Menlo Park: Imagining a new downtown Menlo Park: Imagining a new downtown (April 13, 2005)

** Four teams of designers brainstorm for a day on Menlo Park's future.

By Richard Hine

Almanac Managing Editor

"Making connections" was a recurring theme of the day, as four teams of architects and other design professionals met for 12 hours in downtown Menlo Park on Saturday to create new ideas for the area around the train station and the Santa Cruz Avenue/El Camino Real intersection.

Connecting the parts of Menlo Park now divided by El Camino and the train line, and drawing pedestrians and shoppers into the area around the train station were key goals of the teams, which met from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday in the new Menlo Park Presbyterian Church meeting room in back of the former Menlo Park Hardware on Santa Cruz Avenue.

This is a "beginning of a dialogue" on the future of downtown Menlo Park, said Noemi Avram, president of the San Mateo County chapter of the American Institute of Architects, whose members gave their time free for the all-day design "charrette" -- a French word often used to describe an intense work effort by art and architecture students to meet a project deadline.

The ideas and drawings created during the day will be incorporated in a booklet that will be posted online, said Mayor Mickie Winkler, and later presented to the City Council.

"It's the beginning of an attempt to create a gateway for Menlo Park," said Ms. Winkler, and to plan grade separations -- the separation of roadway grade from the rail grade -- designed "by visionaries, not just engineers."

Many officials think that grade separations appear inevitable in Menlo Park, driven by high-speed rail or increased train and vehicular traffic.

Each of the four teams was assigned a different road-track configuration, said David Johnson, the city's business development manager. They were: a fully elevated track, a split grade (part submerged and part elevated), a fully submerged track, and an at-grade track (keeping the city's railroad crossings as they are).

Dozens of drawings were sketched and will be on display in the storefront at 700 Santa Cruz Ave., said Mr. Johnson.

The study area is bounded by El Camino, Oak Grove Avenue, Alma Street and Ravenswood Avenue. A total of 78 people participated on the teams, many of them design professionals, but also members of the public who dropped in during the day and signed up, Mr. Johnson said.

A main goal was to "create a focal point" for downtown, said Redwood City architect Susan Eschweiler, one of the team leaders.

Among the ways suggested for doing that:

** Create a circle with textured paving at the intersection of El Camino and Santa Cruz to slow down traffic and make it easier for pedestrians to cross El Camino.

** Add pedestrian gathering places, such as plazas and parks.

** Create art and water features.

** Encourage retail and mixed-use development, such as combining offices, parking and higher-density residential.

** Improve traffic circulation, including rail and bus connections, and bike and vehicle access.

Maintaining vehicle access is essential for retail exposure, architect Tom Gilman said.

The team assigned the option of no grade separation -- the tracks would stay where they are -- suggested closing off Santa Cruz east of El Camino and making a pedestrian area with a fountain. A stairway would drop under the tracks for access to Alma.

The clocks in the existing tower would be removed and placed in a new tower -- creating "more of a centerpiece," said team leader Dale T. Meyer, a Burlingame architect.

Meyer's team would add a movie and art center in the area, which would be designed like a European plaza, where buses, trains and traffic make connections.

The group assigned the fully elevated track had very different ideas. "We didn't take an urban approach," said team leader John Lucchesi, a San Mateo architect. "We took a rural, suburban approach."

Mainly, he said, "we took things away." The team's design is mostly landscaping and open space, much like the Civic Center. A meandering "water feature" or stream would connect the area with the Civic Center.

Many participants suggested changes to El Camino, including wider sidewalks and more trees.

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