The City of East Palo Alto invites you to attend several upcoming meetings to learn more about the Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bicycle Overcrossing Project. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build an alternative crossing to University Avenue will provide a safe, direct connection for active travel between schools, commercial areas, and the city's densest residential neighborhoods. After conducting outreach and analysis earlier this year, the City has identified a preferred overcrossing location in the vicinity of Newell Road/Clarke Avenue next to the Gateway 101 Shopping Center (see flier attached).
Input from the upcoming meetings will be used to help inform the design of the bridge alignment, landing areas, and key approaches as the City looks to identify a preferred alignment and begin the environmental review process. Topics to be discussed include: potential parking, circulation, and property impacts; aesthetics (visual impacts); sustainability components; public safety; and project cost/funding. Please help by spreading the word to you neighbors and colleagues, and coming to one or more of the meetings with your ideas!
Public Meeting #1
What: Woodland Park Neighborhood Open House
When: Tuesday, December 11, 7-8:30pm
Where: 45/55 Newell Road, East Palo Alto (behind Woodland Park Apartments leasing area and pool; space is limited)
Public Meeting #2
What: Citywide Public Workshop
When: Sunday, December 16, 3-4:30pm
Where:St. Francis of Assisi Church
1425 Bay Road, East Palo Alto
Spanish language interpretation services will be provided at both events. Light refreshments will be served at the citywide open house.
To stay informed of the latest project materials and information, please visit www.eastpaloalto101.org. For questions about the upcoming meetings, please reply to this email or call 510-540-5008 x113. For all other project correspondence, please email bswain@cityofepa.org or kfallaha@cityofepa.org.
Project Background:
The City of East Palo Alto Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bicycle Overcrossing Project includes feasibility study, public outreach, environmental analysis, and preliminary design for a new non-motorized bridge over Highway 101. The project is identified as a top priority in the City's 2011 Bicycle Transportation Plan (and in the 2012 Ravenswood City School District Safe Routes to School Report), and is funded by a grant from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority. Funding for full design and construction of the facility has not yet been identified. Final design of the bridge structure will have to be reviewed and approved by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in addition to the East Palo Alto City Council and commissions.
Existing non-motorized access across Highway 101 is provided solely by a narrow sidewalk on the north side of University Avenue and limited bicycle facilities shared with heavy traffic. For more in-depth coverage of the current conditions on the University Ave bridge, and a preview of alignments and designs under consideration for the proposed overcrossing, see recent articles by Bryan Goebel at Streetsblog SF: :http://sf.streetsblog.org/2012/11/05/east-palo-alto-begins-design-proces...