Issue date: April 21, 1999

Menlo Park: Plan to improve look, safety on Willow Road in east Menlo Menlo Park: Plan to improve look, safety on Willow Road in east Menlo (April 21, 1999)

Hundreds of trees, improved lighting and solar-powered call boxes may soon line Willow Road from Highway 101 to the Bayfront Expressway, now that the Menlo Park City Council unanimously approved a city landscaping project April 13.

The project, which will cost about $440,000, is designed to provide a "safe and attractive" entrance into Menlo Park from the East Bay, said the staff report.

The city plans to install 12 new street lights and upgrade six lights; add six new solar-powered call boxes, which people can use to call for help in an emergency; and add 200 new trees on both sides of Willow Road and in the landscaped islands. Also, the city plans to give "special attention" to the Willow Road/Bayfront Expressway intersection, installing 28 trees and 104 shrubs.

The landscaping project should begin within the next 60 to 90 days, with completion by late summer, said Assistant City Manager David Wheaton.