|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Drivers on Woodside Road will have to slow down to 15 mph in front of Woodside Elementary School. As of Aug. 5, a new speed limit that has been in the works for years through the town’s Circulation Committee took effect.
The new speed limit will be enforced within the school’s property lines, only while children are present, said Town Engineer Louis Sun. Since the current speed limit signs don’t make this clear, the town has ordered new signs to be installed.
In February, the Woodside Town Council approved a resolution requesting that Caltrans, which controls Woodside Road, lower the speed limit near the elementary school. The council cited traffic studies that found that the average driver on Woodside Road was going faster than the posted 25 mph speed limit.
“This is a very narrow road with kids and people coming and going regularly. This area has been a problem area for a long time,” said Ehsan Farkhondeh, chair of the Circulation Committee.
Parents and caregivers of Woodside Elementary students said they’ve witnessed near misses with cars as children try to cross the street before and after school. Woodside Road, which has no sidewalk, leaves pedestrians to walk in the bike lane. This becomes especially dangerous when drivers attempt to pass other vehicles by overtaking them on the side of the road.
Even using the marked crosswalk doesn’t guarantee a feeling of safety, according to Monika Kalyn, who is a nanny for two children.
“I was trying to cross the street and I pressed the button so you have the lights flashing, but some cars didn’t stop,” said Kalyn.
Community members have commented in previous Town Council meetings that drivers who are unfamiliar with Woodside might not expect to be driving into a school zone.
“One challenge specific to this location is that the school does not have large signs announcing its presence and, along with the foliage near the road, makes it hard to see that (someone) is approaching a school until a driver is already in front of it,” Farkhondeh said.
In October 2025, the state passed Assembly Bill 382, permitting local jurisdictions to establish 20 mph speed limits in school zones and 15 mph speed limits for residential areas on a highway located within a school zone.
“We are aware that 15 mph is quite a bit slower than 25 so we tried to reach the right balance of slowing down traffic where it matters most for safety while not overly impacting traffic flow on a well-used thoroughfare,” Farkondeh added.
Motorcycle deputies from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office have also increased enforcement in the area to ensure students are able to get to school safely.
With a lower speed limit in effect, Farkondeh hopes this will bring down the average speed of drivers directly in front of the school. Woodside Elementary’s first day of the new school year is Aug. 19.
