Menlo Park council likes new bike plan Menlo Park council likes new bike plan (December 22, 2004)

** Sweeping proposal recommends new bike paths and lanes -- and even a tunnel under the Caltrain tracks.

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

The city of Menlo Park may not be ready to pay for across-the-board improvements to its bicycle network, but at least now it has a plan.

The new plan, unanimously approved by the City Council on December 14, recommends upgrades large and small, including putting up new "Bike Route" signs and painting more bike lanes.

Bolder plans include building an off-street bike path along Independence Drive on the east side of town and constructing a bike-pedestrian undercrossing under the Caltrain tracks somewhere between Ravenswood and Middle avenues.

In sum, the undertaking would add 0.3 miles of separate bike paths, 3.6 miles of bike lanes striped along roads, and 16.8 miles of bike routes, where bikes share the road with other vehicles. Bike routes are designated by signs.

"It's a marvelously comprehensive plan," Mayor Mickie Winkler said before voting to approve it.

The plan was assembled by Bay Area consultants Alta Planning & Design, with input from city bicycle and transportation commissioners and other residents. Those involved in the plan said that they hoped to encourage people to get out of their cars as well as make conditions better for current cyclists.

One type of recommended sign, called a "wayfinder," would help cyclists find the best way to Menlo Park landmarks, such as City Hall, community centers, and libraries. It would also point out amenities that new cyclists might not know about, such as the Ringwood Avenue pedestrian/bicycle overpass over U.S. 101.

While the plan doesn't allocate money -- each project would have to be approved and budgeted for by the council -- it could make it easier for the city to get grants for the projects, City Manager David Boesch said after the meeting.

"A lot of funding agencies want to know that it's not just a piecemeal application that's being submitted, that there's some coherence to what a city's trying to do," he said.

Completing the network would cost an estimated $375,850, transportation engineer Rene Baile said. Undercrossings would have a steeper price tag, he said: modifying an existing tunnel under Bayfront Expressway at Willow Road could cost $750,000, while building an undercrossing under the Caltrain tracks could run up a $3 million bill.

It could also bring back unpleasant memories of 2002, when a proposed bike tunnel under the tracks near Cambridge Avenue and Willow Road caused an outcry from residents worried that it would harbor homeless people, vandals and garbage.

Undercrossing supporters, though, say safety concerns about crossing bustling El Camino Real and the train tracks deter new cyclists and worry even seasoned ones.
INFORMATION

For a copy of the plan, call the transportation division at 330-6770. A staff report summarizing the plan is at www.menlopark.org. Click on "City Council" and go to the December 14 agenda.

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