CITY OF SAN MATEO
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 17 Section Name: NEW BUSINESS Account Number: 10-4661 File ID: 26-11585 TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Public Works Department
MEETING DATE: September 22, 2026
SUBJECT:
Central El Camino Real Multimodal Plan — Adoption and Update RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution to support SamTrans in working with Caltrans and the City of San Mateo through the Caltrans project development process to evaluate corridor alternatives and to plan, design, apply for funding, and implement transportation improvements on El Camino Real, which may include complete streets elements; and receive an informational presentation on the Central El Camino Real Multimodal Plan (Central El Camino Plan) being developed in partnership with SamTrans and the Cities of San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, and Redwood City.
Background & Timeline
In February 2025, SamTrans launched the Central El Camino Real Multimodal Plan (Central El Camino Plan), an eight-and-a- half-mile study of El Camino Real through San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, and northern Redwood City, as part of the Grand Boulevard Initiative (GBI), a countywide effort to develop a coordinated vision for the corridor.
The Plan identifies corridor needs and evaluates conceptual alternatives for multimodal safety, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements. It builds on existing local planning efforts to support a safer, more accessible, and transit supportive El Camino Real. Phase 3 community input is currently underway from August–September 2026 and includes presentations to the Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission and City Council.
Following Phase 3 of community engagement, conceptual design alternatives identified for further study will advance into the countywide Project Initiation Document (PID), led by SamTrans, followed by the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) phase, where alternatives will undergo more detailed technical and environmental analysis.
Subsequent design and construction are expected to extend to 2030+.
Because El Camino Real is a state highway, SamTrans and the participating cities will continue coordinating with Caltrans, which has approval authority over improvements within the state highway right-of-way.
Caltrans has been moving deliberately toward a multimodal vision for its state highway system. Through Director's Policy 36 (Road Safety), Director's Policy 37 (Complete Streets), and Director's Policy 40 (Transit), the agency has established a statewide expectation that its facilities will serve all users, not just drivers. Design Informational Bulletin 94 puts that expectation into practice, requiring all Caltrans-funded or overseen projects to provide comfortable, convenient, and connected facilities for people walking, bicycling, and taking transit. For a corridor like El Camino Real, a state highway running through the heart of San Mateo County, this policy shift created both the framework and the momentum for a comprehensive multimodal study.
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Plan Purpose and Alignment
The Central El Camino Plan aligns with the City’s adopted planning framework and advances goals for safety, multimodal mobility, pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, transit, economic vitality, and resiliency. Key areas of alignment include:
Strategic Plan (Transportation Priority Initiative): Maintain and continuously improve a safe, multimodal, accessible, and efficient transportation network.
a. Goal No. 1: Work toward a transportation system that prioritizes user safety, accommodates future growth, and maintains efficient and safe operations for all users. b. Goal No. 2: Pursue initiatives that increase access to transit, improve east-west travel and expand last mile connections.
General Plan 2040: Advances policies for pedestrian safety (C1.5), higher-capacity transit (C1.13), and SamTrans ridership (C5.1) through crossing, sidewalk, lighting, transit-priority, bus stop, and access improvements. 2024 Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP): Supports proactive safety and collision-reduction goals through traffic calming, signal, median, lighting, and crossing improvements informed by community input. Pedestrian Master Plan (2012): Advances pedestrian connectivity through wider sidewalks, pedestrian-scale lighting, and enhanced crossings.
Bike Master Plan (2020): Advances the planned bikeway network through the separated-bikeway concept included in Alternative 3.
El Camino Real is a major countywide corridor connecting commercial districts, businesses, schools, transit, and other key destinations, while also serving areas anticipated to add approximately 9,000 jobs and 10,000 residents within one-half mile over the next 10–15 years within the City of San Mateo. The Plan provides a coordinated framework for addressing longstanding safety, multimodal, transit, and access challenges on a Caltrans facility and establishes a pathway for advancing improvements through the next phase of countywide project development.
Relevance to the Caltrans Paving Project
The Central El Camino Plan and GBI are separate from Caltrans’ 04-4W730 State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP) project, which will resurface State Route 82/El Camino Real and upgrade curb ramps to ADA standards between 43rd Avenue and E. Santa Inez Avenue. City and SamTrans staff have coordinated with Caltrans during project development to incorporate safety-critical spot improvements, which can be delivered on the SHOPP project’s faster timeline.
What We Heard: Community Insights
Community Insight Process
SamTrans, in coordination with the Cities of San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, and Redwood City, conducted corridor-wide engagement in three phases:
Phase 1 focused on corridor needs and deficiencies. The project team aimed to build awareness around the project, confirm challenges, and collect input from the public and stakeholders. Phase 2 focused on presenting conceptual alternatives and relating them to issues heard in Phase 1. Phase 3 consolidates input on alternatives and priorities to inform the next phase of project development through presentations to the Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission and City Council in September 2026.
Phase 1 and Phase 2 engagement have been completed and included community pop-ups and meetings in partnership with community-based organizations, multilingual virtual listening sessions, an online survey and interactive web-based mapping tool, walk audits, a virtual community workshop, and presentations to community and business organizations.
Community feedback themes of Phase 1 and 2 engagement include:
Concerns about congestion at major cross-streets and US-101 Desire for separated bicycle facilities and safer pedestrian crossings, and to address narrow sidewalks and
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accessibility concerns – and a recent pedestrian fatality at 17th/El Camino Real reinforced concerns about corridor safety Improved roadway pavement and fixing visibility deficiencies Improved bus stops and transit frequency, and improved connections between El Camino Real and Caltrain February 2026 City Council and Commission Feedback
During its February 2026 discussion, City Council and the public raised questions regarding bicycle and transit alternatives, parking impacts, and business needs, and expressed interest in hearing directly from businesses and understanding future engagement. The Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission has similarly raised concerns regarding accessibility, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and corridor operations while expressing support for continued coordination with SamTrans and Caltrans.
City-Sponsored El Camino Real Business Survey
In addition to the broader engagement conducted by SamTrans and the participating cities, the City of San Mateo undertook and funded a separate, targeted business outreach effort to obtain more direct insights from San Mateo businesses along El Camino Real regarding potential changes to the corridor. City Council approved a $70,000 Measure A appropriation in February 2026 specifically for this business outreach as well as additional parking analysis to support it.
The City’s outreach included a Central El Camino Real Business Survey completed in August 2026. The survey was available in English, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese; prepaid mailed surveys were sent to more than 400 businesses; individual emails were sent to more than 400 active businesses; and door-to-door outreach reached more than 120 businesses. The effort generated 79 individual business responses and provided additional business-specific input beyond the Central El Camino Plan’s engagement process. Retail, service, and restaurant/food businesses represented 81 percent of respondents (30 percent, 29 percent, and 22 percent, respectively).
Key Survey Findings:
Nearly two-thirds of customers typically stay 30 minutes or longer 92% of businesses reported employees who drive and park and 95% reported customers who drive On-street parking was rated “critical” or “very important” by 70% of respondents and was the top-ranked business priority for 65% percent, ahead of delivery access (16%), wider sidewalks (12%), improved bicycle access (6%), and additional transit stops (1%)
If on-street parking were relocated, businesses most frequently identified passenger loading/unloading (57%), commercial loading/unloading (43%), and accessible parking (35%) as priorities to address in the design Qualitative comments indicated broad interest among businesses in seeing tangible near-term improvements to parking and access conditions along the corridor.
City-Sponsored Parking Analysis
A parking inventory and utilization analysis evaluated on- and off-street parking along El Camino Real between Santa Inez Avenue and 43rd Avenue and within several blocks of the corridor during weekday midday, weekday evening, and weekend midday periods. The study found that El Camino Real currently accommodates approximately 300 parked vehicles at a given time, with surrounding parking supply sufficient to accommodate this demand without affecting Residential Parking Permit Program (RPPP) blocks. Displaced parking can generally be accommodated within one to two blocks, including nearby side streets and the parallel street. While some segments rely more heavily on off-street parking, the analysis found no corridor-wide parking capacity constraint even when RPPP-restricted blocks are excluded.
Conceptual Design Alternatives (Evaluation Matrix)
The Central El Camino Real Plan evaluates four conceptual alternatives, the first being the existing condition plus safety improvements which are denoted as spot improvements in the plan and three alternatives each emphasizing a different primary mode:
Alternative 1 – Transit Priority
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Alternative 2 – Pedestrian Priority
Alternative 3 – Bicycle Priority
Alternative 4 – Existing Plus Spot Improvements
All build alternatives include common spot improvements, such as traffic calming, signal gap closures, medians, and lighting; improved crossings and additional crossing opportunities; street trees and urban greening; and bus stop, transit signal priority, and transit access improvements.
An Alternatives Evaluation Matrix compares the four alternatives and existing conditions across eight topic areas, with each rated Low, Medium, or High. The overall ratings are summarized in Table 1. Appendix C of the Central El Camino Plan includes more information and a detailed version of this matrix.
Evaluation Topic Existing Alt 1:
Transit
Alt 2:
Pedestrian Alt 3: Bicycle Alt 4:
Spot*
Alignment with Caltrans
Policy
Low Medium Medium High Low
Alignment with Local Policy Low High Medium Medium Medium Effect on People Walking Low Medium High High Low
Effect on People Biking Low Medium Low High Low
Effect on People Riding
Transit
Low High Medium Low Low
Effect on People Driving and
Parking
Medium Low Medium Low Medium
Effect on the Environment Low High Medium High Low
Addressing Community
Input
Low Medium Medium Medium Medium
Table 1. Alternatives Evaluation Summary (Source: Central El Camino Multimodal Plan – Alternatives Evaluation Memo, Fehr & Peers, October 23, 2025)
*City of San Mateo-exclusive alternative. Individual topics were evaluated by City staff, with community input gathered through business outreach.
How These Ratings Were Determined
Alignment with Caltrans Policy — assessed against Caltrans' complete streets policy direction (Deputy Directive 64- R2) and the multimodal design provisions of the Highway Design Manual Alignment with Local Policy — assessed against San Mateo's General Plan 2040, Strategic Plan, Pedestrian Master Plan, Bike Master Plan, Complete Streets Plan, and 2024 Local Roadway Safety Plan, as detailed in Section 1 above Effects on people walking, biking, riding transit, driving/parking, and the environment — a technical, professional evaluation performed by Fehr & Peers using standard multimodal access, level-of-traffic-stress, and environmental screening metrics.
Addressing Community Input — assessed against the themes and priorities heard through Phase 1 and Phase 2 engagement, detailed in Section 2 above
Sustainability and Infrastructure Feedback
On September 9, 2026, the Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission received a presentation from SamTrans and partner agencies on the Central El Camino Real Multimodal Plan and voted 5–0 to recommend that the City Council adopt
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the requested Resolution of support. Commissioners generally found the plan aligned with City policy, including General Plan 2040 and complete streets goals, and described the effort as an important opportunity to improve a high-injury corridor. At the same time, they asked that Council and the public understand that Caltrans retains final authority over State Route 82, and that a Council Resolution is requested as multi-jurisdictional buy-in rather than as a legally required project approval.
Safety was the Commission’s primary concern. Members asked that high speeds, long crossing distances, lighting, and left- turn conflicts drive design choices, and they did not support treating on-street parking as the leading criterion when comparing alternatives. Several commissioners questioned whether El Camino Real is an appropriate low-stress bicycle route given prevailing speeds, asked that off-street and mall parking be accounted for in the inventory, and encouraged stronger transit frequency—including dedicated lanes that could support eight- to ten-minute bus service—as a more durable response to hospital, downtown, and commercial access needs. Commissioners also asked staff and SamTrans to define High, Medium, and Low ratings in the evaluation matrix with clear measures so the public can understand trade- offs.
The Commission’s most consistent reservation was Alternative 4 (existing configuration plus spot improvements).
Members described it as late to the process, confusing against a multi-year corridor transformation effort, and at odds with Caltrans’ stated interest in structural change. They requested that next-phase materials set realistic expectations:
Alternative 4 may remain in the study set, but it should not be presented as equivalent to the rebuild alternatives, and it should not delay near-term safety work already identified through the Local Roadway Safety Plan and Caltrans programs.
Commissioners also found community engagement to date preliminary relative to other San Mateo efforts, citing limited community-based organization outreach, and asked that the Project Initiation Document and environmental phases use a higher standard of engagement, including General Plan 2040 stakeholders. Subject to those clarifications, the Commission recommended that Council adopt the resolution, so San Mateo remains at the table as Caltrans advances the corridor.
Next Steps
Following Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission and City Council consideration in September 2026, the Central El Camino Plan will advance into the countywide Project Initiation Document (PID) phase (2026–2027), led by SamTrans. The PID will refine the alternatives and establish the project’s purpose and need. All four alternatives will be advanced to the Caltrans process through the PID for further evaluation.
The project is anticipated to advance to Project Approval & Environmental Document (PA&ED) (2027–2028) for detailed technical and environmental analysis and selection of a preferred alternative, followed by Plans, Specifications & Estimates (PS&E) (2028–2029) to develop specific design details. Full implementation, including construction, could take an additional 8–10 years.
Project Phase Proposed
Timeline
Topic of Discussion
Phase 1 Engagement – Central El Camino Plan May – Aug 2025 Existing conditions Phase 2 Engagement – Central El Camino Plan Jan – Feb 2026 Concept alternatives Phase 3 Engagement – Central El Camino Plan Aug – Sept 2026 Confirmation of alternatives Project Initiation Document (PID) 2026 – 2027 Refining alternatives Project Approvals & Environmental Document
(PA&ED)
2027 – 2028 Selecting a preferred alternative
Plans, Specifications & Estimates (PS&E) 2028 – 2029 Feedback on specific design details Table 2. Central El Camino Plan Milestones
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Planning-Level Cost and Funding
The PA&ED phase for the entire El Camino Real corridor in San Mateo County is estimated to cost approximately $15–$20 million and is anticipated to be led and funded by SamTrans and the SMCTA; for comparison the current Central El Camino Real Study cost approximately $800,000. PA&ED will advance the project through environmental clearance. Project approval and environmental documentation is separate from future design, right-of-way, and construction costs.
Planning-level construction cost estimates for the corridor studied in the Central El Camino Real Study range from approximately $33 million to $130 million, depending on the alternative and corridor segment. Estimates are based on Caltrans contract cost data, include contingency, and exclude right-of-way acquisition and soft costs such as design and construction management. Costs will be refined as the project advances through PA&ED.
Countywide, the Grand Boulevard Initiative (GBI) estimates up to $1 billion to redesign up to 22 miles of El Camino Real.
GBI’s funding approach identifies up to 50 percent (approximately $500 million) as potentially available through the SMCTA Measure A and Measure W program, with remaining costs anticipated to be pursued through federal, state, regional, and other funding opportunities.
City Council Feedback Needed:
Staff are seeking City Council direction on the engagement strategy for the next phase of the Central El Camino Plan as it advances toward a preferred alternative with the PA&ED and welcomes any comments or feedback on the current Preliminary Investigation/Design (PID) process which will refine alternatives. Staff also recommend that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution, which is attached, along with a copy of the Central El Camino Real Multimodal Plan.
BUDGET IMPACT:
There is no budget impact associated with receipt of this informational presentation or adoption of the Resolution by City Council.
The Central El Camino Plan is funded by SamTrans and a Transit Performance Initiative (TPI) grant awarded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). The study cost is $732,000, funded by a $407,000 MTC Transit Performance Initiative grant and $325,000 in SamTrans funds. The GBI Action Plan and Project Initiation Document are funded by SamTrans, a $2M grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, as well as a $250,000 grant of local transportation sales tax dollars from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority.
To support the Central El Camino Plan, the City of San Mateo provided in-kind staff support, as well as a $70,000 appropriation of the City’s Measure A funds approved by the Council in February 2026 to conduct targeted business outreach and a parking analysis along El Camino Real.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
This Resolution is not a project subject to CEQA, because it is an organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5).)
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
This staff report supports the Transportation initiative.
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
Att 1 – Proposed Resolution
Att 2 – Final Central El Camino Real Multimodal Plan (The full draft plan and appendices can be viewed here.)
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STAFF CONTACT
Ella Phillips, Assistant Transportation Planner
[email protected]
(650) 522-7326
Jay Yu, Engineering Manager
[email protected]
(650) 522-7323