County irked by Stanford roadwork: crosswalk and pedestrian pathway on Santa Cruz Avenue to be removed County irked by Stanford roadwork: crosswalk and pedestrian pathway on Santa Cruz Avenue to be removed (April 28, 2004)

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer

Stanford Land Management appears to have given itself a black eye when it installed a temporary mid-block crosswalk and pedestrian pathway on Santa Cruz Avenue near the Sand Hill Road intersection, all without the approval of public works officials in San Mateo County.

Stanford and its contractor met with the county officials Monday, April 26, and agreed to remove all the devices the next day, acting public works director Donna Vaillancourt told the Almanac.

The new crosswalk was 300 feet south of a similar crosswalk at Palo Alto Way, where on January 9, 75-year-old Amy Bijan was struck and killed by a car. Both crosswalks span a four-lane quarter-mile stretch of road uninterrupted by traffic lights or stop signs.

County officials were irked when they were told about the new crosswalk, in part because since January they have been working to assess whether crossing the busy thoroughfare in that area is safe enough to justify keeping even the Palo Alto Way crosswalk.

The county -- which has jurisdiction over this part of Santa Cruz Avenue -- was also displeased with Stanford's appropriation of a parking and bike lane as a temporary pedestrian path leading to the new crosswalk, again without county approval.

A series of 6-inch-high curb sections had converted a 300-foot section of the parking lane into a protected walkway spanning the front of several houses, eliminating about five parking spaces and complicating the process of turning into the driveways there.

Residents were upset about the curbs because they weren't notified, said Anne Klein, whose home is located at the site of the new crosswalk.

The new crosswalk was to be temporary while the Sand Hill/Santa Cruz intersection was being worked on, said Stanford spokesman Jim Inglis. "We have to provide a new way for people to get across the street," he said, adding that while residents were not individually notified about the curbs, they were made aware that the project "would be impacting both sides of the street."

As a result of the meeting on Monday, Stanford agreed to route pedestrian traffic to the crosswalk at Palo Alto Way while the intersection is under construction, Ms. Vaillancourt said.

Stanford's sin was that it did not follow normal public works procedures, said Bruce Kirk, the county's principal civil engineer. Although Stanford had informed the county of its intentions, work should not have begun until all parties had discussed and signed off on the final version of the plans and arranged for proper notifications, Mr. Kirk said.

"In this case, they jumped the gun," Mr. Kirk said, adding that Stanford is being "very cooperative and is trying to work with us. ... We don't want them to get too far ahead of the curve here. We could create more problems than we solve."

"Maybe there was a disconnect," Mr. Inglis said. "We feel we've done a very good job of communicating with the public on the whole project. This is not a very easy project to construct."

Over the next two years, lane additions -- including bike lanes -- should make the intersection and surrounding streets more efficient. This year, the bridge and narrow section of Sand Hill Road located east of the intersection will be widened to four lanes plus bike lanes in both directions. In 2005, the 450-foot section of Santa Cruz Avenue between the intersection and Alpine Road is to be widened.

Quick action

The public works department first learned of the crosswalk when the Almanac called Thursday, April 22, for an explanation of why it was there.

On the advice of counsel, county staff went out soon afterward to confirm the crosswalk's existence, then put up barricades to prevent the public from using it, said Road Operations Manager Lisa Ekers.

The new crosswalk was near a major intersection and next to the entrance of a convalescent hospital. After the county installed the barricades last week, an Almanac photographer saw an elderly man with a cane walk around the barricades, crossing the street without looking for oncoming traffic.

The warnings for the new crosswalk had consisted of two standard neon-green road signs in each direction. In the northerly direction, the second sign was hidden by tree foliage. If the crosswalk had remained, the street would need pavement markings to warn drivers of its presence and a staff observer to monitor its efficacy, said Mr. Kirk.

Parking lane problems

The county was also concerned about the use of raised asphalt curb sections to mark off a pathway through 300 feet of what was a parking lane. While spaces were cut to allow entry into driveways, such maneuvers had to be done in heavy, fast-moving traffic. The spaces may have been cut too abruptly to allow quick turns, Mr. Kirk said.

Lou Abel of San Jose and Jim Wang of Palo Alto, both of whom regularly work at one of the homes with the new curbs out front, also were concerned about the changes.

"It's very difficult to get into (the) driveway," Mr. Abel said, noting that he had to come to a complete stop and was concerned about being rear-ended by Santa Cruz Avenue traffic. "In my opinion, it's very poor engineering," he said.

"They shouldn't put these things there," said Mr. Wang. "I was used to parking my car alongside the road. I don't think it makes any sense."

Abrupt cuts in the curbs could have also spelled trouble for cyclists, Mr. Kirk said. Although the pathway wasn't meant for them, they could have used it anyway and may have had trouble re-emerging smoothly on to the roadway, he said, adding that the curbs could also have been attractive to kids on skateboards.

The owner of the home at the northwest corner of Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue said she came home from work one day last week to unexpectedly find a "Road Closed" sign in her driveway and a new curb blocking the entrance. She said she was expecting the closure, but not for another two months.

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