Friends of Future Millbrae launched to educate residents on Station Area Plan
On Tuesday night, a group of non-profits (including SVBC) and local residents called Friends of Future Millbrae convened a community workshop to educate residents about the potential benefits, impacts, and concerns of Millbrae's Station Area Specific Plan (MSASP). The plan is an update from the original 1998 plan. It includes updates to zoning, circulation, design, and other guidelines for the specific plan area, immediately surrounding Millbrae's BART and Caltrain station.This multimodal transit station is one of the busiest on the Peninsula, servicing not only the two train lines, but also connections to San Francisco Airport. It will also serve as one of a few High Speed Rail train stops in the Bay Area (the other two being San Jose and San Francisco) on a blended system with Caltrain. Currently, the station is surrounded by parking lots and effectively disconnected from the Millbrae community through the barriers of Millbrae Ave. and El Camino Real. However, this station is a commute hub for Millbrae and other nearby communities like San Bruno, Burlingame, and San Mateo to access employment and other destinations north and south.This plan and two proposed Transit-oriented Developments could be a real game changer in terms of connections for Millbrae and nearby cities. Friends of Future Millbrae is an ad hoc group of local Millbrae residents and non-profit organizations including the Millbrae Cool Cities Team, the Sierra Club Sustainable Land Use Committee, the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, Friends of Caltrain, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, and public health advocates. We are dedicated to making the proposed (MSASP) the best transit-oriented development possible to benefit the citizens of Millbrae and to serve as a shining example of good transit-oriented design. To that end, the group held a public educational workshop on the plan and draft environmental impact report so that residents could be more knowledgable about what was going on in their city and so that we could hear their concerns and incorporate those with our own comments to the city.Over 40 people attended our meeting. Their concerns included:
- safe bike routes from western hills
- mobility options for seniors to connect to the station
- creating a place that Millbrae residents, including youth and seniors, want to visit
- safe connections for people walking and biking across El Camino Real
SVBC has analyzed the plan and draft environmental impact report and has some initial recommendations which you can view in the presentation from Tuesday night.If you live or work in Millbrae, or use this station frequently, comments on the Millbrae Station Area Environmental Impact Report are being accepted until August 10, 2015. E-mail comments to: MillbraeMSASPDEIR@ci.millbrae.ca.usEmail me if you'd like to get more involved with Friends of Future Millbrae: emma@bikesiliconvalley.org
