Council member backs Measure A Council member backs Measure A (September 22, 2004)

By Nicholas P. Jellins

Renewing Measure A is important for Menlo Park.

Measure A makes our roads safer - reducing major accidents and saving lives every year. Safer roads and highways also mean fewer minor accidents - saving time and money. Reducing traffic also makes it easier for police and fire personnel to arrive quickly in emergencies.

Measure A helps our City Council balance the budget each year. Since 1988, Menlo Park has received over $6 million in Measure A funding. If reauthorized, Measure A will provide Menlo Park with over $16 million in new funding. The money is given directly to Menlo Park and we decide how best to spend these funds on street repairs and traffic relief - local control results in better decisions. Measure A funds pay for everything from street maintenance and sidewalk repair to bike lanes and stop signs.

Without Measure A, projects such as the new Menlo Park Caltrain Station, the Hwy 101/Marsh Road interchange, Willow Place bicycle bridge replacement, emergency vehicle lane on Willow Road, and street resurfacing program might never have been funded and completed.

Measure A is a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to our transportation problems. It includes money for roads, highways, buses, Caltrain, BART, shuttles, ferries, bike lanes, pedestrian bridges, sidewalks, and grade separations. The expenditure plan was crafted in an open public process over many months. Every city council in San Mateo County and the Board of Supervisors approved the expenditure plan.

With so many projects, there may be some you disagree with. However, politics is the art of compromise and we need to come together to find a common solution to our traffic and transportation problems. Our county is diverse economically and geographically - there will never be a plan that pleases everyone, but Measure A is a good plan. Everyone in the county will benefit. Every city in the county will benefit. Every highway in the county will be improved; every public transit system will be improved.

The final Measure A plan has something for everyone and even increases the local share of our tax dollars which our city will decide how to spend. We need to renew it. I hope you will all join me in voting Yes on Measure A this November.

Nicholas P. Jellins, member Menlo Park City Council

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