Oh, people like that when I'm on mute.

When the chair calls your name to provide public comment, if you are participating via phone, please press 6 to unmute yourselves.

So if they're not here, how could they understand what we said?

Members of the public wishing to comment on an item by email.

Oh, okay, we don't need to worry about that.

Okay, roll call.

All members of the committee are here.

Oral communication from the public.

Is there any?

None here.

Anybody online?

No hands raised.

Okay, no one from there.

We will go now to item four, the consent calendar.

Any members had any changes or corrections to the meeting of September 2nd?

I have no changes or corrections to that.

I have a friendly question about the Safe Routes School final report.

Well, we're not there yet.

Okay.

I just want to make sure you didn't skip that.

We're only at 4.1.

We got that.

Okay.

That's down their way there.

Okay.

Hearing no corrections, do I hear a motion to accept the minutes?

Sure.

Motion to accept.

Second.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Okay, unanimously passed. 4.2, the Transportation Committee meeting schedule.

Now, since we don't know who's going to be on the committee next year, we'll approve it.

We'll be right back to those people.

Okay, any corrections or additions to it?

No? Okay. Do I hear a motion?

So moved.

Okay, all of them are approving the meetings and the calendar for the next 2026.

Say aye.

Aye.

Passes unanimously.

4.3.

Safe Routes to School Final Report.

We received a report.

And is there any kind of a staff memo on this or participation or presentation?

No, it is a consent item.

Okay.

Well, that doesn't mean.

Okay.

uh i hear uh council member hicks i have a couple of friendly questions about it since i have you

all in front of me i i will um except i do intend to accept it before not change it but um i i've

been on the committee i don't remember taking a deep dive into it in the past so my first question

is is this the way we we just get it submitted to us to read and and receive is the way we do it on

this committee. We never do it. Deeper died. So I'm just going to make a couple of comments.

It was fascinating and, you know, helpful because when, at least when I was last running,

there was a lot of concern about safe routes to school. And we talked about it a lot. So I liked

being able to review it. It was interesting to me that it talked both about safety and about mode

change. I thought the highlight would be on safety, but there's actually no safety data in it.

I believe we get that through some other forum. I know you do safety methods on the streets in

general. So one comment is it might be nice to have some safety reporting in this report,

since it's called Safe Routes to School.

And then the other thing is it would be nice to show more than one year change.

I found all the tables fascinating, but it was only two years.

And so it showed that biking decreased from last year, walking increased,

and there was virtually no change in driving alone.

So no mode shift out of cars.

all fascinating, but only one year is not much of a trend. And it would have been nice to see

multiple years. And my comment for our chair, because I know that he's involved in

mass transit issues, is that talking to school board members of MVWSD school board members,

there's a big there's an interest they use the shuttle students do and there's an interest in

getting more um getting more uh transit access uh so maybe you put your thinking cap on that

um and then my it also says that i noticed that only four percent of grade schoolers bike

which makes sense because mine were too little you know don't try to buy the five-year-old to

school um but that that goes up in middle school and then it's almost 20 percent of high schoolers

so it seems like all this training is in mainly a lot of it's focused in grade school it's training

them for later years but my other comment is that um it also i was very happy to see that it shows

how many people scoot to school on scooters.

And that's how I brought my grade schoolers to school

because grade schoolers can scoot.

And I would like more of a focus on that in the training.

So those are all my unsolicited comments.

And I move to accept the report.

Second.

Okay, discussion now.

There is no reason that this committee cannot look more

into the details of the safe route to school since it's a high priority to a lot of people.

So never, as long as I'm chair, you can bring up anything at any time.

Okay.

And we can dig into it.

And I had some concerns about what I read too, that the metrics of how they showed what

was good or bad, and I thought the numbers were pretty low.

And so they didn't put it in context of some of the, what I saw.

I go, okay, 98% of the schools participated.

So 98, so how does, who's that 2% that didn't participate?

These are rhetorical, so you guys don't have to.

Who was in charge of this?

We have Krioti Ahmed, so I'll invite her up to speak.

If you have specific questions.

No, not at the moment.

Oh, no.

Okay, comments, okay.

No, these are observations that I have.

Understood, yes.

But if you want to come up, say what.

But so how do you, OK, come back. How do you get 98 percent of the schools to participate?

So, yeah, these are the students that they have to do a permission slip.

So to do a safety training bike rodeo, especially bike rodeos, they're bringing in bike.

And we also provide loaner bikes. And then they have to turn in the permission slip to join the safety.

um this year past years we also can do they also do pedestrian safety but the bike road

they check if they're actually on bike and stopping and looking at all of those other

areas because the way it was worded it said 98 of the schools participated

and that's you so the wording on it was a little confusing for me so all schools this year

participated. All elementary school and middle schools participated. It's the number of students.

Okay, so 100% of the schools participated. Yeah, public schools. If I find that. Yeah, public schools.

Okay, and also when I was reading it, it said staff. So was it the staff of

bike moves or whatever? Is that their staff versus city staff? Did you use the same people

or was it their staff that participated in some of these things versus city staff?

So, anything that happens in the school, so that's the safety training and bike rodeos are provided by Safe Moves.

They are the safety trained professionals that they bring their bike and all the props and set up the rodeo and the safety training and they go through the students.

So, their staff meaning they're staff of the program as part of the consulting team.

Okay. Yeah. So a lot of it, when I saw it, there wasn't, sometimes there was very, I wish I had more there. I won't dwell on it since I didn't. Yeah, but they had, oh, here it is. What year is this? Oh, March 4th. Never mind.

But, yeah, a little more clarity of if you only had 20 percent is it was a 20 percent.

Here's an example of how you interpret numbers.

20 percent could be the same as two out of 10.

So when you say two out of 10, that doesn't sound like much.

But when you say 20 percent, it gives it more meaning.

So that's why when we look at the context is I always like to see the transactions or how many people actually participated in the whole thing.

percentages um but yeah next uh next year now oh no next year we won't none of us will be on the

committee we don't know yeah we don't but i think it would be nice for this committee to

look at to have it as an item to discuss do you train on scooters uh they do train on scooters

as part of their rodeos oh that's right yeah so they because most a lot of the kids as you said

second, third, and fourth graders bring their scooters to school so they have that.

I have an item, but I don't know if I want to bring it up at 6.2. It's e-vikes. So would e-vikes

be under a safe route to schools or a total different category? Well, it's in the report.

Yeah, so e-vikes have been kind of a topic with the middle schoolers and high schoolers,

and last year we saw a really big number of increase. So this year we are working with a

couple of things with the high schools. First, understand how many e-bikes they have, kind of

talking about the volume in terms of how many students are biking and how many of them are e-bikes.

Second, we are working with the schools to do sort of a webinar type of educational. So somebody

will be on a virtual and talk through the different safety measure that the school can play

various times of the day. That's one way to kind of really reach that high number of students,

high schools have and the third one we are working with the pd to distribute the flyers and all the

educational materials within our the events the safety training the bike rodeos that we have

so those are the three ways we are currently addressing kind of the e-bike safety concerns

okay um the monday before thanksgiving i was sitting at my starbucks uh enjoying cup coffee

and all of a sudden i heard a crash and the crash was a seventh grader wearing on his e-bike

broadsiding a highlander so the kid was going rather fast and i and i was talking to the chief

about this and I go, how can we get

our resource officers? Because

this is going to get more. We're going to see

a lot more of these accidents occurring.

And I said, how can we be proactive

to educate and also

to follow the laws and so forth? Los Altos

has done some

tweaking of their code

and we need to do

the same thing to get on board

because they're riding all over the place.

They're enjoying

our sleeper

Franklin bypass

they're zipping right now but they're all you know they're wheeling there's people on them

I see people aren't wearing their helmets I see not uh no lights at night and so is that something

that the safe routes group that can do the education work with the resource officers

that if we need to bring PD in to start citing kids for that can this your group your staff can

bring that up? We certainly will work with them on the education side of things and things you said,

helmets, lights at night, and you know, follow the rules of the road. Those are definitely,

we have developed materials and information that we'll do, whether they're citing or not,

that I think for PD to determine. So with the middle schools or the high schools,

are you working with the administration to, are they realizing what's happening with e-bikes

and potential out there to harm and riding all around?

And are they addressing it or are they relying on us?

I think we are trying to find the right level of approach that works for both of us.

one of the issues with high school is there's 3,000 students and we haven't found the right

venue to kind of approach them. So for elementary and middle school, we do it through PE. We go

through the whole PE for two weeks and we do safety training and bike rodeos. We haven't had

that type of structure with high school students just because it's so big. So one of the ideas is

there's two. Right beginning of the school year, we'll do kind of whoever has an e-bike, they'll

take some sort of a training with us. And that's when we talk about how fast your e-bike can go,

importance of wearing helmet, lights, rules of the road. And then we do this webinar approach where

we develop something that's evergreen and they can play it throughout during assembly, during,

you know, they have like a flex period. They just have a little bit more flexibility of how they

would educate. But they're very well aware of this as an issue. They're trying to grapple because I

I think it's a pretty like it started and a lot of kids now got it.

So it's a, you know, the change what had happened quite rapidly.

So they're still kind of figuring out what is how they can address that.

But they're they're very well aware and they're willing to work with us.

Can they can they require kids that use e-bikes to.

Get a permit or record in there on campus.

have they started looking at consequences of how to enforce we have definitely talked about having

a permit and consequences meaning either citing or if you don't have a health you know some sort of

enforcement that even school can do but I think they want to see a little bit more education

approach rather before they're going into that so are you on a timeline or is it just sort of

sporadic or as we say at our next meeting you could give us an update on e-bikes is that something

possible if you're making conversations with pd and the schools uh so the program the reports

we have presented today it's a yearly so my program has started with you know school year

and i'm working with the schools too so the goal is really to provide education throughout the year

throughout the school year with those two different venues.

Yeah.

So I think what the team is trying to say is that an e-bike is still a bike.

So all of the training that is being provided for the bike training will apply to e-bikes.

There's just this additional nuance of the motorized bikes and the speed that they can go at

that the team is looking to now incorporate because it's becoming more of a trend.

to see the e-bikes for the older kids. And I would like us to be proactive on proper use of an e-bike,

the back of the helmets and lights and not doing pop-up wheelies and two people. And that entails

the PD. Are we, is there? Let's start some conversations with PD. I don't know that,

you know, we can promise on their behalf that they will do certain enforcement actions,

but we can certainly start up the conversation together.

Is that something that I would like this committee to be helpful or proactive,

bring it to council and so forth.

So if we get some updates on that, as I say,

I'm already in communication with the chief about the last one when I saw the

kid hit the thing.

Unfortunately he was wearing a helmet, he got up,

but he did go to Stanford for a checkout.

But this is not going to be the first one.

Yeah, it's a trend that's being monitored, and we're looking to kind of continuously

tweak our education programs to incorporate the trends.

Okay, so in our next calendar 26, could we have an update on this?

Yeah, I think we can include some information.

I mean, it could be written.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

Anyway, so, sorry.

I think the only question that I might like that I reflect on is this is focused so much on like the

youth but I think from what I've been hearing and observing a lot of it is those who are in the car

and so I'm not sure what the city can do to kind of address like that component because we have

you know 25 miles an hour in your school zones and yet i see people flooring it past schools all the

time um you know there's a couple areas particularly right like the crittenden area where people have

reached out to council quite a bit and so i know we're going to be talking about our active

transportation plan etc i'm just wondering how we kind of address the vehicular side of things and

the educational component in conjunction like we try to let people know we have a vision zero we

have a safe route to school but the onus isn't just on like the youth right it needs to be

those who are behind the wheel as well yeah so um as part of the back to school that's when we

really push out the driver education so that's when we we have like how to do drop off safely

like we know you have to do sometimes drive drop off but how to do it the safest way um so we do

do that during back to school night and throughout the year especially our city-wide events so

monster bash earth day that's when we really try to talk to the adults to say importance of staying

within the speed limit and extra attention because kids are on bike and walking um yeah so those are

the ways we're doing i mean vision zero campaign that was uh that was another venue to reach

drivers and educate about driver safety yeah i just if there's any i i think that that's a trend

that we can monitor too with like other jurisdictions on how they may be like tackling

that component outside of just you know because those are kind of really isolated events but it

feels like um you know like the holiday season daylight savings it just you know is there

something we could be doing for example like at tree lighting or other events where we can like

re-emphasize that um because i'm just we'll be back at tree lighting okay yeah because i feel

like a pet game which focuses on driver and paying attention and all of that it's more focused

you know a little bit older and then teen and the parents yeah and then um interesting too the

tracking on the the shuttle um so i think that kind of goes in line with what i've heard too about

um youth not wanting to drive and so you know the utilization of the shuttle and continuing to

monitor that i think people have really kind of like use our shuttle even more with our expanded

hours and expanded routes so do we need to does council need to do even more there and invest and

as we're monitoring that.

I'd just be curious.

They would like us.

The school board would like us to.

And John, you're a big advocate of school buses.

Oh, I am.

But the school board does not want to touch it

because of the cost and the consequences of it.

Right, but it's an item.

But I always, yeah, do superintendent.

So I was hitting up when he was at Los Altos.

Yeah, I think if we want to do that,

we really have to start seeing where we get money

or save money to increase our shuttle service.

when I was on the VTA board before we were able to take a bus over in Los Altos that went past

one of the middle schools in the homestead and they were taking a stop at 7 30 in the morning

at a senior home they go how many people are getting on from the seniors getting on the bus

and they go about zero but you're still stopping well we were able to convince VTA to change the

route to instead of going to the senior home they picked up kids from over the highlands over

grant area and take them to the middle school and to the high school.

So they had a bus already going there.

So if we can work with VTA or if we can increase our capacity of shuttle.

I mean, I think those are the kinds of adjustments we should be thinking about.

I would like to see the data.

You can see where people are getting on and off.

Just the congestion, the drive time, the emissions and so forth.

Anyway, I was going to say great job.

I wish this program were around when my kids were in school.

It's really training for life, I think.

Thank you so much.

Any other comments from this esteemed body?

Well, just I would like to, you know, I think council should check in on this

and know where it's going because I think it's something we've all been concerned about.

Do you want to run it past CTC or do you want it through the council?

How would you like to?

You don't need to have two reports.

So I agree with you.

I'm just saying let's pick one or the other.

or staff so they don't have to do it twice.

My understanding is typically in the past, it's actually only stopped at BPAC.

It was just this past cycle or past year or something like that

where it got requested to be elevated to the CTC.

So maybe this is our first time.

So maybe when we do our item eight council reports as chair,

you can talk about how we discuss safe routes in school at our CTC meeting

and highlight and elevate it and that you can via our clerk pass the report out to general

similar colleagues that would be my question we are going to change the culture a little bit here

so um yeah we'll talk about how the best way to do it is that fair sure okay we can do that thank

you good that was a good way to start okay uh did we pass that yeah we have to pass the consent

calendar okay it was just an information well yeah it's informational whether that action i don't

think it's done then it's done that was an informational item we had to do that was

actually i'm in the other two were just and four before three was it yeah that's just informational

so we don't need to burn down that correct uh it was part of the consent so i would recommend it's

part of the whole conceptual okay i moved to accept the we did the four one four seconds

Okay. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye.

It passes unanimously. Okay. We're on to new business. Oh, please stay.

um we all have kids she has kids she wants about oh no that's right he went to a partner

okay new business transit center grade check 10 transit center grade separation access project

interim improvements okay and i did i saw we got a uh do we have a city uh staff reporting

Do you have a presentation?

I have a presentation.

Joey Houghton, Senior Civil Engineer.

Okay, let's start.

On to me.

Good evening, Chair and committee members.

Before I start, I want to confirm that the public is seeing the slides.

Thanks for putting that up there.

one letter from our former interim city manager.

Good evening, Chair and committee members. My name is Joy Houghton, Senior Civil Engineer

with Robert Gonzalez here, Principal Civil Engineer in Public Works. And we are here to

present and receive input on the concept design for the transit center grade separation and access

project or what we are now calling as the Castro and Evelyn interim improvements.

To start with some background, grade separating Castro Street from the railroad tracks

has long been a high priority for the city aimed at improving safety for all modes of travel.

starting in 2015 when city council authorized the development of the transit center master plan

which includes the transit center grade separation and access project and i will outline the scope of

that project on the next slide 2015 was a good year design work for the transit center grade

separation and access project began in 2022 with caltrain leading the project delivery

the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority providing Measure B funding, and the city serving as the project sponsor.

In September 2023, at the 65% design milestone, Caltrain provided the city the updated project cost,

which was significantly higher than the Caltrain provided cost at the 35% design stage.

In January of 2024, City Council received an update on the status and cost estimates for both Castro and Reinsdorf grade separation projects.

City Council selected to prioritize Reinsdorf and move forward with the Castro interim improvements to implement improvements at the grade crossing at Castro Street.

In June 2025, staff received the 35% design submittal, and today we are continuing to progress design to 65%.

Now I'd like to share some background regarding the Castro Street closure.

Temporary signage and barriers remain in place to prohibit vehicle movements and queuing at the rail crossing for southbound traffic on Castro toward Evelyn Avenue to support both the Castro Streets program, which was implemented in June of 2020, and the Castro Pedestrian Mall, which was established in October of 2022.

The Transit Center Grade Separation and Access Project is the first element of the Transit

Center Master Plan implementation.

The Grade Separation and Access Project proposes to eliminate the vehicle at grade rail crossing,

construct a new vehicle ramp from West Evelyn to Shoreline, a shared use path on the south

side of Evelyn between Franklin and the west side of Shoreline, and under crossings underneath

Caltrain tracks and Central Expressway with access points at Castro, Sterling Road, and Adobe.

As previously mentioned, Council selected to prioritize the Ringstorff grade separation

project, recognizing interim improvements can be implemented at the rail crossing at Castro,

and with council support staff has shifted focus on the interim improvements at Castro Rail Crossing

with what we now refer to as the Castro and Evelyn interim improvements.

Castro Street including the Evelyn Avenue crossing is a critical gateway to downtown

and a key access point to the Mountain View Transit Center. The existing crossing at Evelyn

Avenue and Castro Street carries heavy pedestrian and bicycle activity with more than 1,700 pedestrians

and 800 bicyclists crossing the railroad tracks each day. The Castro and Evelyn interim improvements

project will remove the vehicle at 3 crossing at the Caltrain tracks at Castro Street and provide

a safer crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists across the rail corridor and central expressway,

improving access to both downtown and the transit center.

So proposed improvements are organized into three segments and will be implemented all together.

Segment one is Evelyn Avenue between Hope Street and Bryant Avenue.

Segment two is Moffitt Boulevard between Central Expressway and Jackson Street.

And segment three is the Castro, Evelyn and Rail Crossing area.

Starting with segment one, Evelyn Avenue east of Castro between Hope and Castro, the project

will install a class two buffered bike lane on the north side of Evelyn for a westbound

bicyclist and a class four separated bikeway on the south side of Evelyn for eastbound

bicyclist.

The bike lane improvements in this section will result in elimination of two parking

spaces along Evelyn Avenue.

In addition, the traffic signal at Evelyn and Hope intersection will be modified to accommodate the elimination of the eastbound vehicular traffic between Castro and Hope.

Continuing on with segment one, Evelyn at Castro.

The project will install Class 2 buffered bike lane on the north side of Evelyn that transitions

to a Class 3 bike route west of Castro for westbound bicyclists and a Class 4 separated

bikeway on the south side of Evelyn for eastbound bicyclists. Landscaping will be installed on the

north side of Evelyn which will include curb and gutter to restrict vehicular access and green

stormwater infrastructure, and also on the west side of Castro, which will include trees

and planter boxes. These landscape areas will not only serve to enhance the area, but also

channelize pedestrian traffic to the marked crossings. The two pedestrian crossings on

both sides of Castro will be upgraded with Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA-compliant

curb ramps, pedestrian crossing signage, high visibility crosswalks, and street light.

On the westerly part of segment one, Evalon Avenue west of Castro, this is between Castro and Bryant.

Class three bike route markings will be installed on the north side of Evalon between Castro and

Wild Cherry Lane for westbound bicyclists. And class four separate bikeway will be installed

on the south side of Eveline for eastbound bicyclists between Castro and Wild Cherry Lane.

The bike lane improvements in this section will result in elimination of 10 parking spaces along

Eveline. Next segment is 2, Moffitt Boulevard north of Central Expressway. For orientation,

Jackson Street is on the right and Central Expressway is on the left. The project will

convert a portion of the existing southbound class 2 bike lane to a class 4 separated bikeway

utilizing the existing southbound vehicle lanes which are currently closed due to the Castro

Street closure. No changes are proposed to the northbound traffic or bicycle facilities on

Moffitt Boulevard north of Central Expressway. Future improvements will be addressed through

the Moffitt Boulevard Precise Plan, which is currently in development and will include

recommended street cross sections for this segment of the corridor.

Continuing on to segment two, Moffitt Boulevard at Central Expressway. The intersection will be

converted to a T-intersection with the elimination of the northbound vehicular crossing at Castro.

The project will modify the intersection's traffic signal to remove the rail preemption, which is a safety feature that links the railroad equipment to nearby traffic signals to clear vehicles from the tracks when the train approaches.

Eliminating the rail preemption will shorten the pedestrian and bicyclist's wait times at Central Expressway, as their crossings will no longer be delayed by the gate downtime during train activity on Castro.

The project will also refresh the Central Expressway crosswalks and install ADA compliant curb ramps on the south side of Central Expressway.

Additionally, green bike lane striping and bicycle ramps will be installed for bicyclists crossing the intersection.

Next is segment three, the rail crossing at Castro Evelyn.

Again, for orientation, Central Expressway is at the top and down at the bottom is the Evelyn Connection at Castro.

The proposed improvements at this location include elimination of the northbound vehicular access at Castro

and removal of the crossing gates, traffic signal, roadway, asphalt concrete, and concrete track panels.

Elimination of the westerly pedestrian at grade crossing and widening of the existing

easterly pedestrian at grade crossing from 10 feet to 15 feet.

Installation of curb, gutter, and concrete surfacing on Castro south of Central Expressway

to permanently restrict vehicular access.

of decorative fencing along Caltrain tracks and right-of-way to enhance safety, and upgrades to

street lighting to improve nighttime visibility. Staff is currently exploring the feasibility of

adding landscaping along Central Expressway to further enhance user experience. As mentioned,

the project will enhance pedestrian and bicycle experience by reducing wait times at Central

Central Expressway and eliminating the westerly at-grade crossing, minimizing the conflict

points at the railroad crossing.

These changes will result in a minor adjustment to the bicycle and pedestrian circulation.

For pedestrians heading southbound from the northeast corner of Moffitt and Central, no

change is proposed in circulation or access to the transit center or downtown.

There is a minor adjustment for bikes and PEDs heading southbound from the northwest corner of Moffitt and Central.

Bikes and PEDs will cross Central Expressway and head east to the widened at grade rail crossing and continue on to Evelyn Avenue to the Transit Center or downtown.

This new path adds a short distance up to the travel path from the west side of Central Expressway intersection.

No change in circulation is proposed for bikes and pets on the east side of Castro heading northbound from downtown Work Transit Center.

For bikes and pets coming from the west side of Castro Street heading north, they will need to cross Evelyn Avenue, head east, and cross at the easterly backgrade rail crossing to continue northbound.

Similar to the bike-ped circulation, there are also some adjustments proposed to the vehicle circulation.

As a result of the elimination of the northbound vehicular access on Castro Street, westbound vehicles on Evelyn heading northbound to access Moffett Boulevard or Central Expressway

Expressway will be routed to Villa Street through either Bryant Street or Franklin Street.

From Villa Street, vehicles will use Shoreline Boulevard to connect to Central Expressway to head northbound on Moffitt Boulevard or continue on to Central.

Similarly, southbound vehicles originating from the north heading into the transit center

or downtown will continue to have access via Shoreline Boulevard, Villa Street, and Hope

Street.

Staff presented the design concept to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee on November

17, 2025, the BPAC made a motion to request the CTC to have staff convey community desire

to keep both pedestrian crossings at Caltrain Rdway. In addition to the motion, the BPAC

provided the following feedback, including anticipate high pedestrian and bicyclist

counts, convert easterly crossing on Evelyn to a diagonal crossing, remove parking between

Wild Cherry Lane and Castro Street, conduct a walk audit with design team and the public,

add bike lane improvements on northbound Moffitt Boulevard, north of Central Expressway,

add the bicycle ramp near the Easterly Crossing on Evelyn Avenue, add signals at the two Evelyn

Avenue crossings, and add ballers to the south side of Central Expressway. Based on staff's

initial assessment, staff will incorporate the elements highlighted in green, and staff

will continue to evaluate the items in grey and need further feedback from the CTC for

inclusion in the project scope. Moving on to project costs and next steps.

The project is funded through final design utilizing the 2016 VTA Measure B funds. The

The current project cost based on the 35% design plan is $6.6 million.

The project has sufficient funds to construct the project when design is complete.

For next steps, staff will evaluate BPAC and CTC feedback and will forward a recommendation

to City Council to approve the design concept and advance to final design in early 2026.

design of the project is expected fall of 2026, and construction is anticipated to begin early

2027.

To conclude, I'd like to display staff's recommendation to the committee on the screen.

Staff has presented the project update, and we welcome your feedback on the guide.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, okay.

Okay, does any members of the committee have...

I'll follow them.

Does any members have the...

I'll ask a question.

Does any members of the committee have questions?

I have a question.

Okay, only one?

I have more than one question.

Good, thank you.

Okay, go for it.

So I think my questions fall into two categories,

is kind of the, this is a gateway to the downtown. So ones that talk more about that. And then

there's sort of more of the kinds of things that VPAC covers are second, although maybe other people

have those same questions. So maybe I'll even let other committee members ask those. So I'm

wondering, oh, I have one that is not about a gateway. Since we're not doing the grade separation,

I read an article on the train station in Palo Alto that they're going to use,

because they can't do their grade separation right now either, they're going to use AI for safety.

Basically, what that seems to entail is that with trains, they can stop on a dime. So they get an

advance warning that there may be somebody or something in their way.

And is that something that we're looking at to enhance safety?

Yes.

So that software package, I'll call it, is called Rail Sentry.

It's already being deployed in other places.

The city and VTA are looking to enter into agreement where VTA would give us

some corridor improvement funds in order to have those installed at Sunnyvale, not Sunnyvale,

Mountain View locations. Sorry, I was there for 13 years.

Great, great. Since we can't do the gray separation, I think that's a good safety step.

um that's the answer i wanted uh then since this is a gateway um to the pedestrian mall and to

hopefully an enhanced maca you know back and forth um okay my first question on that is what

kind of planter boxes are these is and what's the reason for them is it because we step to

continually upgrade the area, maybe do a grade separation at some point. So you want the trees

to be mobile or? Okay. That's exactly it. In the event that we find the funds to construct the

grade separation in the future, we want to minimize the impact, the trees in the future

by being able to relocate them at a different location rather than cutting them down.

And then are you having, we have a designer for the downtowner we did in the past.

Are you running any of this, you know, the decorative fence and the container, the planter boxes?

Are we running it through someone for, you know, let's see, not an interior decorator, an exterior decorator?

Not at this time. The decorative fencing will be consistent with what's already out there,

which is a Caltrain standard. So black ones with kind of the circular pattern on top.

And as far as the planters, we have, I believe, other projects we can look into that have used them in the past that we can consider for this.

I would just like some consideration that it is a gateway and that, and then the other thing is the, the, the pictures you showed, I don't know if I, they, when you showed the separated bikeways, it was shaded in brown, I would say.

and i think that it was i think that what you were showing when you were showing the separation

for the bike was was stripes on the road i think but i might be wrong that's how i was

interpreting the graphic and it will also have vertical elements oh it will have vertical

elements too yes what elements what are the oh like um i don't know the technical name for them

but the black rubberized pumps or armadillos taller higher vertical elements um some ballers

and it will be consistent with the other ballards proposed for the downtown area okay i just you

know there's there's many ways to do it and since it's a gateway since it's not frankly the way we

used to look at moffett was this is a roadway off to nowheresville um and there was no thought put

into it and I think that makes a difference that was not true you know in our downtown there was a

lot of thought put into how the sidewalks were designed and and trees and so forth and I think

it's time for us to look at this as what's right in the scent part of our city and to have some

consideration of um what it means to be a gateway so I guess that's that's where my question is

going, but I'll make that would be a statement, not a question. So the rest of my questions are

that we had two residents make various kinds of requests, but I don't know if I don't want to

dominate the questions. I'll let you want me to ask because I'm just reading off. So we had a

we had a Mr. Bozels suggest a quiet zone. Is that something that could be looked into or is being

looked into or cannot be looked into? Can we answer the rest of this question?

We have a quiet zone project on this year's CIP. The team that would be delivering the quiet zone

has had several vacancies recently in recent times.

And so that'll be looked to get started up

sometime in spring or so of 26.

Okay, so if Mr. Bozo's listening,

he now has a timeline, a yes and a timeline.

He also asked whether it would be possible

to do a pedestrian scramble.

And I think if other committee members can help me,

I think he means over Central Expressway.

you thought that's where they were converting to the one side it's you had a triangular photo i

guess that was a staff report yeah to our knowledge uh this is a well first this is a santa clara

county intersection so they would be managing we can certainly communicate that to them as a

as a question um to our knowledge i don't think there's another expressway intersection

in Santa Clara County that has a scramble?

So that would make it super fun if it was here.

People would come just to scramble.

Possibly.

We could do that at Village.

Well, ask the question and see.

Who knows?

We can do that, but it won't be part of this project.

Okay.

I'll just ask.

He answered it for you.

Okay, just ask.

And then he also asked,

but I don't know if this is in the category of future improvements,

Moffitt Central Expressway curb extensions.

The right turn, if you're coming west on Central Expressway and you're making a ride on the Moffitt, you're going right into the, if you bring up the slide.

Yeah, so the project limits will not include the expressway.

so we then we do some striping in the expressway um based on the county's approval but we won't

put bulb outs into the expressway so if the question is would we consider bulb outs into

them into moffitt that is also part of the we can communicate that out to for future for future

we are we are working together with the precise plan the moffitt precise plan is also a development

He's referring to the lower left-hand corner, where you can see the crosswalk basically is where people are turning right.

So people would be going into the crosswalk, the cars potentially.

Okay, so we have three answers here.

The curb extensions is refer for future improvements.

Pedestrian scramble is, we'll ask that question just as a point of interest, and the quiet zone is we're working on it.

Okay. And then Mr. Kuzma asks some questions as well.

Can the new updated signals provide a separate right turn phase for traffic coming from Moffitt and implement a no right turn on red?

so this i imagine was the bpac question about signals maybe related to that this is something

we can discuss with the county but as principal civil engineer robert gonzalez mentioned this is

a santa clara county owned and operated intersection and any improvements to the

signal phasing um will need to be coordinated so similar to el camino we asked but they said

No.

Okay.

Just to help you out on that one.

Okay.

Okay.

So the answer to that is maybe.

Then there was a request that sidewalks on Moffat use smooth paving.

I suppose that's rather than the paving type that is on Castro Street on sidewalks.

That's how I read it, too.

Yes.

So we'll communicate that.

That's a design detail we haven't got to, but I agree.

Will buses be able to use the new westbound Evelyn Avenue connector?

Yes.

Yes. Okay.

Can crosswalks across Evelyn be raised crosswalks?

That has been considered substantially between our transportation group, our traffic group, and the other design groups.

For this particular layout, we think the speeds are already low enough because of the two turns and visibility is already high enough.

We don't think there is an added benefit to raising the crosswalks.

There are some detriments to raising the crosswalks.

Now you have to deal with drains changes.

So we didn't see that as a marginal improvement.

So we have a lot of pedestrian-focused safety elements for those two crossings, and we didn't think the raised crosswalk would add a lot more to that.

Okay.

One thing to add is that VTA, because of where the crosswalk is located at Castro, it's right at a bend.

And VTA buses, as they're going that way, then each wheel goes over the crosswalk as they're making the bend.

And so it's like double the rocking on a bus, which is pretty disruptive for a bus versus if it's just a raised crosswalk on a street.

It's just over and over.

So we've answered. You've answered all the residents, my questions and the residents questions now.

So I'm done. Questions. Great.

Well, there's not too many people here. So yes, you are up.

um so my questions um so can you um

can you walk me through the decisions on the bike pad circulation the vehicle circulation so i think

um i don't want to like teeter into comments but i think like well oh how about this first

question how long do we actually think interim is going to be because i i think that affects

right because i think prior we thought in around might be five ish years i don't know i mean

a great separation is several hundred million dollars so i think so now we're until we find

the money yeah so i think now it's kind of like this we're calling it interim but we're not sure

how long in our own is going to be so in a lot of ways we need to be thinking of it i guess my scope

has changed and that i'm thinking about things from a more permanent perspective and i just want

to confirm with staff this is likely you know asking about the trees and the planner but i

asked about gateway i don't think it's a year yeah you know so i i don't know what what staff's

thoughts or what you're willing to say publicly on all that. But I think as this has gone on,

I feel like, is it truly interim anymore? I don't know. And I don't know how staff feels about that.

So our approach has been, it needs to work. It needs to work on an interim basis and a permanent

basis. So elements such as trees, we can think of as temporary or interim and those things need to

be moved. But certainly any pedestrian vehicle safety elements need to function as if they were

permanent. Okay. All right. Great. Thank you. So that kind of goes into my questions about

the bike pad circulation change and the vehicle circulation change. Can you just,

so as we're making these decisions, and I was trying to look through on the staff report to

see like if I had missed it so can you just share a little bit like how we is there data that we

evaluate that leads us to this just a little bit more color on on it but is that something

staff can provide or like I like I see that it says it'll reduce wait times as illustrated in

the figure but then that's it and then it goes right into vehicle circulation so I just like I

Let me start with vehicle circulation, because that's kind of fundamentally where the grade separation began as well.

One of the benefits of the grade separation is that you are eliminating conflicts with the vehicle separations that we're recommending here, the circulation patterns, is that we're closing the crossing of the rails to the through direction of Moffitt and the right turn on to Central Expressway.

So there won't be vehicle access there. So that kind of fundamentally redefines how circulation for vehicles is going to go.

So everything else kind of is a domino effect, is a downstream effect from that decision.

And that was really keying off of the original grade separation intent.

Yeah. So we're still thinking about it from the original design that we had all seen, where it's raised and then kind of the underneath where, you know, we're telling residents, even though we're not at grade separation, that's the direction we would go to because that's right.

Yeah, that's exactly right. We see the same fundamental purpose is pedestrian vehicle safety. Eliminating the rail crossing fundamentally improves that for vehicles. So that's that again, that's how we get the vehicle circulation.

The pedestrian circulation, similarly, just like the original, the permanent Castro grade separation, our intent was to maintain and in some ways as we could improve the pedestrian circulation and bike circulation across this corridor, through this corridor.

So with that, we're improving elements from Evelyn all the way up to Moffitt and essentially showing how pedestrians and cyclists would use the corridor.

Caltrain emphasized that when they look at it, they look at it from a rail corridor perspective and they see the elimination of a crossing as a net benefit.

So that's why the elimination of the Western crossing was identified from them was one crossing is safer than two crossings.

And then that kind of defined some of the circulation constraints that we had.

I would think of it as that would it would it would only be one crossing anyways, because people would be going underneath the grade separation from the original design.

So it's kind of like the same idea.

Yeah, that's a good way to look at it.

Okay.

I'm just trying to put the puzzle pieces together with, I guess,

the hope that one day we will get that great separation.

And I think, honestly, to be able to tell the story to residents

about why we're doing the approach that we are.

Because in reading this report, I just felt like maybe,

I don't want to teeter to comments,

but I think connecting those dots to the original design and why.

There's a lot of moving parts in this design.

Okay. So that's, that's helpful. All right. Okay. Those are my questions.

Oh, one last question. Can we, for the community outreach,

I know that typically we only do it in the notices mailed to residents and

businesses within the 750 feet, but given that this is like,

in our heart of downtown everyone uses it is it something that we can expand or send to all

our res you know at least the listservs emails because i i do think people would

would have an interest in knowing what we're doing groups all the community groups because

i i say this where i wouldn't want it to get to council and then residents feel like they weren't

This wasn't daylighted enough, given it's one of the most highly utilized transit stops along the country.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sheriff.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Ask questions, comments, we'll come later.

Pick off our first slide on two.

So 2015, I was here.

and it took seven years to get to we are just to get started the project design

so i remember it was it ed were you here in 2015 i was okay and we reminisce um so um

because i remember a design that was presented at the time to do things and it looks like things

are changing a little bit so um just curiosity why did it take seven years to go from 2015 to 22.

anybody seven years to go from 2015 yeah what why did it take seven years to get started in this

project did the council just kept kicking it down the roof okay you can get back on me it was just

um we can we can come up with an answer on that one but i did not prepare for that question

oh well we'll you'll figure this out soon um yeah i'm looking at this and it let's go to

um go to the numbers where you show 17 pedestrians and 800 bikes

you know i'm big on data and decisions should be based on data not on

a committee saying you should do this so when you say 700 1700 pedestrians a day

where are they coming from what there's many access points so where are they coming from

they're just 1700 pedestrians right or 700 17 okay where what direction are they coming from

This is both directions.

When you say, okay, so they're coming.

The counts were taken exactly at the tracks.

So the bikes and pets are coming from both directions, southbound and northbound, crossing the tracks.

Okay, so it's not east or west.

Okay, so these 1,700 pedestrians are coming from Moffitt, and they're also coming.

So they're coming both.

Yes.

Do we have a distinction between the two?

We do.

Okay.

I don't know off the top of my head, but I can if you're interested.

Well, I am because you're doing a lot of design, bipeds and all this stuff.

And so I like to know if we're going to do things, just like on the shoreline when you said 19 bicycle, you know, desk range unit.

I like to get a better idea to put the concept there because you gave us $6.6 million and it could change.

So if we're going to build this interim, let's do it sufficiently and effectively so that we know where people are coming from.

And the 800 bicyclists, same deal?

They're coming from Moffitt or whatever?

Yes.

Okay.

And do we know, are they taking light rail or are they taking just transit?

Are they taking buses?

Do we know how they're divided up between light rail, Caltrain, and BG?

I don't have that data.

Okay.

But is it important to know that?

So that information may have been in the original transit center master plan.

Some of that data may have been taken as a snapshot for this particular project.

When we initiated it, we were decided we had the decision to go into an interim direction kind of dictated some of the design choices, such as eliminating the rail crossing, moving everything in one direction.

But we did not pull additional data, particularly with destinations or origination points.

The data counts here were specifically at the rail crossing.

So we did not track whether they were going downtown or to light rail or to Caltrain.

Did you determine between morning and afternoon?

I think we have some of that data.

This is a full day, 24-hour count.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

So at some point, there's a big rush.

no that's why it's i always like to know at any real station i like to know okay we're doing this

and then all of a sudden it gets quiet do we do we spend money for the whole day or do we just spend

let's take care of the half an hour slam period and build and go from there um look for ampm peaks

yeah yeah see um looking we have the council we can can share with you after the meeting going

forward, I personally, for this committee, like to see the data of how people are moving around.

So on your slide here, on this one, just take this one. At Evelyn, eventually,

cars will not, will cars always be able to make the S-turn from Evelyn to the

west side of Castro? Yes, this design. They'll always be able to do that.

Yes.

Okay, so you're not cutting off.

Okay, so that will continue.

On this thing, one thing when we were initially looking at the design of this on the north side of Central Expressway, we were looking at a spot for the commuter buses.

So help me understand, if things get back to somewhat normal, these commuter buses are picking people up.

And right now, you're going to have them going all kind of convoluted, once you get it figured out, routes.

They're going to be going here.

And I just see a lot of noise, congestion, emissions.

So how are we going to move these?

And do we know how many commuter buses are coming in here now?

I do not have that.

Okay.

So with that, how do you expect the buses to do?

Are you going to use that diagram where you show that they go this way and then go this way and then go back south again?

I mean, we need to find an effective way to get them in and out.

And that's why with the original design, we were looking at something north of Central Expressway.

And also we were looking at a site on Central Expressway so the people could get and walk that way.

So how are you going to handle commuter buses?

The commuter buses will.

The northbound commuter buses will have to take the route as presented on the screen.

The southbound direction follows what's existing right now, since there is no southbound access to Castro.

Can you go to the next slide while we're talking about that, please?

Yeah.

So this shows that the buses will remain at the transit center.

We're not proposing to move those shuttle bus stops.

On to the expressway side.

Well, I mean, this is the bus shuttles for North Bay Shore.

So they're going to be taking this potential route.

Yes, this follows closely what was proposed with the Great Separation Project.

the only difference is that they would continue on to evelyn that would eventually include a ramp

that connects on to shoreline okay but does this and then the reverse for uh well would they

well some of them may not go back on the mop but they may just stay on shoreline and go

with those okay they won't go we mounted that ramp a couple things though didn't we the evelyn ramp

It made sense at the time, but it's still...

Okay.

They won't go back, John.

They'll go straight up shoreline to go.

Yeah, I think they'll take that ramp that we...

Was it this year or last year?

I can't remember.

But we talked about the ramp, right?

So they'll be coming up, Evelyn, get on to shoreline?

Of course.

So they won't have to kind of go that way.

Okay, gerrymandered around town.

If you've got a $6.6 million project, does that include the ramp?

No, it does not include the ramp.

So the ramps, this is what they'll be doing now.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, that's what I'm trying to put things.

You guys have been involved.

I'm just seeing this for the first time, and I'm concerned about the flow of the bus transit.

Okay.

That one.

So if you go back to some earlier ones.

So when you calculate this, and the BPAC suggests that they're going to be high volume,

are people going to start going on to Evelyn and riding their bikes?

Where do you expect this heavy concentration of bike riders and pedestrians coming from?

Why all of a sudden, when you do this crossing, that you're going to have a heavier amount of people?

No, it's the same people who are crossing now.

Okay.

So BPAC mentioned two specific factors that may increase pedestrian traffic.

One is that there's a school on the west side of Shoreline connecting to Evelyn that's heavily used now.

So if that school expands, then there's more traffic there.

Second is more of a statewide initiative, which is encouraging higher density housing near transit.

So if there's higher density, so if more development in the transit area ends up coming in the next several years, that would, by implication, that's more put traffic.

But those numbers are for right now.

Correct.

Okay, so the transit center, because we were looking at developing the Caltrain and the VTA lots there, so there wouldn't be potential where you're saying they would get on transit or they would just live there but take bicycles and leave the transit center to go throughout the area.

I'm trying to anticipate, and you're saying they're going to increase the housing so they've got Moffitt, the Prometheus project is going to potentially add people to it.

You think they're going to, this is where they're getting these high, anticipate high pedestrian and bicyclist accounts?

Well, like I said, BPAC identified two specific factors.

One was increased housing, and the other one was the school at the western end of Evelyn.

the western end of emilyne you mean the uh

co uh co cona cona what's his name yeah that campus there and they expect that to grow

significantly bpac mentioned those two factors i don't know if they mentioned a growth rate or

okay and the reason well you sounded like you're going to incorporate their comments

in there and that's why i was trying to get a better understanding

and just two things that you went ahead and anticipated there.

I don't know if that comment specifically changes anything as part of the design.

That was one of the comments back to us to kind of keep in mind.

But it doesn't, say, change the width of a rail crossing

or the size or type of bike infrastructure we look at.

Okay.

Okay, let's go then and see here.

So if I look at slide six, please.

So is the bike lane going to be on both sides of the street or on the north side of the street?

It's on both sides of the street.

north of Evelyn is for westbound bicyclists, and then the south side of Evelyn is for eastbound bicyclists.

Well, I'm looking at the arrows, right where it says 18 feet.

The arrows are all heading north and mids.

So where are those arrows there?

Do they indicate flow?

For vehicles, it's for westbound traffic only.

So that's for cars?

Yes.

Oh, okay.

So that's cars.

that's not the bike lanes. The bike lanes highlighted in yellow. He's looking at the existing

arrows. Are you looking at the grayed out arrows in the background? Yeah, I guess. Yeah, there's this.

Yeah, so the yellow right. So the yellow is the bike lane going. No, that's the bike lane going

that direction. Okay, it goes that way. And then this one is going the opposite direction. So why

is that so much greater than the other one? There's a bigger buffer to make sure that the

bikes are protected from the larger vehicle movements as they approach the S curves at this

area. And that's why there's also vertical elements proposed to protect the bicyclists even more.

Because that area is needed for buses and larger vehicles to make the turn. So the buses are coming

from Evelyn and they're going to make the S turn, right? And so you have a bike lane on the right

hand side for them so that's narrow but i would okay but i understand that it seems like the bike

planes that are going uh southbound is much larger the the buffer is much larger so you can

see the hatched area is much larger and that's really to accommodate like bus and large vehicle

swing as they're making around the corners so they'll swing so the bike lane yeah the bike lane

itself is not super wide, but the buffer is much wider to accommodate the larger vehicles that are

going to make that movement. You just said there's going to be class two and class four

buffer bike lanes. If there's no cars coming down east on Evelyn, why do you need buffered bike lanes?

If there's no cars coming east? So it's like behind the police station in there,

where you're losing the 10 parking spaces.

I mean, it's still to protect.

So as you can see the vehicle lane sneaking up through and making that S-curve,

it's really still to protect the bicyclists from that vehicle overhang swing

as they're making the turns.

So refresh my memory on a class 2 on a class 4 buffer.

Bike lanes?

A class 4 will have a vertical element.

Okay. Class 2 does not necessarily have it. Class 2 is your basic striping. Class 2 buffer has the basic striping plus additional striping, additional paint on the ground, so to speak.

Okay. Because I'm trying to learn what type of conditions make you put a 4 in and where a 2 would suffice. Okay.

Okay, that's where those bike lanes are coming.

Go to the next.

Okay, on slide seven, parking is tremendous for businesses.

So why do you need to take out 10 parking spaces?

If you have no traffic.

So the cars, well, if the cars, you've taken up parking spaces, where are the cars going to turn around?

So that's sort of, yes, you don't need parking because there's no cars that are going to be able to turn around, correct?

Yes, cars would have to go southbound on Wild.

Can you point there?

Cars would have to go, cars going eastbound would have to turn onto Wild Cherry Lane.

So Wild Cherry Lane is where you're losing the 10 parking spaces.

Yes, between Wild Cherry Lane and Castro Street.

So a couple on the south side of Evelyn and then a few of the perpendicular parking in between the boxes you see where the trees are.

So our cars, I mean, I'm not there.

Refresh my memory.

Our cars able to drive through there and go.

On to Central Expressway now.

No.

So right now there's.

There is no connection to this side.

People parked there.

Yes.

So then they just sort of.

essentially a dead end.

Dead end. And then you just got to figure out how to

turn around.

So is there

any way to save some of that parking?

Yeah, I wondered that.

We are evaluating

replacing

the total 12

parking with additional maybe

parallel parking on the north side

between

Wild Cherry Lane and Castro

because we are losing the perpendicular

parking between those trees is too close to the crosswalk. We don't want the vehicles to back into

the bike lane and the crosswalk, but perhaps some parallel parking could be reintroduced.

If no traffic is a dead end, are you putting in the class two buffers?

The class four on the south side.

Why if there's no cars coming through? Why couldn't you do class two and save the parking?

If there's no if it's a dead end street, cars aren't going to be going there in a lot.

So what a protection are you? That's what I'm asking.

Can a two, since it's a dead end, you won't have traffic versus the four where I see the cross marks.

Is that correct? That's going to be a four versus a two.

Yes. So the the two are two parking spaces that will be removed on the south side between Wild Cherry Lane and Castro Street.

they are proposed to be removed because if we do not remove them and if they park there we don't

have a way to kind of get them out safely again how are they getting out now so we are proposing

evelyn as a one-way street okay so right now there's no opposing traffic so right now correct

right now there's no opposing type of traffic if i'm if i'm traveling eastbound towards sunnyvale

I have to make that U-turn because there's a stop bar. We need to think about the circulation

for those vehicles now. All of those vehicles are turning onto West Cherry Lane. If we were

to turn that into a class two to accommodate additional parking, you still need to have that

vehicle circulation going onto West Cherry. Wild Cherry, thank you. So what we don't want to do is

we don't want to create a situation where we're inviting eastbound traffic to try to park in those

parking spaces. So we need to be thinking about how to create a safe environment for pedestrians

and bikes. Just in that wild cherry to Castro, that's a very tricky location. So if I knew that

only westbound traffic was traveling there and only westbound drivers were going to park,

it would be safe. But my concern is actually the eastbound drivers who choose to

cut through the wild cherry, go around the barriers and try to park there.

Okay, now you made me thinking, can't you make those parking available to the people that are

going westbound? We would be making it available to people going westbound and we might do that

for parallel we mentioned that so we can look into that on the south side if they're going that way

so we still keep your dead end you're still going to have limited people going in okay i would

appreciate if you could save some parking that would on the south side meaning where the buffer

is yeah yeah gotcha yeah we can explore that okay thank you now i just wanted to make sure i

understood no no thank you because we got to keep an open mind especially for small businesses we

We keep saying we're small business actors and we're taking out tennis bosses.

Okay.

And Wild Cherry, isn't that a lane versus a regular road?

It's an alley.

Alley.

Okay.

Yeah.

So let's distinguish.

Wild Cherry Lane is an alley, not a street.

So that's, it's not intended.

Are you intending to have the buses come down Wild Cherry Lane?

No.

Okay.

Thank you.

go over to number nine please

okay and remember there was a conversation that on the westbound crosswalk there was a young lady

at least in bed checking myself around the ctc and said fayad wanted to eliminate that and we said

can't we just have them walk from the northwest side over to the northeast side?

And they said no, and so they put in that crosswalk for $1.6 million,

and now you're eliminating it.

So I find that interesting.

I just thought you guys.

And here's an example where you're actually telling people you've got to change your route a little bit.

Okay.

The precedent has been made.

Okay.

that's a comment I shouldn't be doing that

yeah on slide 11 where you put the big X

yeah that whole lane was

so are we doing any accommodation

who's responsible for the signage

PTA or us

to help guide people around this area?

The project will include signage, too,

to guide the bikes and pets.

Okay.

Let's slide 11.

Okay.

Again, buses, slide 13.

Oh, okay.

This is the BPAC recommendations.

Yes.

Yeah, I'm still concerned about it. Okay. So it sounded, could you show where, now you're incorporating those into the project or you're considering those into the project?

We can incorporate those items without much impact to the project budget and schedule.

Okay. I'm a little concerned about you guys getting direction from BPAC, whether there are recommendations in your...

Okay, that's a comment. I'm going to get back to that. You know where I'm coming from.

Okay. And then the $6.6 million, when was that budgeted?

This year.

So that money was... So the cost estimate is this year?

This year, but includes cost escalation anticipating construction will begin in 2020.

Perfect.

Okay, that's the end of my questions. So we will go to virtual comments.

Would any members of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comments

on this item? If so, please click the raised hand button and zoom or approach. We will take

Okay, you have three minutes.

Bruce England.

Hi, everyone.

Bruce England on Wiseman Station Drive speaking for Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning.

We did listen to the BPAC meeting, and there was a lot of really good discussion there.

So, in general, we are supportive of their recommendations over to you.

There was some discussion when they talked about what counts as a recommendation and what counts as a comment and how things are recorded.

They realized that the formal recommendations come from you on CDC to counsel, but there's hope that their comments and everything would be taken seriously.

So we echo that at NBCSP.

A couple of specific comments or things to emphasize.

I have to go to my notes here on this.

one is among their comments the ones that perhaps are most interesting to us are the removing the

parking between wild cherry lane and castro because it's probably not needed and it just

helps to enhance safety for bicyclists and pedestrians moving through there particularly

the bicyclists we like the idea of a walk audit those have been done in the past by the city and

this would be a great opportunity to have that done in that area the improvements to the northbound

and Moffitt Boulevard bike lane are incredibly important,

as has been pointed out many times.

There used to be a bike lane that went through,

and now it just stops abruptly,

and then it goes into a vehicle parking area,

which forces cyclists out into the roadway.

So that's not great.

We for sure want to see that no-ride-on-red implementation

at the northwest corner of Moffitt and Central Expressway,

realizing that that's going to involve work with the county.

There was a comment, I think,

that Council Member McAllister made it that El Camino,

it was asked for on El Camino and they said no,

but they actually did put some no right on red.

I'm not sure exactly the locations,

but I know there's one at Calderon

and it's adequately signed and everything.

So it's great, really improves safety at that intersection

and perhaps at other intersections along the way.

We do strongly support keeping both pedestrian crossings

across the train tracks and central.

So, again, knowing there's going to be pushback from the county, but we would like to see the city really push forward on getting these things done and, you know, trying to be optimistic about what the county will approve.

I never know unless you ask.

Two other things are the lighting in the affected areas.

We really want that to follow the anticipated requirements and guidance in the development dark skies ordinances.

So you don't have to light the bejesus out everything in there to make people safe.

it's actually lighting needs to be done very thoughtfully and that will be reflected in the

ordinances i'm sure and then lastly we'd like to see no use of artificial turf in any of the

new landscaped areas in any dripping or cone dropping trees any of that sort of thing should

be avoided around walkway and bikeway areas that's all i've got thank you anybody else

The Taylor Brown, you know, is that the Taylor Brown that used to be our former police chief?

We don't know. I saw the name there. That's right.

I think he's a consultant with Joseph Zavantez.

So do we have any more?

Yes. Adrian Brandt.

Good evening and thank you. My name is Adrian Brandt.

I serve as the chair of the Caltrain Citizens Advisory Committee.

used to commute to and from the Mountain View station, very familiar with that area.

I want to commend the city of Mountain View for coming up with a very reasonable, affordable

interim alternative at $6.6 million versus nearly $300 million for the full grade separation

and ramp to Evelyn.

So that's really good thinking outside the box, something we can implement much sooner.

and as I think people have alluded, I have seen a lot of projects in my lifetime of this nature

and I believe there's a good chance this may be the permanent solution.

So I second any concerns or comments around the concept that this may be permanent.

I wanted to comment on the rail sentry.

That is primarily aimed at, as a staff idea, aimed at preventing, well, not preventing, but reacting to vehicle intrusions off of the crossings.

That's really not applicable for bikes and pedestrians because they don't get stuck on the tracks by accident by turning onto the tracks at night, which is the primary motivation for that system.

The other thing is the bollards, the vertical delineators that they've been using, again, also to discourage people from at night mistakenly turning onto the tracks.

I am sympathetic to the idea of keeping both crossings across the tracks.

Currently, it's a full-width crossing.

And so there's really no compelling reason I can think of why it can't continue to be a full-width crossing only just for bikes and pedestrians.

They could also be two separate pedestrian bike crossings that act as one with the great crossing circuit tied together.

So those are definitely possibilities.

There was a comment asking for a scramble.

That makes no sense at Central because you effectively have a scramble with that little plaza between the tracks and the crossing.

I think on figure nine, it shows very well what I mean by that.

So there's really no reason for a scramble on Central. I also agree with I'm a Redwood City resident. I agree strongly with trying to ban the right on red, as was discussed earlier by a number of people in Redwood City, Caltrans and the city together have have done some no right on reds near high schools and so forth at busy crossings where there had been pedestrian safety issues.

So that is something that's quite doable. And I would encourage pursuing that.

Let's see. I think, let's see, what was the other, I had some other comments, but so, oh yes.

And on train corn, train, train horn quiet zones, Atherton has it.

Palo Alto, Menlo Park and San Mateo are pursuing it. And I'd encourage it here too. Thank you.

Thank you.

How many are in the queue?

Three more.

Daniel Halsey?

Can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay.

So I've got a few thoughts on this.

I grew up to the Moffitt field area, and I have a lot of coworkers who do that same thing via bicycle.

And a lot of them take Moffitt.

And I try to take parallel routes, but a lot of people take Moffitt.

It is unsafe, but it's the most direct way from the Caltrain station.

to Moffitt Field on a bike.

And I'm worried about some of the improvements

in this just being not quite any mark,

particularly at the intersection between Moffitt

and Central Expressway.

You know, if you look at, what is it, figure seven,

you have a merge

that the bikes have to do going south

to get into that bike lane

to get on the other side of cars

who are turning right

that doesn't make sense

to have a protected bike lane

where you first have to do a merge with cars

and it's not necessary

we can just have the bike lane

on the other side of the turning lane

with a bull right on then

that would be much more in line

with how the city designs this kind of intersection

in other parts of the city.

And, you know, there's other problems here.

I've been very adamant to repress more on the northbound.

And I think kind of a broader point that we need to have

is thinking about how do we phase this

with the

Precise Plan

where

there's been in the

public engagement

very strong support for

bike lanes and

can we maybe do that sooner

when this project happens

so that we aren't tearing up

the street multiple times?

Something worth looking into.

Other thing I would say,

there's some things

at that intersection that we would want,

that staff keep saying,

oh, we've got to have the county do this.

And so I would encourage the electives

who are on this committee,

please talk to the county

because it would be a really missed opportunity,

let's say,

if we can't go to things that we want

by Central Expressway

while the project.

And so that's my comment.

Please the county and help them to give a better project

because we'll maybe be living with this for a long time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mary Dadio.

Good evening. I would like to ask that you actually consider making both sides of the bike lane be class four, that you maybe let go of some of the buffer that's currently on the south side and add that buffer to the north side.

Because as buses are heading north and then making the turn around that corner to go west, there's at least on the on the staff report or the staff memo, whatever the entire buffer on the westbound bike lane goes away and buses are kind of coming right at you there until they make the turn.

So that looks pretty scary.

I think both sides should be class four.

Um, I really highly recommend that some walk audits be done of this, um, because until like,

um, there were some questions from council about, you know, what are the use cases here?

So, um, I'll just give you my use case.

Um, I use this intersection to get across town, um, across central expressway when I'm

trying to head north and west on my bike, because, uh, crazy as it sounds, um, crossing

Central Expressway here feels safer than a lot of other places. So I actually take Franklin

northbound because there aren't any traffic lights and then I'm heading east on Evelyn.

So if you're looking at one of the diagrams, I'll be heading east on Evelyn and then I guess I'm

going to have to make a sharp turn to take the crosswalk across traffic to get to that plaza

on the south side of the tracks.

Then I go over to the 15-foot wide crossing,

which I don't know if it could be made a little bit wider

to help separate the bikes and the pedestrians.

That might be a good idea.

Then I'm going to go ahead back over to the west

because I'm trying to get to Sterling Road.

There's a bike path over there,

a short class four separated bike path to Sterling Road,

which then connects to the whole east-west bikeway

that we have up there.

So I'm going to be, I guess, sort of taking the bike lane, but in the illegal direction, if it's illegal, I'm not sure, to cross to the northwest corner of Moffitt and Central Expressway.

So I'm at the northwest corner now, which is where I want to be so I can get on that class four bike lane and head up Sterling, which feels pretty safe.

So because I'm riding sort of against traffic on that left side, I'm not sure if that's part of the design because the circulation that was shown in the staff memo didn't cover everything.

But in any case, I'm also a big proponent of no right turn on red from Moffitt onto southbound Moffitt onto Central Expressway.

So again, I think it would be really interesting to hear a lot of other people's cases about how they go through this area.

And so I highly recommend a walk audit. Thank you.

Before we get to the next person, what's a walk audit?

A walk audit is...

A walk audit is an effort that designers will often use to look at existing conditions and observe how pedestrians, any types of users, are using the space currently.

And you can, from there, you can kind of imagine benefits and improvements and adjustments.

But it's, isn't that standard procedure?

Recently, we've been inviting the public or residents.

Yes.

Yes.

So the clarity here is.

Inclusion.

The feedback would like to be included in part of that or members of the public.

And a follow-up, does your walk audit include a bike audit, our bikers?

So the last speaker just walked us through how she bikes through the area.

Would that be included as well?

As you were saying, as a standard procedure, like, yes, that's how a designer would look at the space.

It's like all the users and how all the users are.

They actually go to the site and stand there.

That's the expectation.

Yeah.

Expectation.

Thank you.

Because I imagine you would invite people for a walk-in by the way.

I think that's a thing.

Right.

So for city staff, our projects, it's standard practice to go out and observe any normal, abnormal conditions, different days, time periods, daylight conditions.

No, I mean, it makes common sense.

makes great sense. Okay, I just thank you. Sure.

The last raised hand is April Webster.

Hi, thank you. I've been biking through the intersection at Moffitt and Central for about 15 years. And I personally experienced several near misses at that spot, once almost being hit by a large truck, and once by a truck toying a boat and this is north

intersection on Moffitt. At the last BPAC meeting, staff stated that safety improvements

won't be considered for several years and instead addressed through the Moffitt Boulevard precise

plan. However, that still needs to be completed and improved. Only after that, a capital project

created, then added to the CIP, prioritized for funding, and then finally designed, engineered,

and constructed. Realistically, we're looking at about at least five years before we see any sort

substantial change to fix these safety issues and that timeline is just too slow for issues that

were actually worsened by some pandemic air design changes the city made when they created that class

two hanging bike lane just on the east side of Moffitt north of central. In the meantime what

happens is current design forces people biking northbound to merge directly into a 40 45 mile

per hour traffic lane where the bike lane ends and parked cars begin and this represents a noticeable

safety regression from the previous design where bicyclists were instead encouraged to take the

lane before the intersection which meant they were already aligned with traffic before they passed

through and didn't have to merge into fast moving vehicles after drivers had accelerated through the

light um this new configuration shift that merged after the intersection precisely when car speeds

are highest and that new the new design also exposes bicyclists to a right hook risk from

drivers turning right from off onto moffett from central a quick build solution could address some

of these unsafe situations paint only fixes continuing the bike lane maybe a paint road diet

extending the protection maybe removing parking all of these are reversible and low cost and fully

compatible with any future capital work i don't think we should wait years for a long-term plan

to address these hazards you know as daniel mentioned and also mary there are a lot of

issues at this intersection um i would also like to ask if staff has conducted a recent traffic

and speed study and any other sort of field observations to evaluate driving driver behavior

um etc and because you know as other mentioned this geometry creates a really predictable right

hook conflict at central and at the other turns a no right turn on red restriction definitely

would be great and as others mentioned a community walk audit would be would be of great benefit

for this particular project given how critical the corridor is as a gateway to downtown

you know with an area with significant plan growth etc thank you so much thank you

Anybody else in queue normal rest. Okay, I will bring it back for any additional questions.

I'll move the recommendation to City Council approval of the design concept for a transit

center and grade separation and access project.

Just but but including I think considerations we all look forward.

Yeah, and then I thought some of the things that I don't know if we needed to list them.

I'm sure staff has.

I mean, there's the the BPAC recommendations.

I think we all made some recommendations.

Yeah, and I thought, I guess it was Mr. Brant said, in particular, Banning Ride on Red, looking into that, many people have said that.

He also said the two crossings, keeping the two crossings might not be a safety hazard.

and the uh one of the residents when she was walking us through her bike ride

it seemed like losing one of those made it to me if i'm tracking what she said right

getting onto the stair stairway steering am i saying it right very early bikeway

which a lot of people i imagine would be trying to do would make her loop back and forth a lot so

go north make your left right there yeah sterling is anyway i was interested in looking into that

since i guess mr brant said it wouldn't be i don't know you seem to be disagreeing with him but

going back to your first question mary tedio just to clarify yes it would be a longer distance

compared to what she's experiencing now.

Right now, it's an interim condition.

The whole thing is open.

So that's not going to be how it's laid out as it's proposed.

I bet you maybe do the 30-second delay to get some of the other bison.

Reflecting back on some of the BPAC comments,

there were pedestrians that described their...

pedestrian community bring us that line where you're cutting out the one that's a proposed

uh purple route so what i was going to just to finish my thought for a pedestrian

that that can feel like a cumbersome route if you're if you're kind of

detouring yourself across the plaza northward and then back across to get through so that was the

the comment that came across that the BPAC meeting was for a pedestrian that might feel

cumbersome. You guys can judge for yourself for that. So they could go diagonal? Yes. Okay.

Okay. Yeah, I think she's just talking about that she would go,

she's coming down Evelyn. She would cross the street, then take the diagonal. So it's some

back and forth.

There's that extra.

I tried to move the staff right now.

I know.

But I didn't get a section.

Well, we say I'm also

comments, too, that

people would like to make some comments.

So I

have comments

to validate my comments.

I mean, my main

comments are, you know, we can

move the staff recommendation, but I guess nobody seconded so you can do it later. My main comment

is I agree with what was said on getting more community input because this is a really central

location and also it's likely to be permanent. Nothing is permanent in this world, but

semi-permanent. And then getting in some, maybe through the community input, but some more design

input because i would really like to make sure that um you know the things that we choose for

it are not are the things that you would put in the center of a city that might be there for a

while things including planter boxes and bollards so oh and the right of the no banning right on red

yeah and oh the one on both sides being class four is that something that's part of the

five lane having more I think she's saying a little more equal buffers so that I don't know

if that makes sense yeah all things being equal that makes perfect sense on this particular

condition and this layout it's really the bus turning movements that are really dictating the

size of that buffer. I'll go with what you say, unless you get more community input.

But yeah, so it's community input, design for a gateway,

and banning right on red are my three big ones.

Thank you. I'm a minimalist. That's Robert Shakespeare.

is it um i see this particular just for this example here we need to make cost decisions

not jeopardizing safety but we want to get projects done this particular route looks perfectly

sensible to me we can't if we accommodate everybody saying we take a walk here take a walk there

we're never going to get to the point where it makes sense dollar wise and I'm not trying to say

safety is more important than dollars but we can do both and this route as I say works fine

and going that point I don't think I would like to see bike lanes at the

and this is projection or observation, and I could be totally wrong.

And if you guys say this is what's required, then I'll go with it.

But you're putting bike lanes.

They want class four bike lanes everywhere.

And do we really need it?

Is there the data?

We don't have the data yet to say we justifies this.

And everything I like to see is data that justifies.

A no-read-on Moffat onto Central Expressway.

How many bicyclists are going that way? I'd like to see the data on bicycles going and turning westbound on Central Expressway.

If we don't have that money, it doesn't justify it.

Because we are still, this is still a major thoroughfare, this east-west Central Expressway.

So we want traffic to flow there.

Was the parking on Moffat Boulevard going to be taken up, the removal of parking?

on the Moffitt precise plan or is it involved with any part in this discussion tonight

so this project does not include any removal of parking north of central

um public input I would like to see strategic public input I'd like to see it early on where

they give us their input and then it goes potentially staff then it goes to CTC and

then it goes to council if we want to get any project and I say look at this seven years

we need to be strategic in our public input get it and make it go through the proper channels and

not go back to one and say oh we want to look at maybe said well we want to look at it no you had

your opportunity to give us your feedback. And then we need the professionalism of the staff

to evaluate it, to say, this makes sense. This makes financial sense. And it gives us safety.

And it keeps us on the timeline and keeps us on our budget. Because every time we delay

any project in this town, it's going to cost us tens of millions of dollars because of inflation.

So I'd like to keep us on track as much as possible. I'm still concerned about the buses

moving around and that's a concern of mine the um the comments from the public over the beef hack

their inputs i appreciate this putting their input but i like to make sure that

staff recognizes that it all it is is input and it's a their recommendation and that not to

anticipate putting things in unless you can justify it um they have had their input they

gave it to us but i see the council is the ones that say yes we accept them or we don't accept

your ideas so i don't want to get the horse in front of the car to cart in front of the horse

and i've seen that done too much in my short time here that staff will take this and it could be

be very valid, but I'd like to have it vented a little more before us, because we sometimes,

they are concentrating on this. We as a council have to look at a big picture of what's going to

work for 80,000 people in this community, and we need to make sure that our dollars are going to

be spent wisely and efficiently on these things. And so doing all these things, and conduct a walk

audit. I experienced when we had a situation where a walk audit really didn't take place

to see a project. And then once we get out there, it looked a way to move it around. So I would

hope that was somebody is on the ground that's always looking at it. So would that be planning

or would that be traffic? So planning looks at it, goes out there and visualizes it,

or is there another department that goes out and also looks at it visually?

Who would conduct a walk audit for this project?

For any project.

Go in for any project that's involved with traffic.

For this project, it's a capital project.

So it would likely be a combination of staff and the design team.

And then if we chose to invite the public, then they could attend.

Okay.

Okay.

I just want clarity.

But yes, I appreciate that.

Okay.

Let's see. Any other comments? I mean, I heard the public, but again, I'd like to get this moving smoothly.

And if you say 26 construction.

Okay.

27.

Oh, 27.

Design in 26.

Okay.

Okay. Maybe I can make a motion including your comments, John.

Sure.

So that would be a motion, recommend City Council approval of the design concept for transit center grid separation and access project with early strategic public input and design with the possibility that it may be a permanent gateway to the city.

And I like also just one point of data of how many people they expect on Evelyn.

Now, just saying highly anticipated, I like to see potential.

If you have current data on people going wherever they're going, let's see if that actually pans out to what we just picked.

You're asking for not data in the motion, but data as side information to you.

I would like data in the motion.

Motion.

Okay.

So you want the motion to include that next time it comes back to us, the staff report includes data.

Data where people are coming and going.

I don't know why that would be.

I think they could take it outside of the motion.

We didn't have a next time.

I mean, this is a concept that we're taking to you.

And then if it's come in great, right, where I'm sorry, I thought it was coming back to us.

So you would like a memo on that? Maybe I'm not sure that has to be.

Well, if OK, we're getting to the design point. I want to see data that supports what they're doing.

I think that earlier when I was asking questions, part of what I was asking was, you know, telling the story behind this project.

You know, it's interim, but as I was mentioning, it's going to be probably, you know, semi-permanent.

And so my request is, you know, that we would tell more of that story in the staff report when it comes back to the full council.

I think that some of the data points and the information that the two of you are asking for staff can provide offline or can provide in that meeting.

so I don't think we need I think that things can if the if the idea is to keep things moving then

I would suggest that staff just incorporate our feedback and bring it back to council and

that would be an opportunity as um as staff was saying they could look into they had I was taking

notes they had um some data on the the um Castro Evelyn interim improvements and they could probably

just aggregate AM PM and they can get back to us so I don't think that they need to do any more data

collection i think it's just maybe perhaps sharing it with the ctc yeah so i i think that when this

comes back to council perhaps that could be as an attachment or however staff would like to do that

i think there's a way to move this forward and yeah i agree so if it comes when it comes to

council have the data included in the staff report yeah and i think that's a way to include that okay

and so that was that's my motion so what allison said that we didn't think it was coming back to us

so my motion seconded maybe one last question would it be coming back to the past

okay okay oh hi thank you for right to add to the conversation please

editor rango assistant public works director thank you for recognizing me um i appreciate

kamei's comments um that provides some clarification um and i wanted just to provide context on timing

and sort of public input as well.

The BPAC input and then the CTC input

is part of our public effort process,

you know, to get input, to gain information.

And so, you know, I appreciate that context of,

you know, there's a desire to do a walk audit.

And I'm hearing conflicting points on go fast,

you know, but get public input.

So VPAC and CTC are our opportunities for public input.

And we want to use these venues for that.

And we absolutely can consider this going forward, you know, for just for walk out.

It's early in the process.

We are currently in design for this.

You know, you heard senior engineer Houghton speak to, you know, we got 35 percent this summer and we're now 65 percent design.

We want to kind of give a layout to VPAC, which we did, and to CTC on what it looks like on concept level and allow us to proceed forward.

So next stop is planned to be council approval of the concept.

And that would be another opportunity for public to give their answer.

That is correct.

Yes.

Okay.

So there's three opportunities for public to put input.

So at that point, though, what I mean, effectively, what kind of input can you put in?

Or is it too baked to really make any changes?

So it's time is not our friend.

as we develop projects, we try to keep them moving.

And so early in the design concept, if we can include input,

and that's why we use BPAC and CTC, that's the time.

Now is the time.

So we heard BPAC's input.

We heard the public's input.

We're getting more input tonight.

We're trying to incorporate all this into the next stage.

If you're asking us to go to council and recommend a walk audit,

that means what happens if we get input that is inconsistent

and then we're coming back to CTC and council for a change in recommendation,

that slows down the project.

Just to give you some context of timing, and that wasn't our intent.

If council do access to do that and there's a recommendation from CTC,

we just need to provide that informational impact of the project

as a result of that walk on it.

I can support that.

But the question on the walk, I mean, isn't that part of just a normal process?

But you said it's not a normal process to walk, not opening it up to everybody, but just to walk it and see it.

Is that correct?

The normal process is for the design team and users, and oftentimes we'll work with the transportation team or other internal staff.

Okay, so the staff does that anyway.

That's correct.

It's on the ground, in the field, evaluating current conditions every time.

That answers my concerns.

One more.

Without the public.

Correct.

Correct.

One more element that came up at BPAC.

They made a motion for CTC to consider the two crossings.

And so we'd like some input on if CTC supports that or not.

on putting more emphasis to Caltrain

to identify an opportunity to keep the two crossings

or just going with the one crossing.

We should give some context on Caltrain already stated L.

Yes.

I'm in favor of the one.

I don't see it.

We just want to get clarification.

We say go out and be active,

and then we go, well, here's the shortcut.

It doesn't take much to do the 30 minute, 30 second across the street.

So I support that.

Not to do the two crossings.

That was all I had.

I just want some clarification.

There's a motion on the table.

Any clarification on it?

Or we will move ahead.

Take the vote.

Am I seconding?

I'll second.

Okay.

All in.

Does staff. Can we clarify exactly what the motion is again?

I got lost along the way.

I have more point as soon as I start.

Okay, so I think it's the staff recommendation.

Everything Ed said.

Sure, I was writing it down. If I can help.

Oh, okay.

So we heard a motion for the staff recommendation.

And then after some clarification from some other Hicks,

additional input on the additional emphasis on providing design input for the gateway element of the project.

And then, again, this strategic public input, evaluating that.

And so sort of it's hopeful that it could be going forward on projects.

As I mentioned, BPAC and CTC here is a part of the public input.

So we need clarification on the second part.

No, you're good.

I got a third part, but DGA has given out money for art, so we'll bring that up at another

time.

And that can be part of design for a possibility that it may be perfect.

Okay.

And then the last piece was the data that Council Member McAllister incorporated and Kamei

outlined it perfectly well on let us do that as part of the council report that they're

told.

Perfect.

You guys are running, so we get off.

Here we go.

Okay.

Questions called.

All in favor?

Passes unanimously.

Okay.

We will go to our next item.

Anybody need a break?

No, just keep going.

Okay.

Okay.

5.2.

Yes, interim and all improvements,

Hannah and Villa Intersections Project 2349.

Give us a moment.

Give us a moment while Senior Civil Engineer Joseph Cervantes is on the screen.

He'll be doing the presentation.

I'll take a three-minute break then.

Three minutes?

Three minutes.

Very good.

Thank you, Joy.

I think you were talking about the last time you met in the fall.

Oh, we did.

Yeah, we did.

Looks good, Joseph.

Can you guys see me?

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Maybe I'll hide my screen.

Or just my face.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Before we go, I just want to say thank you to the staff.

I sat here and started looking at all the moving pieces and tying it, that was quite a task of threading the needle and bringing all those things to make a mosaic of transit.

You like that first mosaic of transit?

That was very nice.

And I just want to make sure that you guys realize that I appreciate it.

That was quite a trick.

Trying to juggle all the pieces and trying to get it there.

and then taking our input saying, oh, okay, good for that.

So thank you.

Thank you.

The staff appreciates that input.

We'll talk about another complex location.

Item 5.2, interim pedestrian mall improvements,

Dana and Villa Intersections, Projects 2349.

I'll let Joseph Cervantes introduce himself.

Hello.

Can everyone hear me?

Yes.

Yes.

All right.

Okay, well, good evening.

My name is Joseph Cervantes, Senior Civil Engineer with the Public Works Department,

presenting on the Interim Pedestrian Mall Improvements Project at the Castro Street

intersections with Dana and Villa Streets.

And apologies, I couldn't be there in person.

So which Castro intersections are included in this project?

The aerial photo shown here illustrates the project location and the three intersections proposed to receive improvements.

Villa Street, Dana Street, and finally California Street.

Before we dive into what those improvements are, here's a little project background.

In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Castro Street between Evelyn Avenue and California Street were closed to vehicular traffic to allow outdoor dining to support local businesses, and the Castro Streets program was implemented.

In 2022, a council ad hoc committee was formed to review and provide direction for the design guidelines and implementation plan for an interim pedestrian mall along Castro Street.

Later that year, the City Council introduced and adopted an ordinance for establishing a pedestrian mall on Castro Street.

In 2023, the Ad Hoc Committee recommended that Council approve a modified signal control at the Villa and Dana Street intersections.

Council also approved the ad hoc committee's recommendation for a single centralized pedestrian crossing at Villa and Dana and a roundabout at California Street.

And finally, last year, City Council authorized a professional services agreement with Kimley Horn for design services and construction support.

At this council meeting, staff recommended phasing the project and a design concept for Villa and Dana Streets was presented to council and is shown here on the left side.

This design includes removing the two north-south crossings and replacing them with a single center crossing in the middle of Castro Street,

Modifying street curbs to shorten the pedestrian crossing distance

Installing new bollards and fencing to guide pedestrians towards the center crossing

And installing new traffic signal equipment

On the right side is an area of California Street

Where we are planning to convert the existing traffic circle into a modern roundabout

Due to the limitations in funding and to not delay construction of improvements at Villa and Dana Streets, the project will be constructed in two phases.

Phase 1 will include the design and bid package for the Villa and Dana Street intersections.

And Phase 2 will include the design and bid package of the California Street intersection.

At the moment, only the Phase 1 concept is being developed.

This aerial shows the existing conditions at Villa Street, which are similar to conditions on Dana Street.

We currently have two crossings which do not allow pedestrians to continue along the center of the street, bollards and railings, and outdated traffic signal equipment that require replacement to accommodate a center crossing.

This next slide shows the proposed improvements at Villas Street, which also applies to Dana Street.

The proposed design will include the following elements.

Pedestrian crossings that align with existing sidewalks along Castro Street.

A center street crossing that includes a 21-foot wide opening that lines up with the recently installed ribbons along the pedestrian mall walkway.

removable bollards to provide access to emergency vehicles,

reusing the existing colorful round bollards,

bulb outs to shorten pedestrian crossing distances,

existing decorative fencing will also be used to provide a consistent pedestrian maltreatment,

new traffic signals and pedestrian push buttons,

new uniform thermoplastic crosswalk treatment that extends the entire width of the street,

and refreshed striping.

These concepts for Villa and Dana Streets were presented to BPAC at their June 25 meeting.

BPAC's motion was to recommend that the CTC approve the design concept

and added a few post-project recommendations, including

adjusting the signal timing,

evaluating the posted speed limits,

and considering the installation of speed humps.

Staff will be adjusting the signal timing with Phase 1 of the project.

Once construction of Phase 1 is completed,

staff will conduct a speed survey to determine if Villa and Dana Streets

are eligible for a speed limit reduction.

Staff will also determine if the installation of speed humps at the side street approaches is warranted.

So here are our next steps.

We will seek council approval of the design concept in March of 2026.

We anticipate Phase 1's design to be completed by the summer of 2026 and construction to begin in the fall.

Construction is to be funded through the upcoming CIP budget cycle, and we expect Phase 2's design to begin in 2026 once construction funding for Phase 1 is secured.

Staff's recommendation is to recommend that the City Council approve the design concept for the Interim Pedestrian Mall improvements, Dana and Villa Intersections, Project 2349.

Thank you. This wraps up the presentation.

Thank you. And I'll bring it back to the committee. Any questions from the committee?

Questions? So what is, I didn't get the full term, thermoplastic something or other.

Thermoplastic crosswalk?

Yes. What is that?

Yes. So we will be using thermoplastic for the entire width of the crosswalk.

And that's going to show, you know, that pattern that you see on that exhibit.

And so it'll be, you know, instead of having, you know, stripes for crosswalk, you'll have that thermoplastic treatment.

It's like a fake plastic brick.

And Ringo, let me see if I can help with the question.

So the thermoplastic is a material type that we use for crosswalks.

So it's the white striping that you see at the standard crosswalks, sometimes yellow.

There's two materials.

It's just standard paint.

And the thermoplastic material is just, it's a more durable material that lasts a lot longer and we prefer to use it.

And so the intent is to use that same material, but in a pattern across the entire intersections.

I see.

So do we use it anywhere else in the city?

We use it, yeah.

Again, there's two types of materials.

So we use it as, now we use it as planes,

but there's a pattern that it's going to be used instead of the plane that we usually use.

That's what you said.

Correct.

If you can think of the white striping at the intersections,

that's typically thermoplastic.

That's a durable material that doesn't wear away like paint.

And then we're planning on using that same material,

but in the pattern across the intersection.

So an example might be at Valley Fair Mall

where you're crossing to Santana Row.

There's a thermoplastic kind of a grid pattern

on the street that's just flat.

But I did not take a close enough look.

It's white.

It's bright.

If you're ever in Sunnyvale on Matilda Avenue

going into downtown,

it's thermoplastic fake brick

where its thermoplastic material provides the color

and then there was a brick pattern stamped into the asphalt.

So I think when I was on the ad hoc committee,

we looked at some of those and we were looking them over

and some we felt or kind of chintzy and inappropriate.

But that's in my deep past memory now.

Are you going to work for some of these details

like picking bollards and picking patterns and stuff like that?

We used to hire Gail Design when, again, when I was on the ad hoc committee,

we had a designer we were working with.

Are we going to do that or their contract is long gone?

So Gail provided design guidelines as part of their contract,

and we've been adhering to those design guidelines as part of the interim improvements.

And so this will these will be consistent with those design guidelines regarding the ballers.

We're looking specifically at ballers that are consistent with the look and feel of the of the downtown.

I don't know if Gale specifically dealt with ballers, but like all the fencing and all the color schemes are consistent with this project will be consistent with with the Gale design.

Overarching design concepts.

So let's see.

I guess those were my main questions, and they reflect some of my concerns that I can bring up when we do comments and not questions.

Okay, so I'm going to have to have you guys go to the Wayback Machine and say, why are we doing this?

I was here in 20 when we closed it, but it says original projects go single centralized modified speed.

So why are we going? What's the driving motivation of doing all this?

Sure. The driving motivation of doing this is to this is part of the interim pad mall improvements that were initiated.

So the decorative fencing around the restaurants, the striping down the middle, if you remember a few years back before we did those, restaurants had an inconsistent use.

So we wanted more consistency and we wanted a centralized walkway up and down through 100, 200, 300 blocks.

So what we're seeing now is that between those blocks at the intersections, the pedestrians need to move over to the sidewalks.

So council directed us to look at opportunities for us to create a centralized walk area across the intersections.

So you have a more consistent look and feel to the mall as you peruse.

Third Street Promenade.

Or Third Street Promenade in San Juan.

uh maybe vaguely i'm not a southern california guy but if you want to pay for a trip i'll go

like you're saying you the goal is to get people walk down the middle not almost go to the side of

the curve and cross we're almost there we've got them walking down the middle

within the blocks and this would allow for that continuity across the intersections so it says

interim. How is this interim? Because we got the downtown vitality program. We got a group working

on that. They got the precise plan that's going to be four years out. And hopefully, isn't there

a CIP to level the street across? That is the permanent. Yes. And when is that targeted to come

on? It's on the unscheduled list because it is quite expensive to raise a street up six inches

all the way across for three full blocks.

Oh, okay.

We can work on that one.

Okay, so, but what is the budget on this?

Joseph, do you have the budget numbers?

Yes.

So for these two intersections,

we're expecting construction to cost about $1.7 million

for both intersections.

And so that includes upgrading the existing traffic signal equipment.

and all of the other improvements that I mentioned in my presentation.

Would the upgrading of the traffic signals be part of our bigger strategy

to have a centralized AI street signal?

We were working on, we were going to, somewhere years ago,

we were going to get a centralized traffic center

where we could see everything going and all that stuff.

Oh, a traffic management center? When we redo the traffic signal, it will likely get a new traffic controller, which would then be compatible for being able to have the communications back to the traffic management center if and when we get one.

Okay, that's why I just don't want to spend money on 1.7 and all of a sudden, that's not going to cut it.

Okay.

The roundabout.

We have a roundabout at California now.

I like roundabouts and they're coming more popular even on highways.

So what's the strategy on that?

Since we sort of already have one.

So California has a signalized intersection with Castro.

Oh, okay.

So when you approach it.

Even though you go round, it's not a two round.

Green, yellow, red, just like a regular intersection.

It happens to have a round object in the center.

So are you going to eliminate the signal?

That would make it a modernized roundabout.

Eliminating the signals and then we'll bring you back the layout.

It will look substantially different because it will have pedestrian and bike infrastructure

so that it's more defined on pedestrian areas, vehicle areas, bike areas.

I'd love to see the data on how efficient that's going to make that intersection.

It will make it more efficient.

It will make it more efficient.

Yeah.

Okay, good.

Because we're changing it to a pedestrian wall.

No, down here.

Yeah.

But that's still, but that's just people coming.

They won't sit there and wait time and drive time and ambition.

Okay.

And, wow.

So we're going to do the earlier project that we heard tonight.

We got this project coming down the pike.

are they going to clash? I mean, are we going to impact businesses?

Are we taking off parking spaces with all this stuff?

How is the timing of these two projects, the Castro-Evalon project

and this going to be sink?

Somewhere along the line, it looks like they're going to cross over.

So these are discrete projects because we're talking about Dana and Vela as phase one.

I believe Joseph's schedule

said that we would be approaching the end of design in the first half of 2026,

moving into construction in the fall.

So this will be ahead of the Castro Evelyn.

But I thought we were going to, in 27, we were also going to start construction there.

So there might be some overlap.

We'll have to work that out with the contractors.

Okay.

And we're going to be able to, how many of the businesses are,

minimize the disruption?

for this particular project for dana and villa the disruption will be temporary and it'll be

typical traffic control so we'll be thinking about pedestrian movements bike movements

vehicle movements within dana and villa um not necessarily impacting

traffic on evelyn because we're not really closing down villa for example is a bus route

We're not necessarily proposing that we close down Villa.

We'll be phasing that one area or the other.

Because Villa is going to be a major route for buses going in and out, going down the shoreline.

And so this other stuff.

What's the thought behind the bull bus?

We don't have a lot of...

Yeah, why are the bull bus coming?

I mean, taking the curbs and bumping them out a little bit.

a couple feet or so, is that anticipated to slow down traffic or to help people get across?

Because we're not talking a lot of, you know, 10 feet maybe total on either side to walk.

Yeah, ball bolts are often used for the benefits of the pedestrian crossing.

So we're shortening that pedestrian crossing.

What we've seen over the past few years is pedestrians choose to do what they want on Castro.

some of the rules that pedestrians often follow in other areas of the city, they have a little bit more

freedom of movement. So having a little bit more space behind a bulb out gives them a shorter

crossing distance. It alerts the vehicles that the area is nicking down. So there's a natural

tendency to slow down as you're approaching these intersections, even with the green light.

So all of these are made of the section safer.

I would say modern practice is to where we can get bull belts, put them in,

because it limits the exposure of the pedestrian for a conflict area with the vehicle.

So to shorten the crossing distance limits that exposure.

I know, but I'm getting Mr. Tight money on the phone.

I'm going to spend in that.

And you got the signal like that's going to help them get across anyway.

so okay so these particular will fallouts will be paint we're not looking at making these into

concrete curbs oh maybe rubber maybe a rubber curb but nothing permanent okay um okay things

guys gsd um okay um what's the length of this project going to take

so um you know construction is going to take about six months and so we're gonna this design

is going to be finished um in the june in june of next year and so we're we're thinking that

you know this phase one of the project will be completed by the early part of 2027

I guess there's a lot to be learned about traffic construction and how long it takes to

design that stuff. Yeah, there is a long lead time item on traffic signal poles. So I think what

we're saying is active construction time is closer to six months, but there will be a delay as we're,

I think there's only one like manufacturing plant that makes traffic signal poles and it's in the

middle of the country. And so it, you know, it's, it, it runs about nine months now.

So is that the same company that we had the issue on sleeper and grant because of the traffic poles

were delayed? I mean, a typical time to receive a traffic signal pole after placing the order is,

you know, it can run anywhere from nine, 10 months. So how soon do you place that order?

Once we get the contractor on board, typically one of the first orders of work is to alert them of long lead time items and to really just start working the schedule based off of things like that.

So how well are we doing on coordinating product coming in and timeline with the construction?

Even our track record?

I mean, I think we're pretty good at keeping the contractors moving.

Always we're at the mercy of the traffic signal hole plant, if that's the right words.

and how quickly they can manufacture and, you know, other orders that they have.

But in general, our team does a pretty good job of staying on top of the contractors.

No tears involved here.

Okay.

Okay.

And will there be any conduit put in the ground to anticipate any advances in technology?

Joseph, does this include conduit placement?

Yeah, I believe there will be conduit placement for the pedestrian push buttons,

which will be going into the middle of the roadway.

And I think that's pretty much it, just some electrical.

So there'll be push buttons or waving a hand on all four corners plus in the middle?

Yes.

Pedestrian buttons right next to the center of walkway.

So there'll be how many buttons are you pushing that are available?

there'll be

there'll be

there'll be at least four

on each side

so that's eight

yes

wow okay

I have no more questions

we'll open it up to the public

anybody else has any follow up questions

anybody virtual on this one

yes

Bruce England

hi uh bruce england wisman station drive i had my notes and then i lost them so i'm gonna have

to try to remember um so one of the issues is the speed limits on those roadways so on dana

on villa and on california looking at google maps and trying to determine what the speed limits are

it looks like they're between 25 and 35.

I know that when I drive along there, which is unusual and rare,

but when I do it, I'm bringing it down to about 15 miles an hour.

I don't feel comfortable going any faster through there.

So I'd like consideration for that.

And that came from the BPAC to bring the speed limits down,

or at least look at them.

And I would certainly like them far lower than what they are right now.

those intersections are just too narrow and small on scale to allow cars to go through much faster

than that. There was a comment in the BPAC meeting about ADA ramps and that they oftentimes go off

at weird 45 degree angles and don't really go in the direction of where the subsequent

walkway is going to be. And I think sometimes that's done because of space constraints and so

on, but as much as possible, have those ADA ramps go straight along the way would be great.

And I'm also strongly in favor of doing something with that California intersection, that roundabout,

putting a nice big native tree like an oak there. It's kind of a gateway for our city,

and that would be a great presence to have in that location. Some cities do that. They

specifically put large trees in their key intersections like that. It'd be a very nice

touch in an area that's lacking in trees. That's what I remember that I wanted to say. Thanks.

You were just, and that was Alaska.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

Thanks.

That's it.

One more.

Mary Daniel.

Hi.

Actually just had a few questions,

especially since traffic poles are long leave time items.

I was wondering about whether it's really necessary

to add more buttons

or if the same thing could be accomplished by having a timer at the intersections that just

allowed for pedestrian crossings on a rather frequent basis or having a camera sensor to

to trip it for pedestrians rather than having to run a bunch of wires and put new poles in.

And I don't know if that would be a significant savings or not.

I love the idea of an oak tree in the traffic circle at California when you get to that.

And I want to second also the comment about having the ramps in the direction that the pedestrians are meant to go for ADA compliance.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

Yes.

Yes.

How many more are in the queue, please?

Just one more.

Okay.

Thank you.

Albert James.

Oh, Albert.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes.

Great.

Yeah, I confess this is the first time for the details of this project, but my question

is, you know, now you have like three crossings after three, why not just get rid of those

little fences there and just make it one wide crossing?

I was in Japan.

You're probably all familiar with the Shibuya Scramble.

It's this huge intersection.

Five streets are coming together.

And at one point, all the cars stop and everybody can cross.

They don't need buttons in the middle of the street.

They don't need a lot of extra signals.

Everybody just knows.

When pedestrian signal goes on, you can go anywhere you want.

And that's the case here now too, because you can essentially cross Castro

if you wanted to, going diagonally across.

So why not make that possible and simplify things instead of having little fences and extra buttons and all that kind of stuff?

So that's just my suggestion and immediate reaction.

Thanks a lot.

Well, let's jump on that.

Why can't we just make it a scramble?

It's not that big of an intersection.

Oh, so there is a balance here between openness and safety.

I think there's been some ongoing discussions at the staff level that we're recognizing that Castro, like a lot of other locations, is a potential target for somebody who's a malicious actor.

So having bollards is a protective element.

How would that prevent people to scramble everybody to process that one time?

My understanding from the question was specific to opening up the whole thing, including the bollards.

Okay, my question is, forget the bollards.

You can just do a scramble and people will figure out how they're getting across.

I know that our traffic group considered that.

I'm going to look over to Joseph to see if he has an answer for that, because I can't remember.

If I can try.

Who are you again?

Again, Ed Arango, Assistant Public Works Director.

The way that we've developed the concept is effectively a scramble.

When the pedestrians have the green to go, all vehicle traffic will be stopped on the side streets.

So it'll effectively serve as a scramble, which means that pedestrians will be able to go in any direction, north, south, or from one side.

Diagonal, yeah, okay.

Yeah, we're just trying to put clear indicators with the signalized pedestrian elements to show that where those pedestrians are already walking down the center of the ped mall and as well as the sidewalks, that it's just a natural progression for them to be able to push a button there and then keep going.

But they could cross diagonally across the intersections they choose.

But then why do we need eight holes to push the button if we just figure out when button makes it a scramble for everybody?

Why do we have to have somebody? Well, we're getting away from push buttons, aren't we? Scanning that, waving it again.

It's for the people who are walking down the ped mall down the middle of the street, right?

So they don't have to go to the corners to wave their hand to indicate that the traffic signal will allow them the green to cross.

So they can stay in the middle, wave their hand over a push button in the middle, and then continue down the middle.

So we're accommodating people from walking 10 to 15 feet to push the button.

We are encouraging pedestrian activity up and down the 100, 200, and 300 blocks and free movement throughout those blocks.

Okay.

I just had a question.

Somebody wanted speed bumps, but I don't think public safety would like speed bumps in that area.

So, do you have your thoughts?

So, speed bumps are one tool.

We can certainly evaluate it.

I think that evaluation is post-project.

Some of the elements that we're putting in here with the bulb outs are already going to be in traffic calming.

But you have public safety who's trying to get there in a somewhat quick way, and just that would be an unnecessary.

So, okay, that's fair. Any questions? Then we'll go to comments.

Do we just have comments?

Oh, I guess so.

Oh, you mean our comments?

Our comments.

Oh, I have our comments. I thought you meant more public.

No, we have public who's included.

Should I start commenting? Okay, you asked for it.

So I'm, again, even more than the last one, a little uncomfortable with how fast this is going.

This is the center of our town, and I've seen other, when we did the previous, I was on the IHOP committee.

I should start with, I fully support the idea of enabling people to cross down the middle of the street, and I support a lot of the configuration.

But I feel like there's a design element that is lacking.

And so I've seen other pedestrian malls where kind of the, sometimes they call it street furniture.

I feel that the fencing, it's not my favorite around the tables, but it's interim and it's what's available on the market.

But for fences, I just think this is kind of suboptimal and not appropriate for a downtown.

And I've seen, for example, on California Street, and I'm not necessarily recommending this, but they have actually our downtown is nicer than theirs.

But in the on California Street, where it's car free, they have instead of Palo Alto, I'm sorry to interrupt.

Yes, it is Peloton. They have very large urns or vases with flowers in them. I mean,

as large as a human being that would stop cars. I think there are other choices that are better

than these. So I feel like some of the furnishings or trim are not appropriate for a downtown.

And I also think that the roundabout, I'm a little scared when we, I know we're not talking

about that necessarily now, but it was in the staff report. The current configuration,

this is our historic downtown, and the current configuration is the scale of, you know, a gridded

street. I'm a little afraid that it's going to be turned into something that you might put on

El Camino Real or a very car-oriented strip mall, kind of entering the freeway, kind of roundabout.

And that's not what I want to end up seeing here.

I don't want something that kind of, you know, takes over the sidewalks and is not appropriate for a small scale walkable window shopping, kind of the only place we have in town.

So I have a lot of fears about this and I think we're kind of rushing through it.

And I know that's probably not welcome comments, but that's how I think.

Thank you.

And I think we could spend less money and get something nicer.

I think we're focusing a lot on signalization and things that are not in a walkable area of town are not where we should be spending the money.

Mayor?

no i mean i think um i'm just absorbing the comments i think that

i think for me it's always like um the project before in this one we keep talking about interim

but i feel like how long is interim going to be and so i think um reflecting on your your comments

um committee member hicks it's like if it was interim then i think this is like the treatment's

appropriate right but i think that you're thinking how long will we be with this situation um in

kind of the heart of our downtown and i and i understand that and so i i think that that's where

for this is a little bit different do we know how long the interim is did i miss it sorry did i miss

it in here is it two years is it longer well six months and no no that's how long it's oh yeah

The permanent Ped Mall project is on the unscheduled list, so it does not have a time frame.

I last talked to Pat Berg.

He's the last person, council member I talked to in Palo Alto.

And he said they have a regular designer that they go to who picks out their street furniture.

And I just think we need something like that.

Not to disrespect anybody, I wouldn't want to pick out the street furniture.

It's not my job.

I'm not trained in that.

And I think we need someone who does that. And I think it's pretty easy to get, but we don't have that.

Is that under preview of public works? Wouldn't that be more of development?

I think what you're asking for are almost like downtown, like almost creation of like a downtown standards. Right.

And this is our first project. So what I'm hearing you say is that you want the certain amenities that we can control within the project to be, I don't know, sophisticated, the right word, more sophisticated than maybe what's shown on the plans.

um what we do have here are um concepts i think if you know we were to get some sort of recommendation

to um have the design team re-evaluate some of these elements or something that's more you know

statuesque or whatever the right word is it's like more suitable to a downtown it's an abrupt end

Right. So we just talked about what we're going to be doing for, you know, what will hopefully become our grade separated transit center.

And it'll be really, I think, a really great opportunity for placemaking.

A couple of years ago, we got to see the public art and then to go and end here at this at this rendering.

I can I would say it feels just abrupt. I wouldn't call it.

I like the idea of continuing the traffic flow, but I hear what you're saying.

It's all engineered well.

Yeah.

I mean, you all did your jobs really well, but it's just the design element.

So I think I'll go forward and I'll make a recommendation that we approve the staff recommendation

with maybe an opportunity to have further discussions

with the design team on some elements

to create a little bit more urban pedestrian mall vibe.

Sense of place.

Yeah.

So that'll be my recommendation.

Okay.

And I do think that's good feedback for us

to talk about downtown design standards

and maybe that's part of the precise one.

Is that a recommendation or a motion?

It's a motion, I just said.

Oh, no.

I second that.

Okay, I got it.

And we have a second.

I'm a seconder.

Okay, discussion?

You forwarded my chat?

Okay, I'll then get a chance, so.

I'm concerned that there's a lot of moving parts with downtown, and I'd hate to spend

money on a design unless it was a comprehensive design, so that we spend money once.

for what we get and that it stays so and even though it's interim i don't want to you know so

i would just want to spend our money wisely and so i don't mind standards but let's get a good

concept of where it's going to fit in the whole part so if people are doing parts it's blended in

so that's what i i'd like to see if we can figure out how to reduce the number of buttons if you

you know, with a scramble or whatever.

People are going AI and would love to see us pilot some cameras of AI.

They are being done well in other parts,

so potentially that could be a good place to do it so that you can pick up people.

So we would be, this clarify that this would be an on-demand street crossing

and not a synchronicity, I mean, a cycle crossing.

It takes time. Correct. I will say I have tried the cameras for pedestrians in another place.

It was a couple of years ago, did not end up working well. There's a lot of shadows and things,

you know, cats and stuff running by, you know, that just sort of catch the attention of a camera

and, you know, cameras for vehicles work fine because vehicles are big and large and they

actually stop there waiting

for something, a pedestrian.

Sometimes they're moving around.

They're not always static.

So just a caution that

technology may

not be there.

If you can find a way.

If we're trying to reduce clutter,

no offense to it,

this is going to be eight poles

and I don't expect them

that it could be

smaller.

But still, if we could figure out

how it went.

Save some money and make it not so cluttered.

Okay, ladies?

Yeah.

Did you get my neck cluttered and try to clean it up?

Okay, standards.

I'm sure if you can reduce clutter, that's...

Well, that's what I mean.

If we had all those holes...

If there's a way to do it, sure.

Okay.

And I think somebody wanted to put a statue of Washington in the center there.

I think that was...

Or a water fountain.

That's not...

So for the benefit of the committee, the center of that circle in California has a sewer manhole, which means there's four intersecting sewer lines that go into that area.

So I can't promise.

Perfect for the water tree.

I can't promise.

Okay.

That's right.

So everybody, Ed, any comments?

You're there?

Good?

Okay.

Okay, I have a motion on the table. It's been seconded. All in favor say aye, raise your hand. Aye.

Okay, motion passes unanimously with various comments about standardized and efficiency.

I'll see it on a little neck leather.

Yes.

And the money would be good.

Okay.

Next item.

We go to 5.3?

No, 5.3.

Okay.

We're out.

Oh.

Oh, we're at 5.2?

No.

No, we finished 5.2.

Oh, 5.2.

Oh, we're done.

Okay.

We're at item number six.

Six.

But 6.1 is staff comments, and I don't have staff comments.

so we can go to six tips six two okay I have some comments for you guys and

these are observations this is for you this is for you this is for you you

probably know what I want okay these are just I want people to let you have one

for everybody yeah you want to come by sure thank you you guys are familiar

with this stuff. Okay, that's one page. Go with this page. Okay. I'm not an engineer, but I,

so I just want to bring this to your attention to look at how things are, are we over engineering?

Are we just, so this is Franklin and sleeper Franklin. And if you count the poles, there are

10 poles that you see here, and this is just to make, and you turn left. So there's 10 poles there.

I am working with the director and they are reviewing it.

They were very open-minded when they were...

The trail engine.

Yeah, the trail engine.

And so you can see arrows are going in multiple directions.

But they were helpful.

This is down Franklin.

Now you go and you look at it from sleeper, you see a lot of more poles.

You went too far.

That's at night time.

There you go.

So it's just, I'm looking at these things.

Can we do things a little, I mean, if you have to do them by the law, fine.

If you can do them a little different.

This is the, there's a night picture of where they sort of flash at you.

Again, it gives you a little more context.

So we're seeing that.

And then the last one, again, I'm just talking about Sleeper and Grant.

We were talking about, I'm talking about efficiency.

You'll see two green lines on the thing there.

And you will see those are two crosswalks coming across.

I'm working with the director to help better understand what's being built here.

But it...

Orient, orient, please.

Where are we?

Here, this is...

It's going on the road.

This is Grant Road, and this is Sleeper.

So this project's been in the work for eight years.

Oh, I'm facing the park.

You're facing the park.

You're facing north.

I'm on sleeper crossing Grant.

You're on sleeper facing across, yeah.

And you can see the green line is where they have two crosswalks at piers.

And for reference, I took the director's input and put PD1 on there.

So that there was any kind of page.

This is sweep.

So you're going to cross to Grant.

So this is the West of Park.

Yeah.

So that's what she's...

So the point I'm trying to get on both of these is, is there a way to be efficient, safety, and bringing things at a more reasonable cost so that we can get our roads paved and our downtown set up?

So I don't think you guys would have seen this or think about, but just bring it to the, when you look at something, you go, wow.

And I don't want to say the phrase over-engineer because I don't know what over-engineering means.

And please forgive me for using that phrase. But but if you look at this diagram, there's a I asked a new question to you, too.

But this is going to there's a lot of traffic on Grant Road if you ever go down Grant Road.

And it's very congested from about 830 to nine and 330 to four or now.

So this is going to affect traffic tremendously. And is it going to be is this going to be a signal?

This is a new signalized intersection.

Correct.

So you're going to have Grant Road and Cuesta.

This is going to be a signal and then a signal at Unis.

This is a new signalized intersection.

Pedestrian hybrid.

This is a hybrid peak.

So it's pedestrian activated.

So will one be pedestrian and one will be a traffic signal?

That's okay.

Please.

Name again?

If I'm hearing you correctly, you're talking about the Grant-Sleeper intersection.

Yes.

The intent is to put in a pedestrian hybrid beacon.

Yes.

So we've seen Caltrans recently install those on El Camino.

I'm familiar with that.

So it's not a full signalized traditional intersection.

It's a pedestrian hybrid.

Okay, so it's not a signal.

But you're going to have two of those crossing the street?

Because I saw four foundations on the corner.

So there's crosswalks that are going to be crossing Grant?

Yeah, two.

Two of them.

And so we're going to have a signalized infrastructure to allow the pedestrian to push a button,

activate the pedestrian hybrid beacon, and then cross one if they're...

But why do you need two crosswalks?

Through the evaluation of these intersections.

So this, as you know, has a lot of history.

We went through a study.

As part of the concept plan, we received feedback.

And we went through BPAC and CTC that originally was just going to be a southerly lake crossing, not a northerly lake crossing.

And there was a request to allow for bike.

so the sleeper

westbound sleeper approaching Grant

bicycle movement

to allow that bicycle movement to cross Grant

and have an ability to push a button

and get across Grant as a bicyclist

without having to make that extra leg

that extra leg is mean

the 20 feet to get to the other side

going southbound on sleeper

and then crossing of the southern leg

correct

and so that was the request

And so staff incorporated it.

And through the...

Who requested that?

That was requested, I believe it was through BPAC and CTC.

And then as we evaluated it through the design, recognizing the importance of a pedestrian,

again, leaning on the Vision Zero, another conflict point for pedestrians to cross Sleeper

and then cross Grant and Caterpillar.

And we were putting a crossing for bike across the northerly crossing anyway,

introducing a crosswalk for pedestrians there made sense.

Will it be data collected as this project goes forward

to see how many people actually use the bikes and bikes?

We can do that.

We are already collecting data for the vehicle movement.

Again, if you remember, there's a lot of history on this project.

The westbound sleeper approaching Grant,

turning left onto Grant southbound.

So we're restricting that movement.

Vehicles will no longer be able to do that.

we didn't put those as permanent improvements we didn't put it as a concrete improvements in the

median we did sort of this rubber curve delineators which are the the white yellow posts that you see

the plastic ones and other signage um to allow us to collect data post construction to identify how

that's going so that way we can report back to the committees and commissioners and identify

what we recommend going full because if you're restricting the left turn lane you're going to

encourage people to use the south crosswalk versus the night night as north one

so you can't okay you're coming off a sleeper you can't make a left turn correct so therefore

there will be less activity and it's safer to be on the south crosswalk because everybody's

going to be those who can make a right okay and so there's an additional movement though you would

have to come and cross sleeper but there's a conflict point there and then cross grant yeah

but okay that's when i'm asking if you could review that conflict point of crossing from the

north side of sleeper to the south side of sleeper i don't it's going to be interesting because i'm

again i'm concerned about the traffic is just outrageous uh i mean pretty good and uh there

was a was a no u-turns considered uh for people coming down southbound on grant to do a u-turn

there because right now you can was there any consideration about putting down no u-turns there

i don't remember any um feedback that we received regarding no u-turns no i'm just asking can it

I don't recall that being a discussion item.

It wasn't a discussion item.

Okay.

Just because that, if with all this others going on, somebody does a U-turn, it's going to bobble naked a little more.

That's all I'm discussing.

So I'm just showing you things that when we get up there and I'll say, hey, blah, blah, blah, you're aware that maybe there are options out there.

Want comments on your comments?

Please comment on my comments.

If your comment is that sometimes there's a lot of visual cacophony, I think having children cacophony, like lots of stuff out there to watch.

Cacophony, okay.

To watch.

It's like tomato tomato.

Maybe he knows in other present.

I never knew that I'm pronouncing it wrong.

No, no, no.

No, I think that it can sometimes make it difficult to drive and less safe.

And I particularly experience that when I teach kids to drive and they're like so many signs to read.

So, yes, I think keep an eye on visual cacophony.

I learned a word.

Thank you.

I understand.

And then we already talked about the e-bikes.

that I'd like to get us to make sure that we on this committee grab it and then champion it forward

because you're on the youth advisory board right so that would be a good place to talk

it and say hey what foods you have. Okay anything else for you?

Thank you for the input.

Thank you for

getting through this.

Thank you.

I appreciate you guys listening to

slings. I mean, this could be throughout the city.

I mean, we know we're looking at

California Street. People are going, what's going

on a minute early?

Oh, one other incident.

I think I mentioned it to you.

There was a big truck making

a delivery on El Camino.

and he had to take up a lane

to do delivery because the bike lanes

would not allow him to get into the commercial spot

that he was going for.

So that's something that we're going to be living with.

So saying no more, I adjourn this meeting

until the next one that will be

March the 3rd, 2026.

This meeting is adjourned at 9.05.

Thank you.