Add a tunnel to bike plan Add a tunnel to bike plan (December 22, 2004)

We applaud the City Council for directing staff, consultants and residents to write a new bicycle plan that sets priorities for adding new paths, lanes and routes for bikes in all areas of the community. If funds can be obtained, probably through grants, the plan will add some 3.6 miles of new bike lanes and designate 16.8 miles of new bike routes with signs.

But although the plan mentions a bicycle/pedestrian undercrossing of the Caltrain tracks at a location between Ravenswood and Middle avenues, possibly as part of a grade-separation project, few details are included. And since the undercrossing has a $3 million price tag, we doubt if the present council will work very hard to see it built.

That would be unfortunate, because if the council is truly serious about getting more residents on bikes and out of their cars, it is essential to deal with the city's street grid, which now greatly hinders cross-town biking. A tunnel under the train tracks would give cyclists a way to negotiate the twin barriers of El Camino Real and the Caltrain tracks. Today, children and novice cyclists have no good choices if they want to safely cross El Camino in either direction.

Without a tunnel that leads to an easily used signal at El Camino and a bike-friendly cross street, the city's new plan will accomplish little more than protect what is already in place.

But there could be a golden opportunity for the city to alleviate this problem in the near future due to the recent interest of one or more El Camino Real auto dealers in moving to a new location. If that happens and the dealership properties are redeveloped, the city will have a chance to obtain a bicycle lane right-of-way between El Camino and the train tracks. We believe the best route would cross El Camino at Middle Avenue and lead to a tunnel near Burgess Park.

An undercrossing at this location would alleviate the fears of many Linfield Oaks residents, who two years ago vigorously opposed a plan to put in a tunnel at Willow Road and Cambridge Avenue. That plan was defeated despite its low cost and the likelihood that it could have been built during the period when Caltrain was shut down on weekends to upgrade the tracks.

Given the council's new interest in cycling, it is time to think again about a bike tunnel under the Caltrain tracks. Menlo Park is not a large city. Most cyclists can travel from home to the town center in 15 or 20 minutes, although many choose not to, fearing the congested intersections at El Camino Real.

But with a safe, viable east-west route, the city has a tremendous opportunity to advance cycling as a major alternative to using automobiles for short trips to the grocery store, library and other downtown locations. The new plan is a good step, but the council should not lose sight of the fact that sooner or later, a bike route under the Caltrain tracks with a safe crossing at El Camino Real is the only way to truly expand cycling opportunities in Menlo Park.

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