or years, Menlo Park Transportation Commissioner Reg Rice has been advocating an idea that he believes will speed traffic flow on El Camino Real, but he said he is now worried that his plan may be endangered by a project to line the thoroughfare with 400 trees.
Mr. Rice's plan calls for using parking spaces on El Camino as traffic lanes during peak commute hours. He said that he is the sole member of the Transportation Commission to advocate this plan.
His idea, however, has become part of the platform of the Menlo Community Association, the local political group that backed candidate Christina Angell-Atchison in her unsuccessful bid to oust Councilman Paul Collacchi last November.
Jose Fernandez, the president of the Menlo Community Association, said that better traffic flow on El Camino would mean less cut-through traffic on residential streets.
"I believe so long as traffic moves at a steady rate, it will stay on the road," he said.
But Mr. Rice said he is worried that council members who oppose his plan might narrow the road for trees as a cover for making his plan unfeasible.
Councilman Chuck Kinney, who sits on the steering committee for the nonprofit organization Trees for Menlo, said his organization's plan does not include widening sidewalks.
"It's not going to affect any parking at all," he said, adding that he has no firm position on Mr. Rice's plan.
Mr. Fernandez, who also chairs the city's Planning Commission, said he is not worried by the El Camino tree project.
"My feeling is that we can get the trees to work with the space we have," he said.
Mr. Fernandez added that the Menlo Community Association has never taken a pro or con stance on the El Camino tree project. He said he likes the idea of adding more trees to the city's landscape, but would have preferred planting them in the Belle Haven neighborhood.
Of the remaining four City Council members, Mayor Nicholas Jellins said he would be in favor of Mr. Rice's plan if it would reduce cut-through traffic. Council members Paul Collacchi, Steve Schmidt and Mary Jo Borak said they oppose Mr. Rice's idea.
Mr. Collacchi said that traffic now using U.S. 101 would be drawn to El Camino if the parking spaces were used as travel lanes. But he said the city has no plans to widen sidewalks along El Camino, and Mr. Rice's worries are groundless.
Mr. Schmidt, however, said he would prefer to widen the sidewalks as a means of creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment. He said that some sections of El Camino are more narrow than they should be for pedestrians.
