Fellow Residents,
On behalf of the Atherton Pedestrian/Bike Stakeholder Advisory Group, I would like to invite you to provide your input on ways to improve the safety and usability of Atherton's roadways for walkers and bicyclists. As you are well aware, there have been many bike and pedestrian accidents in the last few years. I am pleased to report that because of some special funding, the town is working to begin to address these issues.
First, if you have not done so, please take our walking and biking survey. You can pass this link on to anyone you know who bikes or walks in the town, they don't need to be an Atherton resident. The survey url is: www.surveymonkey.com/s/athertonwalkandbike and we are hoping to get responses by the end of October.
Second, please come join us on November 9th for a Biking and Walking Tour that starts at Menlo School at 9:30 am. The tours will serve to broaden the community's understanding of the issues and enable participants to better engage in a discussion of solutions. You can do elect to do either the bike route or the walking route (so come prepared for that activity). Please see the attached fliers to learn the details of this very special and important event, and join us in scoping the issues and defining solutions for a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan for the town.
If you have questions about this event, you may contact Gordon Siebert, our town staff person on the committee at gsiebert@ci.atherton.ca.us.
Hope to see you out there!
Valerie Gardner
Member, Atherton Pedestrian/Bike SAG
Hi Valerie. I sent this email to a friend of mine whom I thought could direct me to someone I could email about my experiences. I live on Prado Secoya.
ReplyDeleteBegin forwarded message:
I am emailing you because you would probably know whom I could contact.
I think that in the near future, someone is bound to get hurt at the corner of Valparaiso and Elena.
I have to drive this intersection many times daily: 7:30am, 8am, 3-3:15pm, 5:45pm, 7pm. That's just my pickup/carpool/drop-off schedule. These are the "have to" times. There are other times I go by this intersection, but I choose to do those during non-traffic hours.
My kids bike, walk and drive to Hillivew and M-A.
Two Incidents
This happened last year. I emailed Menlo Park PD; didn't get a reply. I was leaving to go to M-A at 3:15, so taking a left into Valpo from Elena, stopped. There were cars waiting to turn left into Elena from Valpo (Alameda side) were stopped. There were cars coming on Valpo (El Camino side) towards Alameda. So, the cars on Valpo going towards El Camino, went around the right side of the cars that were turning left. They didn't happen to see my son who was waiting to cross Valpo on the crosswalk. The mom in the van that was getting around the cars turning left stopped hard. She happened to be a mom I knew. I called her immediately. We talked. She said she'd be more careful and stop going around the cars. A couple of months later, I saw her do it again.
Yesterday morning, making a right onto Valpo from Elena at 8am, we were stopped because a biker was having very angry words with an Infinity sedan who was turning right into Valpo. After the biker was done yelling, he proceeded to cross Valpo walking his bike and went towards El Camino. The sedan went towards Alameda.
As for the daily traffic report from yours truly, the only way for me to make my left on Valpo from Elena at 7:30 in the mornings is if one of the cars on Valpo going towards El Camino actually stops for me. The traffic is horrific. It's non-stop all the way to Alameda, sometimes. It's moving, but it just goes on and on.
I know the amount of cars on Valpo isn't something that can be controlled unless the schools all do something about it. But I do worry about an impending accident on this intersection. It frightens me with all the kids walking and biking to school and the traffic around the time the kids are around. Going around the cars on the bike lane freaks me out with that crosswalk right there. (One of the problem, I think, is that it's a broken line right before the crosswalk. So, I think cars see this as being able to get in that lane to go around.)
Aimee,
DeleteThank you for sending this. I am forwarding it to our consultants to factor into our analyses. To be honest, we have not focused our attention on issues relating to Valparaiso, primarily because there has just been a very comprehensive Menlo Park "Safe Routes to School" study done on the Valparaiso corridor. I hope you had a chance to provide your input to that study group. You should also send your concerns to Sacred Heart, because they are a prime contributor to the traffic issues at those times and it is my impression that funding for the improvements (possibly a traffic light at that corner) that were recommended may need to be funded by Sacred Heart. I suppose the question is, do they fund it before or after someone is seriously hurt.
I also hope that you'll attend our November 9th walking/biking tour and discuss these issues then! There will be representatives from both Menlo and Sacred Heart there!
—Valerie
I don't know whom to send this to or share my concerns with the safe route study group.
DeleteI'm Fairly certain that they did not do their study at the busiest times (7:30ish in the mornings and around 3pm in the afternoon). You need to be at this intersection daily over some time to truly see what's going on and the change over time. I've lived here since 1999. I've seen the changes.
I've also sent Sandy Dubinsky an email about another issue on Elena by the entrance to shp circle lot. Cars that are going in to shp on Elena, coming from Park, sometimes get so frustrated with the traffic that they drive into the oncoming traffic lane to get into shp and hope that there are no incoming cars from valpo. This happens when Elena is backed up past prado secoya.
I will forward the email I sent you to Sandy.
•••
iPhone
Aimee
Dear Valerie,
ReplyDeleteI hope to join you on the walking tour on Nov. 9. I do think the Fair Oaks "corridor" is another very dangerous road, esp with people walking to the train, the park, etc. I did fill out the questionaire several weeks ago.
Rosemary
Hi Valerie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your hard work on the bike committee, the town really needs to address many safety issues and in doing so will hopefully encourage more folks to bike and ride. Both my kids bike from Lindenwood to Hillview daily. The bike/walk tour sounds great and we would love to participate but my kids, as well as many other in the community, play AYSO soccer and have games on Saturday mornings (until 3rd week in November).
thanks,
Kristi
Kristi,
DeleteYes, it is always tough to find the right date and time and so we have to do what we can. Also, this event was not intended for kids, but just parents, so they can get familiar with the issues. Based upon the fact that you know the challenges for kids biking to Hillview from Lindenwood, I suspect that you'll be able to participate and provide great input, even without doing the tour portion. Maybe you can come for the end of the event, when we'll be collecting input? At any rate, we are working on a Master Plan, that you'll definitely be able to comment on.
Thanks for your support!
—Valerie
Valerie,
ReplyDeleteWe share the same concerns and I would like to contribute . . . . I see people dwindling easement and walking space in Atherton roads. Of course bicycle space needs to be addressed as well. I feel the rules for sharing the roads with pedestrians and cyclists need to be taught and enforced. The pedestrians and cyclists also need to follow the rules. I believe the Atherton Police Department can be instrumental in the education and enforcement of the safety rules. The citizens and the police need to work together to make Atherton safe for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. . . .
My passion is with Atherton.
Sincerely,
Liz
Liz,
DeleteYes, the dwindling, often obstructed easement and walking space on Atherton roads is one of our big challenges. I like your comments about having all groups following the rules and working together. I agree with those entirely.
I will add your name to the Menlo-Atherton Bike Coalition list, which gets copied routinely on bike-related matters. This is the best way for you to stay informed, as only the "community-wide" notices go out to the Athertonians group. I will be forwarding our draft master plan document to that group pretty soon. You might like to read that and respond with your comments. If you can't do the tour, you can attend the end of that event in the room at Menlo and participate in the discussion.
Regards,
—Valerie
I'm from across the bay, but whenever I travel to Woodside, I always travel from 84 Marsh Road through Atherton Ave to Alameda to Woodside Road. I am also familiar with alta and their ability to but together excellent Master Plans.
ReplyDeleteI've read some of these comments and want to recommend that you also make sure you have the latest traffic incident and injury related data, in order to properly identify problem areas.
There are also other tools than can be useful, which can give you a good understanding of Atherton’s history. I’d like to recommend this free tool that I have found most helpful…
Traffic Injury Mapping System (TIMS) has been established by researchers at the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley to provide data and mapping analysis tools and information for traffic safety related research, policy and planning.
http://tims.berkeley.edu/index.php
They also have a mapping section developed for “Safe Routes to School” which show incidents within a schools radius…
http://tims.berkeley.edu/resources/srts/main.php#maps
Best wishes for developing a great Master Plan!
We appreciate your input and references and those TIMS sites look very interesting. I'll make sure that they get forwarded to the group.
Delete