April 5, 2008
 
From:  COLEMANTRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
 
To:      San
  Mateo County 

            Menlo
  Park City Council
            AthertonCity Council

            Menlo
  Park School District
 
 
 
Re: COLEMAN AVENUE TASK FORCE

 
 
 Dear members of theColeman task force,
 
In November 2007, Laurel parents ran a petition that collected 411signatures supporting the proposed road improvements on Coleman, as part of theSafe Routes to school study.  Unfortunately, Coleman had to be droppedfrom the Grant application. 
 
6 months later, we are stillbiking or walking down Coleman, on our way to school.  Our goalis not to run a petition this time but to express our expectations. We hope you will, hopefully before next school year, take action to improve the safetyof a road heavily used by elementary school children.

 
Sincerely,
 
The Coleman committee, 
  

Please find below our Statement. We've attached a Word document with scanned signatures.


PS: Link to the November 2007COLEMAN PETITION: http://www.petitiononline.com/MP94025/petition.html

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TO:     San Mateo County Supervisors
            Menlo Park City Council
            Atherton City Council
            Menlo Park City School
  District
 
DATE: April2008
FROM: ColemanTraffic Safety Committee
 
SUBJECT: Coleman Avenue
 
Who we are: The Coleman Traffic Safety Committee is a group of parents,
with children at Laurel, Encinal,Menlo-Atherton High and Hillview. Our children bike or walk to school onColeman.  Our children live in the MenloOaks, Seminary Oaks and Willows neighborhoods. 
 
Our goal: We want Coleman
  Avenue to be a safer biking and walking route
for Laurel students and
for the many more Encinal and Menlo-Atherton students who arrive at School via Coleman
  Avenue. 
In particular, no child should be driven to Laurel School because theirparent feels that a car is the only way to get them there safely. 
 
Background: In 2006, the Menlo Park City Council, with Mickie Winkler
as mayor, approved the 2007-08 funding of a Safe Routes to School study for Laurel Elementary
  School. Because the majority of Laurel School students are Menlo Park residents, Menlo Park stepped in to
study Safe Routes to Laurel School, even though
most of these routes are located in Atherton or within unincorporated areas of San Mateo County.  We
thank Menlo Park for listening to our concerns and being the first to
undertake a multi-jurisdictional study to improve the safety of our routes to
school.
 
Menlo Park hired
Kimley-Horn consultants who could best handle a multi-jurisdictional project.
Based on their input, a steering committee was formed that invited all
transportation department representatives from San Mateo County, Atherton,
and Menlo Park, as well as
the School district and the Menlo Oaks district association to participate. The
consultants surveyed parents and held 6 steering committee meetings and 3
public meetings. They identified 20+ areas to request road improvements, such
as re-striping and lighting of existing crosswalks, new crosswalks, parking
limitations and curves. They also identified Coleman
  Avenue as a main corridor for Laurel School traffic thatneeds major safety improvements. And they conducted surveys to ascertain thatmany of the parents who live within 1/4 - 2 miles of Laurel School andcurrently drive along Coleman Avenue would, indeed, be interested in walking orbiking if the route along Coleman Avenue were safer.
 
The
consultants drafted several possibilities that would make Coleman
  Avenue bike- and pedestrian-friendly. 16
residents on Coleman Avenue signed a
petition that opposed any change. But another petition that supported
improvements on Coleman Avenue gathered over400 signatures in 4 days from residents who 
 
Page 1 of 4
alsolive in the Menlo Oaks neighborhood plus residents in the Willlows and SeminaryOaks neighborhoods.  Sadly enough, whenit came time to file a Safe Routes to School grant application in December2007, the consultants advised that we should only include improvements forwhich there was unanimous support, so all concerns for Coleman
  Avenue were omitted. Following this, electedofficials from the jurisdictions involved decided to pull together a taskforce. 
 
Thank you to
the task force for meeting, and for wishing to improve Coleman Avenue.
 
To this end,
we would like to see the following actions take place:
 
We ask that the County of San Mateo grant Safe Routes to School     projects exceptional status, thus giving first priority to provide     for and protect the safety and health of public school children.  
We ask that the task force
     immediately focus its efforts on making Coleman Avenue safe for the daily
     walking and cycling use of children, primarily aged 5- 8 years old. Our
     children are still biking and walking in the mud, on a street with no
     sidewalk or bike lane, attempting to “share the road” with cars, SUVs and
     vans (many of them also commuting to Laurel School), as     well as large trucks that serve the neighborhood. We would like to see     improvements by the beginning of the next school year.  
We ask that the task force pursue
     the multi-use bike/pedestrian path as drafted by Kimley-Horn, based on the
     following observations: 
The multi-use path narrows the
      existing roadway, reducing speeding, while keeping Coleman Avenue as a 2-way street.  
It creates a green median between
      the cars and the path, thus keeping the rural feel of Coleman
        Avenue.  
The multi-use path is set in the
      public right-of-way of Coleman residents. At no time does it encroach
      into private property. The consultants conducted a
      thorough study on Coleman Avenue to      identify and inventory any problem trees, poles, hydrants, set-backs, or      landscaping. The multi-use path would require the trimming of bushes that      are currently 5-6 feet wide, and one decaying tree plus three younger      trees that are growing at a diagonal with the road would need to be      removed. We would consider these trees a loss for our community, but with      the overriding gain of green savings through fresh air and less vehicular      traffic.  And we respectfully      remind the committee that in the past few years, the Menlo Oaks neighborhood      has overseen dozens of trees, including heritage trees, cut down for the      construction of new homes. 
Page 2 of 4
 A separate path best protects our      elementary-school age children, as it provides a space distinct      from vehicular traffic. We request that our Coleman Avenue neighbors beclosely consulted regarding the treatment of any driveways that intersect themulti-use path.
 
We ask the County of San Mateo to identify designated parking
      areas for Coleman residents. We are aware that the multi-use      path removes some of the current street parking options. The contiguous      Seminary Oaks neighborhood has the same situation, and has designated      parking areas.  
We ask that the County of San Mateo employ equality in listening to
     all its residents. We feel that the petition from 16 residents on Coleman
       Avenue has been given more weight than     the petition from over 400 residents who also live in this county, and     many of whom also reside within the Menlo Oaks neighborhood. 
Fixing Coleman Avenue is the cornerstone of a culture change at Laurel School and beyond.
 
Parents shouldnot have to cite "safety" as their reason for driving to school:
It’s
time to end the practice whereby hundreds of kids are driven to Laurel School in cars eachday because their parents don't find the roadways leading to our public schoolsafe for walking and biking. Parents should nothave to choose between all thewonderful reasons to walk or bike and the compelling argument that a route isnot safe enough for walking or biking.
 
Please do your part, and work together to create and
safeguard a new generation of children who can safely bike and walk to school. 
 
 
The committee, 
 
Celine Sanie, 151 Arlington Way, (Menlo Oaks)
Marcia Beaver, 699 Central Ave, (Willows), 650-322-8869

Joanne Burkholder, 217 Lexington Dr, (Willows)
Laure Laprais, 154 Oak Court, (Willows), 650-327-5218

Carla Dewar, 511 Entrada Way, (Menlo Oaks) 650-322-0484

Paul Hammel, 890 Coleman Ave, (Menlo Oaks)
Alys Smith, 901 Berkeley Ave, (Menlo Oaks)
Pauline Burke, 510 Santa Margarita, (Seminary Oaks)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 






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application/msword attachment: COLEMAN_COMMITTEE_STATEMENT.doc