Honorable Members of City Council,

  I am writing regarding an agenda item on the April 1, 2008 meeting agenda. This item has to do with approval of encroachment permits for the redevelopment of the Oak Knoll School. I have read David Roise's letters regarding the topic, and I am in agreement with him that the transportation solution proposed is inappropriate and will likely compromise safety.

   I have already written to school officials on this topic, when the "extended dropoff lane" was first proposed. At that time, I noted how the proposed new flow of traffic creates new hazards for vehicles, and especially pedestrians and cyclists. I can provide copies of my argument at that time in a separate message, if you request.

   I have been a dedicated bicycle commuter for 17 years, making a 20- mile round trip from Menlo Park to Mountain View several times a week. Other days, I drive a car, like many other commuters. I can tell you with great confidence that when you are traveling on a bicycle, at cycling speeds, you get to see events unfold more clearly than you do in a car traveling 35 miles per hour with the radio on. I have observed many different traffic situations during my years of bicycle commuting. All this is to say that I am not engaging in a thought experiment, or some intellectual armchair argument regarding the situation. It is based on actual observation, and creation of viable hypothesis based on experience.

   It is foolish to believe that motor vehicles in the "extended dropoff lane" will behave in an orderly fashion and wait for the vehicles in front of them to leave before they leave. It is much more likely that once children have been dropped off from a particular car, that driver will pull out of the line, to the left, and pass other vehicles in the "extended dropoff lane", creating a hazardous situation. This was the basis of my argument to the school when the "extended dropoff lane" was first proposed. Please imagine a lane of cars now randomly pulling out of a slow-moving lane, to pass other vehicles still dropping off children. (Should you believe this is too much speculation on my part, I invite you to visit the Castilleja School on Bryant Street in Palo Alto during school dropoff in the morning. You will see very clearly the situation I describe.) Add to this already dangerous mix the now-ubiquitous cell phones, and you see a dangerous traffic situation.

  And what is directly in front of this dangerous traffic situation? A small, highly condensed area of pedestrians and bicycle riders, all trying to enter the premises through a very small portal at the edge of the property. I am also concerned that the ADA-compliant curb cuts proposed at that crosswalk will prove insufficient to accommodate the funneled pedestrians, cyclists, and strollers during peak hours. The ADA standard is designed to accommodate a wheelchair, not a multitude of pedestrians, cyclists, and strollers all arriving at the same time. The curb cut should be at least double-wide.

   In summary, I believe that the most of the proposed improvements to the Oak Knoll School are terrific, and will substantially enhance the capability of the school and the experience of the students. I strongly support most of the improvements proposed in the Oak Knoll plan. I also believe that the transportation plans provided as part of those improvements are unsuitable and insufficient to represent both the commute demographic of the students and parents, and create new traffic hazards for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. I recommend that the improvements be improved conditionally, with the traffic plan being revisited and revised to a safer, more appropriate plan for all of the Oak Knoll community.

David Alfano
Kenwood Drive
Menlo Park Received on Tue Apr 1 11:07:27 2008