Menlo Park: New ground rules for traffic-calming projects Menlo Park: New ground rules for traffic-calming projects (October 13, 2004)

** Menlo Park City Council expected to act this week.

By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer

How do you determine if a neighborhood really wants a "traffic-calming" project?

Tough question. It's why there are myriad opinions surrounding a proposed neighborhood traffic management program in Menlo Park.

The plan was recently approved by the Transportation Commission and is set to come before the City Council for a vote on Tuesday, October 12.

Under the citywide program, if residents wanted the city to do a study of traffic problems in their neighborhood, they'd have to have petition signatures of at least 60 percent of residents in the area.

Then, to install a trial of traffic-calming features such as speed humps and traffic circles, another petition would be required, with signatures "from at least 60 percent of study area households, businesses, and property owners," transportation engineer Rene Baile wrote in a staff report.

To make the features permanent, a survey mailed to the same people would have to have a positive response of at least 60 percent of the total number of surveys mailed.

City staff members agree with the first recommendation but say that a mailed survey should be required for trial installations, because a petition process could be clouded by the advocacy of the people circulating the petition. Also, a mailed survey gives people time to carefully consider the issue.

In addition, staff members said the approval threshold for making features permanent should be different. A minimum of 67 percent of the surveys would have to show support, but at least 40 percent of the surveys would have to be returned. This is because survey return rates can be low, they said.

Recent e-mails to the City Council on the matter have been divided.

Some residents say concerns over cut-through traffic are exaggerated, and they don't want concrete features impeding the flow of vehicles in their area. Others worry that the plan is making it too difficult for residents to get relief from speeders and heavy traffic, which they feel are making their neighborhoods unsafe.

Both the Transportation Commission and city staff agree that no traffic-calming project should be allowed that delays emergency response vehicle by more than one minute.

The plan also includes a "toolbox" describing different traffic-calming measures. Lower-cost measures such as stop signs and pavement striping could go through an "express" approval process.

INFORMATION

The October 12 meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 801 Laurel St. For the staff report and more information on the plan, go to www.menlopark.org, click on "City Council" and go to that meeting's agenda.

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