From: Joel Dean [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 1, 2025 11:47 AM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Cc: BPAC Communication <[email protected]>
Subject: 4/1/25 meeting agenda items 5.1 (San Antonio & Rengstorff), 6.1 (ATP)
To: Council Transportation Subcommittee
Cc: City Council. BPAC
From: Joel Dean, 750 N. Shoreline Blvd., MV
Subjects: ATP , 101/San Antonio/Rengstorff reconfiguration
Active Transportation Plan
Whatever the ATP and its scoring criteria might say, the Castro Street Mall should be the premier pedestrian facility in Mountain View. A few more safety improvements will make it so. Slicing Evelyn across Castro to Shoreline would be toxic to the Mall and a blot on the City's progressive reputation.
101/San Antonio/Rengstorff
The November 2024 public meeting on this project was scheduled from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. It was after dark, and the last bus to my neighborhood left the Community Center at 5:59.
People who don't have cars were likely to have been under -represented among the attendees. I hope such situations can be avoided in the future.
VTA's presentation to B/PAC last December was convincing enough to support reconfiguration without much disagreement. I do have some questions which the CTC may be able to get answers to at tonight's meeting.
Have post-pandemic traffic assignments been run for the project, including both existing and forecast volumes, each with and without the project? Will there be fresh counts of pedestrians, cyclists, and scooters? Any assignment using data from earlier than 2023 is apt to be stale. Have statistics such as LOS and VMT been used to evaluate the project? (Please say no!) Has VTA done any dynamic simulations of how traffic will flow in the vicinity of the reconstructed interchanges? Is any of this information available to the public?
Hopefully, San Antonio and Rengstorff can avoid the pitfalls that beset Shoreline Boulevard when its interchange with 101 underwent a reconfiguration 20 -odd years ago. The northbound freeway exit was converted from an undercrossing/180 -degree turn/intersection on the west side of Shoreline to an intersection on the east side. The results were not entirely beneficial. It shortened the weaving section between the merge of the 101/85 ramps and Shoreline to the point where traffic ground to a halt. Fallout included red-light running, illegal turns, and the notorious merry -go-round at Terra Bella Avenue. A hazardous relationship between the off-ramp and La Avenida was created. Shoreline has an additional handicap in the form of the Pear Avenue intersection a short block away, which requires ideal signal timing in order not to become a cork in the bottleneck. Ideal timing has not always been forthcoming, thanks to divided responsibility between Caltrans and Mountain View, and to erratic performance by the computerized signal system.
San Antonio and Rengstorff take the opposite tack from Shoreline by replacing straightforward east -side ramps with undercrossings, 180- degree turns, and west -side intersections requiring left turns to access North Bayshore. This is a welcome change, at leas t a t R e n g s t o r ff . T h e e x i s t i n g p e d e s t r i a n c r o s s i n g i s a t r o c i o u s , a s the attached video makes clear. Both weaving sections -- NB 101 Shoreline/on to Rengstorff/off as well as Rengstorff/on to San Antonio/off -- are lengthened. However, the new off-ramps appear to have very tight turning radii (can double-decker buses handle them?) which will slow things down. That, and having to stop at red lights, may lead to longer queues. Rengstorff does not have to contend with Avenida or Terra Bella equivalents, but the re is an analogue to Pear Avenue in the form of the CRAG intersection. It is about the same distance north of 101 as Pear, and cannot hold a very long queue. Management of the connections between CRAG and 101 will be absolutely critical. If this is delegated to a computer system, Caltrans owns the 101 signal, and Mountain View own the one at CRAG, it replicates the Shoreline setup.
Be very afraid.
I urge CTC to support the project and insist on measures to avoid the problems thathave plagued Shoreline.
Thank you for your attention.