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Atherton is eyeing sidewalks, bike lanes and other improvements along a stretch of El Camino Real that lacks such features and poses various safety concerns.
During a study session Nov. 6, the City Council reviewed potential configurations to improve the 1.5-mile stretch between Selby Lane and Valparaiso Avenue.
The goal as part of a larger regional effort is to “make El Camino Real a complete street where we are accommodating users of all ages and abilities and the various modes of transportation, including walking, biking, vehicles, transit, people with assisted mobility, etc.,” town Public Works Director Robert Ovadia said during the session.
Currently, the span has six lanes — three each northbound and southbound — with no sidewalk on either side but just a planting strip or vegetation running along the shoulders of the thoroughfare.
The corridor sees about 36,000 vehicles a day on average, according to a town staff report. From 2018 to 2022, 73 injury crashes occurred there.
“Notably, two pedestrian fatalities were recorded, highlighting the need for safety interventions particularly for non-motorized users,” the report said. The area also experiences seasonal flooding.
The report recommended four scenarios for the council to consider:
• Sidewalk and on-street bike lane: This would install a six-foot-wide sidewalk and five-foot-wide bike lane on both sides of El Camino Real. It would keep the total number of traffic lanes to six.
• Sidewalk, landscaping and protected bike lane: This has landscaping between an eight-foot-wide sidewalk and six-foot-wide bike lane on both sides of El Camino Real. Also, raised posts would shield the bike lanes from vehicle traffic. This design, however, would reduce the total number of traffic lanes to four.
• Sidewalk, landscaping and separated bike lane: This has landscaping between an eight-foot-wide sidewalk and seven-foot-wide bike lane on both sides of El Camino Real. It would also have landscaping separating the bike lanes from traffic. This configuration has four traffic lanes total.
• Sidewalk and single-side bike lane: This has a six-foot-wide sidewalk on both sides of the thoroughfare but a two-way bike lane only on one side. This option would have a total of five traffic lanes — three in one direction while two going the other way. Also, landscaping would separate the sidewalk or bike lane from traffic.
During their discussion, council members, with Mayor Diana Hawkins-Manuelian absent, generally seemed to lean toward the “sidewalk, landscaping and separated bike lane” design.
“I think having a buffer between the bike lane and El Camino makes a lot of sense,” Council member Stacy Holland said, “and I think having a full sidewalk makes a lot of sense.”
Council member Bill Widmer would also be OK with that look “if we’re agreeing to reduce a lane on each side,” he said.
Like his colleagues, Council member Rick DeGolia favored having a bike lane on both sides of El Camino Real. “I think you can’t have the bike lanes on one side,” he said.
But he acknowledged that reducing the number of traffic lanes could meet stiff resistance.
“If you want to reduce El Camino to four lanes,” DeGolia said, “you better let the residents know.”
‘If you want to reduce El Camino to four lanes, you better let the residents know.’
atherton council member rick degolia
Gary Bloom, an Atherton resident who serves on the Menlo Park Fire Protection District board, applauded the town for exploring safety improvements along the route.
“It’s a concern. It’s definitely dangerous,” Bloom said during the meeting’s public-comment period. “The way we look at El Camino Real (is) it might as well be a brick wall going all the way across, and the only reason you cross it is because you need to turn onto it or turn off of it.”
But he urged careful consideration on the lane reduction, saying gridlock could get worse.
“I would really encourage you to make sure that we’re not going to so horribly impact the flow that the residents of Atherton cannot get onto that road,” he said. “What I see when I’m driving down the road is residents get very impatient trying to make the turn, and eventually, they gun it and they go for it at the most inopportune time, and that’s when we end up with the accidents.”
Right now, Atherton is in the initial planning stages of pursuing improvements along that section of El Camino Real in conjunction with other jurisdictions.
The beginning work has involved a $755,000 study funded mostly by the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, according to Carolyn Mamaradlo, senior project manager at the agency. Atherton pitched in $75,000 while Menlo Park chipped in $30,000 and SamTrans contributed $100,000.
The cost of the actual improvement project and when that could start remain to be seen.
“As part of the final plan, our team will develop a high-level conceptual cost estimate for the preferred alternative,” Mamaradlo said in an email to The Almanac. “The final plan is anticipated in spring/summer 2025.”
Atherton’s report noted that because the roadway segment is under the state’s purview and flanks other communities such as Menlo Park and Redwood City “it is not a project that the town can address or fund on its own.”
