COUNCIL INFRASTRUCTURE &
AIRPORT COMMITTEE
MEETING
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
DOCUMENTS RECEIVED AFTER
PUBLISHED AGENDA
PUBLIC COMMENTS
emissions coming from the expanding airport next door, which negatively affects human and animal health every day.
These are the kind of precious urban green spaces which continue to be developed with minimal environmentally conscientious consideration and which little by little contribute to our overall and overwhelming global destruction of the environmental. I appeal to my city leaders and all citizens, to champion saving these types of spaces. Skywest has incredible potential to benefit the Hayward community on multiple levels including improving and growing human, ecological and economic health.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration on this matter, Melissa Milleman, Concerned Hayward Resident
-----------------------------------------
Melissa Milleman
Keep Hayward Clean & Green Task Force
2025 Chair, Member since 2019
February 26, 2025
Hello and to Whom it May Concern,
In relation to the Airport and plans for the closed Skywest Golf Course Property, my worry is environmental decline on a worldwide scale with a desire for more immediate action in my local community of Hayward, CA. I am grateful for this opportunity make a written statement and for what the City of Hayward has already achieved towards GHG reduction. However, more can and needs to be done.
One example I am locally urging and hoping Hayward's community leaders and citizens will support is preserving green spaces which already exist. A perfect place for Hayward to start is with Skywest which is returning to a natural wild state and has become an area for animals, insects, plants and people to coexist, inhabit and use recreationally in a very low to zero carbon emissions manner.
The previous Golf Course at Skywest connects directly with busy city roadways, underserved neighborhoods, a growing airport and marsh/wetlands leading to the bay.
Keeping this space green would directly support Hayward shoreline restoration projects combatting sea level rise in the surrounding neighborhoods as well as offset the carbon emissions coming from the expanding airport next door, which negatively affects human and animal health every day.
These are the kind of precious urban green spaces which continue to be developed with minimal environmentally conscientious consideration and which little by little contribute to our overall and overwhelming global destruction of the environmental. I appeal to my city leaders and all citizens, to champion saving these types of spaces. Skywest has incredible potential to benefit the Hayward community on multiple levels including improving and growing human, ecological and economic health.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration on this matter, Melissa Milleman, Concerned Hayward Resident
ITEM# 4
ACT 25-009
UPDATE ON THE
HAYWARD BOULEVARD
FEASIBILITY STUDY,
PROJECT NO. 05217
2 Hugh Louch
From: Al Flores Jr
Sent: Friday, February 7, 2025 8:20 AM
To: Hugh Louch
Cc: Jade Kim
Subject: Brick Wall
Attachments: RV AT MY BRICKWALL 1.jpg; RV AT MY BRICKWALL 2.jpg CAUTION:This is an external email. Do not click on links or open aachments unless you know the content is safe.
Hi
Hugh Louch,
I am le,ng you know that yesterday evening just before 10 PM I had another person crash into my brick wall. The first person that did that took about 2 years to come back and fix it. It was completed on December 24 2024. For the whole month of January of this year, no issues other then cars coming down Hayward Boulevard at freeway speeds. So now were in February and almost 10 in the evening I was about to re&re for the night when I hear this very loud crash just outside of my house. The driver of this RV says he was going uphill when his brakes failed. I don't quite believe that since going uphill and ending up on my driveway does not seem likely. I think what happened is he was going downhill a bit fast, hydroplaned, then spun out and into my brick wall. The driver is ok. He came out, said sorry, and started to clear out the bricks in front of my driveway. He says he will fix it. He says he lives on Brookside. A street that is just behind where I live. He also took out his drivers licence to show who he is. My son took a picture of it as well as the accident the driver caused.
I know Mr. Louch that you told me that a project around the summer will be done to fix the issue in front of my house. I will have to wait. In the mean&me, I hope the driver will make good on his word that he will return to fix what he damaged. It's so bad on this street that whenever I do yard work in front of my property, I am facing uphill. I don't have my back turned towards the street. I've had accidents happen during the dry season but more so during the rain. I am sending a copy of this email to Jade Kim because when I sent an email to just one person, I had to found out the hard way the person no longer works for the City of Hayward. But the email I was sending was s&ll going through.
-Al
1 Hugh Louch
From: Al Flores Jr
Sent: Friday, February 7, 2025 8:47 AM
To: Hugh Louch
Cc: Jade Kim
Subject: Pictures
Attachments: BRICK WALL 1.jpg; BRICK WALL 2.jpg; BRICK WALL 3.jpg; BLINDSPOT.jpg CAUTION:This is an external email. Do not click on links or open aachments unless you know the content is safe.
Th
e blind spot picture is to show the distance I have when leaving my driveway and how quickly cars coming down fast can become and accident. I was facing uphill so you have an idea of what I have to go through everyday especially when I have to drive my kids to school in the morning. The first &me this happened, the guy took out my mailbox and so I had to work in the rain to do another post hole just to make sure that I at least keep my mail coming to the house.
-Al
2 All of the other proposals are great as we do need flashing beacons for those crosswalks currently as well as new sidewalks for those areas that are missing them going downhill.
Respectfully,
Jean
2 The April presentation later illustrates several alternatives, but there is no further information related to the selection of the proposed modification to Hayward Boulevard as illustrated in the graphic in the mailer which appears to be one travel lane in each direction and the addition of a Class IV bikeway. Please find attached my comments on the graphic and note the following.
1. Outreach
• Selection Process: How did the City decide on the illustrated option? From looking at the summary of improvements, it appears inconsistent with previous outreach efforts and incongruent with the corridor’s conditions.
• Meeting Logistics:
The letter, received on February 18, invites us to a meeting on February 26—less than two weeks' notice. Also, the time of 5:30 PM may be okay for the committee members but represents a challenge for many residents residing in the hills. Why is the meeting at the airport rather than a location central to affected residents? Progressing directly to the Council Infrastructure and Airport Committee does not feel consistent with the previous commitment to outreach.
• Language & Engagement:
Outreach materials are only in English. What steps has the City taken to engage non english speakers as well as underrepresented communities that typically do not participate in infrastructure planning?
3 2. Basis of Design
• Speed Data: T he April 15, 2021 virtual presentation noted that "average auto speed is above the speed limit during midday." Is this based on the 85th percentile or the average speed? Was the data collected during the pandemic, and has it been updated? Are travel speeds really an issue?
• Traffic Impact: Wh
at are the projected effects of lane reductions, particularly at the Tribune and Civic Avenue intersections? Will peak-hour delays and queuing increase? • Pedestrian Safety: T he plan proposes flashing pedestrian beacons at Parkside Drive and Farmhill Road. Are these rectangular rapid flashing beacons? Given FHWA recommendations, should additional countermeasures—such as pedestrian refuge islands and curb extensions— be included at high-traffic crossings like Parkside Drive? Has the City evaluated light levels at these locations?
If inadequate, will additional lighting be added? What about the other section of the corridor where pedestrians frequently cross?
• ADA Compliance: S ince the project includes repaving, will all curb ramps be upgraded to meet federal and state accessibility standards?
• Bikeway Design: T he mailed illustration shows delineators only in the uphill direction. Is a Class IV bikeway uphill and a buffered Class II downhill planned within the project limits? Will the striping and lane reduction result in lower vehicle speeds? What is the City’s plan for maintaining the delineators? For some, plastic delineators create visual blight especially in a residential area. Has the City spoken to residents who use and live along Hayward Boulevard for their feedback regarding the potential visual impact? • Sidewalks.
Clarify that all sidewalk gaps will be closed. Also, clarify if the project will widen the sections of sidewalk that are heavily used especially between CSU and Civic Avenue.
3. Emergency Egress
• Emergency Services Coordination: H as the City coordinated with emergency services on cross-section modifications?
• Evacuation Planning: In an emergency, will three lanes suffice for egress? Would the center and downhill lanes be used for evacuation while the uphill lane remains open for emergency vehicle ingress? Please provide an overview of the emergency plan for the Hayward Hills community.
Finally, the letter states that the City is pursuing "short-term implementation opportunities as part of street repaving expected later in 2025." The pandemic should not be used as an excuse for inadequate planning. At next week’s meeting, I look forward to a clear explanation of how the proposed improvements align with the community’s priorities as originally identified as well as data that supports the conclusions.
Thank you,
Robert
1 Hugh Louch
From: J.D. Lothian
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2025 9:57 PM
To: Hugh Louch
Subject: Hayward Boulevard Study
CAUTION:This is an external email. Do not click on links or open aachments unless you know the content is safe.
Hu
gh,
Thank you for your leer,
I was hoping you could answer a few ques%ons:
1) what is the purposed %meframe for the study?
2) what is the current amount of bicyclist traffic vs car traffic on the roadway? 3) what is the intended purpose of the study? (Bicycle safety, Pedestrian safety, slower streets?) 4) given the intended purpose can you please provide sta%s%cs on what the current problems are? Ex if the reason is to improve bicycle safety, then how many bicycle accidents do we have on the roadway?
As a resident who has seen the affect of the city taking lanes away at the base of Carlos Bee I’ve seen the impact and I don’t want to see another stretch of roadway impacted without jus%fica%on.
Thank you,
Sent from my iPhone
1 Hugh Louch
From: Steve ah nin
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2025 8:06 PM
To: Hugh Louch
Subject: Hayward blvd feasibility
CAUTION:This is an external email. Do not click on links or open aachments unless you know the content is safe.
Hi
there
I wanted to submit my feedback on the Hayward blvd feasibility study. I won’t be able to make the mee%ng so I was hoping to submit my feedback.
I live on Spencer, my wife and I travel up and down Hayward blvd on a daily basis. From going to and from work to running errands. As it is people speed on Spencer and Hayward blvd and don’t stop at stop signs.
I think the general idea is decent however I think there are a few points that I like to address
1. Pu,ng a bike lane is a good idea. I’ve ridden up and down Hayward blvd to take my car to the shop. It is sketchy to say the least. A bike lane could help that.
2. Trying to turn from Spencer onto Hayward in the morning is a risky endeavor. Folks speed down Hayward blvd going to the college or mission or wherever. Going from 2 lanes to 1 would make it truly difficult to turn onto Hayward blvd.
3. Visibility coming off of Spencer to Hayward blvd is limited at best. Overgrown bushes and the curvature of the road makes it easy to lose a car un%l it’s almost too late
I think the best solu%on would be to put a stop light at Spencer and Hayward blvd. This would help slow down the folks from further up the hill as well as allow the folks coming from Spencer to have a chance to make it onto Hayward blvd.
There is a light at Tribune and Hayward blvd which help the folks from that are make it onto Hayward. I’d reckon there is equal to or greater traffic coming off of Spencer onto Hayward so if tribune is worthy of a light then surely Spencer area is. This will also helps folks coming off Call turning onto Hayward.
Overall I think a light at Spencer would solve most of the problems that would arise from reducing from 2 lanes to 1.
The intersec%on at mission and Carlos bee thru orchard is a mess now. I frequently have to wait 2-3 light cycles to turn le5 (going downhill) onto mission due to cars backed up going straight with nobody in the le5 turn lane
Thanks for your %me
Steve
Sent from my iPhone
BACKGROUND
Over the years, staff has received numerous Access Hayward requests and emails from residents concerning the Hayward Boulevard corridor. The Hayward Boulevard Feasibility Study was created to address community concerns that include, but are not limited to, speeding, safety, and connectivity. Hayward Boulevard is an arterial with a mix of land uses with significant geometric challenges. It is designed to carry much higher volumes of traffic than use the street. It has extreme horizontal and vertical curves, limited space outside of the public right-of-way, steep grades at various locations along the corridor, missing sidewalk connections, and few marked pedestrian crossings.
Based on the community concerns and the unique geometric challenges, the Hayward Boulevard Feasibility Study identified, evaluated and designed feasible traffic calming and safety improvements. Traffic calming is a term used to describe a full range of methods to slow cars traveling through neighborhoods, making the street work for all users.
Over the years, City Council has taken several actions to develop policy that ensures the City builds streets that are safe and convenient for all modes of travel, regardless of age or ability. The Mobility Element in the Hayward 2040 General Plan and the Complete Streets Policy adopted in 2013 establish a priority to accommodate all road users, including motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders. The Vision Zero policy, adopted in 2023, establishes safety as the primary factor for designing City streets.
DISCUSSION
In January 2021, the team presented three alternatives to the CIAC that included a variety of traffic calming, sidewalk, and crossing improvements.2 Each of these alternatives had construction costs exceeding $20 million due to inclusion of physical medians, new roundabouts, and significant sidewalk segments. Some of the improvements, especially new sidewalk improvements, would have required extensive grading and possible retaining walls.
In April 2021, staff presented two options at a public meeting that varied the type of bicycle facility and whether or not a lane reduction would be included. During that meeting, participants raised concerns about potential evacuation concerns. Further action was not taken in 2021 and the project was put on hold due to the departure of key staff.
In 2024, the City identified the need to repave Hayward Boulevard within 2 to 3 years. The Transportation Division, with several staff positions filled, was able to restart the project, taking into consideration two key changes:
Project extents. The initial iteration of the Hayward Boulevard Feasibility Study identified multiple improvement options for the corridor, from Campus Drive to Fairview Avenue. For the current work, staff are focused on the portion between Carlos Bee Boulevard and Farm Hill Road, which is the extent proposed to be repaved in 2025.
2 https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4762286&GUID=B885B56E-216B-4330-AF3F-7625E042924A&Options=&Search=
Funding: In 2021, staff were targeting funding from a competitive grant from the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) to advance this project. In reviewing the project in 2024, staff identified that the proposed project did not align well with the criteria used for Alameda CTC grants or other regional, State or Federal grants. As such, a more scaled or phased project would likely be needed.
To address these constraints, staff developed an approach to the potential implementation of the project that included three phases:
1. Short-term improvements through repaving. Repaving projects provide an excellent opportunity to reconfigure streets to enhance safety for all users. Repaving generally does not include significant civil improvements (e.g., a new median), but can reconfigure lanes, lane widths, crosswalks, available bicycle facilities, and similar improvements.
2. Short-term civil improvements. Staff sought to prioritize the most critical safety and multimodal connectivity improvements identified by the project. This includes several short sidewalk segments and new or enhanced pedestrian crossings with flashing beacons.
3. Long-term improvements. The third phase would be to implement the preferred alternative over time. Given the likely funding challenges for the full, this may include select improvements that could be implemented over time.
Attachment II summarizes the first two phases of work for the project and includes the full restriping plans in Phase 1and proposed crossing improvement plan sheets in Phase 2.
Phase 1 would be implemented in 2025 along with street repaving and includes the following elements:
Reduce through travel lanes to one in each direction, consistent with the preferred alternative identified in 2021. As noted, the project is not expected to increase congestion, with trips adding at most a few seconds to total travel time. Add turn lane pockets and a center turn lane where appropriate. Add a protected bicycle lane (Class IV) in the uphill (east) direction. In this direction, bicyclists generally travel much slower speed than vehicles, and separation will help ensure safer travel
Add a buffered bicycle lane (Class II) in the downhill (west) direction. In this direction, bicyclists can travel closer to the speed of vehicles making separators less necessary. Some bicyclists would be negatively impacted by separators that narrow the available space. Further, a buffered lane would be available to vehicles if evacuation was necessary, addressing the most significant comment received during outreach.
Add speed markings on the downhill direction between Parkside Dr and Spencer Ln.
These markings get closer together as the vehicle travels downhill, creating the perception of increased speed. They have been shown to have a modest reduction of speeding.
Upgrade existing crosswalks to high visibility.
Phase 2 would be implemented within the next 2 to 3 years, with design beginning in the current year. The elements of Phase 2 include the following elements:
Close the sidewalk gap on the north side of Hayward Boulevard near Civic Avenue.
This short segment of sidewalk creates the most significant gap for people attempting to walk from various residential areas to a crossing of Hayward Boulevard.
Add new crosswalks and flashing beacons at Parkside Drive (the end near California State University East Bay, [CSUEB]), Spencer Lane (near College Heights Park), and Farm Hill Drive. These are all locations with regular pedestrian crossings that enable the existing sidewalks to connect residents to many destinations on and off Hayward Boulevard.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Active transportation options like bicycling and walking foster economic health by creating dynamic, connected communities with a high quality of life that helps support small business development, decreases transportation and healthcare costs and increases property values, employment, and tourism. Providing alternate modes of travel reduces single lane occupancy vehicles, reduces congestion and costs related to automobile-oriented infrastructure maintenance and construction.
FISCAL IMPACT
City Council has previously allocated $2 million to Project 05310 (Hayward Boulevard Safety Improvements) from Fund 212 (Measure BB Local Transportation) to implement Project 05217 (Hayward Boulevard Feasibility Study). The Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) includes a placeholder of $800,000 of the amount for construction to come from the proposed Alameda CTC grant, which was not pursued at the time. As noted above, staff recommend pursuing funding for other projects that are a better fit with Alameda CTC, regional, State, and Federal funding sources.
Staff are proposing to reduce the total construction cost for Project 05310 to $500,000, which will cover the cost of Phase 1 and 2. Staff are finalizing the cost estimate and will provide an update on the total construction cost as the project moves forward. Any remaining funding in this Project could be used for future phases or returned to Fund 212 to be allocated to other projects.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Invest in Infrastructure. Specifically, this project relates to the implementation of the following projects:
Invest in Multimodal Transportation
Project N1: Continue to implement major corridor traffic calming initiatives.
Project N6: Continue to add approximate 10 miles of bike lanes annually, with a focus on protected bike lanes and intersections that have high traffic/incidents.
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
The action taken for this agenda report will result in supporting mobility goals established as part of the City’s 2040 General Plan, providing for a balanced multi-modal system of transportation facilities and services in Hayward.
PUBLIC CONTACT
This project has included significant community outreach since its inception, including public meetings, multiple presentations to the City Council Infrastructure Committee, and two community surveys. For this meeting, notifications were sent to all residents that use Hayward Blvd for their daily travel, including residents of all of the streets that feed into Hayward Boulevard for access to areas to the west.
Staff also coordinated with CSUEB to ensure that students, faculty, and staff were aware of the project and notified of the opportunities to provide input.
NEXT STEPS
Staff will use Committee feedback to finalize the design of the proposed changes to Hayward Boulevard. The City annual repaving program will commence in summer 2025 with all updated striping completed by fall. Additional notifications will be provided to residents of Hayward Boulevard and all streets with repaving projects once the schedule for that project has been prepared.
Prepared by: Hugh Louch, Deputy Public Works Director - Transportation
Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Public Works
Approved by:
___________________________________
Dr. Ana M. Alvarez, City Manager
2 the roadway to again encourage people to slow down. Already, several of those plas!c barriers have been struck.
• Pedestrians dangerously crossing Hayward Blvd. to get to and from Cal state didn’t change their ways a0er several rounds of targeted policing. The cute signs installed several years ago got lots of likes on social media and pedestrians posted them from their phones while jaywalking to class. (The safety improvements for the exis!ng crosswalks isn’t going to help because the exis!ng crosswalks are too far out of the way.)
On the flip side, when a project considers how people behave, you can make great strides on road safety.
• When all the signs, arrows, flashing lights, and speed reminders failed to prevent near-monthly collisions on the downhill curve of Carlos Bee, the road segment was redesigned. The new design improved visibility, changed the outward banking to inward, moved some of the steepness out of the curve, and corrected drainage problems. This eliminated a huge number of collisions. It eliminated constant repairs to the guard rail. In fact, the guard rail was removed. And it con!nues to be much safer than before despite the death of the speed reminder and blinking lights and the fading of the dangerous curve signs.
Reducing the number of lanes will likely reduce the average speed. By serializing the traffic, the slowest driver becomes a bo$leneck.
But, on the downhill side, it’s going to enrage drivers, especially those who’ve been speeding down that hill for years.
Those bo$lenecks (which includes me, by the way) are going to be tailgated aggressively. They will be rear ended. They will be bullied into going faster. Occasionally, they may even be in!midated in to stretching a yellow light a bit farther than they should. Impa!ent neighbors will use the two-way turn lane as a passing lane. Managing the bully behind distracts from what’s ahead.
Lane reduc!ons will also make turning onto Hayward Blvd more dangerous, because there will be fewer and shorter gaps in traffic. A single-file platoon of 10 cars is likely twice as long as a same 10 cars in two lanes. Thus the gaps between the platoons will be shorter. If you’re trying to turn le0 onto Hayward Blvd. from a driveway or cross-street, you need coincident gaps in traffic from both direc!ons. The windows for making the turns will be shorter and less frequent. At best, this just adds some travel !me. In prac!ce, though, I expect drivers will take more risks, making sudden turns to take advantage of smaller gaps.
When there are two lanes to choose from for comple!ng a turn, you can choose to enter the slower one to reduce disrup!on to the through traffic while accelera!ng to speed. With only one lane, you don’t have the op!on of making the more efficient and safer choice.
In emergencies, single lanes means there will be more obstacles for fire trucks, ambulances, and tow trucks. That might not be a problem on a small residen!al street. But Hayward Blvd. is an artery. It’s the only way in or out for dozens of neighborhoods. What would a wildfire evacua!on look like?
I understand that the bike lanes need space. But given how steep the hill is, there are rela!vely few cyclists who are likely to take advantage of it. In my 25 years up here, I’ve seen several bikes racing down, o0en above the speed limit, but only a handful actually climbing it.
I wonder whether the expense of construc!ng separated bike lanes on both sides of Hayward Blvd. might be dispropor!onate to the benefit. Was there considera!on to making a single two-way bike lane separated from motor and pedestrian traffic on just one side of the road?
Time Lost Due to Lane Reducons
The slide deck claims “Reducing the number of lanes is not forecast to cause significant conges!on, but may increase travel !mes in the corridor by a few seconds.”
3 That forecast seems unrealis!cally op!mis!c. With only one lane, even a small glitch can quickly create significant conges!on. And those glitches are not rare.
• Daily: Delivery trucks, u!lity vehicles, and emergency vehicles like ambulances need to temporarily block or close a lane. If that lane isn’t there, you have a bo$leneck.
• Weekly: Trash collec!on trucks, street sweepers, tree trimmers, and landscapers.
• Monthly: Moving vans, construc!on equipment, survey crews.
• Several !mes a year: Events a Stonebrae and Cal State concentrate a lot of extra traffic into a small windows.
In
recent years, this has been manageable, but it’s hard to imagine how that would work if there were only one.
The problem with Bay Area traffic is not just that it’s heavy, it’s that it’s hugely unpredictable. The unpredictability itself costs !me. If it normally takes 25 minutes to get somewhere, but some!mes it takes 45 minutes[1], you either plan for the worst case and waste lots of !me wai!ng, or you rou!nely miss doctor appointments, job interviews, BART trains, restaurant reserva!ons, etc.
Again, Hayward Blvd is the only way in or out for dozens of neighborhoods. Reducing its ability to absorb rou!ne bo$lenecks will add even more unpredictability to travel !mes, even if, on average, the increase is rela!vely minor.
Seemingly innocuous changes can surprising side effects.
Consider the recent change to Carlos Bee at Mission Blvd.: one lane was closed, and one through lane was changed to a right-turn only. The two le0-turn lanes are now underu!lized because the stack of cars wai!ng to travel straight (onto Orchard) is now frequently long enough that the le0 turn lanes are unreachable. More cars have to stop for the light on a steeper incline and wait for more than one en!re cycle of the light through all its phases. Last !me I !med that light, an en!re cycle was 100 seconds. So when you miss your opportunity to turn le0 because of a lane reduc!on, you’re looking at an added travel !me closer to a couple minutes than a couple seconds.
Importance of Correct Signage and Roadway Markings
Over the past few years, it seems roadway improvement projects o0en end with some out-of-date signs being le0 in place, some useful signs missing, and important signs being poorly located. This is not just a Hayward problem, but it certainly happens here.
• Hayward Blvd., just east of Carlos Bee, lost a speed limit sign long ago when a car crashed into a light pole. The pole was repaired or replaced, but the sign did not return.
The first speed limit sign in that direc!on is now a0er
Campus Dr. People unfamiliar with the area might not realize they’ve just transi!oned from the 30 MPH Carlos Bee to 35 MPH Hayward Blvd.
• Hayward Blvd, where the slide deck noted the highest rate of speeding, there are currently no speed limit signs between the roundabout at Stonebrae and Highland Church. • Carlos Bee at Mission, where the lane reduc!on has been implemented, there is no no!ce of the turn restric!ons un!l you reach the arrows painted on the pavement. If cars are wai!ng at the light, you may not realize that the right lane, which used to con!nue straight onto Orchard is now a right turn-only lane. By the !me you’re close enough to see you need to change lanes, you’re already restricted by the solid line and the stack of cars in the through lane wai!ng for the light. • Campus Drive, the traffic calming improvements:
o Removed speed limit sign and pavement marking in the northbound direc!on. o
Le0 behind a temporary orange construc!on sign saying the right lane is closed, even though there is no more right lane for motor traffic. What was the right lane, is now a separated bike lane, which is not closed.
4 o Misconfigured the speed reminder sign in the southbound direc!on, which blinks if your speed is over 25 MPH even though the posted speed limit is 30 MPH. (Shortly beyond that, there’s a school zone, so it’s 25 MPH if children are present. I’d argue it would be be$er to explicitly reduce the speed limit to 25 than to hint at it with a speed reminder that appears to be incorrectly configured.) • The transi!on from southbound Mission onto westbound Jackson, the speed on the advisory sign for the curve is higher than the posted speed limit. The speed limit is higher once you complete the turn, but there’s no way to know that if you’re not familiar with the area.
With all the planning and work that goes into a roadway improvement, and the rela!vely low cost of signage, I’m surprised how frequently the signage is just plain wrong. I hope that the Hayward Blvd. project gets this right.
Adrian McCarthy
[1]: At 8:30 AM each Monday, I meet a friend at the Dry Creek Staging area of Garin Park. Nowadays, it takes about 25 minutes to get there. But a few !mes a year it’ll take 45 minutes with no obvious reason (no traffic collision, no road work, no lane closures). Even local trips can have huge variance in travel !mes.
1 Hugh Louch
From: jenni hamill
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2025 11:29 AM
To: Hugh Louch
Subject: Hayward Blvd.
CAUTION:This is an external email. Do not click on links or open aachments unless you know the content is safe.
He
llo Hugh -
I’ve recently become aware of the plans to repave and otherwise improve Hayward Blvd. My family lives at the very top of Hayward Blvd, in the Stonebrae community. We are already concerned about ever having to evacuate our area for any reason, as there are only two ways down, both of which are densely populated, and everyone who lives below us would be able to get out in front of us. Reducing Hayward Blvd to one lane reduces lanes out of our home from 3 to 2, and significant reduc0on.
Reducing Hayward Blvd to one lane would add significant risk if evacua0on were ever required. I don’t see any reference to this in the presenta0on, so I don’t know if it was considered. Please give this serious considera0on when selec0ng which approach will be implemented.
Best,
Jenni