From: Arthur Keller
To: Council, City
Subject: Re: City Council to Consider Potential Ballot Measure for Quarry Road Transit Connection Date: Sunday, June 9, 2024 7:41:06 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links.
Dear Mayor and City Council,
In consideration of the request to undedicate a portion of El Camino Park as parkland, which a bus route that greatly benefits Stanford University for the reduction in time for the Marguerite Shuttle to enter the station, I request that Stanford University instead dedicate a portion of the Mayfield Playing Fields (El Camino Real and Page Mill Road) as parkland. In addition, there would remain a small piece of El Camino Park that remains parkland. Rather, this portion should be undedicated as well so that the parkland is one contiguous piece of land and is all usable as parkland. There is sufficient land at the Mayfield Playing Fields site to dedicate as usable parkland.
Best regards,
Arthur Keller
From: Anthony Montes
To: Council, City
Cc: Nordman, Eric; Frank Viggiano; Zafarali Ahmed; Ken Kershner Subject: Item 12: Support For Ballot Measure and Quarry Road Connection Date: Sunday, June 9, 2024 3:07:31 PM
Attachments: 06_10_2024_Quarry Road Project Letter of Support.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links.
Hello Palo Alto City Council,
I hope this finds you all well.
I have attached a letter of support on behalf of the SVBC Palo Alto Local Team asking the council to allow voters to decide to discontinue a portion of El Camino Park for the purpose of constructing a roadway for transit vehicles between El Camino Real and the Palo Alto Transit Center.
This project has the potential to reduce congestion and pollution; provide safe crossing for all users across El Camino Real; and improve regional connectivity by making it more convenient and comfortable to use public and active transportation.
Please reach out to me if you have any questions. Thank you for your consideration.
Best,
Anthony Montes | he/him/his
Associate Director of Advocacy and Development
Cell: 408-694-8848 | LCI # 7,038
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June10,2024
PaloAltoCityCouncilCityofPaloAlto50HamiltonAvenuePaloAlto,CA94301 RE:SupportForBallotMeasureandQuarryRoadConnection
DearPaloAltoCityCouncil,
Onbehalfof SiliconValleyBicycleCoalition’s(SVBC)PaloAltoLocalTeam,wearewritingtoexpresssupportfortheNovemberballotmeasuretoallowvoterstodecidetodiscontinueapproximately0.33acresofElCaminoParkforthepurposeofconstructingaroadwayfortransitvehiclesbetweenElCaminoRealandthePaloAltoTransitCenter.
ThisprojectisacriticalsteptowardsamorereliableandregionallyintegratedtransportationnetworkinPaloAltoandSantaClaraandSanMateoCounties.Itwillshortentraveltimesfortransitusersandhasthepotentialtoreduceconflictpointsbetweenvehiclesandthosewhowalkandbike,inducingashiftawayfromsingle-occupancyvehiclesandtherebydecreasingtrafficcongestionandvehiclepollution.
AlongwiththeimprovementstofacilitatecrossingtheintersectionofQuarryRoadandElCaminoReal,weurgeStanfordUniversity,Caltrans,theValleyTransitAuthority,andthecityofPalotoimplementadditionalbikesafetyinfrastructureaspartofthisproject:● Physicalprotectionofbicyclelanesusingbollards,flexpostsorsimilar;● Fullyprotectedintersectionwithdedicatedbikeandturnsignalsandrefugeislands(wherefeasible)toeliminateconflictbetweenbusesandbicyclistsattheentranceofthetransitway;● ImprovedconnectionbetweenQuarryRoad,PalmDriveandtheEmbarcaderoBikepathbyreducingvehicle-pedestrian-bikeconflictsonMitchellLaneandUniversityAvecircle;● ImprovingbicycleaccesstotheexistingLyttonAvetunnel; Suchimprovementswillenhancemulti-modalaccessfromseveralPaloAltoneighborhoodstothetransitcenter,ElCaminoPark,StanfordShoppingCenterandStanfordCampus.WeurgeyoutovoteinfavorofaddingittotheNovemberballotforPaloAltoresidents.Foranyquestionsorinquiries,[email protected].
Thankyouforyourconsideration.
Sincerely,
SVBCPaloAltoLocalTeam
Buildinghealthierandmorejustcommunitiesbymakingbicyclingsaferandmoreaccessibleforall155S11 th
Street,SanJose,CA95112|bikesiliconvalley.org|408-287-7259
From: Robert Neff
To: Council, City
Subject: Support for better Transit connection to Transit Center Date: Saturday, June 8, 2024 11:10:49 AM
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Honorable members of Palo Alto City Council,
I am writing to support the proposal to create direct access from El Camino Real (ECR) to the Palo Alto Transit Center for Stanford, VTA, SamTrans, and other bus services. As a daily bus rider, I prefer to experience a route which is direct and frequent (Route 522, from Arastradero to Wolfe on ECR), and have also experienced the chronic frustration of bus routes that must take time to leave their main route to get to a Transit Center. The current connection from ECR and Stanford to the transit center is poor, with long waits for traffic signals. This connection will simplify and speed connections. Since a bus ride from Menlo Park (the SamTrans ECR) to Mountain View (the VTA 22) requires changing buses in Palo Alto in the Transit center, this will save time for those riders on every trip.
I think the lost parkland is of relatively low value, though it has a good location, and will be possible to replace. I am confident that transportation planners will redesign the intersection at Quarry/ECR to also accomodate the bicycle and pedestrian traffic across ECR at that intersection. Please advance this proposal.
Thank you for your service to the City of Palo Alto.
--
-- Robert Neff
[email protected]
From: Nadia Naik
To: Council, City; Clerk, City
Subject: Public Comment, PACC Meeting June 10th Item 12 Quarry Road Extension.
Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2024 9:29:34 AM
Attachments: Letter of Support for Quarry Road Extension.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links.
To: Palo Alto City Council
Re: Quarry Road extension
June 6, 2024
Dear City Councilmembers,
My name is Nadia Naik and I'm a Palo Alto resident and transit advocate.
The Quarry Road extension would provide a significant reduction in bus travel time and improve local bus service. With the electrification of Caltrain, the Palo Alto Intermodal Transit Center (University Ave station), which already has the highest ridership on the Caltrain line outside of San Francisco, will have even more trains serving the region throughout the day as a critical transit link. As a result, many more buses will be needed to meet the needs of those riders.
I urge the City Council to support putting the issue of Quarry Road on the ballot in November. However, I urge the city to work on improvements to the current plan. My final support for the project is predicated on a detailed plan that supports the bike/pedestrian movements through this critical area. Currently, there are incomplete bike paths that move cyclists through the station area and circulation in all directions must be carefully addressed, particularly at points where many modes intersect. This will be critically important since as Caltrain service improves, so will the number of bikes/pedestrians crossing through the area.
I'm confident we can, and should, find other, more useful parkland to dedicate in Palo Alto. The area that would be converted for this project is small, not a very useable space, and is much more conducive to providing transportation benefits than recreational benefits.
I'm hopeful we can get the details of these plans resolved by November. I would like to commend everyone involved for their expedient work to get this to the voters quickly.
I urge City Council, Staff, and Stanford to continue to make progress on this critical transportation link. This is a great example of how the city and Stanford can work together on projects and I hope it ushers in a new era of even closer collaboration.
Nadia Naik
Emerson Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
To: Palo Alto City Council Re: Quarry Road extension June 6, 2024 Dear City Councilmembers, My name is Nadia Naik and I'm a Palo Alto resident and transit advocate. The Quarry Road extension would provide a significant reduction in bus travel time and improve local bus service. With the electrification of Caltrain, the Palo Alto Intermodal Transit Center (University Ave station), which already has the highest ridership on the Caltrain line outside of San Francisco, will have even more trains serving the region throughout the day as a critical transit link. As a result, many more buses will be needed to meet the needs of those riders. I urge the City Council to support putting the issue of Quarry Road on the ballot in November. However, I urge the city to work on improvements to the current plan. My final support for the project is predicated on a detailed plan that supports the bike/pedestrian movements through this critical area. Currently, there are incomplete bike paths that move cyclists through the station area and circulation in all directions must be carefully addressed, particularly at points where many modes intersect. This will be critically important since as Caltrain service improves, so will the number of bikes/pedestrians crossing through the area. I'm confident we can, and should, find other more useful parkland to dedicate in Palo Alto. The area that would be converted for this project is small, not a very useable space, and is much more conducive to providing transportation benefits than recreational benefits. I'm hopeful we can get the details of these plans resolved by November. I would like to commend everyone involved for their expedient work to get this to the voters quickly. I urge City Council, StaW, and Stanford to continue to make progress on this critical transportation link. This is a great example of how the city and Stanford can work together on projects and I hope it ushers in a new era of even closer collaboration. Nadia Naik Emerson Street Palo Alto, CA 94301