy and 15% off your purchase Books Inc. candy Johnny Was candy Manresa Bread 10% off your whole purchase Prep Cuts lollipops Asian Box candy rockflowerpaper candy The Penny Ice Creamery Free Toasted Marshmallow Fluff Fillmore & 5th snacks from Trader Joe’s Sprouts San Francisco stickers J.McLaughlin 15% off same day purchases Poke House small squishy toy Paper Source candy Pact candy Lulu’s Palmetto Superfoods Kara’s Cupcakes Margaret O’Leary Evereve Faherty Marigold Row See More @ Town & Country Village This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe clickhere. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email atinfo@paloaltochamber.com. From:Dhruv Khanna To:San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority; Council, City; Board of Directors Cc:Kevin Fisher Subject:Flooding the Stanford Golf Course if needed Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 8:35:03 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Ms. Bruce (JPA Exec Director), Valley Water Board, and the Palo Alto City Council, Please respond in writing and promptly to my suggestion that the San Francisquito Creek JPA negotiate a right to flood the Stanford Golf Course to mitigate downstream flooding at for example the choke point of the Pope-Chaucer Bridge. I request that this option be analyzed and pursued if it is feasible. If it infeasible, please explain why. And if this option has not been analyzed, please explain why. Thank you, Dhruv Khanna, 742 Alester Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94303 From:Tran, Joanna To:Council, City Cc:Executive Leadership Team Subject:Council Consent Questions: Items 5, 6, and 8 (4/1/24) Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 6:48:53 PM Attachments:image001.pngimage003.pngimage004.pngimage006.pngimage007.pngimage008.pngimage009.png Dear Mayor and Councilmembers, On behalf of City Manager Ed Shikada, please view the following links for the amended agenda and staff responses to questions submitted by Council Member Tanaka: April 1 Amended Agenda Items 5, 6, 8 Staff Responses Thank you, Joanna Joanna Tran Executive Assistant to the City Manager Office of the City Manager (650) 329-2105 | joanna.tran@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org From:Steve Bisset To:ParkRec Commission; Council, City Subject:Please add a public bathroom tat Eleanor Pardee Park to the CIP Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 6:25:29 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from steve@bisset.us. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Date: March 28, 2024 To: Palo Alto Parks & Recreation From: Steve Bisset, 1051 Fife Avenue Re: A public bathroom at Eleanor Pardee Park Dear Commissioners and Council Members, Please prioritize adding a restroom at Eleanor Pardee Park to the 5-year CIP. I attended a meeting about a bathroom at Pardee Park in 2008, where a few loud opponents derailed it. There was another in 2019. A bathroom at Eleanor Pardee Park is simply the right thing. It’s time. Please brave the noise and add it to the CIP. Pardee Park is our closest park. It’s 0.5 miles from us, a 10-minute walk. The next closest is Heritage Park at 0.7 miles. Neither has a public bathroom. Walking is good. We have spent heaps of time with all 4 of our kids at Pardee Park. I assure you that 10-minutes is too long a delay for a kid’s bathroom break. The options are to drive (more traffic, more parking issues, less healthy) and sometimes, by necessity, the bushes. Placing public bathrooms at public parks is the mark of a civilized society. The lack of one at one of Palo Alto’s premier parks is an embarrassment, an inconvenience, and unhygienic. We have bathrooms at many Palo Alto parks, proving conclusively that our City knows how to manage these and that the worst concerns of opponents are unfounded. I can understand how some residents who live within bathroom distance of Pardee may prefer to keep it as a nice, sort of private park, but it’s a public park. They might consider that a bathroom can make it a nicer, more hygienic park, one to be even more proud of. Sincerely, Steve Bisset & family, 1051 Fife Avenue, Palo Alto From:matt@evolutionaryteams.comTo:palo-alto@fridaysforfutureusa.orgSubject:FFF Follow Up – Mar 22 (Week #115)Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 4:18:19 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from matt@evolutionaryteams.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. Director/Producer Kadir was on his game as he guided us to create a series of amazing videos for the first Green Mic production. It was great to have so manyparticipants in this project -- I’m counting 10! Can’t wait to see Kadir’s director’s cut. Thank you, Kadir, for initiating this! We discussed what issues we would like to raise at the upcoming Friday April 19 Climate Rally. Carol and Ian plan to speak on reducing plastic consumption. Amywill advocate for a plant-based diet. Hilary is promoting the elimination of gas appliances in our homes for both health and climate reasons. Debbie will keep the focuson the growing momentum of Palo Alto’s heat pump water heater program. John expressed the need for local government sustainable energy. The MuwekmaOhlone Tribe expressed interest in participating. Sharat Lin – Dance of Peace – will provide both dance and eloquent speech. The Raging Grannies will deliver theirpassionate song and dance. Matt is recruiting students who want to share their perspectives. The Climate Strikers! will perform climate-related songs. The Climate SlowMarchers will deliver their poignant message to passing pedestrians and motorists. It is shaping up to be another fantastic Global Climate Stike & Rally! If you have notalready, sign up here and let me know how you would like to participate and contribute. https://actionnetwork.org/events/global-fight-to-end-fossil-fuels-april-19 Ingrid is organizing our next group viewing of The Week. If you would like to join us, sign up here:https://app.theweek.ooo/invitation/1711659966131x887754160915349500 Thank you, Ingrid, for leading this! If it is raining at noon on Friday, we will head over to NOLA and continue our planning for the Apr 5 Slow March, our viewing of The Week, and Apr 19 Global ClimateStrike and Rally. Keep Up the Fight and See You Friday! Author: Teamwork 9.0 Website: evolutionaryteams.com Blog: evolutionaryteams.com/blog/ Linked In: linkedin.com/in/mattschlegel/ Twitter: twitter.com/EvoTeamMatt Instagram: instagram.com/MattSchlegel6 Facebook: facebook.com/mattschlegel.77 YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCLkUMHuG4HVa831s9yeoZ5Q Enneagram Quiz: www.EnneaSurvey.com From:Loran Harding To:Loran Harding; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; David Balakian; bballpod;bearwithme1016@att.net; fred beyerlein; Leodies Buchanan; Council, City; Cathy Lewis;cramirez.electriclab133@gmail.com; dennisbalakian; Doug Vagim; dan.richard@earthlink.net;dallen1212@gmail.com; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu;Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; Sally Thiessen; Joel Stiner; jerryruopoli; kfsndesk; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; Kevin.Nower@bestbuy.com; margaret-sasaki@live.com;maverickbruno@sbcglobal.net; Mark Standriff; Mayor; MY77FJ@gmail.com; merazroofinginc@att.net; nickyovino; news@fresnobee.com; newsdesk; russ@topperjewelers.com; Steve Wayte; terry; tsheehan;vallesR1969@att.net; yicui@stanford.edu Subject:Fwd: AP- ONLY 4 States have the new Fed EV charging stations Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 4:12:44 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>Date: Thu, Mar 28, 2024 at 3:54 PM Subject: Fwd: AP- ONLY 4 States have the new Fed EV charging stationsTo: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Thursday, March 28, 2024 To all- DON'T MISS THIS: Glacial roll out of EV charging stations across the USdue to bungling and mismanagement by the Biden Admin. Be sure to read. Ohio has plenty of charging stations, Ohio being rich in electoral votes, the AP notes. Their goal is 500,000 stations when the experts say we'll need 1.2 million. They are WAYWAY behind in getting these installed. They are key to EV sales. That and longer range, faster charging batteries, and those are coming. See Na and solid state batteries. 450 miles ofrange. Buyers say they won't buy an EV yet because of range anxiety due to the sparsecharging stations, the long charging times and the short range of current batteries. Elon Must should read this, as if he doesn't already know. BUT, he should raise hell aboutthe Biden Admin and this mess. I have yet to hear him do that. GM should raise some hell too. Mary Barra is awfully quiet on this. AND we won't just need charging ports at the stations. We'll need induction units in theground to feed e- into vehicles set up to charge by induction. Tesla Head of Design Franz von Holtzhausen said from the back seat of a Tesla Cybertruck, driven by Jay Leno in a vid onYoutube, "We're working on induction". The science is there. Has been forever. Siemens made vids 10 years ago showng inductive charging. "Evatran" was/is a Co. selling the floorunits, the wall units, and the coils to be installed under the cars to react to the magnetic field which induces the flow of e- in that coil.They showed it being used with a Chevy Volt, nowgone: Evatran said in one vid that with their system, "you are not playing with a muddy charging cable in a lightening storm". Plugless - The First Wireless EV Charger in the World (youtube.com) Tesla could make big money offering the receiving coil under its vehicles, the wall unit forpeople's homes that goes with it, and the unit on the garage floor to cause the inductive charging. It has a cable running toward the front of the garage. The problem is that these"transmitting" coils on garage floors or under the ground in parking lots or at charging stations are so rare that no one would pay extra to get a car set up for that yet. Evatran Co.was selling after-market units that a Chevrolet dealer could install under a Chevy Bolt, as I recall. That and the wall unit to go with it and the unit on the garage floor. Tesla could sellthose now for home use. Then the next President who gets the charging stations rolled out, could also cause the charging coils to be installed at maybe 1/5 of the charging stations. My idea is that this could be done now at very secure parking lots, at office parks, e.g.. Tallfences, lots of razor wire, cameras, microphones so that copper thieves wouldn't jack-hammer out the coils in the ground during the night. Fresno Ca. installed one hundred charging ports around the downtown. 65 of these werepromptly attacked to get the copper wire. It will cost huge money to repair them. The re- cyclers are utterly ignorant of what these charging cables are when the thieves come in to sellthem. This was in the news three weeks ago. Don't miss this: Federal EV charging stations are key to Biden’s climate agenda, yet only 4 states have them | The Hill L. William Harding Fresno, Ca. Federal EV charging stations are key to Biden’s climate agenda, yet only 4 states have them | The Hill From:Dilma Coleman To:Jennifer.hultgren@pdo.sccgov.org; ajansen@pubdef.lacounty.gov Cc:kevin.bacon@baltimorecity.gov; hrarback@hmbcity.com Subject:Fwd: Opportunity center john Mattias is Jon benet"s water water bottle overflowing. No electricity for washerdryer.. mushroom garden ammo check gone mad at a watercolor lipstick eater pink Cadillac credibility onMonday 3/25/2024. Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 1:15:02 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Dilma Coleman <dhappinessforever@gmail.com>Date: Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 1:12 PM Subject: Fwd: Opportunity center john Mattias is Jon benet's water water bottle overflowing.No electricity for washer dryer.. mushroom garden ammo check gone mad at a watercolor lipstick eater pink Cadillac credibility on Monday 3/25/2024.To: John Mattias <jmattias@lifemoves.org> John Mattias is he really Jon benet ok People magazines insurance adjusters owes DilmaColeman or does John Mattias owe disabled women Dilma Coleman for the eviction at 2566 leghorn..John Mattias..on his childhood fears of his missing pictures as a boy..why can't JohnMattias send grub hub and pay for cleaners+ relocate brave eyes watering to Baltimore FD. Dma isn't isn't going to receive compensation of Palo Alto fire fighters hot sauce.Stop ur heat John aka Jon. Dilma Coleman isn't licensed as a counselor therapist. stop ur heat and stop the Brach cinnamon candies mimicking patterns of Easter egg dyes.. Regards Dilma Coleman ---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Dilma Coleman <dhappinessforever@gmail.com> Date: Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 1:00 PMSubject: John Mattias is Jon benet's water water bottle overflowing. No electricity for washer dryer.. mushroom garden ammo check gone mad at a watercolor lipstick eater pink Cadillaccredibility on Monday 3/25/2024. To: John Mattias <jmattias@lifemoves.org> John Mattias Life Moves homeless shelter organization staff manager evicts Dilma Coleman from 2566 leghorn Ave Mountain View CA while Dilma Andrea Coleman was hospitalized atStanford hospital with congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy Futhermore cardiomegaly and hostilely arose with John Mattias personal itinerary whereas he cries at his baby picture ofJon benet. Stop your excuses Jon Mattias. Stop ur heat..or leave it out. Regards Dilma Andrea Coleman aka Lucy Goldman patronage throat illness blindness age 48. From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:Members, You"re Invited: 44th Annual Tall Tree Awards Celebration Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 1:03:30 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. 44th Annual Tall Tree Awards ad YOU'RE INVITED 44th Annual Tall Tree Awards Celebration Register Celebrate With Us! 44th Annual TALL TREE AWARDS CELEBRATION Recognizing our city’s outstanding businesses and individuals Thursday, April 18, 20245:30 – 8:00 pm Networking Reception 5:30 - 6:45 pm (Hors d'oeuvres, Wine and Beer) Award Presentations 7:00 - 8:00 pm Sponsorship OpportunitiesContact: Charlie@paloaltochamber.com Recipients being honored are: OUTSTANDING BUSINESS To be announced OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONALTo be announced OUTSTANDING CITIZEN VOLUNTEER To be announced OUTSTANDING NONPROFITTo be announced Co-Sponsored by:Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Palo Alto Weekly Fees/Admission Individual tickets, General Admission Chamber member and Non-member $140Table Sponsor* (8 seats) Chamber member and Non-member $1200 *Includes your name or business on our website, all marketing materials, the event program + more. Tickets Available Here: >REGISTER ONLINE Location Oshman JCC 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto Register Hope you'll join us! charlie@paloaltochamber.com Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe clickhere. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email atinfo@paloaltochamber.com. From:Diane To:Council, City Subject:El Camino bike proposal Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 11:46:43 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Please reject the preposterous proposal by Cal Trans to turn El Camino into a bike route. How can bikers compete with buses and mindless drivers on this highway? How can businesses serve their customers without nearby parking? The list of negatives is long and should not be ignored. Diane Finkelstein 2049 Dartmouth Street Sent from my iPad From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:This Week: Town & Country Village Bunny Hop Scavenger Hunt Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 10:00:18 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Town & Country Village Bunny Hop Scavenger Hunt promo Join us at Town and Country Village from Friday, March 22 to Saturday, March 30, between the hours of 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm daily for our “Bunny Hop” scavenger hunt! Families will begin and end at Books Inc. where they will receive and redeem their scavenger hunt map. The participants will “HOP” their way around Town & Country Village through the participating merchants in search of the hidden bunny inside each participating store. Once the bunny has been spotted, participants will take their map to the front desk to get it stamped, and then hop to the next location. Participants that complete the scavenger hunt and return their maps to Books Inc. will be entered in a grand prize giveaway which includes offers from Town & Country Village participating merchants. Participants need at least 12 stamps to enter the giveaway. Winner will be randomly chosen and announced the week after Easter. Happy hopping and good luck! Participating tenants (and special treats they are offering!) include: Howard’s Shoes For Children $10 off for same day shoppers El Merkat by Telefèric candy and 15% off your purchase Books Inc. candy Johnny Was candy Manresa Bread 10% off your whole purchase Prep Cuts lollipops Asian Box candy rockflowerpaper candy The Penny Ice Creamery Free Toasted Marshmallow Fluff Fillmore & 5th snacks from Trader Joe’s Sprouts San Francisco stickers J.McLaughlin 15% off same day purchases Poke House small squishy toy Paper Source candy Pact candy Lulu’s Palmetto Superfoods Kara’s Cupcakes Margaret O’Leary Evereve Faherty Marigold Row See More @ Town & Country Village This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email atinfo@paloaltochamber.com. From:Paul Machado To:Council, City Subject:Blood alley Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 9:39:34 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from plmachado@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Would you have young bicyclists drive down one of the busiest highways in thecounty day and night, rain or shine. A roadway shared by buses and heavy trucks? How long would it be before a child/person dies? CalTrans' proposal to put bicyclists in danger, especially children, does not deserveyour support. Thank you Paul Machado From:Aram James To:Ahmed@ahmedforcongressca.com; Cindy Chavez; Council, City; Jeff Moore; Joe Simitian; Julie Lythcott-Haims;Lewis james; Raj Jayadev; Raymond Goins; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen; Supervisor Otto Lee; Supervisor SusanEllenberg; dennis burns; district1@bos.sccgov.org Subject:Black lives suffer as the feds delay menthol cigarette action Date:Thursday, March 28, 2024 8:25:30 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Excellent piece Rev. Moore Black lives suffer as the feds delay menthol cigarette action Black lives suffer as the feds delay menthol cigarette actionhttps://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=3f9fd1cf-8b3b-4e65-951d-14f54c026eb6&appcode=SAN252&eguid=dcbdbfff-6fe9-4e13-9dce-b22e3dc74a25&pnum=26# For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here: From:Margaret Heath To:Council, City Subject:Agenda Item 11. CalTrans proposal to remove parking on the El Camino Real Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 11:53:47 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor Stone and council members, I want to add my voice to those who are extremely concerned about the safety aspects of replacing parking on El Camino with dedicated bicycle lanes. Although I am also concernedabout the impact on the businesses. As we know, El Camino is the main connecting road between Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood City west of the train tracks. It is always busy no matter what timeof day, and especially the extended commute hours, with cars, SUV's, small trucks, large trucks, tow-trucks, delivery vans, and construction vehicles. The latter of which are about toincrease exponentially with continuous large-scale construction about to start along El Camino between Page Mill/Oregon Expressway and San Antonio road. Also not healthy for younglungs to be breathing either. While there are strong advocates, many if not all of them will probably be experienced, adult cyclists. It appears they are less concerned that a dedicated bicycle lane implies a safe route,which it is not, will encourage increased use by less experienced and younger cyclists. In addition to the vehicles, not only are there regularly scheduled buses and bus stops in directconflict with the proposed bicycle lane, there are frequent side streets and driveways that empty onto El Camino which pose a very real danger to vulnerable school children ridingbicycles. Not a good mix. Especially as two blocks over, Park Boulevard bicycle path runs parallel to El Camino, and uses a safe overpass to cross Oregon Expressway, avoiding the dangerous and lowest graded"F" intersection at Page Mill/Oregon Expressway. How anyone can propose this horrible intersection for a bicycle lane, except perhaps the most experienced cyclists, beats me. Easy enough to look at a straight line on a map while sitting in an office elsewhere, unfamiliarwith Palo Alto's section of El Camino, and listen to those advocating for this bicycle lane. But who will take responsibility for the increased injuries and worse that will surely result fromencouraging more and younger cyclists to use El Camino? Respectfully, Margaret Heath College Terrace From:Melissa Oliveira To:Council, City Cc:Joe Oliveira Subject:Please Reject: Item #11 CalTrans Proposal to Remove Parking on the El Camino Real Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 10:55:07 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from melissa.gibson@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor Stone, Vice Mayor Lauing, and Honorable City Council Members, I am writing you as the the mother of a child who was hit by a car less than seven months ago, on the street that we live on (Stanford Avenue), in front of the school that he attends (Escondido Elementary), in the crosswalk that was intended to protect him, in front of parents and children from his school and our community. I can assure you that no parent ever should receive the call that my husband, Joe Oliveira, and I received on that Friday, September 8, 2023. I am writing to ask the City Council to reject the proposal from CalTrans to put bike lanes on the El Camino Real. To say this is a dangerous proposal is mild at best. We, as a community, have much more work to do to keep our children (and adults) safe on our own city streets – Stanford Avenue, East Meadow and Embarcadero Road. Allowing CalTrans to infrastructure bike lanes on El Camino Real, when we cannot even create safe streets that have disproportionately less traffic, is ludacris, at best. CalTrans staff has eluded that the proposal is about safety. And yet, the city’s consultant Fehr & Peers found otherwise. They stipulate that the CalTrans proposal failed to address the dangerous high-speed conditions that are prevalent on the highway and would pose “significant risks to vulnerable road users.” As you are all well aware, Palo Alto is a leader in the US when it comes to supporting both cyclist commuter participation AND prioritizing the education of our children with Safe Routes to School, in partnership with PAUSD, which for thirty years has resulted in over 60% of middle school children commuting to school via BIKES. In the country, we have some of the highest bicyclist commuting populations – both adults and children. This should be celebrated AND protected. Within the confines of our city, there are many alternative routes that exist and new ones can be worked out with regional support – but not a commuter corridor proposed on the State Highway 82 (El Camino Real). The obvious reality is that this proposal is unsafe, unsound and unfriendly to our community. In fact, I challenge any and all proponents of this initiative to accept and agree to commute to/from their workplace, on their bikes, on El Camino. See if they agree to place themselves in such danger. See if they recoil in fear with the notion of being that vulnerable in the face of vehicular traffic. In addition to my son being hit this past September ‘23, there have been multiple reminders of how fragile life is, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists in our Palo Alto community. March 6, 2020: Paul Lafargue, 11 years old, was killed at the corner of El Camino Real and California Avenue. He was struck by a flatbed truck on his bike and died on thescene.September 14, 2023: A middle school boy was struck by a car on East Meadow Drivewhen he was biking home. He is still in critical condition.February 13, 2024: An adult female bicyclist was pronounced deceased at the scenewhen she was struck by a car on Foothills Expressway, near Arastradero Road.February 19, 2024: A female bicyclist on Embarcadero Road at the crosswalk atNewell Road was struck by multiple cars and died on the scene. It is without any trepidation that I can say it is not in the best interest of our community – froma safety perspective – to remove parking and add bike lanes on El Camino Real. Please reject this proposal. Respectfully Yours, Melissa Oliveira ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Melissa Oliveira melissa.gibson@gmail.com From:Margaret Heath To:Council, City Subject:Tree Ordinance Agenda Item #10 Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 9:06:38 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor Stone land council members, I am dismayed to learn that after the hundreds if not thousands of hours of expertise contributed by members of the council appointed ad hoc committee, staff, and lengthy councilconsideration, three council members suddenly pulled approval of the new tree ordinance to consider weaker tree protections. Particularly disappointing since the new tree ordinance already falls quite a bit short of that ofother California municipalities, including local, who profess similar values and have much stronger tree protection codes on their books. A few years ago council members added a healthy and sustainable city to their list of annualgoals. Acknowledging the important role our natural environment can play in stress reduction, mental wellbeing, and quality of life in general, and the vital role Palo Alto's beautiful treesplay in contributing to these goals. Also recognizing increased protections for Palo Alto's trees was urgently needed. An assessment of the existing state of Palo Alto’s “forest” then led to the inescapableconclusion that an increasing number of Palo Alto's trees are coming to the end of their natural life making robust protection for our existing trees all the more important. All the liquid amberstreet trees on my block, planted in the 1950’s, are gradually rotting due to old age. Last month the first three were removed for safety reasons. Sadly it will take 10-15 years fornew trees to grow an adequate replacement shade canopy, which also plays such a pivotal role in encouraging and supporting "walkable" neighborhoods. While there was one particularly unfortunate situation where a request to remove a tree in atimely manner was denied and subsequently damaged property, this is insufficient reason to rewrite a city-wide policy in a way that could be used to manipulate and facilitate the removalof larger healthy trees. No matter the temporary stink being made and pressure from commercial entities with a financial interest in fewer tree protections. Every passing day you wait to ratify the new tree protections increases the odds of otherwiselarge healthy trees being removed. Please resist the temptation to second guess the wording of the proposed tree ordinance and pass it as previously approved without further delay. Respectfully, Margaret HeathCornell Street From:Matt Resch To:Council, City Subject:El Camino Bike Lane Resolution Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 9:03:12 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from mcresch@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello, I am writing to request that the City of Palo Alto join others in the Bay Area in creating asafer, more inclusive El Camino with the installation of bike lanes. This resolution would protect children and promote a sustainable, equitable way to travel and patronize thebusinesses on this important thoroughfare. Please adopt this resolution. Regards, Matt Resch From:Ken Joye To:Council, City Subject:El Camino Real bikeway proposal from Caltrans Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 8:31:22 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. I support bike lanes on El Camino Real (SR-82) as proposed by Caltrans as part of their repaving project. I ask you to pass a resolution to remove parking along the length of Camino Real to supportthat effort. As I wrote to the PTC when this came before them earlier this month, I am in favor of Complete Streets efforts such as this, particularly given the likelihood of increased housingdensity along Camino Real . This proposal is consistent with our Safe Systems Approach to make this a place where residents and visitors will move more safely. I say this as a resident of a neighborhood whichhas greatly benefited by Caltrans improvements on El Camino Real such as the HAWK beacon just up the street from my home. thank you for considering this input,Ken Joye Ventura neighborhood From:Victor Cee To:Council, City Subject:Public comment on ECR bike lane agenda item for April 1 Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 6:14:25 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from vic.cee@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Palo Alto city council, I regret that I cannot attend in person but I am extremelymotivated on this issue and wanted to provide a comment via email: I am writing to support a resolution to remove parking on El Camino Real and install bike lanes. Over the last two decades, government agencies have envisioned and planned for a better El Camino Real. A roadway with safer infrastructure that is a pleasant place to live, work, and shop - think of the “grand boulevards” of Europe. Tall apartment buildings above local businesses with outdoor dining, lush green space, street trees, wide sidewalks for people to wander, barriers protecting those who bike, and a slower road with space for public transit. A road that is safe for all users. This project is the first step toward that reality. It’s not designed to be perfect, it’s designed to lay the foundation for more to come, and that’s how other cities on the Peninsula are treating it. Other cities have incorporated El Camino Real into their bicycle and pedestrian plans and have made plans for the future. Once these bike lanes are installed, cities plan to go after grants to make this infrastructure even safer, such as installing cement planters or dividers - and Palo Alto can do the same. We don’t want a future where El Camino Real in Palo Alto looks worse and is more dangerous than neighboring cities that invested in infrastructure. Thank you! Victor Cee 721 live oak avenue Menlo Park CA 94025 From:Jo Ann Mandinach To:Council, City Subject:Fwd: #11 -- El Camino Bike Lanes. Just say no. Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 6:08:03 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from joann@needtoknow.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello. I've been advised that I sent the following email to you a week early so hereit is again re #11. Again, just say no to this absurd idea and make CalTrans start repaving the horrible roads NOW. ---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Jo Ann Mandinach <joann@needtoknow.com>Date: Sun, Mar 24, 2024 at 1:56 PMSubject: #11 -- El Camino Bike Lanes. Just say no.To: City Council <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org> Dear City Council. Just say no to replacing parking on El Camino with bike lanes because it's too dangerous for everyone -- bikes, cars and pedestrians -- and will totally destroy thebusinesses on El Camino by depriving them of customers who will have no place topark. Even in progressive San Francisco merchants are suing to get the bike lanesremoved because their businesses are being destroyed. Can we afford to lose the sales tax revenue from the ruined businesses? No. Does it make sense to pay our $$$$$ money to retail consultants to improve businesses while consciously destroying retailers? No, not unless you're part of PA's consultant gravy train. Can we afford to make people waste their time and drive longer distances to runtheir errands? No. Does it make sense to approve mandated housing on El Camino and then deprivethe new residents of nearby resident-serving businesses? No. I could go on but you get the picture. For too many years Palo Alto has dealt with incompetent transportation czars like Josh Mello and Jaime Rodriquez who cavedon everything the bike lobby wanted -- bollards at every intersection that pushed cars into the middle of Oregon and Embarcadero because they could no longer bypass turning traffic, bus stops 3 car lengths away from major intersections that left cars stuck in the middle of major roads.... BUT THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THAT EL CAMINO NEEDS TO BE REPAVED TO PREVENT VEHICLE DAMAGE NOW AFTER YEARS OF ALLOWING IT TO BECOME INCREASINGLY DANGEROUS AND STICKING US WITHMAJOR CAR REPAIR BILLS. Please get your priorities straight and tell CalTrans to STOP this virtue-signalling nonsense and do its job by repaving EL CAMINO NOW. Most sincerely, Jo Ann Mandinach 1699 Middlefield RoadPalo Alto, CA 94301 STOP BY AND LOOK AT THE DAMAGED STREET TREE A DRIVER RAN INTO TRYING TO AVOID TURNING TRAFFIC. From:Aram James To:Braden Cartwright; Cecilia Taylor; Council, City; D Martell; Dave Price; EPA Today; Joe Simitian; Julie Lythcott-Haims; KEVIN JENSEN; Kaloma Smith; Van Der Zwaag, Minka; Palo Alto Free Press; Bains, Paul; Salem Ajluni;Sheriff Transparency; Shikada, Ed; Stump, Molly; Supervisor Otto Lee; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; walter wilson Subject:Freedom Wall- Buffalo, NY, Part 2, video by Donette Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 5:38:32 PM Attachments:MOV_4813.mov CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. From:Aram James To:Council, City; Human Relations Commission; Jeff Moore; Kaloma Smith; Roberta Ahlquist; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen;Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; dennis burns; jeff_conrad@msn.com Subject:Freedom Wall -Buffalo, NY, Part 1 video by Donette Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 5:31:52 PM Attachments:MOV_0414.mov CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. From:Marc Guillet To:Council, City Subject:April 1 2024 Item 11 Caltrans’ Repaving Project of El Camino Real, Including Replacing Existing Parking with Bicycle Lanes Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 5:05:13 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from marc@agilept.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council, As a business owner on El Camino Real for over a decade, I fully support Caltrans' plan to install protected bike lanes. While parking impacts are a concern, the changes will ultimately improve safety and accessibility for all modes - benefiting businesses and residents. At Agile Physical Therapy, employees bike to work for health and environmental benefits. However, the lack of dedicated infrastructure forces them to navigate alongside fast traffic, putting them at unnecessary risk. Protected bike lanes provide a safe, separated space for cyclists, reducing accident likelihood. Many cyclist-vehicle collisions occur at intersections along El Camino. Well-designed bike lanes with enhanced treatments dramatically improve sightlines and visibility at these conflict points. The 2025 Bike Plan should upgrade school crossings and other high-risk areas, making routes safer for vulnerable users. While some parking removal is inevitable, the plan maintains adequate on-street parking on side streets. As a local business, accessibility is crucial. However, abundant parking should not sacrifice safety. Protected bike lanes and enhanced pedestrian infrastructure create an environment inviting for all customers - not just those arriving by car. Cities nationwide recognize investing in multi-modal networks is vital for economic vitality and livability. Bike lanes support mobility, public health, sustainability, and growth - not just recreation luxuries. Marc Guillet -- Marc Guillet CEO, Agile Physical Therapy 650-565-8090 agilept.com photo 3825 El Camino Real Palo Alto, CA 94306 Pronouns: He/him/his We're Great Place to Work-Certified™! Click here to learn what makes our company culture great. IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential. They are intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose thecontents to anyone or make copies thereof. From:Nathan Spindel To:Council, City Subject:Comment on Resolution to install bike lanes on El Camino Real Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 11:11:07 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from nathans@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, I am writing to express my strong support for the installation of bike lanes on El Camino Realand to urge you to vote in favor of the resolution to remove parking and create a safer corridor for cyclists. As a concerned citizen, I believe that this project is crucial for the safety and well-being of our community, especially our children and teens. The alarming statistics speak for themselves: every month, a child or teen is hit on El Camino Real, and there is a 33% chance that it occurred in Palo Alto compared to anywhere else inSanta Clara County. This is unacceptable, and we must take action now to prevent further tragedies. By installing bike lanes, we can create a slower and safer El Camino Real, reducingthe risk of accidents and encouraging more people to choose cycling as a sustainable and healthy mode of transportation. While we acknowledge that this project may not be perfect, itis a critical first step in the right direction, and we cannot afford to wait another decade for this opportunity to present itself again. I kindly request that you support the resolution to remove parking on El Camino Real andinstall bike lanes during the council meeting on Monday, April 1, 2024, at 8:30 PM. Your vote will have a profound impact not only on Palo Alto but also on other cities facing similardecisions in the near future. Let us seize this rare second chance and pave the way for a safer, more sustainable future for our community. Thank you for your consideration,Nathan Spindel From:Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce To:Council, City Subject:Join Us - Town & Country Village Bunny Hop Scavenger Hunt Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 9:02:53 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from info@paloaltochamber.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Town & Country Village Bunny Hop Scavenger Hunt promo Join us at Town and Country Village from Friday, March 22 to Saturday, March 30, between the hours of 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm daily for our “Bunny Hop” scavenger hunt! Families will begin and end at Books Inc. where they will receive and redeem their scavenger hunt map. The participants will “HOP” their way around Town & Country Village through the participating merchants in search of the hidden bunny inside each participating store. Once the bunny has been spotted, participants will take their map to the front desk to get it stamped, and then hop to the next location. Participants that complete the scavenger hunt and return their maps to Books Inc. will be entered in a grand prize giveaway which includes offers from Town & Country Village participating merchants. Participants need at least 12 stamps to enter the giveaway. Winner will be randomly chosen and announced the week after Easter. Happy hopping and good luck! Participating tenants (and special treats they are offering!) include: Howard’s Shoes For Children $10 off for same day shoppers El Merkat by Telefèric candy and 15% off your purchase Books Inc. candy Johnny Was candy Manresa Bread 10% off your whole purchase Prep Cuts lollipops Asian Box candy rockflowerpaper candy The Penny Ice Creamery Free Toasted Marshmallow Fluff Fillmore & 5th snacks from Trader Joe’s Sprouts San Francisco stickers J.McLaughlin 15% off same day purchases Poke House small squishy toy Paper Source candy Pact candy Lulu’s Palmetto Superfoods Kara’s Cupcakes Margaret O’Leary Evereve Faherty Marigold Row See More @ Town & Country Village This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email atinfo@paloaltochamber.com. From:Andie Reed To:Council, City Subject:Bike Lanes on El Camino Real Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 8:31:16 AM Attachments:Safe Bike Route Map.PDF Some people who received this message don't often get email from andiezreed@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council Members, I am writing today to suggest that bike lanes on El Camino Real would be re-creating awheel that Palo Alto already created, in 2012, with a map identifying easy, safe, flow-through routes for bikes that closely parallel the highway. See the attached map, whichcame from pg. 39 of thisplan: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/transportation/projects/bicycle-pedestrian-transportation-plan_adopted-july-2012.pdf. As noted in the recent Fehr&Peers study of the current CalTrans plan, highway speeds on ElCamino are treacherous, with numerous stop lights and cross streets. Both residential andcommercial driveways enter/exit El Camino, setting up scenarios for tragic outcomes. Farright lanes share use with buses and turn lanes. Encouraging biking on El Camino is a hugesafety risk. Removing much needed parking is detrimental for retail and residential use aswe continue to build on this busy corridor. Currently there are very few bikes on ECR. Who would ride their bikes on such a dangerousroad when there are easy alternatives to safely ride the north-south corridor from MountainView to Menlo Park mere blocks from Highway 82? I traveled Park Blvd over the last few days and noted it is either car-free or has few cars: From the south end of town, take Miller, off San Antonio, two blocks east of ECR (signageneeded), ride north to the bike path over the creek to Wilkie, from which a quick right willtake you to Park Blvd. Park Blvd is a straight shot to Paly after you veer right at Mariposato cross Churchill. Catch the bike path behind the high school (signage needed). It’s clearsailing over Embarcadero until past the train station to the continuation bike path out of theVTA lot and clearly marked bike lanes next to ECR park. Go left at the light at Alma forStanford Shopping Center, or cross Alma and go right on the dirt path, cross the tracks, andhead left past our "El Palo Alto" tree to drop onto Alma St. in Menlo Park (signage needed). It's a pretty ride and easy access all the way to the MP train station (or left at Ravenswoodto the Safeway and many businesses on ECR). My anecdotal count, from 3 days traveling on foot on El Camino, was 3 bicycles. I askedone bicyclist about riding on ECR, who stated she wouldn’t ride on ECR but for needing toget to a particular business. At the Palo Alto PTC/HRC meeting, bicyclists spoke approvingly of CalTrans plans, whichwas startling. Is the goal to say “yes” to all bike lanes, on any streets and all routes andlocations? Let's all participate to encourage the City of Palo Alto to identify and promotebike routes that are so much safer (and more enjoyable!) than ECR, and say "no" tolackadaisical green bike lanes on El Camino Real. Please take this opportunity to revive bike lane signage and maps to promote the easyand safe bike routes that already exist in Palo Alto and neighboring cities that parallel ElCamino, and discourage unsafe and unnecessary bike lanes on El Camino Real. Thank you, Andie Reed -- Andie Reed Palo Alto, CA 94301 530-401-3809 ? u|9firOo l, u3otho:oo.\-olc$ =o 'R trfl ,y6o!o4 q) p o A- + ,9Co -\f ffrBryant sto *lE TE Hanover 5l =f_ *"s" EFTe+,X q)+)o GI o s(n EE Poller Or laothill f PV .' aAV lpu(rgl ^ %O 4c/*_ %a^ o, ?r, tiltL4or , \>t-. 3 P ^e* 42, b, 5 =+ co{. '!,4hb? b qb 'n'o E ..a o E oecr c{ie! Bd ---f !I.,ii= )ar{is$l }5;' From:Jeff Had To:Council, City Subject:Re: @Remote Accounting & Bookkeeping Date:Wednesday, March 27, 2024 4:47:51 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from jeffhad@outlook.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi, Just checking in on your interest in our Virtual Accounting services. Best, Jeff Had ___________________________________________________________________________________ From: Jeff Had Sent: January 25, 2024 To: city.council@cityofpaloalto.org Subject: @Remote Accounting & Bookkeeping From:Brynlee Mccoy Subject:Re: , Requirement Web/App!!$# Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 11:04:31 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from brynlee48mccoy@hotmail.com. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. From: Brynlee Mccoy Sent: 01 March 2024 01:33 Subject: Re: , Requirement Web/App!!$# Hi Looking for Innovative and trendy mobile software solutions for Business? We are offering. 1. Mobility App 2. Health and Wellness Apps 3. Multi-vendor App 4. Business apps 5. Educational apps 6. Lifestyle apps 7. Entertainment apps 8. Training /Fitness Apps 9. Travel apps 10. Custom App Development (iPhone, Android, Apps…etc.) If you find our proposal intriguing please share your requirements, we would be thrilled to discuss the project in detail. Warm Regards, From:Ann Balin To:Council, City Subject:item #11 CalTrans proposal to remove parking on the El Camino Real Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 10:18:40 PM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from alafargue@mac.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Dear Mayor Stone and council members, As the long time Palo Alto resident and respected Stanford emeritus Tom Rindfleisch said, “The safety risk of the proposed bike lanes seems like a huge disaster in the making.” He is Director Emeritus, Lane Medical Library Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Depts. of Medicine & Computer Science at Stanford University School of Medicine. I agree with esteemed Tom Rindfleisch and ask that you reject the proposal from CalTrans to put bike lanes on the El Camino Real (ECR). It is dangerous to allow this and would harm the community if you chose to do so. You must evaluate carefully the ramifications of removal of parking on the State Highway 82 as doing so would impact many. I attended the Feb. 29, 2024 meeting hosted by CalTrans and was struck by the lack of professional presentation regarding this proposal. It felt like a casual top down directive had been given to the presenter to push the commuter corridor for cyclists. There were some council members in attendance. One fellow from the Bicycle Coalition, Kushner said that it was a myth that retailers would lose business should parking be eliminated. CalTrans staff kept stating that they and the proposal are all about safety. The city’s consultant Fehr & Peers found otherwise. They stipulate that the CalTrans proposal failed to address the dangerous high-speed conditions that are prevalent on the highway and would pose “significant risks to vulnerable road users.” The term friction stood out in the review. i argue that alternative routes exist and new ones can be worked out with regional support but not a commuter corridor proposed on the State Highway 82 — the El Camino Real. The DMV’s glossary defines Vulnerable road users (VRU) “VRUs are non-motorized road users, such as cyclists, pedestrians, and persons with disabilities or reduced mobility and orientation using a wheelchair, tricycles or quadricycles.” Obviously there is virtually no protection for the above mentioned when hit by vehicles. CalTrans acknowledged that buses were problematic and they have not figured out a solution as of yet. Former Mayor Tom DuBois mentioned that neighborhoods will be impacted where drivers will seek parking if the El Camino Real’s parking is eliminated. Retailers will lose business. The city asserts that businesses need to be supported but if parking is taken away from the highway then retailers will be diminished and even killed off. My gut tells me that someone in Sacramento has given a directive to get this magical commuter corridor for cyclists completed when paving the highway. The reality is that this proposal is not sound and clearly unsafe. You know young people including teenagers and even younger ones will model behavior and use the bike paths on the highway. How will they navigate all of the cars coming out of businesses and intersections graded ‘F’ like the Page Mill and ECR? Now with Builders’ Remedy we will have much more dense housing along the ECR. Increased traffic will ensue. A young boy was killed at the corner of El Camino Real and California Avenue. He was going home after seeing his friend at University Terrace. He had a green light and entered the cross walk. A tow truck took a hard right because he also had the green light and struck this young fellow killing him. This was a terrible tragedy. His name is Paul Lafargue. All of the above point to the obvious conclusion that removing parking and adding bike lanes are not in the best interest of our community. Please reject this proposal. Respectfully, Ann Lafargue Balin From:pennyellson12@gmail.com To:Council, City Subject:"Fire" Station 4 Changes, Grade Separation Impacts and Communications and how these things relate for good planning Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 9:24:05 PM Attachments:IMG_4531.heic Some people who received this message don't often get email from pennyellson12@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Honorable City Council, Recently, I wrote to you with concerns about elimination of the fire truck at Station 4, the soon-to- be rebuilt Mitchell Park Station that serves an area developed with quick-to-burn Eichlers and Mackay homes. As you know, the elimination of this truck makes the southeast quadrant of the city, including the San Antonio area and many other neighborhoods, dependent on fire trucks that are stationed farther away at: Station 5 at 600 Arastradero Road From here, fire trucks have to cross El Camino Real, Caltrain tracks, Alma and Middlefield to get to the southeast quadrant. Station 3 at 799 Embarcadero Road, on the north side of Embarcadero. From here, fire responders have to cross Embarcadero, Oregon Expressway, Loma Verde, East Meadow to get to areas served by the former MP Fire Station. As I was contemplating grade separation options this week, I wondered whether the Fire Station 4 rebuild will be complete before grade separation construction commences. Further, I wondered if it is not, how will fire response times to the southeast quadrant be affected by lane closures at Charleston and Middlefield that will be necessary during the grade separation construction period? I called Fire Chief Blackshire to ask. He didn’t know if the timelines of the projects overlapped, so he could not answer my question. Question: Will the construction timelines for these projects overlap? If they do, how might that affect fire response times for the southeast quadrant, particularly the portions south of East Meadow? Can we explore these questions, please? When I asked Chief Blackshire whether the new fire station would have room for a fire truck, he said, “Yes.” When I asked if our fire truck would be restored when the fire station construction was complete, he said he could not know for sure. Evidently, this has to do with staffing a truck, budgeting, something he does not control. I would appreciate your support ensuring that Chief Blackshire gets the resources he needs to answer these questions and to restore the growing southeast quadrant’s fire truck and service. On a separate, but related, note… a flyer was delivered to my door by a city employee yesterday. (See attachment.) It says, the city is hosting a community meeting about “Temporary Fire Station No.4” at Cubberley. Of course, there will be no fire truck at Cubberley, so there can be no fire response, but the city is still calling it a Fire Station. That seems misleading—whether deliberate or not. What we have here is an ambulance station. While it’s good to have ambulance service, it won’t be of much use in a fire. Thank you for considering my comments and request. Penny Ellson Virus-free.www.avg.com From:surfer michael To:Council, City Subject: Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 6:15:14 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from yogawithsurfermike@gmail.com. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. For the safety of all beings please remove the parking on El Camino Real so cyclists travelsafely and no more cyclists are hit On the Hazardous Palo Alto part of El Camino Real much peace and many blessing From:Diane To:Council, City Subject:Tree ordinance Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 5:12:02 PM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from dianeef@comcast.net. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Please do not undo all the hours of work that citizens put into drafting the proposed tree ordinance. For a city that prides itself on its trees, it is saddening to contemplate a weakening of the language, which already pales in comparison to neighboring cities. Thank you for your consideration, Diane Finkelstein 2049 Dartmouth Street Sent from my iPad From:Ann Balin To:Council, City Subject:Tree Ordinance item #10 Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 4:57:42 PM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from alafargue@mac.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Dear Mayor Stone and council members, I am writing to urge you to remain prudent and retain the tree ordinance that was thoughtfully executed to protect Palo Alto’s canopy. The canopy provides beauty and contributes to the environment by reducing CO2. Another important aspect of this treasure is the benefit to mental health that nature provides in this case our magnificent canopy. There are studies that back up the positive impacts on well being concerning trees and humans. Do not water down this ordinance because developers are crying foul. This strengthened ordinance does not deter developers from establishing ADUs. As the tree ordinance stands even now Palo Alto does not have the strongest code when compared to other municipalities. It would be shameful if the council decides to weaken the ordinance. Perhaps some new members on the council did not know our strengthened tree ordinance was long over due. The urban forester, Peter Gollinger, conferred with many in the community including Catherine Martineau now retired from Canopy to protect our trees. These contributors put in hundreds of hours in the process. I agree with the ordinance that residents use certified arborists from the city’s authorized list. My redwood trees were saved after the long drought when McClenahan now Bartlett recommended industrial soaker hoses. These redwoods were planted by my family in 1926 and are saved. The arborist also recommended cedar mulch which provide nutrients and protect the root system. I feel strongly that it is your duty to stand up for this well designed tree ordinance. Please support our beloved canopy and keep this tree ordinance in place. Respectfully, Ann Lafargue Balin From:Jen Wolosin To:Council, City Subject:Support for Near Term Bike Lanes on ECR (Item 11) Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 3:25:06 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from jenmenlopark@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Esteemed Mayor and City Council Members, I serve on the Menlo Park City Council but I am writing as an individual. As some of you know, I started my unplanned journey into politics in 2015 as a Safe Routes toSchool advocate. My goal was to enable my kids to walk and bike to school safely. When I heard that there was an effort to push for bike lanes on El Camino Real, I really thought theproponents were crazy. In my mind, as a layperson only thinking of my elementary-aged kids toddling to school, I believed that bikes and cars should be completely separate from oneanother, that completely different routes should be established, and that anything short of perfect safety (whatever that means), was unacceptable. After close to 10 years of working on safe streets, I still believe that full, protected separationis the gold standard and should be the goal. I dream of a day when our streets are safe enough for those 8 to 80 and beyond to be able to ride and circulate freely, without fear of death andinjury. And, after close to 10 years working on safe streets I've come to understand that change is slow and incremental and that there are key moments to act or not act on that caneither advance desired progress or cause years and even decades-long setbacks. I'm sure many of you have safety concerns with bike lanes lacking physical separation and protection on El Camino Real. There are likely other current design limitations that also raisepotential questions and hesitations for you. I get it. But, please do your best not to judge the proposal against the ideal, but instead against the status quo. Parallel bike routes that are lessstressful are great, but it should be a yes and, not an either or. Every day people are either riding their bicycles on the street with traffic and riding their bicycles on the sidewalk. Asshown by the collision data, both of these situations are dangerous for all parties involved. People are not going to stop trying to get where they need to go along El Camino Real by bike,especially given the increased popularity of e-bikes. Making space for the cyclists already traveling on El Camino Real, let alone providing access for new users, is of utmostimportance. You can improve upon the safety measures, but making the space for the bikes is a critically important step forward. I'm not 100% sure how Council decisions/staff work is done in Palo Alto, but in Menlo Park,we are stretched to capacity. There is always more work that we want done than agenda space and resources allow. Having a major issue that is ripe for action is in many ways, remarkableand is not something that should be taken lightly. While there can always be more studies and community engagement performed, it is so important to seize rare opportunities when theyarise. Caltrans' repaving of El Camino Real is just that time-sensitive moment for Palo Alto. It is unclear when the next chance to act on this will be. Yes, it's uncomfortable to make acourageous decision without perfect information and perfect solutions, but that is the reality of governing. I urge you to use the powers you have now to move this long-awaited conceptforward. Finally, as a next door neighbor to Palo Alto, your success on this topic has a huge impact on my community. Our cities are deeply connected and I, along with many other elected leaders,are holding our breaths to see how you will act on this topic. As part of the new Middle Plaza Stanford development at 500 El Camino Real, in February 2022 the City Council had to makea decision about whether to remove parking spots to enable a wider pedestrian median and future bike lanes. It was an extremely difficult decision to make, but ultimately, the Councilvoted to remove the parking. As more cities take these actions to improve safety and address climate change, others will be inspired to do the same and we will have even more momentumto continue to further even more safety improvements along the corridor. Thank you for taking the time to read this email, and for your continued service to the community. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss. Very sincerely,Jen -- Jen Wolosin jenmenlopark@gmail.com From:Toni Ouradnik To:Council, City Subject:Bike lanes on El Camino Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 10:47:04 AM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from ouradnik@hotmail.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Dear Palo Alto City Council, I cannot be present at Monday’s meeting, so I am writing to you all to urge you to include bike lanes along the El Camino Real corridor. This is a major commuter thoroughfare for both cars and bikes, but is quite dangerous for anyone on a bicycle. Unfortunately, due to creeks, train tracks, and many roads that are not thru roads, El Camino is one of the only ways to travel north/south in a direct, efficient way through Palo Alto. Many high school and middle school students bike to and from school, alleviating traffic issues around schools and engaging in healthy activity. Palo Alto should create bike lanes to protect these children and encourage more to choose this climate-friendly commuting option. Thank you for your time and consideration. Take care, Toni Ouradnik Teacher in Palo Alto Sent from my iPhone From:E G To:Council, City Subject:copy of Recording of Sophia Salma Khalifa"s- Speech Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 9:49:20 AM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from eng94305@gmail.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Hi, Please advice howI could I obtain a copy of Sophia Salma Khalifa’s speech during one of the public comments. It took place about 4-5 weeks ago. Many thanks, ~Estee Greif From:Pranavi Gandham To:Council, City Subject:Make El Camino Real Safe for Cyclists! Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 9:06:06 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from pranavigandham9@gmail.com. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to ask the City Council to take the first step toward a safer El Camino Real bypassing a resolution to remove parking and instead install bike lanes. Thank you, Pranavi Gandham From:Team Practina To:Council, City Subject:Practina - Limited Time Offer: All-In-One AI Marketing Tool for Just $50! Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 8:10:47 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from elena@supportpractina.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Start Your 14-Day Free Trial Skip The Trial And Get 50% Off And that’s not It, Practina AI offers more than just a $50 solution; we provide businesses with premium digital marketing solutions. Multilingual Content: When tending to content creation or running ad campaigns inanother language, it's about crafting content that authenticallyresonates with the cultural context. This is where Practina takesthe stage, empowering businesses with multilingual marketing! Diverse Content Solutions: Practina's AI now goes beyond social media posts, generatingcaptivating ad content, blogs, emails, and newsletters! Seize Opportunities with Lead Center: Never miss a potential lead! Practina's Lead Center sends instantnotifications and allows seamless lead management from onedashboard. Effortless Reputation Management: Practina simplifies social listening by consolidating reviews. Itgenerates responses and showcases your best reviews on socialmedia and platforms like Yelp! Schedule A Demo A comprehensive digital marketing solution, eliminating the need for separate tools for ads, content, social media posts, and review management. Now, only one tool is required to streamline your entire digital marketing strategy. If you need any help with your account, Contact our support team. Best Regards, Team Practina Official Marketing Partners Follow Us On © 2024 Practina. All Rights Reserved If you no longer wish to receive mail from Practina, please Unsubscribe here. From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:Town & Country Village Bunny Hop Scavenger Hunt Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 8:00:17 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Town & Country Village Bunny Hop Scavenger Hunt promo Join us at Town and Country Village from Friday, March 22 to Saturday, March 30, between the hours of 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm daily for our “Bunny Hop” scavenger hunt! Families will begin and end at Books Inc. where they will receive and redeem their scavenger hunt map. The participants will “HOP” their way around Town & Country Village through the participating merchants in search of the hidden bunny inside each participating store. Once the bunny has been spotted, participants will take their map to the front desk to get it stamped, and then hop to the next location. Participants that complete the scavenger hunt and return their maps to Books Inc. will be entered in a grand prize giveaway which includes offers from Town & Country Village participating merchants. Participants need at least 12 stamps to enter the giveaway. Winner will be randomly chosen and announced the week after Easter. Happy hopping and good luck! Participating tenants (and special treats they are offering!) include: Howard’s Shoes For Children $10 off for same day shoppers El Merkat by Telefèric candy and 15% off your purchase Books Inc. candy Johnny Was candy Manresa Bread 10% off your whole purchase Prep Cuts lollipops Asian Box candy rockflowerpaper candy The Penny Ice Creamery Free Toasted Marshmallow Fluff Fillmore & 5th snacks from Trader Joe’s Sprouts San Francisco stickers J.McLaughlin 15% off same day purchases Poke House small squishy toy Paper Source candy Pact candy Lulu’s Palmetto Superfoods Kara’s Cupcakes Margaret O’Leary Evereve Faherty Marigold Row See More @ Town & Country Village This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email atinfo@paloaltochamber.com. From:Allen Scott To:Council, City Subject:Rough calculation for bids Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 5:50:53 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from allen.northestimating@gmail.com. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Greeting, We are the one-stop-shop solution to all contractor issues and can get every scope of plan estimated for you with detailed descriptions. Just like your in-house estimator but with more expertise exposure to huge projects and capacity in the least turnaround time is North Estimation. This can increase your bidding opportunity and will win more. The best in price and more adaptable to your expenses and needs. To get this more insight, simply respond to this email or directly send over the project plans along with the scope of work and get a quick proposal from us including our exact fee and timeline for that. Looking forward to your response. Sincerely, Allen ScottNorth Estimating, LLC From:Robert Neff To:Council, City; Planning Commission Subject:El Camino Real Parking Occupancy Survey Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2024 1:15:02 AM Attachments:2024 El Camino Real Parking Occupancy Survey 1p1.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council Members and Planning & Transportation Commissioners, Attached is a parking occupancy survey completed in February and March, 2024, for El Camino Real. I think you should find this as a complimentary addition to the staff report forthe El Camino bike lane improvements proposed by CalTrans, item 11 on April 1 for citycouncil. It includes results from 10 parking occupancy surveys in all, done at night, onweekend days, and on work days, and descriptions of the parking occupancy observed. I hope this can help inform your decisions. Thank you for your service to our city of Palo Alto. -- -- Robert NeffEmerson Street near Loma Verde in Palo Alto.robert@neffs.net 2024 El Camino Real Parking Occupancy Survey Robert Neff1 3/25/2024 Version 1.1 Background Since early 2023,when CalTrans presented the city of Palo Alto with a proposal to implement bicycle lanes and infrastructure for bicycle and pedestrian safety on El Camino Real,the city has not formally analyzed the use of street parking on El Camino Real.The author is not aware of any systematic approach to parking on ECR,especially with the myriad different restrictions that exist along the street,from completely unrestricted sections,except for the city 72 hour rule, to time of day rules,no parking in some blocks,and 2 hour parking during the day in others.At the same time,the author is not aware of any plan or survey of current street parking use.Who or what is parked on El Camino Real,and what is the hardship if this parking is removed to make way for transportation infrastructure like bicycle lanes. Parking appears to be a resource that the city gives away freely to any user,even if the use is simply for long term parking of storage trailers,or a permanently parked vehicle with a sign mounted on top for advertising. In January 2024,the Pedestrian Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC)asked the city to conduct a parking survey to support decision making for the CalTrans proposal.This was done in Los Altos when that city developed its plans for removing parking in favor of bicycle lanes.With such a survey it is easier to understand how and when the street parking is used. This volunteer effort began when no substantial work in this area was proposed by city staff before mid-February.The current city report developed for the April 1,2024 council meeting has only a weekend and early morning survey.The data here includes multiple surveys done in the daytime on both work days and weekends,as well as late evening surveys.It gives information about daytime parking occupancy,especially on a work day or school day that is a complimentary addition to the parking occupancy reported in the city report. Note that this survey indicates current use,but does not try to assess parking alternatives.For example,several businesses near Charleston have large private parking lots,yet encourage workers,or customers to park for free on the street.Near California Avenue,there is an abundance of parking available in the new city parking lot.The city report has more detail about on-site parking and limited parking parcels which give a fuller understanding. 1 Frank Viggiano also helped with data gathering.The author is a longtime resident,member of PABAC, and representative for Palo Alto to the VTA Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Email:robert-at-neffs.net 1 This survey covers from the city border at Los Altos Avenue north to the PAMF traffic signal beyond Embarcadero Road. Methodology The parking survey methodology consisted of: 1.Gathering estimates of parking capacity along El Camino Real.CalTrans had some preliminary street survey data.This was augmented by observational data.In a few blocks more parking was observed than computed by CalTrans. 2.Driving the corridor with a dashcam on,and counting the parked cars observed.A total of 10 surveys were done.3 in the late evening,2 during workdays,and 5 on weekend days.The survey drives took approximately 1 hour to make,plus additional time to tabulate. 3.Data was tabulated by looking at average occupancy for each type of survey,and compared to available parking.Parking occupancy was computed by block,though there is a wide range of block sizes along the corridor,with from 1 to 60 parking spaces, but most blocks have fewer than 8 parking spaces. 4.Notes about parking restrictions were added to the data.Some blocks near major intersections are marked with no parking,while an ongoing utility project impacted parking availability on some parts of the corridor,particularly on the Northbound side from Portage to Page Mill during daytime surveys. 5.The data was highlighted with color for blocks which experienced higher total occupancy, and colors (Green-Red)for percentage occupancy,to help. Discussion Data Survey and Limitations Ideally sampled data,as done in a survey like this should be done with enough frequency and repetition that one time events and happenstance may be averaged out.The Los Altos survey had surveys over 4 days,and multiple times of day,to obtain a more complete picture.In the case of this survey there are only 2 surveys done during regular weekday business hours,so this is a severe limitation to the data here.Also,the blocks with no parking due to utility construction have incomplete data. Some events that occupy parking on ECR are one-time.For example,a survey done on a Saturday morning showed 100%occupied parking in the 3 blocks near the Ananda Church between College and Oxford.No other day showed that level of parking occupancy there. If parking occupancy was not found where a reader knows there is regular use,or infrequent high use,then the survey may not have captured all parking use on the corridor. 2 Survey Times Surveys were done on these dates and times:2 2/11/2024 2/19/2024 2/20/2024 2/21/2024 2/22/2024 2/24/2024 2/25/2024 2/28/2024 3/18/2024 3/23/2024 Sunday Monday (Hol)Tues Wed Thu Sat Sun Wed Monday Saturday 3:25 PM 5:31 PM 10:11 PM 10:10 PM 10:22 PM 9:14 AM 5:21 PM 5:06 PM 9:30 AM 3:25 PM 2/19/24 is President’s day,so is grouped with weekend day data. 2 Survey time is the end of the survey.Start is ~25 minutes earlier. 3 Tabulated Results The full spreadsheet with parking availability and occupancy survey data is linked in the references.This is color coded showing: 1.Green to Red for percentage occupancy.Green below 25%,reddish above 50%.A 100%occupancy may not be significant if is only one space,adjacent to a lightly used block. 2.Note the column headers.The 2nd pair is maximum occupancy in any survey 3.Reduced Parking note indicates blocks impacted by construction,during at least one of the surveys.No parking indicates permanent no parking. Block Start Block End Capacity All Surveys Avg Occupancy All Survey Peak Occupancy Night Avg Occupancy Weekday Day Avg Occupancy. Weekend Day Avg Occupancy Simple Average of all 10.All -Max of any survey.3 surveys 2 surveys 5 surveys Average Number Average Pct Peak Number Peak Pct Avg Pct Avg Pct Avg Pct No Parking? Northbound Country Inn Cesano 2 0.38 18.75%2.00 100.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.60 30.00% Cesano Monroe 3 0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00% Monroe Dinahs Ct.9 0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00% Dinahs Ct.Deodar St 15 3.88 25.83%7.00 46.67%4.33 28.89%3.00 20.00%3.00 20.00% Deodar St Rickeys 0 No Parking Rickeys Char/Aras.0 No Parking W. Charleston/ Arastra.EC Way 10 1.70 17.00%3.00 30.00%2.00 20.00%2.50 25.00%1.00 10.00% EC Way Vista Crosswalk 22 4.20 19.09%13.00 59.09%1.00 4.55%5.00 22.73%4.83 21.97% Vista crosswalk EC Way/Los Robles 20 9.60 48.00%20.00 100.00%3.00 15.00%16.50 82.50%9.00 45.00% 4 EC Way/Los Robles Ventura 11 1.56 14.14%5.00 45.45%0.33 3.03%3.00 27.27%1.67 15.15% Ventura Curtner 7 2.00 28.57%4.00 57.14%1.67 23.81%3.00 42.86%1.50 21.43% Curtner Wilton 7 1.33 19.05%3.00 42.86%0.67 9.52%2.00 28.57%1.33 19.05% Wilton Matadero 6 1.30 21.67%4.00 66.67%1.00 16.67%2.00 33.33%1.00 16.67% Matadero Margarita 1 0.20 20.00%1.00 100.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.33 33.33% Margarita Fernando 7 1.30 18.57%3.00 42.86%2.00 28.57%0.00 0.00%1.17 16.67% Fernando Lambert 12 0.60 5.00%2.00 16.67%0.00%0.00 0.00%0.60 5.00% Reduced parking Lambert Portage 7 0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00% Reduced parking Portage Acacia 8 4.67 58.33%8.00 100.00%7.00 87.50%0.00%1.75 21.88% Reduced parking Acacia Olive 8 1.50 18.75%4.00 50.00%0.50 6.25%0.00%1.67 20.83% Reduced parking Olive Pepper 0 No Parking Pepper Page Mill/Oregon 0 No Parking Page Mill/Oregon Sheridan 0 No Parking Sheridan Grant 9 0.13 1.39%1.00 11.11%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.20 2.22% Grant Sherman 11 2.33 21.21%7.00 63.64%0.00 0.00%6.00 54.55%1.80 16.36% Sherman California 9 0.88 9.72%3.00 33.33%0.33 3.70%0.00 0.00%1.20 13.33% California Cambridge 10 1.00 10.00%3.00 30.00%0.00 0.00%1.50 15.00%1.17 11.67% Cambridge College 9 1.00 11.11%8.00 88.89%0.00 0.00%0.50 5.56%1.50 16.67% College Oxford 12 3.00 25.00%9.00 75.00%2.67 22.22%2.00 16.67%2.83 23.61% Oxford Stanford 9 6.67 74.07%10.00 111.11%5.67 62.96%5.00 55.56%6.33 70.37% Stanford Leland 5 1.60 32.00%5.00 100.00%1.00 20.00%1.00 20.00%1.83 36.67% Leland Park 12 3.40 28.33%9.00 75.00%1.67 13.89%9.00 75.00%1.83 15.28% Park Park/Serra 9 1.70 18.89%7.00 77.78%0.00 0.00%6.50 72.22%0.67 7.41% 5 Park/Serra Churchill 1 0.20 20.00%1.00 100.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.33 33.33% Mostly No Parking. Churchill Embarcade ro 70 10.60 15.14%61.00 87.14%0.33 0.48%33.50 47.86%6.33 9.05% Embarcade ro University 0 No Parking Southbound Read from bottom All Surveys Avg Occupancy All Survey Peak Occupancy Night Avg Occupancy Weekday Day Avg Occupancy. Weekend Day Avg Occupancy Monroe Cesano/LA Ave 8 0.20 2.50%2.00 25.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.33 4.17% Dinahs Ct.Monroe 2 0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00% W. Charleston/ Arastra.Dinahs Ct.18 5.00 27.78%15.00 83.33%2.00 11.11%7.50 41.67%4.83 26.85% EC Way/Maybe ll W. Charleston/ Arastra.10 3.70 37.00%9.00 90.00%0.33 3.33%5.00 50.00%4.33 43.33% Driscoll EC Way/Maybe ll 13 1.40 10.77%3.00 23.08%1.00 7.69%2.00 15.38%1.17 8.97% Vista crosswalk Driscoll 8 4.80 60.00%8.00 100.00%7.33 91.67%4.00 50.00%3.00 37.50% Apt Driveway Vista crosswalk 5 1.40 28.00%4.00 80.00%2.00 40.00%1.50 30.00%0.83 16.67% EC Way/Los Robles Apt Driveway 7 4.90 70.00%7.00 100.00%4.00 57.14%4.50 64.29%4.67 66.67% Ventura EC Way/Los Robles 14 10.30 73.57%12.00 85.71%10.33 73.81%10.50 75.00%8.50 60.71% Military Ventura 4 2.60 65.00%4.00 100.00%2.33 58.33%3.00 75.00%2.17 54.17% Curtner Military 2 1.40 70.00%2.00 100.00%1.00 50.00%1.50 75.00%1.33 66.67% Barron Xwalk Curtner 4 1.00 25.00%4.00 100.00%0.00 0.00%0.50 12.50%1.50 37.50% 6 Kendall xwalk Barron Xwalk 4 2.20 55.00%4.00 100.00%1.00 25.00%2.50 62.50%2.33 58.33% Marg/Matad ero Kendall xwalk 8 1.50 18.75%3.00 37.50%1.33 16.67%0.50 6.25%1.67 20.83% Fernando xwalk Marg/Mata dero 5 0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00% Hansen/Por tage Fernando xwalk 10 6.00 60.00%10.00 100.00%7.00 70.00%6.50 65.00%4.33 43.33% Acacia Hansen/Po rtage 7 0.29 4.08%1.00 14.29%0.00 0.00%0.50 7.14%0.20 2.86% Olive Acacia 10 0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00%0.00 0.00% Reduced parking Page Mill/Oregon Olive 0 No Parking Soccer Drive Page Mill/Oregon 0 No Parking California Soccer Drive 18 12.20 67.78%17.00 94.44%15.33 85.19%8.50 47.22%9.83 54.63% Cambridge California 10 0.33 3.33%1.00 10.00%0.00 0.00%0.50 5.00%0.40 4.00% College Cambridge 6 1.33 22.22%2.00 33.33%0.00%0.00 0.00%1.33 22.22% Reduced parking. Oxford College 6 2.67 44.44%6.00 100.00%0.00 0.00%3.50 58.33%3.40 56.67% Stanford Oxford 4 1.56 38.89%3.00 75.00%1.00 25.00%1.00 25.00%1.80 45.00% Park/Serra Stanford 32 7.00 21.88%13.00 40.63%6.33 19.79%13.00 40.63%3.60 11.25% Churchill Park/Serra 29 5.89 20.31%10.00 34.48%4.67 16.09%5.00 17.24%5.80 20.00% Embarcade ro Churchill 71 35.33 49.77%60.00 84.51%30.67 43.19%51.50 72.54%24.60 34.65% PAMF Embarcade ro 26 12.56 48.29%15.00 57.69%14.00 53.85%10.00 38.46%10.20 39.23% University PAMF 0 All Surveys Avg Occupancy All Survey Peak Occupancy Night Avg Occupancy Weekday Day Avg Occupancy. Weekend Day Avg Occupancy 7 Kinds of parking uses. The difference in the daytime and nighttime parking use gives insight into the kinds of use found on ECR. Nighttime use In addition to vehicle dwellers,the nighttime use consisted primarily of parked cars adjacent to under-parked developments, taking advantage of unrestricted all day parking,or perhaps just unrestricted overnight parking.This was particularly noted in these locations: Northbound Dinahs Ct.Deodar St Overflow from Hyatt Rickeys'development? Portage Acacia Night parking for Campers and storage trailers. Oxford Stanford Oxford->Stanford has no restrictions,permanent car and banner truck storage. Southbound Read from bottom Vista crosswalk Driscoll Overflow from Vista Development EC Way/Los Robles Apt Driveway Overflow from Apt.Development (or Buena Vista?) Ventura C Way/Los RobleOverflow from Buena Vista park. Hansen /Portage Fernando xwalk Night parking for Campers and storage trailers. California Soccer Drive Overflow from housing development at night and all hours. Park/Serra Stanford Night parking for Campers,plus workday use. Churchill Park/Serra Night parking for Campers Embarcadero Churchill Night parking for Campers,plus heavy workday use. PAMF Embarcadero Night parking for Campers 8 Daytime use (weekday or weekend survey)was particularly noted near these locations Northbound EC Way Vista Crosswalk Some impact from current construction (Pizza Chicago) Vista crosswalk C Way/Los RobleExcess parking from Palo Alto Commons (located on El Camino Way,parking on ECR. Grant Sherman Weekday parking occupancy. Cambridge College Cambridge to Oxford Peak Parking from an Ananda Church event on a Saturday AM. Stanford Leland Stanford ->Serra:Weekday employee parking,plus evening overflow at restaurant? Churchill Embarcadero Paly 87%parked in only survey during school hours.61 cars. Southbound Read from bottom Charleston Dinah’s Court Charleston ->Monroe,mostly near Charleston. Overflow from Hobbie's on Sat AM.Tent in parking lot,so customers on ECR. EC Way/Maybell Charleston/ArastBusinesses (Walgreens?,car dealers)with parking lots using street parking. 9 Sections that appear to have limited parking occupancy,or appear to have abundant on-site parking. Block Start Block End Northbound Los Altos City Limits El Camino Way / Maybell Typically 6 cars in 40 spaces here. El Camino Way /Los Robles Page Mill Low average parking occupancy observed.A few blocks (Ventura -Curtner,and Matadero -Fernando)may have limited off street parking. Page Mill Cambridge Low parking demand observed with parking available off street on city lots nearby, Embarcadero Encina No parking allowed. Southbound Read from bottom Dinahs Ct. Los Altos Ave.Practically zero parking occupancy observed. Driscoll /El Camino Way / Maybell,Dinahs Ct.All businesses have on-site parking. Page Mill Portage Minimal parking occupancy observed, Oxford California Lightly parked.Can businesses share off street resources and garages? 10 Conclusion The immediate goal of tabulating this data is to enable Palo Alto City Council,Commissioners, and Residents to make a considered decision regarding parking removal on El Camino Real. Independent of the view of relative value of parking spaces versus travel lanes,the author hopes this information can inform decision makers to understand the impacts of parking removal on current users,and decide if any other actions or mitigations would be needed. A deeper conclusion requires acknowledging the planning assumption of the past,that the parking on El Camino Real is available for free,and permits under-parked developments,be they apartment buildings,dense Planned-Community development,or new business development.The locations with significant overnight parking on ECR (which were not in use by vehicle dwellers)and many of those most heavily parked during the day were all near developments created in the past 20 years. References 1.Copy of Los Altos Parking occupancy survey: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15oOcg8e9CzrXVxTDakz4nzMjr4Vkahs7/view?usp=drive _link) 2.Copy of CalTrans parking space survey: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LM0e3dNGlePYgr8OrghPUNjkVMjFAunq/view?usp=driv e_link 3.Link to photo album of the driving surveys: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PKv94Ss8EbMnMghs7 4.Spreadsheet with raw data and occupancy analysis: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W04b3W7dgAprkfsBxgxLqkhDQoHHHlORsm- Nc7WLp7I/edit?usp=sharing 5.City of Palo Alto Staff Report for Item 11 at the April 1,2024 council meeting: https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/api/compilemeetingattachmenthistory/historyattac hment/?historyId=898d4b48-538d-485b-9a01-f83a183b7eeb 11 From:Jim Cornett To:Council, City Subject:Please ... NO Bicycle Lanes on El Camino Real Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 9:10:02 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from jbcornett@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, I urge you to NOT approve bicycle lanes on El Camino Real. I am concerned that placement of such bicycle lanes will only encourage more reckless drivingon El Camino Real as motorists find their driving space/environment more restricted. I am also concerned that motorists attempting to turn onto lateral roads from El Camino Real will be required to traverse bicycle lanes and thus may endanger bicyclists. As a resident who uses a bicycle nearly every day, I applaud (and routinely use) thenorth/south bicycle boulevards (Bryant and Park) that give preference for safe bicycling. Further, I suggest creating more such bicycle boulevards in Palo Alto and DO NOT attempt to transform El Camino Real into a facsimile of a bicycle boulevard. Thank you, Jim Cornett420 Sequoia Ave Palo Alto, CA 94306 From:Natalie Hodson To:Council, City Subject:Make El Camino safer for all Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 8:46:41 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from natalie.hodson@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Palo Alto City Council, Thank you for listening to the efforts to create safer and healthier streets for pedestrians and cyclists. I am writing to urge you to pass a resolution to remove parking on El Camino Real and install bike lanes. El Camino already has an abundance of parking lots in front of businesses, and plentiful parking on its side streets. Prioritizing safer cycling access creates a safer environment for all. Every month a child or teen gets hit on El Camino Real - based on past incidents, there is a 33% chance that it occurred in Palo Alto than anywhere else in Santa Clara County. That statistic is not an inevitability - is it a reflection of how our community currently valuescar convenience over human health and safety. Continuing to prioritize car access to the detriment of public safety is a systemic choice, one we can begin to change with projects like this. I urge you to pass the resolution, as someone who has both driven and cycledthrough much of Palo Alto and been deeply uncomfortable on El Camino in both methods of transportation. The design of the road currently encourages speeding, and stressed-out drivers make fast and reckless decisions. Please prioritize human health and safety to create a safer bike lane! Thank you, Natalie Hodson -- nataliejoyhodson.com440-708-3524she/her/hers From:D Martell To:Shikada, Ed Cc:Council, City; Lauing, Ed; Veenker, Vicki; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Lydia Kou; Stone, Greer; Tanaka, Greg; Burt, Patrick; Drekmeier, Peter; Joe Simitian; rMacasero@bayareanewsgroup.com Subject: MARTELL for CITIZENS" ADVISORY COUNCIL -- please respond Ed Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 8:17:39 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Ed ShikadaPalo Alto City Manager Hi Ed, Because you know me and know that I care deeply about Palo Alto, I ask for your advocacy and support. I am not only very serious about serving on the Citizens' Advisory Committee to assess City Council's monetary compensation for their performance and come up with a recommendation, I request to spearhead this group, be assigned the position of Chairperson, and allowed to be proactive in assembling a team of qualified, professional, and unbiased Palo Altans for this committee. No one is more qualified than me to participate on this committee. I represent old Palo Alto, and my lifelong dedication to making Palo Alto a better place for all residents is a matter of public record. Because I am not a part of any social group attached to City Council members, this gives me an advantage as an impartial committee member whowill not have hidden agendas. Please let me know when my work can begin. The Citizens' Advisory Committee will have my full attention, and I consider it anhonor and a privilege to participate in this endeavor. I have many skills to bring to the table, among them is that I am the founder of three startups, which provided me with extensive experience evaluating employeesalaries and work performances. I am organized, reliable, experienced, professional, and a pleasure to be around. I'm available immediately, My reputation and legacy precedes me as a dedicated worker with principles and ethics, who has only Palo Alto's best interest at heart. Thank you for your consideration. Yours truly,-Danielle ------------------------------Danielle Martell Palo Alto City Council Candidate 2016 & 2005dmPaloAlto@gmail.com t: 650.856.0700 ---------- Forwarded message ---------From: D Martell <dmpaloalto@gmail.com>Date: Thu, Mar 14, 2024 at 7:36 PMSubject: Please respond ... MARTELL | Citizens' Advisory Council - Palo AltoTo: Shikada, Ed <ed.shikada@cityofpaloalto.org>, Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org>Cc: Peter Drekmeier <pdrekmeier@earthlink.net>, Joe Simitian <joe.simitian@bos.sccgov.org>, <assemblymember.berman@assembly.ca.gov>,<senator.becker@senate.ca.gov>, <annaeshoo@mail.house.gov>, anne ream <anne.ream@mail.house.gov>, <rMacasero@bayareanewsgroup.com> Ed Shikada, City ManagerCity Council Dear Ed and Councilmembers: I volunteer my time to serve on the Citizens' Advisory Council to assess councilcompensation and come up with a recommendation. I am 75 years old, have lived my life in Palo Alto, am Stanford educated, and caredeeply about Palo Alto. Thank you for your consideration. Yours truly,Danielle MartellPalo Alto City Council Candidate 2016 & 2005 From:Aram James To:Braden Cartwright; Council, City; D Martell; Dave Price; Emily Mibach; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Kaloma Smith;Gardener, Liz; Van Der Zwaag, Minka; Stump, Molly; Vicki Veenker; Burt, Patrick Subject:Re: Ed’s idea so bad and elitist Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 8:17:26 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. On Mon, Mar 25, 2024 at 11:11 PM Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: They ( low income) could run if they were full time and paid $150,000 per year. Each rich sitting council member appoints another rich community member such BS! 4-3 former wealthy council member carry the day. Such Bull S. From:Aram James To:Council, City Subject:Re: Ed’s idea terribke Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 7:55:41 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. On Mon, Mar 25, 2024 at 10:46 PM Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Past council rich folks too not the kinda crosses section I want —-past council memberx nota cross section at all From:Laura Larghi To:Council, City Subject:Please make El Camino Real safer for bikers Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 5:14:23 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from laura_larghi@hotmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi, I am a biker and a parent and El Camino Real is very dangerous for bikers. Please pass the resolution to remove parking from El Camino and install bike lanes. Too may accidents have already happened. thank you for help. Laura Larghi 650 229 9418 From:Adam Samaniego To:Council, City Subject:Bike lanes instead of parking on ECR Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 4:37:25 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from adam.patric.samaniego@gmail.com. Learnwhy this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council, My name is Adam Samaniego. I bike, walk, scoot, and ride the bus to get up and down thepeninsula with my wife and two kids. El Camino is the most direct way to get from place to place (no hills, minimal distance) which really matters when using active transportation. But it's terrible. If you bike in the road on El Camino, you have impatient and angry drivers honk at you andbuzz you going way too fast. If you use the sidewalk, you get ripped up paths with many obstructions. In both cases, the car traffic is LOUD. I hold onto my kids hands so the don't tripand literally die. I've seen people get run over, literally. On El Camino. Getting into and out of the bus is tricky if you have to cross the road, with crossings only really workable at lights(where pedestrians have to wait the full cycle in most places). I've seen elderly stuck at a mile long crosswalk in the middle of nowhere, feeling unsafe to step into the travel lanes toexercise their right to cross. Getting rid of parking to install bike lanes is a great first step to calm El Camino down, improve bike access, and add protection to pedestrians. Please, please, please install bike lanes in place of car parking. It just makes sense. Car parking forces cyclists to merge into traffic and blocks sight lines. Bikes really change themood of the whole road for the better. Bonus points if we can physically protect those bike lanes from inattentive drivers - just think, would I let my kid ride their bike in there? Let's do better. Please add bike lanes to El Camino. Thank you,-Adam, Emily, Cecilia, Evelyn Samaniego Residents of San Carlos and frequent visitors to Palo Alto! From:Velasquez, Ingrid To:Council, City Cc:Executive Leadership Team Subject:FW: REVIEW: Council Bundle Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 3:31:52 PM Attachments:RE Infill m over building .msgimage001.pngimage003.pngimage005.pngimage006.pngimage007.pngimage008.pngRE SB 9 URBAN LOT SPILT EARLY NOTICE.msgRE Opposition to proposed development at 722 Marion Ave-File Number 24PLN-00065.msgRE 722 SB 9 regarding 722 Marion p.msgRE Castilleja Neighborhood Committee.msgRE Speed Bump Petition.msgRE Request No Bathrooms near Nelson Drive On Cubberley"s Propery.msgRE Palo Alto avenue quiet zone.msgimage002.png Hello Mayor and Council Members, On behalf of City Manager Ed Shikada, please see attached staff responses to emails received in the City.Council inbox through March 22, 2024. Thank You, Ingrid Ingrid Velásquez Administrative Assistant Office of the City Manager (650) 329-2354| ingrid.velasquez@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org From:Andrew C To:Council, City Subject:Bike Lanes El Camino Real Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 2:58:59 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from at.cupps@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello, I would like to express my support for installing protected bike lanes on El Camino Real toreplace parking. How many cyclists and pedestrians need to die on that cursed road before you do something about it? I tried riding on it over the summer biking to Stanford for graduation; Igave up trying since even looking at the prospect was such a terrible experience. Consider the economic benefits as well, that improved bike infrastructure is proven to bring more customersthan parking. Instead of riding on El Camino Real and getting a burrito like I had intended, I had to waste my time finding some back roads way to get to Stanford and didn't spend anymoney getting a burrito. You have the opportunity to make a real difference in the Palo Alto community and I hope you take it by making El Camino Real safer for pedestrians andcyclists, better for business, and more accessible to consumers like myself. Sincerely, Andrew From:Cindy Asrir To:Council, City Subject:Please approve the installation of bike lanes on El Camino Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 12:55:49 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from casrir@gmail.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello. As a cyclist, mom and concerned citizen for everyone who bikes either recreationally or astheir main method of transportation (especially kids, immigrants or people who don't have--or can't afford--cars), I'm asking that the city of Palo Alto approve the installation of bike laneson El Camino Real. In addition, I ask that the city please work towards a solution to find housing or a suitable place for the RVS to park who are currently on El Camino. This shouldn't be an either/orsituation, with *either* bike lanes or parking/housing for the current RV dwellers. We need to make our city and community safer and more liveable for all, especially for those who aremost vulnerable. Thank you, Cindy Asrir From:Terry Martin To:Council, City Subject:Public Health Issue Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 12:35:10 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from js309@hotmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. On 3/11/24, Utility Partners of America (UPA) replaced my water meter without notice. Unfortunately, the worker was unqualified and poorly trained, so he ignored three critical Palo Alto service requirements and managed to fill my house plumbing lines with a sludge of questionable local soil, contaminants, and landscaping debris. Although it is an overwhelming problem for me to deal with, this email is to inform you that the contamination is not isolated to me, and more importantly, Palo Alto residents are unknowingly drinking contaminated water. After posting a warning on NextDoor, I received a lot of feedback of similar dirty water contamination and clogged valves, except everyone just assumed it was their plumbing problem, and continued to drink the water. Note, this contamination is from the yard dirt near the meter, and may contain pesticides, mold, bacteria, small insects, and animal output. Contamination of Palo Alto water by UPA is willful gross negligence, and they are aware of it because two separate UPA employees told me dirty water was normal. I submit that it is your duty to: 1) Immediately notify residents affected by UPA installs not to drink water if they see any discoloration. 2) Ensure that UPA retrain installers on how to properly install the meter.   3) Provide prior notice of work so that residents are actively informed. It is my sincerest ambition to just quietly enjoy my retirement, and I have accepted the declining quality of utility service over the years. Now, I cannot ignore or excuse the willful compromise of public health in my community. From:Hana Chandler To:Council, City Subject:Bike lane on ElCamio real. Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 12:25:40 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from hana_chandler@hotmail.com. Learn why thisis important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. To whom it may concern: As a vivid cyclist, I want to join Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition in their effort to create safer ways for cyclists in Palo Alto . This means creating a cycling pass on El Camino Real and removing parking on the same street. Encouraging cycling as an alternative to transportation would ease traffic congestion, but it needs to be safe. Please consider this request seriously. Thank you ! Hana Chandler Long-time Resident of Palo Alto View this email in your browser We are proud to announce our upcoming Virtual Speaker event: LWVPA Virtual Speaker Event Wednesday, March 27, 2024 From:LWV Palo Alto Speaker SeriesTo:Council, CitySubject:This Wednesday 3/27: Free Speech in the Digital Age & The Mass Extinction of American JournalismDate:Monday, March 25, 2024 12:24:20 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Featuring our Guest Speaker Rachael Myrow Senior Editor of KQED’s Silicon Valley News Desk Free Speech in the Digital Age & The Mass Extinction of American Journalism American journalism, like the other pillars of our democracy developed 250 or so years ago now, is struggling to keep up. Worse, struggling to stay alive. You might be thinking, “I’ve got more news coming at me on my phone, 24/7, than I can handle!” KQED's Rachael Myrow is not discounting your experience. She's warning that what many of us observe about the state of journalism right now is like a wet year late into a mega drought; the larger trend lines point to the challenges in the digital age. BIO: Rachael Myrow is Senior Editor of KQED's Silicon Valley News Desk. You can hear her work on NPR, The World, WBUR's Here & Now, and the BBC. She also guest hosts for KQED's Forum. Over the years, she's talked with Kamau Bell, David Byrne, Kamala Harris, Tony Kushner, Armistead Maupin, Van Dyke Parks, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tommie Smith, among others. Before all this, she hosted The California Report for 7+ years, reporting on topics like assisted living facilities, the robot takeover at Amazon, and chocolate persimmons. She has won numerous awards for her work. Rachael holds degrees in English and journalism from UC Berkeley. Outside of the studio, you'll find Rachael hiking Bay Area trails and whipping up Instagram-ready meals in her kitchen. LWVPaloAlto.org Facebook YouTube LinkedIn Email Email Copyright © 2024 League of Women Voters Palo Alto, All rights reserved. From Voter Recipient List Our mailing address is: League of Women Voters Palo Alto 3921 E Bayshore Rd Ste 209 Palo Alto, CA 94303-4303 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Register Now From:Tim Ryan To:Council, City Subject:Bicycling on ECR Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 12:01:22 PM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from timryannews@gmail.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Council members I’m calling to join the chorus of local bicyclist, who feel El Camino Real in Palo Alto is unsafe. Ironically, I will miss the discussion in Council Chambers on April 1 because I will be bicycling in Spain. I have bicycle in many European countries, and all of them to me appear safer than here in the US and the Bay Area in particular. All over the roadways in Spain are signs advising drivers to keep 1.5 meters, or about 5 feet, away from a bicyclists by law. Let’s remove parked vehicles as best we can and welcome people onto the roads, because after all, we’re reducing greenhouse gas, roadway and parking lot congestion and helping people shed pounds and minimize diabetes. Tim Ryan San Carlos Play hard ‍♂ From:Darius Teter To:Council, City Subject:El Camino Real paving project Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:55:01 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from dteter@stanford.edu. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. To whom it may concern, I am writing to lend my support to a proposal that will be discussed at the Palo Alto city council meeting on April 1st. As a long-time resident of Mountain View and daily bicycle commuter, I advocate for the elimination of parking spaces along key sections of El Camino Real and the creation of bike lanes instead. Although there are some alternative routes, many riders still prefer to ride along El Camino for access to businesses, schools and their jobs, particularly along the Mountain View - Palo Alto - Menlo Park commercial corridor. Unlike many urban corridors, drivers do have manyparking options, typically free, on intersecting side streets and public lots all long this section of El Camino - far in excess of what is available along the thoroughfare. Thank you for your consideration. Darius Teter Darius Teter Executive Director Stanford | Seed Stanford Graduate School of Business Stanford University 655 Knight Way Stanford, CA 94305 (m) (650) 804-8466 dteter@stanford.edu seed.stanford.edu LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Check out our podcast: Cover Image From:Andrew Etringer To:Council, City Subject:A safer El Camino Real Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:54:17 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from andrew.etringer@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council of Palo Alto, I am a long-time bike commuter (25-years) and bike enthusiast, but am somewhat new to theBay Area. Riding a bike along El Camino Real is a real nightmare currently. I usually avoid even driving a car on that stretch of road. Anything that you can do to slow down cars andmake the roadway safer for bikes and pedestrians is a great idea. I support the removal of car parking spots in favor of a well-marked bicycle lane. Sincerely,Andrew Etringer From:Lisa Dusseault To:Council, City Subject:Bike lanes and El Camino Real Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:50:22 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from lisa.dusseault@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi council folks, I write to you as a biker and as a mom of bikers. While I do drive around the area a fairamount too, I don't see driving my kids everywhere as a plan that's good for me, for them, or for the environment. Thus we have set expectations that they bike themselves to school,summer school and to friends houses; to stay active and healthy and independent. That's why my older son was hit by a car when he was crossing El Camino Real on his way to Gunn high school last summer. It wasn't bad and he didn't report it. Neither did the driver,who may not have even known that when they turned sharply the back end of their vehicle hit a biker and knocked them over the curb and flat on the sidewalk. My son's bike needed repair,we replaced his helmet, and we checked him for concussion - but nobody reported it. We were just glad it wasn't worse. El Camino Real is an important thoroughfare not just for drivers but also for bikers andpedestrians, going to work or to shop or to hobbies. It should be safer for all and it should encourage more multi-modal traffic. I've been a champion and supporter of Palo Alto'sincreased bikeability for years, and would support changes to El Camino Real in this direction too. Our move away from car-first urban planning is working and I know you must have seengood options to continue this work along El Camino Real or other places where bike support might make even more of a difference. Let's keep the momentum. Lisa Dusseault, Palo Alto resident From:Elaine Salinger To:Council, City Cc:katie@bikesiliconvalley.org Subject:In support of a resolution to have protected bike lanes on El Camino Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:44:04 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from esalinger@icloud.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Hello Palo Alto City Council Members,We need protected bike lanes. Cycling in San Mateo County has not increased in the last 20 yearsbecause people don’t feel safe riding (According to a SMC Grand Jury Report 8/23). Please vote forthe resolution to remove parking on El Camino to create protected bike lanes. I am the SMC BPAC chair and I am really tired of people being hit by cars. And I am really tired of ourlocal government prioritizing the needs of cars over pedestrians and cyclists. And people are paying forthis with their lives. Here is a recent Op-Ed I wrote for the San Mateo Daily Journal: Cyclists pay taxes too By Elaine Salinger Mar 11, 2024 1 Peter Grace was one of the smartest, friendliest people I have ever known. In December, a driver sideswiped him while he was riding his bike and killed him. Peter was such an experienced cyclist, but he was riding in San Rafael on a badly designed road and bike path. He died because of a lack of adequate physical separation between people on bikes and cars. What’s the solution? For every dollar spent on roads, we can and should have 5 or 10 cents spent on separated bike lanes and bike infrastructure. Cyclists pay transportation sales taxes too and deserve this. The benefits? It will be safer for cyclists, and drivers will be happier because they won’t need to share the road. Traffic congestion will improve as more people leave their cars at home. Studies have found that mental health improves when we are outside, and property values always Elaine Salinger increase where there are bike lanes. About 200 people attended Peter Grace’s memorial. He had a lot of friends. If all of us asked state Sen. Josh Becker and assemblymembers Papan or Ting to write and vote for a law mandating that 5% of our road spending be spent on safety for those who bike, more people would ride, roads would be safer and less congested. How do you build political will for this legislation? By telling our legislators what we want so that more Peter Graces aren’t killed. Readers, please email or call them today. It helps to repeat this two-minute action every week. As the San Mateo County Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee chair, I am tired of seeing worthy safety projects not get funded. Safety advocates fight over tiny scraps of money. All of us use the roads, but funding overwhelmingly prioritizes cars. For example, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority approved almost $600 million to widen Highway 101 to reduce congestion. But studies have shown that the relief is temporary and the number of cars increases because it encourages more driving. The 101 widening canceled the much-needed and long-planned Holly Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge in San Carlos and the Hillsdale Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge in San Mateo. The Holly Street Bike and Pedestrian Bridge was ready for construction in 2019, but Caltrans prioritized the 101 widening project over the bike/pedestrian safety project. Without any feedback from the community, the project was abandoned. This is a shame because I know of six serious cyclist injuries on the existing overpass. Holly and 101 was identified as a San Mateo County Youth-Based High Injury Network and a highest safety priority area. Holly is the only route to access the east side of 101 and the Bay Trail from San Carlos via bike or foot for several miles. Holly is also the main route to access downtown businesses in San Carlos from the Bay Trail. Are you a business owner in San Carlos? Speak up. San Mateo’s Hillsdale Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge was identified as a priority in 2007. This has been the site of many serious crashes involving cyclists, including one fatality. And like Holly, Hillsdale is part of the Youth- Based High Injury Network due to frequent crashes involving kids. According to the city of San Mateo, the 101 widening “complicated” the design of the planned/bike pedestrian bridge and now the project is on indefinite hold. Our prioritization of auto drivers’ convenience and speed at the expense of the health and safety of those who leave their cars at home or live in polluted communities adjacent to our highways needs to change. Please email or call Becker and Papan or Ting to ask that they write and vote for legislation mandating a minimum of 5 or 10 cents for bike infrastructure for every dollar spent on our roads. To make this as easy as possible for you, here is their contact info: Becker: https://sd13.senate.ca.gov/contact or call (650) 233-2724. Papan: https://a21.asmdc.org/contact or call (650) 349-2200. Ting: https://a19.asmdc.org/contact-me or call (415) 557-2312 Elaine Salinger, SMC BPAC Chair and CCL Group LeaderSan Mateo County Chapter 650-533-3539 Do this action every week and just say: Please write and vote for legislation mandating a minimum of 5 or 10 cents for bike and pedestrian infrastructure for every dollar spent on roads. Cyclists and pedestrians pay taxes and need this. Elaine Salinger is a retired veterinarian living in San Mateo. She is the chair of the San Mateo County Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and leads the SMC chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. The views expressed are her own. From:Tim Dick To:Council, City Subject:Yes to Bike Lanes on El Camino Real Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:42:38 AM [Some people who received this message don't often get email from tdick@startupcv.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ I am a long time Palo Alto resident and bike frequently in the area. Please consider El Camino Real bike lanes as a way to improve our city and reduce traffic. Thank you. Timothy Dick tdick@startupcv.com 415-710-9622 From:Neil S To:Council, City Subject:safer el camino! Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:35:02 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from neilshahis@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. we need a safer el camino, i'm in san carlos and bike everyday on el camino. it's a death trap.please remove parking and add bike lanes. neil shah san carlos, ca From:Jo Ann Mandinach To:Council, City Subject:#11 -- El Camino Bike Lanes. Just say no. Date:Sunday, March 24, 2024 1:57:12 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from joann@needtoknow.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council. Just say no to replacing parking on El Camino with bike lanes because it's too dangerous for everyone -- bikes, cars and pedestrians -- and will totally destroy the businesses on El Camino by depriving them of customers who will have no place topark. Even in progressive San Francisco merchants are suing to get the bike lanes removed because their businesses are being destroyed. Can we afford to lose the sales tax revenue from the ruined businesses? No. Does it make sense to pay our $$$$$ money to retail consultants to improvebusinesses while consciously destroying retailers? No, not unless you're part ofPA's consultant gravy train. Can we afford to make people waste their time and drive longer distances to runtheir errands? No. Does it make sense to approve mandated housing on El Camino and then deprive the new residents of nearby resident-serving businesses? No. I could go on but you get the picture. For too many years Palo Alto has dealt with incompetent transportation czars like Josh Mello and Jaime Rodriquez who caved on everything the bike lobby wanted -- bollards at every intersection that pushedcars into the middle of Oregon and Embarcadero because they could no longerbypass turning traffic, bus stops 3 car lengths away from major intersections that left cars stuck in the middle of major roads.... BUT THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THAT EL CAMINO NEEDS TO BE REPAVEDTO PREVENT VEHICLE DAMAGE NOW AFTER YEARS OF ALLOWING IT TO BECOME INCREASINGLY DANGEROUS AND STICKING US WITH MAJOR CAR REPAIR BILLS. Please get your priorities straight and tell CalTrans to STOP this virtue-signalling nonsense and do its job by repaving EL CAMINO NOW. Most sincerely, Jo Ann Mandinach 1699 Middlefield Road Palo Alto, CA 94301 STOP BY AND LOOK AT THE DAMAGED STREET TREE A DRIVER RAN INTO TRYING TO AVOID TURNING TRAFFIC. From:Saurabh Kumar To:Council, City Subject:Caltrans" El Camino Real Bikeway Project Date:Friday, March 22, 2024 5:19:20 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from szk@stanford.edu. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council, I support Caltrans' El Camino Real (ECR) bikeway project. I am a student at Stanford and have to cross or walk/ride along El Camino Real to access stores and businesses in Palo Alto. I am glad to see protected bike lanes on El Camino. The bikeway project has potential to help me and others make safe car-free choices when getting around our shared neighborhood. Thank you! From:Annette Glanckopf To:Council, City Cc:Clerk, City; Shikada, Ed; Lait, Jonathan Subject:Bike lanes on El Camino - vote no Date:Friday, March 22, 2024 1:35:07 PM Attachments:Letter on Bike lanes on ECR.docx Some people who received this message don't often get email from annette_g@att.net. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor Stone and Council members, Please see my attached letter with my full details on why bike lanes on EL Camino Real should be rejected. Menlo Park isn't going to do this, why should we waste this time and money? Use (or enhance) what is already established - a safer faster bike route on Park Blvd. Annette Glanckopf PS: I do not agree with consultant's report on the over-de$$$$ign needed to make this work safely for bikers. March 22, 2024 Dear Mayor Stone and City Council members. I want to weigh in on the topic of bike lanes on El Camino. VOTE NO ON THIS FOLLY. It is a disaster waiting to happen. The logic behind creating bikes lanes from Mt. View to Redwood City on El Camino is faulty for many reasons. 1) Menlo Park has no plans to do so 2) Alternative routes: Little consideration has been given for the optimum alternative route on Park Blvd, just a few blocks off of ECR or even Bryant Street (Palo Alto's official bike boulevard). 3) Parking: Small businesses will suffer - just at a time when the city is trying to encourage more retail, especially small independently owned businesses. Yes, some of these businesses do have parking, but is it sufficient? I think not, especially for those customers (elderly, disabled) who want to park in front of the door on ECR. Taking out a huge number of parking spaces in a major mistake. Caltrans counts 600 vehicle parking spots on ECR, but hasn’t identified where these vehicles should/could go. I understand that at least about 41 serve as dwellings for some of our neighbors. 4) Safety: With the numerous curb cuts, driveways, and streets on ECR, bike lanes are a recipe for disaster, especially with distracted drivers, speeders in a hurry, buses and trucks as well as numerous traffic lights. Note that on Park Blvd, there are only a handful of lights and fewer driveways, streets, etc. to hamper bikers. This Park Blvd alternative route already has bollards (Ventura and near Mollie Stones) for bike safety. This route is much safer and FASTER as well. ECR accident reports show that a large majority of serious and fatal accidents between cars and bikes are broadsides, indicating that these accidents occurred when bikes were crossing ECR. This plan does not at all address this real and known fact. 5) No Answers: There are numerous unanswered questions that need to be decided/discussed; the answers are uncertain. How do bikes and buses work together at bus stops? Will buses cross bike lanes at each bus stop; this will be a significant safety issue. What portions of the bike lanes will be Class 2? No bike user data, current or projected, has been gathered. I ask how many bikers will actually use ECR, when they realize that a faster, safer route is Park Blvd.? Finally let's consider the greater good. The daily car, bus, and truck traffic is significant on ECR--in the high thousands--while bike traffic would be in the hundreds at best. ECR parking is also used as dwelling spaces. Should we inconvenience the far greater number, when there is an alternative route that is faster and safer. Please take a strong stand against Caltrans and refuse bike lanes on El Camino. Annette Glanckopf, Midtown resident From:Eric Nordman To:Council, City Subject:Please improve safety in Palo Alto Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 4:41:46 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from eric.nordman12@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Council members: I support a resolution to remove parking on El Camino Real (ECR) and install bike lanes. This is a rare opportunity to get safety improvements for no additional cost to thecity. As other cities are making safety improvements on ECR, Palo Alto would look foolish todecline safety improvements. It’s been argued that Park Blvd is a better place to bike than ECR. This is probablytrue for those like me who live east of ECR but not so for those west of ECR. If one wanted to go to a store six block away on ECR it would be much longer to cross ECR, go three blocks to Park, ride 6 blocks and then ride 3 blocks back on Park. The situation is even worse for those living on ECR. To get anywhere, they need to take a lane on a road with 3 lanes of traffic in each direction often going well over 35 mph. Alternately, they could ride on the sidewalk as many do now. Neither are safe options. Not everyone can conveniently choose to avoid stores on ECR. Even with today’s unpleasant and dangerous conditions, many people find they need to ride on ECR. I looked at research into safety. One large study (17,000 fatalities and 77,000 severe injuries) showed that it was not only bicyclist safety that is improved. They concluded: “More specifically, our results suggest that improving bike infrastructure with more protected/separated bike facilities is significantly associated with fewerfatalities and better road safety outcomes for all road users.” The safety improvements are not small. For example, between 1990 and 2010 the overall road fatality rate in Portland dropped by 75%. This makes intuitive sense. Removing parking improves sight lines for all users andnarrower travel lanes helps to control speeding. Palo Alto’s SCAP calls for increased active transportation trips from 19% to 40%. This simply cannot happen without new, much safer bicycle infrastructure. This paving project doesn’t address all safety issues as it’s limited to what can bedone with paint. After this project, the city should work with Caltrans to further improve safety, especially crossing safety as many kids need to cross ECR to get to school. Please pass a resolution to remove parking on El Camino Real (ECR) to enable bike lanes to be installed. Sincerely, Eric Nordman Member of PABAC since 2012 and currently vice chair From:Lawrence Garwin To:Lauing, Ed Cc:city.council@cityofpaloalto.com; Council, City Subject:Re: Bike Lanes Along El Camino Real. Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 12:38:36 PM Attachments:image002.png Some people who received this message don't often get email from lawrencegarwin@yahoo.com. Learn why thisis important Ed, I appreciate your personal reply. I agree that bicycle lanes deserve substantial physical protection, not just road stripes orhollow plastic bollards. At the 3/10/2024 public meeting, Caltrans officials told me that improvements beyond different road striping would not be available immediately after the initial repaving, but wouldbe likely thereafter. I believe more bicycle traffic is not a problem, but part of the solution. Slowing cars and increasing motorists’ awareness of bicycles through signage, street markings, and enforceddriver responsibility will increase bicyclists’ safety. To further address your question, below are some suggestions that I made to Caltrans officials directly at the 3/10/2024 public meeting at Palo Alto High School and to Caltrans and the Cityof Palo Alto via the webform at: https://us.openforms.com/Form/1328d991-d30a-4ca1-b9f7-9e364540e959 Please do not let the lack of an immediate great solution stand in the way of a better solutionfor the time being. Thank you. Lawrence Garwin Caltrans State Route 82 El Camino Real Bikeway Project Feedback Shared with Caltrans and City Staff in person on 3/10/2024 and via web form: I suggest a 2-4’ tall concrete barrier between the car lane and the bike lane, rather than justhollow flexible plastic bollards, to provide real protection from distracted drivers wandering out of their driving lane. How about bike lanes to the left of right turn lanes to avoid the obvious and dangerousconflict? Please create a bike friendly environment on El Camino Real. This includes encouraging or requiring bicycles to ride outside of the Door Death Zone, which is the 4 to 5 foot stripalongside parked cars, where opening car doors may impact cyclists or cause them to swerve in front of or into motor vehicles, likely causing the cyclist’s death. I think bike boxes before intersections should go in front of straight-through motor vehiclelanes, or at the front left corner of right turn lanes, so folks can turn right without waiting for the light to turn green to let the bicycles across. And cyclists invariably move to the right,back into the bike lane, immediately after the intersection, or even earlier, as soon as they’re clear of cars turning right. This route could be marked in dashed green to make it clear toeveryone where to expect the cyclists. As a cyclist I would use the box in front of the straight through car lane unless there were no stopped cars; in that case, once the light goes green, I’d be at risk of speeding cars “not seeingme” and running me down from behind in the first few seconds after the light changes before I can get over to the right in or after the intersection. In this case, I’d likely pull forward on mybike and into the left edge of the right turn lane so cars can turn right and speeding straight through cars wouldn’t hit me. Please work with the City of Palo Alto and/or Stanford University to find a place for live-invehicles that have parked on El Camino Real to park nearby; not all of our local workers can afford the local rent. Use paint with glass beads for reflectivity, not a thermoplastic dashed path, for bike lanemarkings across intersections, as thermoplastic markings are punishingly bumpy on cyclists with high pressure tires and no suspension (typically long range commuters). In each direction under the University Ave/Palm Drive bridge, there are three 12’ lanes with a36’ RoW. How about narrowing at least two of the lanes and adding a narrow, non-protected bike lane just for that section, so there’s not a gap in the bikeway that sends bikes intodangerous conflicts with cars on the ramps to and from University Ave/Palm Drive? VTA says they’re happy with two 10’ lanes and an 11’ curb lane; that leaves 5’ for a bike lane withno parked cars, so there’s plenty of width. Alternatively, how about sharrows on the on and off ramps that cross Palm Dr/University Ave.? Consider:Right turn from El Camino onto Page Mill perhaps separate from straight-through lane. On Mar 21, 2024, at 11:15 AM, Lauing, Ed <Ed.Lauing@cityofpaloalto.org> wrote:Thanks for your input. The “protected bike lines” here don’t physically protect cyclists from a swerving care or a cyclist falling through bollards into traffic lines. Plus we will be significantly increasing bike traffic. How do we address these problems? Ed Lauing Vice Mayor (650) 329-2571 Ed.lauing@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org Some people who received this message don't often get email from lawrencegarwin@yahoo.com. Learn why this is important From: Lawrence Garwin <lawrencegarwin@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2024 11:07 AM To: city.council@cityofpaloalto.com; Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org> Subject: Bike Lanes Along El Camino Real. CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor, Council Members, and Palo Alto City Staff, I support bike lanes on El Camino. As a cyclist, I have been struggling with this for a while now as my concerns are similar to many Council members – how will this really make El Camino safer? In particular, how does this address the major causes of cycling crashes (80%), the right hook or broadside crash? By removing parking on El Camino, this will improve visibility and sight lines for cyclist and car drivers. With the addition of protected bike lanes, this will help bring attention to motorists about the presence of cyclists in this corridor and give cyclists a safer place to ride (eliminates the Door Death Zone). This should help address the major cause of cycling crashes on El Camino. Reducing the speed of traffic on El Camino will also make this route safer. The easiest way to address this is to reduce the width of the left two travel lanes to 10 feet. Reducing lane width has been shown to decrease speeds in these situations. The right most lane would then have more room for the bike lanes and bus stops. As I understand it, VTA has OKed the reduced width of the left two travel lanes, but Caltrans is still using their old outdated guidelines of 11 feet. Here is where Palo Alto can make El Camino even safer: Approve the removal of parking on El Camino on the condition that the left two travel lanes are 10 feet wide. This will reduce the car speed and increase the width of the right lane to better accommodate bike lanes and bus stops. This additional reduction in lane width is also called for as 30% of all crashes on El Camino, from San Jose to SF (as I understand it) are in Palo Alto, so this calls for additional road treatments for safety measures in Palo Alto. Should Palo Alto decide not to support these free safety improvements, that could be completed within a year’s time, Palo Alto will be liable for crashes in this corridor. Please note again, that these improvements are free to Palo Alto and will be done in short order. While this project is not perfect, Palo Alto could never come up with other improvements, of any kind, to address safety on El Camino for many years. Please do not miss this opportunity to make El Camino safer for all road users. Sincerely, Lawrence Garwin From:Lawrence Garwin To:city.council@cityofpaloalto.com; Council, City Subject:Bike Lanes Along El Camino Real. Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 11:07:43 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from lawrencegarwin@yahoo.com. Learn why thisis important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor, Council Members, and Palo Alto City Staff, I support bike lanes on El Camino. As a cyclist, I have been struggling with this for a while now as my concerns are similar to many Council members – how will this really make El Camino safer? In particular, how does this address the major causes of cycling crashes (80%), the right hook or broadside crash? By removing parking on El Camino, this will improve visibility and sight lines for cyclist and car drivers. With the addition of protected bike lanes, this will help bring attention to motorists about the presence of cyclists in this corridor and give cyclists a safer place to ride (eliminates the Door Death Zone). This should help address the major cause of cycling crashes on El Camino. Reducing the speed of traffic on El Camino will also make this route safer. The easiest way to address this is to reduce the width of the left two travel lanes to 10 feet. Reducing lane width has been shown to decrease speeds in these situations. The right most lane would then have more room for the bike lanes and bus stops. As I understand it, VTA has OKed the reduced width of the left two travel lanes, but Caltrans is still using their old outdated guidelines of 11 feet. Here is where Palo Alto can make El Camino even safer: Approve the removal of parking on El Camino on the condition that the left two travel lanes are 10 feet wide. This will reduce the car speed and increase the width of the right lane to better accommodate bike lanes and bus stops. This additional reduction in lane width is also called for as 30% of all crashes on El Camino, from San Jose to SF (as I understand it) are in Palo Alto, so this calls for additional road treatments for safety measures in Palo Alto. Should Palo Alto decide not to support these free safety improvements, that could be completed within a year’s time, Palo Alto will be liable for crashes in this corridor. Please note again, that these improvements are free to Palo Alto and will be done in short order. While this project is not perfect, Palo Alto could never come up with other improvements, of any kind, to address safety on El Camino for many years. Please do not miss this opportunity to make El Camino safer for all road users. Sincerely, Lawrence Garwin