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The Menlo Park City Council agreed to consider reopening a stretch of Santa Cruz Avenue that has been closed since 2020 as part of its annual priority and goal setting workshop on March 22. The council discussed the change at its Feb. 11 meeting after Mayor Drew Combs requested that the issue be revisited.
At the council’s Jan. 28 meeting, several residents and business owners commented asking the council to reconsider the closure, which stretches from Curtis Street to Doyle Street.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the city closed one segment of Santa Cruz and part of Ryans Lane to create outdoor space where patrons could dine and gather while subject to pandemic health protocols.
In 2023, the council voted 4-1, with Combs dissenting, to continue the Santa Cruz closure while reopening Ryans Lane.
One primary reason for bringing the item back to the council for discussion, Combs said, was that there are no active information-gathering or current pilot programs linked to the street closure. Combs sees the closure of the last block of Santa Cruz Avenue as a holdover from the pandemic when more extensive portions of the street were closed to vehicles. The city opened up several other blocks as pandemic restrictions lifted, but the closure in front of Walgreens and Starbucks has remained.
“It’s just sort of there and looks fairly temporary,” he said. “There hasn’t been any additional sort of analysis or understanding or attempt to have traffic flows comport in a way that reflects that a portion of the street that people think you could drive through (is closed).”
Combs mentioned that there is no signage indicating a street closure further up Santa Cruz Avenue nor any other infrastructure that might reflect a more permanent closure.
Combs also said that many business community members have expressed concern that the continued closure of Santa Cruz Avenue blocks traffic flow and negatively impacts their businesses.
“I don’t know that anyone has specific data proving that, but it is something that the business community has been fairly consistent about,” he said.
Alex Beltramo, a Menlo Park Design District member, told the council that he was pleased that they were even discussing the possibility of reopening the closed portion of Santa Cruz Avenue.
“The ability to drive all the way down Santa Cruz Avenue is sort of the linchpin of how our downtown works,” he said. “Once we’ve restored Santa Cruz Avenue to functioning as it should, then we can consider activities that were going on in the road closure. If we really feel that downtown needs more public places to sit, then we can look at the best locations for public seating.”
Beltramo sent the council a business survey conducted by Save Downtown Menlo, showing that many businesses downtown want to see the stretch of road reopened. Sixty-two of the 75 businesses surveyed indicated they would like to know if the stretch of road reopened. Seven businesses responded that they would like to see the closures continued; an additional six businesses said they were unsure.
Karsten Iwers, the former owner of Harvest Furniture at 639 Santa Cruz Ave., told the council in an email that the street closure was “devastating” for his family’s business, which closed after 24 years in March 2023.
Several residents also sent the council emails requesting that the closure remain. Many residents supported the closure and cited its major role in providing safe routes for bikers and pedestrians.
Resident Kevin Rennie commented in support of the continued closure at last week’s meeting, saying that it currently serves as a safe way for bikers and pedestrians to get across town.
“There’s no real good way to get to the other side of Menlo Park; it’s extremely unsafe,” he said. “It would be nice if there’s more effort given to the transportation plan and the complete streets approach, which considers all transportation users. … I see some of this happening, but it’s not enough, and to take away this little nugget that we got out of the situation through COVID, it would be a bit sad.”
Combs also said it is important to acknowledge that the public seating in the road closure area has “emerged as a key community gathering spot.” Many kids from local schools flock to the closed part of Santa Cruz Avenue after school is out. He suggested that the council consider a parklet solution that preserves public seating and gathering space but allows traffic onto El Camino Real from downtown.
Vice Mayor Betsy Nash said that when this issue came before the council in the past, statistics gathered at the time showed that there was “tremendous community support for the closure.”
All council members agreed that the council should discuss the downtown parking, but there were disagreements over the appropriate scope and forum for that discussion. Several council members said they would prefer to address this item as part of a larger economic development and downtown revitalization strategy.
“I feel like we might miss an opportunity if we bring this up separately,” said Council member Jeff Schmidt. “It might bring up a separate set of debates around this, but I’d love to see it folded in. … I see it as a very positive entry point into a broader engagement strategy.
Combs and Schmidt mentioned that downtown revitalization could be a significant priority for the city at the council’s upcoming March 22 priority-setting workshop. Council member Cecelia Tayor and Vice Mayor Betsy Nash both expressed that they would be in favor of continuing this discussion at the council’s priority-setting workshop rather than as a separate item because it is related to several other areas of concern, such as improving pedestrian safety and community spaces.
“I think it really has to be viewed as a major cohesive effort,” said Nash.
Combs expressed concern that the street closure issue would get lost in the shuffle of a larger, long-term economic development plan when, instead, the issue could be addressed quickly and efficiently.
“The business community centered around downtown and Santa Cruz have felt especially ignored by the city council for some time now,” he said. “And I wouldn’t say that all businesses downtown are in favor of opening the street, but I certainly think a large number are. … It is my hope that this larger discussion about downtown begins to show not only that we’re being responsive to that community, but that we all think downtown is important and needs to, and can be better.”
Combs acquiesced to addressing the issue at the council’s larger priority-setting meeting as part of a discussion on downtown revitalization but said that he would also like to see it come up again at a regular city council meeting.
“If we are six months out, or nine months out, and this has gone nowhere, I will bring it back,” said Combs.
Ultimately, the council unanimously voted to include consideration of the Santa Cruz Avenue closure as an item at the council’s priority-setting workshop.
Santa Cruz Ave downtown should be turned into a pedestrian mall like the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, CO. There isn’t that much parking that would be lost as there are lots behind all of the businesses along Santa Cruz. A parking garage would make up for any lost parking. That is, of course, if the Council doesn’t give it away for very low income housing. A pedestrian mall would offer some vitality to the downtown area. It would help increase foot traffic, which would help refill the empty storefronts.
“One primary reason for bringing the item back to the council for discussion, Combs said, was that there are no active information-gathering or current pilot programs linked to the street closure.” HUGH?
Drew is “throwing a bone” to some members of the business community while supporting new housing that will destroy Downtown starting during construction. I lost all respect for him when he opposed the Civic Center because it was on the east side of El Camino. Hugh? What happened to his prior good judgement???I n BOTH cases, he has generated needless controversy by letting his own “feelings” diminish it.
Huh!!!!
I agree with reopening the street on Santa Cruz Ave between Curtis St and Doyle St. Keep the outdoor dining tables on the parklets occupying the diagonal street parking spots, but reopen the actual street portion to allow cars to travel the whole length of the street. There aren’t very many tables on the street portion anyway, and you can still keep outdoor dining. The unintended consequence of closing this block to thru traffic is that more traffic is diverted over to Menlo Ave, causing more congestion on Menlo Ave at the intersections of University Dr, Curtis St and Doyle St, especially around Trader Joe’s. Sometimes, traffic is really backed up on Menlo Ave that turning left from Curtis or Doyle onto Menlo is really tricky. Another consequence is that Menlo Ave has become more dangerous for bicyclists with the increased traffic. If you reopened Santa Cruz, the traffic will be more evenly distributed.