City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: ACTION ITEMS
Lead Department: Transportation
Meeting Date: June 17, 2024
Report #:2405-3046
TITLE
Discussion Regarding Caltrans’ Repaving Project on El Camino Real Replacing Existing Parking with Bicycle Lanes, Authority for Staff to Make Adjustments to the Residential Preferential Parking Permit Programs and Return to Council on Consent if Needed, Authority for Staff to Enter into Agreements As Needed to Provide Temporary Safe Parking Along the Corridor in Palo Alto, and Approval of a Resolution Supporting the Removal of On-Street Parking for this Project; CEQA status – categorically exempt.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council take the following actions:
A. Review the revised plans from Caltrans regarding the Caltrans project to repave El Camino Real that will repurpose parking spaces for bicycle lanes, B. Authorize the City Manager or their designee to direct staff to make necessary adjustments to the RPP Programs and return to Council on consent if needed, C. Authorize the City Manager or their designee to enter into agreements as needed to provide temporary safe parking for those currently along the project corridor in Palo Alto, and
D. Approve a resolution supporting the removal of on-street parking for this project.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff anticipates that the Caltrans El Camino Real Council ad hoc Committee may wish to amend the staff recommendation to impose conditions on adoption of the resolution. Those conditions may include things like:
x Transmittal of the Fehr & Peers review memo and the joint City and VTA memo (Attachments A & D) to Caltrans with a request that Caltrans respond to requested changes
x City-proposed locations in Attachment E for additional No Right Turn on Red restrictions
x Development of a new Maintenance Agreement with Caltrans for the bikeway project x A Caltrans commitment to expediting encroachment permits on El Camino Real x Caltrans provision of tentative and final project timelines, when available, for public notification efforts
This report is a follow-up from the April 1, 2024 City Council meeting discussion of Caltrans’ proposal to eliminate parking lanes and replace them with bicycle lanes on El Camino Real (ECR) throughout Palo Alto.
1 As proposed, the replacement of parking with bike lanes would occur during the upcoming Caltrans repaving project to be done in Palo Alto. While Caltrans staff have consistently expressed a desire to collaborate with the City on improving safety on El Camino Real, to date, Caltrans has indicated that its analysis of safety issues along ECR require the agency to take action.
On April 1, 2024 the City Council provided direction by:
1) Requesting Caltrans return with additional safety measures based on Safe Systems Approach, applicable Caltrans Design Information Bulletins, and a complete street network approach
2) Creating an ad hoc committee of council members to consult with staff, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) staff, bicycle advocates, and other stakeholders including the Chamber of Commerce that would focus on:
a. Prioritizing a plan for safety improvements at intersections and conflict areas b. Conducting outreach to small-business community and neighborhoods to identify parking alternatives including modifications to the City’s Residential Preferential Parking (RPP) districts and work with the Transportation Management Association (TMA)
c. Coordinating efforts to accommodate RV Dwellers along El Camino Real This report provides an update on how the above direction has been addressed and options for how to proceed from this point.
The City’s engagement with Caltrans has led to significant safety improvements in the Caltrans proposal. While Caltrans’ ability to fully implement a Safe System Approach is limited by several factors, the outcome of the collaboration to date has yielded an improved plan and a mutual understanding that El Camino Real will require future planning and study to further reduce road user conflicts in key locations along the corridor.
This report also includes attachments providing additional information and context. x Attachment A: Updated plans from Caltrans with an accompanying memo detailing
1 See Caltrans draft plans dated May 20, 2024.
the review completed by the City’s Transportation consultant, Fehr and Peers. x Attachment B: Resolution for Council consideration endorsing the removal of parking spaces from El Camino Real for bike lanes
x Attachment C: Caltrans’ Bicycle Counts along El Camino Real x Attachment D: Joint City of Palo Alto/VTA Memo presenting Review and Comments on Bike and Bus Conflict Areas
x Attachment E: Matrix of Proposed No Right Turn on Red Restrictions If Council approves the resolution for the removal of parking spaces from ECR for bicycle lanes, staff will return to Council for follow-up actions that require council approval as necessary and appropriate. Such actions may include changes to the RPP, longer-term agreements to provide safe parking to those currently dwelling in vehicles along the project corridor, or additional follow-up items.
BACKGROUND
El Camino Real (State Route 82) is a state highway maintained by Caltrans. To meet the requirements of its Capital Preventive Maintenance (CAPM) program, Caltrans is repaving El Camino Real in Mountain View, Los Altos, and Palo Alto to improve ride quality, comply with current ADA standards, and improve safety, access, and mobility of pedestrians and bicyclists.
The project will repair pavement and upgrade existing non-standard ADA curb ramps and add complete street elements.
2 There has been significant work on this project to-date. For additional background on this topic, please reference the City Council Staff Report from April 1, 2024 (Agenda Item 11)3. On April 1, 2024, Caltrans presented slides during the City Council meeting and discussed the proposed bikeway implementation in Palo Alto and the Caltrans SR 82 Paving Project.4 Through motion, City Council requested that Caltrans return with added safety measures in the bike lane design based on the Safety System Approach Design and other best practices, and created an ad hoc committee to focus on safety improvements at conflict areas and intersections, identify alternatives to minimize parking impacts to small businesses and the community, and coordinate efforts to accommodate vehicle dwellers along the project corridor.
Mayor Stone appointed Council Members Ed Lauing and Pat Burt to the ad hoc committee. The ad hoc met frequently with staff and other stakeholders and has also corresponded over e-mail with staff to discuss developments on this project. Meetings took place throughout April, May,
2 Caltrans project website: SR-82 – Pavement Rehabilitation and ADA Improvements 3 CC Staff Report (Agenda Item 11), April 1, 2024
4 The meeting recording is available on the City’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/cityofpaloalto.
and June (April 25, April 30, May 9, May 16 (joint workshop), and June 5) to ensure this important work continued to advance.
On May 15, 2024, Caltrans sent the City the third iteration of the proposed draft bikeway plans with added safety measures based on the Safe Systems Approach and other industry standards, per City Council request. These plans were reviewed during the joint workshop held on May 16, 2024 that included the members of the ad hoc, City Staff, Caltrans staff, VTA staff, Fehr & Peers, and biking advocate stakeholders including representatives from the City’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC), and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC).
Following the workshop, Caltrans sent the City the fourth iteration of the proposed draft bikeway plans, dated May 20, 2024. This plan has been posted to the City’s website. 5 City staff engaged Fehr & Peers to conduct a comprehensive review of the May 20 bikeway plans to confirm whether the plan is in alignment with Caltrans’ Design Information Bulletin-94 (DIB-94) and the Safe System Approach. Fehr & Peers’ memorandum and comments on the draft bikeway plans with recommended modifications for Caltrans’ consideration are included as Attachment A to this report. A detailed summary of the changes from the January 22, 2024 plans that were discussed with City Council on April 1 and the revised bikeway plan from May 20, 2024 can be found on the City’s website.
6 ANALYSIS
This section will provide updates on each of the four main areas from Council’s April 1 direction which focused on:
1) Requesting Caltrans return with additional safety measures based on Safe Systems Approach, applicable Caltrans Design Information Bulletins, and a complete street network approach
2) Using the ad hoc to prioritize a plan for safety improvements at intersections and conflict areas between motorized vehicles, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians 3) Using the ad hoc to conduct outreach to small-business community and neighborhoods to identify parking alternatives including modifications to the City’s Residential Preferential Parking (RPP) districts and work with the Transportation Management Association (TMA)
4) Using the ad hoc to coordinate efforts to accommodate RV Dwellers along El Camino Real
5 Draft Caltrans Bikeway Plan, dated May 20, 2024
6 See City website: City Issues Letter to Caltrans SR82 El Camino Real Bikeway Project
Given the significant overlap between the first two topics, they are grouped together in this section with subsections elaborating on bicycle and bus interactions and the potential for greater ‘No Right Turn on Red’ restrictions. Following the updates of each of these four items, additional considerations are presented for discussion with the City Council, as well as information about what future Caltrans projects may entail and potential additional City Council actions.
Requesting Caltrans return with additional safety measures based on Safe Systems Approach, applicable Caltrans Design Information Bulletins, and a complete street network approach and Using the ad hoc to Prioritizing a plan for safety improvements at intersections and conflict areas
As noted in correspondence with the City, the bike lane proposal is a response to Caltrans policies to reduce risk to vulnerable road users on State Route 82. Caltrans has adopted both a Safe System Approach and a Vision Zero goal in roadway safety planning across California to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries.
7 This approach identifies traffic safety as the
highest priority for the design and operation of the transportation system and views traffic fatalities and severe injuries as unacceptable and preventable through joint action. The Safe System Approach is the foundation for the National Safety Strategy released by the US Department of Transportation in 2022.
8 To bring the Safe System Approach into statewide roadway design, Caltrans issued Design Information Bulletin – 94 (DIB-94), effective on January 16, 2024, which provides Caltrans staff guidelines on how to select and incorporate transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities to match their urban context.9 This bulletin alters Caltrans design guidance to “minimize the transfer of kinetic energy through the adoption of design elements that minimize crash speeds and impact angles.”10 City staff have requested clarification of whether DIB-94 applies to the repaving project given that the recent bike lane draft plans were dated after January 16, 2024. In their written response to PTC Commissioner George Lu, Caltrans stated that DIB-94 was applied to the bicycle lane proposal.
11 According to El Camino Real bike counts recently provided by Caltrans, cyclists generally cross El Camino Real ride on the correct side of the street where bike lanes are provided. However, where there are no bike lanes, cyclists on El Camino Real more often ride the wrong way and on the sidewalk. Attachment C to this report details Caltrans’ bicycle counts on El Camino Real.
7 https://dot.ca.gov/news-releases/news-release-2022-009 8 https://www.transportation.gov/nrss/usdot-national-roadway-safety-strategy 9 Design Information Bulletin-94 Complete Streets: Contextual Design Guidance 10 Design Information Bulletin-94 Complete Streets: Contextual Design Guidance, p. 17 11 Caltrans Response to Commissioner Lu, March 11, 2024
As mentioned earlier, Fehr & Peers prepared a memorandum and comments on the draft bikeway plans, dated May 20, 2024, with recommended modifications for Caltrans’ consideration based on Design Information Bulletin-94 (DIB-94) and the Safe Systems Approach (Attachment A).
The memorandum notes that the Caltrans proposal reflects improvements delivered as part of the State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP), which has limitations on the types of modifications that can be constructed. As such, the consultant proposes both suggested enhancements to the proposed Caltrans design and additional modifications which could be pursued as part of separate planning and design efforts in the future.
Overall, the consultant observed the following:
x The proposed design has been refined to include reduced vehicle lane widths and expand the availability of Class IV bikeways. Additional refinements are suggested to increase separation for bicyclists and reduce turning speeds for vehicles. x Though many portions of El Camino Real will receive noticeable enhancement to bicycle facilities through the Caltrans SHOPP design, limitations of SHOPP may result in “weak links” (higher level of traffic stress situations) being maintained at a few major intersections where the cross-section is limited. The consultant team suggested enhancements which provide additional separation for bicyclists near intersections, improve pedestrian and transit accommodation, and address conflicts between vehicles and vulnerable users as a next step to build upon the proposed Caltrans design. x Revisions to the plans have resulted in anticipated improvements to interactions between bicyclists and buses at some locations, but additional enhancements are suggested to establish a desired standard for marking shared bus/bike spaces including “BUS BIKE ONLY” pavement legends and yield markings for bicyclists where feasible.
Further collaboration with transit providers, Caltrans, and City is suggested to identify short-term pilot treatments that could address interactions between buses and bicyclists. This matter is also discussed in greater detail below.
With the additional refinements noted within the memo and plan mark-ups, the improvements proposed as part of the Caltrans SHOPP project serve as a helpful first step toward improved multimodal comfort, access, and mobility along El Camino Real. Ideally, the SHOPP project would be accompanied by cooperation with transit providers to address interactions between modes at bus stops and a commitment to undertake a more comprehensive planning and design process to address the needs of all users on the corridor.
Considerations for Bus & Bike Interactions
The proposed draft bikeway plans, dated May 20, 2024, include dashed standard bike lanes that are shared with bus pull out areas except for the northbound bus stop near the El Camino Real and Park Boulevard/Serra Street intersection, which includes a dedicated bike lane and separated pull out area for buses. At most bus stops, cyclists approaching a bus at a stop would
be expected to either wait behind the bus, merge into the vehicle lane to pass the bus on the left, or ride on the sidewalk to pass the bus on the right.
Staff from Caltrans, VTA, City, and Fehr & Peers met on May 23, 2024, to discuss opportunities to improve bike and bus interactions on El Camino Real as part of the Caltrans project.
Recommendations from that meeting include enhancing the striping and visibility of the bus stops (as noted above in the prior section), re-evaluation of bus stop locations, an education and messaging campaign on how to use the new bike lane, and a pilot bus boarding island collaboration with VTA. The meeting summary, including a list of short- and near-term recommendations, is provided as Attachment D of this report.
No Right Turns on Red
City staff and representatives from the City/School Transportation Safety Committee met to discuss the proposed Caltrans project. As school route crossings of the corridor were of primary importance for this group, key outcomes of those conversations were to request that Caltrans consider additional No Right Turn On Red (NRTOR) restrictions beyond those proposed by Caltrans at school route intersections listed on City Walk and Roll Suggested Routes Maps.
No Right Turn on Red restrictions eliminate conflict between right-turning vehicles and pedestrians and bicyclists traveling through an intersection. Multiple studies validate the effectiveness of this low-cost, high-reward safety measure. Without this restriction, right- turning drivers look to the left to find a gap in traffic and may not look for people on foot or on bicycles coming from the right. In particular, children crossing in such a scenario may not be seen due to their height relative to larger vehicles. This treatment is a best practice at locations where there is high pedestrian activity, school activity, older road users, and bicycle facilities.
12 A matrix of locations where NRTOR restrictions are proposed can be found in Attachment E.
Caltrans has proposed 17 NRTOR locations, and City staff have indicated in Attachment E the school route and other locations that could be considered for NRTOR. Due to the operational delay associated with NRTOR restrictions, Council will need to indicate which, if any, of the additional City-proposed locations should receive this treatment. From a policy perspective, the City’s Comprehensive Plan has both safety enhancement and congestion reduction as conflicting priorities, and delay (such as intersection level of service) is no longer a valid metric under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Safe System Approach recognizes that speed is the major factor in severe injury and death in traffic collisions and that NRTOR restrictions both slow speeds and reduce points of conflict.
12 See FHWA Right Turn on Red Restrictions and Older Users guidance
Addressing Parking Impacts
Potential Changes to RPP Districts
RPP Districts in the City are generally established via ordinance and following a public process involving documentation and analysis of a parking issue, along with public agreement (and City Council approval) of any program recommendation to be instituted. City parking programs manage parking availability to the benefit of either residents or employees, and in two cases, both residents and employees, during weekday business hours Monday-Friday, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm or 6:00 PM depending on the program.
Only two of the City’s existing programs regulate parking resources on El Camino Real, as most of the curb space along the corridor is currently free and available for parking stays of up to 72 hours. Parking beyond 72 hours is prohibited citywide and enforced on a complaint basis. The Evergreen Park-Mayfield (EPM) Residential Parking Program (RPP) and the Southgate RPP include some frontage on El Camino Real (ECR).
In each case, parking permit availability is managed with a specified number of employee permits made available to employees with a maximum allotment allowed in set aside and signed zones. Resident permits are limited to a specific allotment per household. In the EPM RPP, ECR parking availability is managed via Zone G and in the Southgate RPP, ECR parking availability is managed via Zone S1.
In order to address the potential loss of parking spaces along ECR, staff recommends modifications to the Evergreen Park-Mayfield and Southgate RPP districts to move the appropriate number of employee permits currently sited along ECR to neighborhood zones.
Staff anticipates interim administrative changes in the near-term to avoid immediate impacts if repaving begins before Council returns. When Council returns, staff anticipates redistributing the 50 employee permits in Zone G of Evergreen Park-Mayfield across zones A, B, C, and D of that district and increasing Southgate’s’ neighborhood zone allotment from 10 to 15 in total.
Staff will work to finalize these distributions and include the discussion when it returns to Council for long-term authorization to change these two RPPS.
The EPM RPP District formerly had 250 employee permits across zones A, B, C, and D. Since those employee permits were removed from zones A-D, the City has completed construction of the Sherman Garage near California Avenue and implemented changes to the RPP program that make parking permits in garages cheaper than RPP employee permits. Staff anticipates a de minimis impact from the addition of 50 total employee permits throughout zones A, B, C, and D in EPM. Staff will monitor the utilization rates of these permits and return to Council for future changes as necessary and appropriate.
In general, neither residents nor business stakeholders who utilize these two RPP districts expect the Caltrans project to move forward without substantially impacting ECR parking.
Other RPP districts, such as College Terrace, are not expected to be impacted by this loss of parking along ECR. Similarly, near Stanford’s frontage there are current Saturday game-day prohibitions for parking along ECR, but these would become redundant if all parking was disallowed along ECR.
Short-term Parking Solutions on Streets Adjacent to ECR Staff has conducted preliminary outreach to stakeholders including businesses sited along ECR as well as the Chamber of Commerce to discuss options for short-term parking sited on streets adjacent to ECR. This was the greatest priority for the Chamber of Commerce. Staff will continue to work to align potential changes to short-term parking (such as shorter-time limit zones of 20 minutes, green curbs, and yellow curbs) with the desires of businesses along El Camino Real. Staff will provide updates on these conversations as they continue, including timing relative to the potential removal of parking for the repaving.
Using the TMA to leverage existing resources
Parking demand by ECR businesses could be further reduced by enrolling eligible employees into transit or bike commute programs supported by the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association (TMA). The TMA supports low-income workers with transit fare subsidies and a bicycle commute incentive program. The TMA is funded by the City, and the current budget request for FY 2025 from the TMA includes a small increase over their baseline service costs to expand outreach and coverage to El Camino Real businesses. The TMA has begun working on reaching out to businesses on ECR and has already provided some services to employees.
Using the ad hoc to coordinate efforts to accommodate RV Dwellers along El Camino Real The Caltrans El Camino Real Project will result in, at minimum, temporary and potentially long- term displacement of vehicles that park along this State Highway. City staff is in regular contact with the County Office of Supportive Housing and community partners to identify ways to help vehicle dwellers who will be impacted by this project.
In response to the City’s request for clarification on notification and outreach to vehicle dwellers, Caltrans sent a communication on April 30 where Caltrans committed to providing a three-week notification to impacted businesses and parked vehicles along El Camino Real in Palo Alto. City staff requested that Caltrans share the draft of any notice/flyer with City staff before it is finalized. Sufficient notice of when vehicles may be displaced helps the City, its partners, and the impacted households to plan for resources and options. The County Office of Supportive Housing is conducting outreach and consulting with local nonprofits to help identify the characteristics of the households who may be impacted. This will help the City understand what types of services and options are needed.
At the same time, the City is in conversation with the County, local safe parking operators, and local landowners to identify and then secure a near-term and longer-term safe parking option for these additional RVs. Next steps will be identifying funding and advancing necessary steps for the longer-term approach such as bringing to City Council a budget amendment, an urgency ordinance, contract(s), and/or lease agreement(s). The exact timing for the Caltrans project is unclear, but the parking spaces could be removed as early as July or August. Because the Council will be on its summer recess during July, staff is seeking the City Council’s authority to negotiate and enter into agreements (e.g., letter of intent, lease agreement, etc.) as needed to provide temporary safe parking to the vehicles impacted along the corridor.
In the revised Caltrans bike lane plans, existing parking on El Camino Real that can continue to accommodate vehicles will be retained on certain segments. Currently, the Caltrans Bike Lane proposal includes retaining approximately 780’ of existing parking on the West side of El Camino Real in between Galvez Street and just past Encina Avenue.
Additional Considerations
There are three items of additional consideration for the City Council. One is the need to synchronize the repaving effort with other City efforts, namely the effort along California Avenue. The second is the need for potential maintenance agreements with Caltrans, and the third is future projects anticipated from Caltrans.
Synchronizing with California Avenue Efforts
The Caltrans project offers an opportunity to coordinate upcoming improvements to the City’s Car-Free Street project on California Ave with new pavement markings at the El Camino Real/California Avenue intersection. In addition to adding stamped asphalt crosswalks to match those at Stanford Avenue and Charleston Road/Arastradero Road, staff propose a two-way bikeway on the north side of car-free California Avenue at El Camino Real to enable implementation of Council’s direction for a bicycle facility along California Avenue (Figure 1). To connect this new facility to the bike lanes across the intersection with El Camino Real, staff propose a realignment of the travel and bike lanes on California Avenue on the west leg of the intersection to accommodate the movement of eastbound cyclists into the northside bikeway along car-free California Ave. A bike lane could be inserted between a left-turn lane and a right-turn lane. Staff is working with Caltrans to determine if this work can be included in the current SHOPP program funding. Work outside of the intersection on California Avenue would need to be funded by the City.
Figure 1: California Ave/El Camino Real Intersection Concept Plan (For Discussion Only)
Maintenance Agreements
Caltrans informed City staff of their intent to draft a Maintenance Agreement (MA) stating the City would be responsible for all maintenance and costs associated with the bike lane channelizers included in the draft bikeway plans. City staff and Caltrans staff held a virtual meeting on May 24, 2024 to discuss the proposed MA. This topic is still an ongoing negotiation with Caltrans.
13 Public entities may be liable for dangerous conditions that arise on property they maintain, even if maintenance is performed under an agreement and the property is not owned by the agency. Therefore, if the City enters into a maintenance agreement with Caltrans for the bike lane channelizers, it will assume some liability for those channelizers.
Future Caltrans Workshops and Projects
Caltrans is planning to hold a number of workshops starting in August 2024 with all El Camino Real local and regional stakeholders through Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties, including transit agencies. This initiative will discuss and form consensus on bicycle
13 For informational purposes, the “Agreement for Maintenance of State Highways in the City of Palo Alto” (effective July 1, 2007) is a delegated maintenance agreement between the City and Caltrans whereby the City is reimbursed by Caltrans for street sweeping and sidewalk maintenance along El Camino Real. The City submits invoices to Caltrans every six (6) months for this service. In addition, the City is responsible for maintenance costs at the intersections of Stanford Avenue and Arastradero Road/Charleston Road along El Camino Real per our maintenance agreements with Caltrans. The Stanford Avenue and Arastradero Road/Charleston Road intersection improvements along El Camino Real were City-led projects and are, therefore, the responsibility of the City to maintain.
and pedestrian safety enhancement strategies and how they will be implemented for the corridor. This effort will also discuss and explore funding opportunities from both state and local agencies to be able to leverage funding contributions for a medium-to-long-term corridor safety enhancement investment plan. This work will be the basis of Caltrans’ Comprehensive Multimodal Corridor Plan (CMCP) development for the entirety of Highway 82/El Camino Real.
This plan will be developed through a collaborative process involving the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, County Transportation Agencies, cities and counties, transit agencies and other stakeholders within the corridor. It will include comprehensive performance assessments, analyses and evaluations leading to recommendations of system management strategies and multimodal projects for the corridor. Staff anticipates actively participating in these workshops and this planning effort.
Next Steps
The City’s engagement with Caltrans has led to significant safety improvements in the Caltrans proposal. While Caltrans’ ability to fully implement a Safe System Approach is limited by several factors, the outcome of the collaboration to date has yielded an improved plan and a mutual understanding that El Camino Real will require future planning and study to further reduce road user conflicts in key locations along the corridor. Recognizing that the current project is an initial step towards improving safety for vulnerable road users on a key corridor of the City’s High Injury Network, the City Council could choose to pursue additional actions beyond those included in staff’s recommendation. Those could include:
x Request Caltrans add Council-identified locations for No Right Turn On Red restrictions (Attachment E) and evaluate the safety and operational performance of the restrictions two to three years after implementation.
x Direct staff to continue working with Caltrans to improve the safety of the proposed bikeways, including requesting all changes to the plans recommended in the F&P memo and plan mark-ups (Attachment A) that are within the bounds of the SHOPP funding program
x Direct staff to work with Caltrans and VTA to pilot a bus boarding island program to reduce bus and bike conflicts
x Direct staff to engage in Caltrans-led planning for the El Camino Real corridor scheduled for August 2024
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
As a Caltrans project, it is not anticipated that Caltrans will ask the City for any funding for the proposed bikeway project. However, the City is absorbing the cost of hosting the community engagement meetings that are in excess of the usual standing committee calendars as well as the cost of consultant peer review of Caltrans plans. The City may also be asked to maintain the bike lane channelizers included in the draft bikeway plans. The
City’s proposed changes at California Avenue may require City funding as well depending on discussion with Caltrans. Other costs may result from the project for altering existing City services, such as street sweeping, to maintain our quality of service.
There is also a cost associated with providing additional safe parking. If the City identifies and secures a temporary safe parking option for households living in vehicles that are displaced from El Camino Real due to the Caltrans project, there would be costs associated with leasing land and operating a safe parking site in the near term. Staff is seeking other funding options (e.g., grants, private funders) to help with this temporary need. Staff will likely require a return to Council during the mid-year budget process for any longer-term costs associated with continuing to operate additional safe parking.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
As discussed throughout the body of this report, there has been extensive stakeholder engagement on this project since April 1, 2024. For the full breakdown of stakeholder engagement prior to April 1, 2024, please reference the City Council Staff Report from April 1, 2024 (Agenda Item 11)
14. The following sections summarize the additional stakeholder engagement completed since April 1, 2024, organized by the Council motion areas.
Safety Improvements
x May 16, 2024 – Joint Ad Hoc Workshop with Caltrans and other stakeholders (including
SVBC, PABAC, VTA)
x May 23, 2024 – Follow-up meeting with Caltrans, VTA staff, City staff, and Fehr and Peers
x Conversations with representatives of the City/School Transportation Safety Committee x Various meetings with the ad hoc
Parking Impacts
x Conversations with the TMA
x Conversation with the Chamber of Commerce
x Targeted Survey for Businesses along ECR and Residents in neighboring RPPs x Site visits and discussions with stakeholders representing businesses and residents Vehicle Dwellers
x Participation in monthly Caltrans’ Unsheltered Encampment and Maintenance Plan of Action Meeting and correspondence with Caltrans
14 CC Staff Report (Agenda Item 11), April 1, 2024
x Regular and ongoing conversations with community partners and the County Office of Supportive Housing
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
As the lead agency, Caltrans is responsible for the environmental review of the El Camino Real Repaving Project. Caltrans has determined that this project meets the criteria for a Categorical Exemption (CE) under CEQA regulation 15301 (existing facilities) and a Categorical Exclusion (CE) under NEPA at 23 CFR 771.117(c). The City does not anticipate being a “responsible agency” under CEQA for this project because it does not anticipate having discretionary approval authority for a portion of this project.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Memo and Plan Markups from Fehr & Peers
Attachment B: Resolution in Support of Caltrans’ Repaving Project on El Camino Real Attachment C: Caltrans Bicycle Counts on El Camino Real Attachment D: Joint City of Palo Alto and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Review and Comments on Bike and Bus Conflict Areas Proposed on State Route (82)/El Camino Real (June 4, 2024)
Attachment E: Matrix of Proposed No Right Turn on Red Restrictions APPROVED BY:
Philip Kamhi, Chief Transportation Official