City Council cool to Page Mill plans

Congestion- weary Los AltosHills supports widening

PALO ALTO — Santa Clara County’s plans to break the gridlock on Page Mill Road by adding new lanes could put the cities of Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills on a collision course.

At a study session last week, several members of the Palo Alto City Council said they didn’t like the idea of widening Page Mill from four lanes to six between Interstate 280 and Foothill Expressway. But some said they would support the project if the new lanes are reserved for highoccupancy vehicles.

The Los Altos Hills City Council, meanwhile, has tentatively approved the plans in the hopes that they will make it easier for residents to get in and out of the largely bedroom community.

Dawn Cameron, a transportation planner with the county, said projects typically aren’t pursued if objections are raised.

“Page Mill presents an interesting challenge for us because the section of Page Mill we’re talking about widening is actually within the county unincorporated area and it connects Los Altos Hills to Palo Alto,” Cameron told the Palo Alto City Council.

The county’s Roads and Airports Department maintains Page Mill between I280 and El Camino Real.

“You should still take whatever position you would like to take,” Cameron added, “but this is one case where we might have two cities giving us a different preference for a single project. We’ll have to work it out.”

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for major modifications to the interchange at Page Mill and I- 280. A roundabout for the southbound ramps and signals for the northbound ramps are expected to help relieve congestion.

“It is not unusual in the morning, during the peak period, for cars to be stacked up from Foothill Expressway all the way back to I- 280 and onto the freeway in both directions,” Cameron said. “That’s how great the demand is coming off of the freeway, heading into Palo Alto.”

Stanford Research Park is the major destination for vehicles exiting I- 280, according to a study.

The interchange reconfiguration and lane widening, in addition to several other projects, including a new eastbound through lane at Foothill, are expected to slash morning rush hour travel times by 60 percent and evening rush hour travel times by 40 percent, said Adam Dankberg of KimberlyHorn Associates Inc., a consultant who worked on the study.

“It’s a very substantial benefit,” he said.

The plans also come with a substantial price tag: $ 98 million. However, $ 50 million would be for a project to separate Page Mill and Foothill at some future date, Dankberg said. The new eastbound through lane would make the intersection functional through 2025.

“It’s now the third- worst intersection on the entire county expressway system,” said Cameron, adding that changes in travel patterns and behaviors might eliminate the need for the project. All told, there are 145 signalized intersections in the county expressway system.

Several members of the Palo Alto City Council objected to the widening project largely because it would add capacity for single- occupancy vehicles at a time when transportation demand management districts and programs are being pushed as solutions to congestion.

“We don’t want people to suffer through bad circumstances, but ... are people going to be really motivated to look for alternative ways to get to work?” asked Mayor Karen Holman.

Vice Mayor Greg Schmid and Councilman Cory Wolbach said the $ 98 million would be better spent on projects with longer- lasting benefits for the city such as a trench for Caltrain.

“Why should we be spending it at 280, filling up the research park and our own highways with more cars?” asked Schmid.

Cameron noted that the county was only responsible for operating Page Mill to the best of its ability.

“The cities make the land- use decisions and it’s the land- use decisions that generate the trips,” she said.

Council members said they could support widening Page Mill all the way to El Camino Real if the new lanes are reserved for high- occupancy vehicles that might be used as part of a transportation demand management district for the research park.

“To make the bus system work and to make it convenient, an HOV lane for buses seems to be the way to solve that problem,” Scharff said.

The council did not take any formal action on the plan, but Cameron said the county would consider the comments made during the study session. For now, all of the projects will be included in the Expressway Plan 2040, which does not provide funding but sets the stage for amassing it.