April 1st's Palo Alto City Council decision to delay the installation of bike lanes along El Camino Real could significantly impact future plans for the corridor. SVBC is currently in the middle of a campaign to get bike lanes on El Camino Real by 2030. Our vision is one where neighbors can safely connect to local businesses and destinations with less traffic. The crucial components we are advocating for are protected bikeways, a safe pedestrian environment, and frequent and reliable public transit.

Last Monday, the Palo Alto City Council was given the opportunity to remove parking and install bike lanes on El Camino Real as part of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) repaving of El Camino Real—the first step toward more infrastructure for a safer El Camino Real.

There were 40 letters of support and 43/46 public comments in favor of the project, asking the City to pass a resolution to install bike lanes and remove parking and in the future, collaborate with Caltrans to implement additional safety features along the roadway. Unfortunately, despite only a handful of comments in opposition,

The city council did not approve the above motion.
Instead, they decided to push the vote out by three more months.

However the Council decision could potentially turn out to be a huge win for safety improvements on El Camino. Here’s why:

Caltrans is forced to update the project plans based on the Safe System Approach and applicable Design Information Bulletin Guidelines. Both recommend improvements such as narrower lane widths, increased pedestrian visibility, improved intersections, and more—improvements that facilitate safer travel.
Caltrans will return with new drawings in the next two to three months—not the usual one-year timeline—so changes can be implemented more swiftly as part of the ongoing repaving project.
The proposed changes could be implemented not only for Palo Alto but also for the Los Altos and Mountain View sections, which are part of this same project.
The proposed changes would potentially change the approach and impact of all future repaving projects coming to El Camino Real.

Between 2019 and 2021, this project was presented by Caltrans to the cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos. Mountain View and Los Altos actively engaged with Caltrans and took the necessary steps to remove parking and add bike lanes. Palo Alto did not. Last summer, Caltrans was forced to return to the drawing board for the Palo Alto stretch of El Camino Real because of safety concerns for people biking. This gave the City of Palo Alto a rare second chance to add bike lanes into Caltrans repaving plans.

After a year of back and forth between the City and Caltrans, the decision came to the Council on April 1st. Palo Alto City Council voted to revisit the item in three months with the following conditions:

Caltrans returns with additional safety measures based on the Safe Systems Approach design, applicable Caltrans Design Information Bulletin, and a Complete Streets network approach.
City staff to create an ad-hoc committee to consult with relevant stakeholders.
City and agency staff to prioritize a plan for safety improvements at intersections and conflict areas, along with additional outreach to businesses and neighborhood community members to identify parking alternatives and ways to accommodate RV dwellers residing on El Camino Real.

While we are disheartened that key life-saving improvements have yet again been delayed to our community, Palo Alto’s upcoming decision has serious potential to influence how the rest of the corridor improvements rollout.

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