Public Works Department
DATE: May 5, 2026
TO: Council Transportation Committee
FROM: Hoa Nguyen, Associate Civil Engineer
Joseph Cervantes, Senior Civil Engineer
Robert Gonzales, Principal Civil Engineer
Edward Arango, Assistant Public Works Director/City Engineer
VIA: Jennifer Ng, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: Middlefield Road Complete Streets, Project 22-01
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an update on the concept design for Middlefield Road Complete Streets, Project 22-01.
BACKGROUND
Middlefield Road is a critical east -west road connecting Mountain View with the cities of Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. This arterial roadway is approximately 3.6 miles in length and consists of four lanes with two travel lanes and a n on-street Class II bicycle lane in each direction for the full length of the roadway . Between Moffett Boulevard and Whisman Road , the bicycle lanes are open only part-time—on weekends and between 7:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. and on weekdays , parking is allowed in the bicycle lane . Middlefield Road is an important throughfare for both vehicles and bicyclists traversing within and through Mountain View.
The City’s adopted Vision Zero Action Plan and Local Road Safety Plan identified Middlefield Road as part of the local High-Injury Network, with several crashes in the segment stretching between Moffett Boulevard and Ferguson Drive. The AccessMV Comprehensive Modal Plan, approved by Council on May 25, 2021, identified this segment of Middlefield Road as a Tier 2 priority corridor for transportation improvement projects proposing Class IV separated bikeways. Identification as a priority corridor indicates that the corridor should be evaluated to include potential multimodal transportation improvements. AccessMV also identified Middlefield Road as a high- stress facility with a bicycle level of traffic stress (BLTS) of 3 out of 4, where 4 represents the most stressful condition for cyclists.
The City is currently developing the Active Transportation Plan (ATP) to identify the City’s holistic bicycle and pedestrian network and provide priority recommendations for projects that support Middlefield Road Complete Streets, Project 22-01
May 5, 2026
multi-modal improvements. The improvements proposed as part of the Project are considered ‘in design’ in the ATP. Staff will be bringing the ATP to the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) in spring 2026 for feedback.
For this project, o n June 29, 2022 , the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee ( BPAC) was presented and supported the Complete Streets Checklist for the One Bay Area Grant (OBAG 3) grant application for review and comment prior to submittal of the grant application by the City to Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in July 2022. The grant application sought funding for three projects , one of which was the Middlefield Road Complete Streets project with the following scope:
• Road resurfacing and restriping of Middlefield Road between Moffett Boulevard and Whisman Road;
• New Class IV protected bikeways on Middlefield Road between Moffett Boulevard and Bernardo Avenue, with Class II bike lanes or a multiuse facility over the State Route 85 (Highway 85) overpass; and
• Pedestrian and bicycle improvements at four intersections ( Moffett Boulevard, Easy Street, Tyrella Avenue, and North Whisman Road).
In support of the project and to discuss the elimination of on -street parking, staff conducted an open house on June 21, 2022 and a community bike ride in 2022.
On January 25, 2023, the City was awarded $2,406,000 for the Middlefield Road Complete Street Project (Project) through the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) OBAG 3 program.
The Project limits are between Moffett Boulevard and Bernardo Avenue , representing 1.6 miles of the 3.6-mile corridor (see Figure 1). To secure the grant, on February 14, 2023, Council adopted Resolution No. 18760 , providing local support and authorizing staff to file an application for federal aid, commit matching funds, and state assurance to complete the Project.
On May 28, 2024 , Council awarded a professional services agreement to Siegfried Engineering (Siegfried) to provide design and construction support services for the Project . In the Siegfried contract, the design scope was expanded beyond the OBAG 3 grant elements to include improving the pavement surfacing improvements between Whisman Road and Ferguson Drive where Class IV bike lanes are being proposed. Also, other active transportation improvements along the corridor, including a new pedestrian hybrid beacon signal at Tyrella Avenue and new crosswalk and pedestrian hybrid beacon signal adjacent to the VTA light rail tracks.
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Figure 1: Project Location Map
Community Outreach
On June 21, 2022, staff held a virtual community meeting to gather feedback on the Project. Over 1,700 postcards were sent to impacted residents along with email and posting on MyMV.
Feedback was provided by twenty attendees and eight residents who submitted their comments via email. Residents expressed support for safe bike lanes, slower traffic, and the removal of parking.
Regional Corridor
The City has several major corridors that provide key connections within and through the City (see Figure 2).
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Figure 2: Major City Corridors
Middlefield Road is one of three City-controlled east-west regional corridors in the City’s street network that serve as connectors between other cities; the other three streets are Cuesta Drive, California Street, and Evelyn Avenue. Except for California Street that received a r oad diet in 2025, each of these corridors consists of two lanes in each direction to provide enough capacity for the throughput of vehicles. Middlefield Road is the only corridor in the City’s network to directly connect the adjacent cities of Sunnyvale and Palo Alto. Other east-west corridors include El Camino Real and Central Expressway, but are controlled by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and County of Santa Clara, respectively.
DISCUSSION
The original project as written in the OBAG 3 grant scope was a repaving and minor restriping to revise the roadway geometry from Class II to Class IV bike lanes in each direction, but keeping the two lanes in each direction for vehicular travel.
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In March 2025, the B PAC provided commentary on a similar project, Moffett Road Complete Street, and requested roadway projects moving forward to consider vehicle lane reductions/road diets in favor of more robust bicycle and pedestrian facilities . The OBAG 3 grant did not include evaluation of a road diet as part of the original project scope and the City provided the funding for the analysis.
Factors that are included by staff when considering a road diet include: roadway classification, overall roadway network, average daily trips utilizing the roadway, safety, emergency response (medical, police, and fire), transit access, and operational impacts.
Road-Diet Analysis
The City has implemented road diets to support the City’s goals to improve safety primarily for bicyclists, provide for active transportation enhancements, and allow for opportunities for other street amenities to be implemented. In previous discussions on projects, the community has also expressed a desire to continue implementing road diets on City streets to similarly promote these goals. Figure 3 outlines those streets that have recently received, or are planned to receive, road- diets.
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Figure 3: Implemented and Planned Road Diets
To fully evaluate the Middlefield Road corridor for a potential road diet , staff initiated a traffic study (Study) by Hexagon Transportation Consultants to analyze the intersection and corridor operational impacts of a reduction of vehicular travel from two lanes to one lane in each direction along the corridor. The Study analyzed traffic operations at key intersections and ro adway segments. T he three scenarios analyzed were: existing conditions, background conditions (existing conditions plus known planned developments and infrastructure changes ), and cumulative conditions (build out of the General Plan). Each of the three scenarios were analyzed with and without the proposed road diet. As further detailed below, the evaluation criteria used for the scenarios included:
• Roadway capacity;
• Level of service; and
• Queuing.
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Roadway Capacity
Middlefield Road is a four-lane arterial and is estimated to have a vehicle capacity of 900 vehicles per hour per lane. Thus, under the existing roadway configuration, Middlefield Road has a capacity of 1800 vehicles per hour in each direction throughout t he project corridor. Under the road diet conditions, Middlefield Road would be reduced to one lane in each direction, reducing the capacity to 900 vehicles per hour in each direction.
The hourly traffic volumes for each travel direction throughout the day were evaluated against the roadway hourly capacity to determine whether the segment volumes for the study scenarios would exceed the capacity and when the capacity deficiencies would occur throughout the day.
As shown in Table 1, under all three conditions (existing, background, and cumulative), with the existing lane configuration, traffic volumes along Middlefield Road were shown to be within the roadway capacity throughout the corridor. With the road diet implemented, if no traffic diversion occurs, Middlefield Road would experience over-capacity conditions as follows:
• Under existing conditions, for one hour per day during the PM peak period in the west - bound direction between Moffett Boulevard and State Route 237 (SR-237). • Under background conditions, for one hour per day during the PM peak period in the west-bound direction between Whisman Road and State Route 237 (SR-237).
Additionally, for one hour per day during the PM peak period in the east-bound direction between Moffett Boulevard and Whisman Road.
• Under cumulative conditions, for two hours per day during the AM peak period and three hours per day during the PM peak period between Moffett Boulevard and Whisman Road.
• Under cumulative conditions, for one hour per day during the AM peak period and two hours per day during the PM peak period between Whisman Road and SR-237. • Under cumulative conditions, for one hour per day during the AM peak period and three hours per day during the PM peak period between SR-237 and Bernardo Avenue.
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Table 1: Roadway Capacity
Level of Service
Level of service (LOS) is a qualitative description of operating conditions , measured in terms of delay, ranging from best (LOS A, free -flow conditions, with little or no delay) to worst (LOS F, jammed/congested conditions, with excessive delays) . The City’s standard for signalized intersections is LOS D or better, except for Congestion Management Program (CMP) intersections and facilities, County Expressway intersections, and intersections in the Downtown and San Antonio Center planning areas, where the standard is LOS E. The intersections evaluated are not CMP intersections and as such, are subject to the City’s standard of LOS D or better. The results of the LOS analysis are shown in Table 2.
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Table 2: Level of Service Results
Typically, LOS E and F are considered to be an over-saturated condition. Three intersections show a degradation in LOS (to E or F) when the project and other approved projects are implemented and drop below the City’s level of service standard . Intersections that will experience LOS E and F are: Moffett Boulevard (AM and PM), Whisman Road (PM), and Ellis Street (AM and PM). Five intersections have a degraded condition in the cumulative condition: Moffett Boulevard, Easy Street, Whisman Road, Ellis Street, and Logue Avenue.
Level of service degradation is primarily due to queueing backups at left -turn pockets. Queuing analysis information is discussed below.
Queuing
Intersection queu ing analysis evaluates vehicle stacking at left -turn lanes at the study intersections. The analysis estimates the 95 th percentile queues and compares it to the storage capacity (e.g. the available length of left -turn lanes). The 95th percentile queue is the length of storage needed at a left turn pocket so that 95% of the time the queue length is not exceeded , and is the standard practice criterion used. Traffic queuing analysis allows staff to determine whether the road diet would cause or exacerbate queuing deficiencies. Table 3 lists intersections where demand exceeds capacity for each scenario. To resolve queuing deficiencies, existing left turn lanes would need to be lengthened by 200 additional feet cumulative along the entire
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project corridor in the Existing Condition + Road Diet, 300 additional feet in the Background Condition + Road Diet, and over 1,500 additional feet in the Cumulative Condition + Road Diet.
Table 3: Intersections with Queuing Deficiencies
Traffic
Condition
Scenarios
Intersection with
Queuing Deficiencies
Additional Left-turn Capacity
(Feet)
Feasibility
Existing
Conditions +
Road Diet
Moffett Boulevard
Southbound Lane: 50 ft
Remove 3 trees
Whisman Road
Northbound Lane: 50 ft Feasible.
Ellis Street
Southbound Lane: 75 ft Feasible.
SR 237 Northbound
Service Road
Eastbound Lane: 25 ft
No room to extend the
turning lane due to limited
segment length
Background
Conditions +
Road Diet
Moffett Boulevard
• Northbound Lane (NB): 25
ft
• Southbound Lane (SB): 100
ft
• NB: Feasible.
• SB: Not feasible due to
conflict with the existing
turning lane.
Whisman Road
Northbound Lane: 50 ft Feasible.
Ellis Street • Southbound Lane (SB): 400
ft
• Eastbound Lane (EB): 75 ft
• SB: Not feasible due to
conflict with the existing
crossing
• EB: Not feasible due to
conflict with the existing
turning lane
SR 237 Northbound
Service Road
Eastbound Lane: 25 ft No room to extend the
turning lanes due to
limited segment length
Cumulative
Conditions +
Road Diet
• Moffett Boulevard
• Northbound Lane (NB): 25
ft
• Southbound Lane (SB): 100
ft
• Eastbound Lane (EB): 200
ft
• NB: Feasible.
• SB: Not feasible due to
conflict with the existing
turning lane.
• EB: Remove 13-15 trees
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• Westbound Lane (WB):
400 ft
• WB: Not feasible due to
extensive changes in
roadway geometry
Whisman Road
Northbound Lane: 325 ft Require parking removal
on Whisman Road.
Ellis Street
Southbound Lane: 400 ft
Not feasible due to conflict
with the existing crossing
Logue Avenue Eastbound Lane: 25 ft
Not feasible due to the
conflict with VTA light
rail’s gate signal
SR 237 Northbound
Service Road
Eastbound Lane: 50 ft No room to extend the
turning lanes due to the
limited segment length
To lengthen left turn pocket storage at median islands, approximately 13 to 15 trees would need to be removed along the corridor. The queuing issues would only be partially alleviated, as there are areas along the corridor where there is no space to lengthen the turn lanes, so queuing impacts would still be present. Table 3 summarizes the results of the queuing analysis for the road diet conditions with added information on the feasibility to address the deficiency.
The results indicate that the existing left-turn lanes do not have the capacity to handle peak-hour volumes under road diet conditions, leading to congestion in the single through lane.
Furthermore, extending the left-turn lanes is generally not feasible and would require extensive median and tree removal.
In summary, the Study concluded that a road -diet would result in deficiencies of the intersection’s level of service, increased intersection vehicle queuing, and reduced corridor capacity. Specifically, the road-diet would have the following impacts:
• Degrade traffic operations from LOS D or better, to LOS E or F (with A representing little delays and F representing excessive delays ) at key intersections such as Moffett Boulevard, Whisman Road, Ellis Street, Easy Street, and Logue Avenue; • Result in left-turn queuing deficiencies at SR -237 northbound Service Road, Ellis Street, Moffett Boulevard, and Logue Avenue;
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• Increase queueing on Middlefield Road at one intersection during existing conditions, two intersections under background conditions , and three intersections under cumulative conditions.
• Provide over-capacity conditions for one hour during the PM peak period under existing and background conditions , and 6 hours under cumulative conditions. All of the side streets would continue to operate under capacity with or without the road diet on Middlefield Road; and
• Traffic flow would worsen along the corridor with only one travel lane in each direction , and the left-turn queues exceeding the left-turn lane storage capacity would spill into the through lane, blocking the through lane movements.
Additionally, the implementation of a road diet on Middlefield Road and the loss of road capacity would have daily and regional impacts during planned or unplanned lane closures on other east- west arterials . Additionally, emergency response times for medical, Police and the Fire Department would be impacted.
For the above reasons, staff does not recommend implementing a road-diet for Middlefield Road.
A Class IV bikeway, and other elements as conditioned in the OBAG 3 grant funding , can be achieved without any lane reductions.
Design Concept
The corridor consists of two distinct segments, as shown in Attachment 1:
Segment A – Moffett Boulevard to Whisman Road
This segment, excluding the portion over State Route 85 (SR-85), includes existing center median islands, four travel lanes, part -time Class II bike lanes on both sides, and dedicated left -turn pockets at intersections. The existing bike lane is part -time, becoming a parking lane on weekends and between 7:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on weekdays.
To implement a full-time Class IV bike facility, the on-street parking will need to be removed at all times. In addition to vertical elements, green bike lane striping will be added at conflict zones such as driveways and bus stops. Figure 4 shows the existing Class II bike facilities that will be converted to full -time Class IV facilities, with buffers and vertical delineators to separate bike lanes from travel lanes.
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Figure 4: Typical cross section (Moffett Boulevard to Whisman Road)
SR-85 Overpass within Segment A
The SR-85 overpass within Segment A is approximately 1,000 feet long, and extends from the 555 West Middlefield Road site, over SR-85 to near the Steven Creek Trail entrance, just west of Easy Street. The existing segment features a center median island, four travel lanes, Class II bike lanes on both sides, and a sidewalk only on the north side (Figure 5).
Staff evaluated closing the sidewalk gap along the south side of the SR -85 bridge overpass including the feasibility of converting the existing bicycle lane to a shared mult i-use path for eastbound bicyclists and pedestrians. Staff met with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which owns the bridge . Caltrans staff confirmed that alterations to the bridge overpass, including, but not limited to, modifying the median and adjusting lane widths, will require a comprehensive review and approval process, which would cause the project to miss OBAG 3 funding grant deadlines . Therefore, s taff will pursue design of a multi -use path as a separate project. This separate project will be proposed for additional design and construction funding in the next fiscal year . For the current project , the proposed layout on the bridge overpass will be similar to existing conditions as shown in Figure 6.
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Figure 5: Sidewalk terminates at 555 W Middlefield Road (eastbound)
Figure 6: Typical cross section (SR-85 Overpass)
Segment B – Whisman Road to Bernardo Avenue
The remaining segment generally includes existing center median islands, four travel lanes, full- time Class II bike lanes on both sides , and dedicated left -turn pockets at intersections . This segment runs underneath SR-237 with on-ramp and off-ramp entrances. Similar to Segment A,
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improvements include Class IV bike facilities with buffers and vertical delineators to provide separation between bike lanes and travel lanes. In addition to vertical elements, green bike lane striping will be added at conflict zones such as driveways and bus stops (see Figure 7).
Figure 7: Typical cross section (Whisman Road to Bernardo Avenue)
SR-237/Middlefield Intersection Project
The City is partnering with VTA for improvements to the SR-237/Middlefield Road intersection and portions of the SR-237 Frontage Road. The project limits are the segment of Middlefield Road from approximately 100 feet west of Ferguson Drive to approximately 50 feet east of the SR-237 eastbound off-ramp, and westbound Frontage Road from Middlefield Road to Maude Avenue.
The improvements will include pavement overlay throughout the project area , sidewalk improvements, and Class IV bike lanes on Middlefield Road and the westbound Frontage Road.
This project is led by VTA and has not advanced to the design phase. It will be presented to the Council Transportation Committee this spring. The two projects will be coordinated as the y proceed through design and construction.
Intersections
Improvements at intersections include high-visibility crosswalks, advanced stop bars, Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) curb ramp upgrades (Figure 8).
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Figure 8: Typical Intersection
In summary, staff developed a concept layout that is consistent with the OBAG 3 grant application and the project budget. The project will include the following elements:
• Roadway resurfacing of Middlefield Road between Moffett Boulevard and Bernardo Avenue;
• Pedestrian hybrid beacon signal at Tyrella Avenue;
• Bicycle infrastructure improvements including new Class IV bike facilities between Moffett Boulevard and Bernardo Avenue (buffers with vertical elements and green striping at conflict zones); and
• Pedestrian improvements including high -visibility crosswalks, advanced stop bars, Accessible Pedestrian Signals, and Americans with Disabilities Act curb ramp upgrades.
The new crosswalk and pedestrian hybrid beacon signal adjacent to the VTA lightrail tracks was removed from the project scope due to its complexity and close proximity to the lightrail tracks,
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which would have required extensive coordination with VTA and the California Public Utilities Commission jeopardizing the OBAG 3 funding required timeline.
Project Budget Update
Middlefield Road Complete Streets, Project 22 -01, is funded with $2,406,000 from the OBAG 3 program grant funds, $144,000 from the Transportation Reserve Fund, $984,000 from the Construction/Conveyance Tax Fund, $11,000 from the Gas Tax Fund, $582,000 from the Measure B 2010 Vehicle License Fee, and $1,110,000 from the 2016 Measure B Sales Tax Fund, for a total project budget of $5,237,000. With this funding amount, there was insufficient funding to implement the recommended design concept.
In June 2025, the City was awarded $1,766,000 for the Project from the Housing Incentive Pool (HIP) grant through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).
In December 2025, the City was awarded $5,170,000 through the State of California’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program. The next step is completing the entitlement process to apply for the tax credit funding. If the tax credit award is received, staff will have the City Council consider a formal resolution to implement an agreement . Table 4 summarizes the project funding.
Table 4: Project Funding
Funding Amount Status
OBAG 3 Grant $2,406,000 Adopted
Other funds $2,831,000 Adopted
Total (current funding) $5,237,000
HIP Grant $1,766,000 Awarded in June 2025
AHSC Grant $5,170,000 Awarded in December 2025
Total (new grants) $6,936,000
Total $12,173,000
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With the two recent successful grant funding awards, there is sufficient funding for the recommended concept design.
BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
On April 29, 2026, staff presented this same design concept to the BPAC. Staff will verbally share BPAC’s feedback at the May 5, 2026 CTC meeting, due to timing constraints prior to publishing this memo for the CTC meeting.
NEXT STEPS
Staff will incorporate BPAC and CTC’s feedback and advance the project design. Final design of the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 to meet the federal grant deadline .
Construction is anticipated to start in summer 2027.
PUBLIC NOTICING
In addition to the standard agenda posting, notices of the project and consideration of parking removal were mailed to property owners and residents within 750’ of the project site.
Attachment: 1. Middlefield Road Complete Streets – Preliminary design plans
cc: APWD Arango, PCE Gonzales, SCE Cervantes, ACE Nguyen, File (22-01)