Plan to turn El Camino Real into travel mecca goes forward
A plan to make Redwood City’s main thoroughfare more inviting and incorporate all modes of travel is moving forward.
The El Camino Real Corridor Plan, launched by the City Council in January 2016, envisions making it easier to travel by car, bike, transit or foot along El Camino Real to boost businesses and possibly reduce traffic congestion. It likely will also involve removing street parking spaces.
The Planning Commission has unanimously endorsed the plan for eventual approval by the City Council.
The plan, which emerged from six public meetings led by a 10-member citizens advisory panel that included Vice Chairman Kevin Bondonno and Commissioner Muhammad Safdari, place the highest priority on allowing all forms of travel while not reducing the number of car lanes. Other priorities include more ground-floor retail and housing, particularly affordable housing.
Recommendations also include adding bike lanes separated by a barrier from vehicles, which could involve removal of some parking spaces; bolstering transit service along El Camino; and making sidewalks continuous while adding street trees and pedestrian lighting.
Andrew Boone, an East Palo Alto resident, said he would like to see dense housing along the corridor once bike lanes are installed. The corridor already has rapid bus service and the Caltrain station is nearby. The plan currently doesn’t include any changes to land uses, such as more density or increased building heights.
“There’s nowhere else we can build the housing we need so desperately with lower impacts than El Camino,” Boone said.
Other residents advocated for the bike lanes.
Bob Page, who has been commuting by bike in the area since 1970, said he never uses El Camino because it’s too dangerous.
“Redwood City could really be a leader along the El Camino Real corridor by going with protected lanes,” Page said. “If Redwood City steps forward, there’s a good chance (this) could extend through more communities.”
Karen Davis, a 29-year resident and avid cyclist, said street parking is a hazard because car doors open directly into the cyclists’ path.
In May, the city published results of a plan survey that 612 people responded to. The survey found general consensus that the corridor needs to be safer and have less traffic. Fifty-four percent supported installing protected bike lanes and 43 percent said they would be “very likely” to use them.
Not all commissioners were on board with the idea of removing parking for bike lanes, chiefly because it is unknown whether Atherton and Menlo Park would also install protected bike lanes.
Bondonno and Commissioner Ernie Schmidt both said it wouldn’t make sense to have the bike lanes if cyclists just had to find another route once they pedaled outside city limits.
Contact Kevin Kelly at 650391-1049.