From: Giuliano
To: City Council
Cc: P&R Comm; Planning Comm
Subject: Hill Street HAWK crossing
Date: Sunday, January 25, 2026 11:44:02 PM
I hear this project is on the agenda for Tuesday.
I won't be able to make it to this meeting, I'll be out of town and unavailable at that time.
The below are my opinions only, and not the opinions of any bodies I may serve on.
As I've written to you before: this is a stupid project. You are doing the 10th most important projects first, leaving the most important projects undone. Arguing in fact that the most important projects are not important, or if important that they can't be done. They can. They must. Ralston, is on the County's High Injury Network. As best as I can tell, it is literally the only road on the county's High Injury Network with no plans to make it safer. Caltrans D4, the FHWA, and NACTO all say it needs and can have protected bike lanes. They describe exactly how to add protected bike lanes. If not important or not feasible, they would not do so.
HAKWs are between $750K and $1M. A HAWK crosswalk is totally useless at this location.
It serves about 200 households off of the one short street segment above it. Households which are already served by the cross walks at Ralston and at Middle. Absolutely no one will mode shift because of it. Absolutely no new riders will take the train because of it. It is 130 yards to the Ralston cross walk. Less than half way around a running track. 110 yards to Middle cross walk. One quarter of the way around a running track. This is a project that will save too little distance, for too few people, to move the needle even a whit.
Now add in the additional $750K for the median work that was part of the earlier project this was part of. Median work that is explicitly intended to increase the number of cars on Ralston.
More cars turning left. More cars going straight. More VMT. More GHG. More danger. And a total waste because induced demand will overwhelm the small additional amount of capacity added within months. It always does. And public works and senior staff knows this. Again, this is well studied.
Now add in the $350K for other Belmont Village Plan work approved a few months ago.
Again, changes of tertiary importance, at best.
The above are nearly $2M. $2M would pay for 1.3 miles of protected bike lane. From ECR to Alameda. A route that would make a meaningful impact. You would finally make Ralston safer. Protected bike lanes have been shown time and again, in study after study after study, to make routes safer not only for cyclists, but also for pedestrians. And for cars. This is a project that would result in many more people shifting trips from a car to a bike, so that they can get to the schools on this route, to the library, to the community center, to parks, to shopping, to restaurants, and to CalTrain.
Please, I beg of you: do not listen only to senior staff. Reach out to senior public works staff in other cities, for example South San Francisco, they have done amazing things, and continue to create great plans. I have spoken with them; they are willing and eager to chat with you.
Belmont senior staff are just plain wrong. Educate yourselves. I gave the city books last year by highly respected transit engineers. Read them. Read others if you don't trust me. Do just a bit of research. Check out scholar.google.com for the actual studies. Check out what CalTrans D4, what the FHWA, what NACTO All Ages And Abilities say. The changes I am asking for are literally the current standard road designs for streets like Ralston.
There is money out there to do these things. We just need to create plans. Check out how much South San Francisco received for its projects in the last cycle. I think well above $100M, if I recall correctly. Grant agencies and bodies are eager to fund projects that make real changes that will shift modes and that create safer Vision Zero infrastructure. You just need to create the plans. Heck, they'll even fund writing the plans. The TA is often even eager to help with the engineering work to create the plans, as they did to help San Carlos just recently.
Come on Belmont, do the right thing,
giuliano
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Drive a bike a bit more often and cars a bit less. You'll be healthier and happier, and so will our world.
From: Judi Allen
To: City Council
Subject: JAN 27, 2026 AGENDA - ARMSTRONG SCHOOL EXPANSION Date: Monday, January 26, 2026 4:09:29 PM
Good afternoon!
With many other Belmont residents, i attended the last Belmont Planning Commission meeting where there was a lot of discussion about the proposed expansion of 2 buildings (one being a proposed 2-story gymnasium) in the culde-sac McDougle neighborhood. To sweeten the proposal, the private Armstrong school offered to commit $100,000 to the City of Belmont - which kind of “smells” to many of Belmont residents. Will this be the trend? That if you want a City approval, just offer a financial incentive? The Planning Commission had long discussions among themselves after all the Public Hearing input, and they could not really come to a decision, so they pushed it to City Council.
As you all know, the traffic congestion in that part of Belmont is a nightmare - every Carlmont kid drives a car these days. The addition of traffic into & out of the McDougal neighborhood CUL-DE-SAC is already problematic - even tho Armstrong School tries to mitigate it. More excavating & removal of 39 Heritage trees, which will have a huge negative impact on neighbors who would see the concrete wall of buildings instead of trees, is very much against what Belmont has always stood for aesthetically! Adjacent private property values will drop as a result! I received a call from Belmont-Redwood Shores School District today to update me on what is being considered with the Middle Schools at SandPiper School and Nesbit School. Due to severe under enrollment, they are considering closing down the Middle Schools at both those schools, and sending the students to Ralston. Their next and final community meeting will be at Ralston School on Thursday,, January 29 in the Multi-Purpose Room. A BRSSD BOARD Meeting is scheduled for Feb 12 at 6:15pm at their Twin Dolphin offices. Perhaps it would be advantageous to postpone the Armstrong expansion proposal on the City Council 1/27/26 Agenda until after these meetings, in the event Middle School classes are closed at SandPiper & Nesbit - giving an opportunity for Armstrong to expand into an area that is not so congested.
I am hoping the City Council will consider how Belmont traffic in the Ralston/Alameda DLP quadrant is already at an “F” level, and may consider viable alternatives which may come available in a satellite BRRSSD area.
Thank you for your consideration.
Judi Allen, Belmont, CA
From: Joanne Adamkewicz
To: City Council; x-Public Works
Subject: Public comment on Agenda Item 9D, January 27 council meeting Date: Monday, January 26, 2026 9:41:42 PM
Dear City Council Members and Staff,
I am writing to comment on Agenda Item 9D regarding the agreement with Linc Housing for the HAWK signal at Hill St. and El Camino Real. Please note that these comments represent my personal opinion as a resident of Belmont and are unrelated to my role on the Planning Commission.
I urge the Council to reconsider the installation of the HAWK signal entirely. This crossing serves a planned bike route that is functionally unworkable due to the steep topography and the safety concerns associated with Class III routes (only sharrows painted on the road) in commercial/residential areas with on-street parking and many driveways. As proposed, this HAWK signal is a "bridge to nowhere" that does not align with actual bicyclist transit patterns or address high-collision areas, such as the stretch of Ralston between 6th St. and South Rd.
For reference, please see the Comprehensive Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan:
page 70, Figure 4-3 shows the proposed Class III route along Hill St/6th St page 56, Figure 3-2 shows the (10 year old) bicycle accident data Instead of investing in this ineffective improvement, I request that the City Council:
1. Save these funds for more meaningful safety enhancements.
2. Provide staff with the resources to update the 10-year-old Comprehensive Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan.
3. Request that this Hill St HAWK crossing be removed from the plan entirely.
Updating the master pedestrian & bike plan will allow the city to re-prioritize meaningful improvements, such as Class II and IV bike lanes, based on current data and where accidents are actually occurring.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
Joanne Adamkewicz
Belmont resident
Member of a household with 3 daily bike riders