Re: Menlo Park City Council Meeting
7/15/08 - Agenda Item F2 ECR Phase II

Hon. Mayor and Council Members:

At the recent High Speed Rail Board Meeting its members had not decided on which stations would be used, (a slow-down to stop at Palo Alto or Redwood City) whether the additional rails would be on the east or west side of the present r.o.w. or whether negotiations with Union Pacific freightlines would be successful.

The Caltrain Corridor - its final choice - is owned by the three counties of San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara. However, south of San Jose it is U.P.
who owns the rail line.

HSR aside, Caltrain capital programs include electrification and grade separations with Rapid Rail to increase service to every few minutes.

We are being blindsided if we ignore Caltrain's impacts upon El Camino traffic and pollution. The Derry Project environmental impact report stated that residents would be exposed to train-related pollution as it is at present.
The O'Brien developers of the Derry Project have been required to dedicate 15' for extra rail and, with changes at the station itself. would be the only areas necessitating widening of the r.o.w. The present height of the embankment between Burgess and the Creek would be adequate to implement all plans.

A former home-working neighbor of mine moved from Woodside because of the constant disturbance of beeping trucks from construction taking place. As soon as she moved to the corner of Alma and Waverley she realized that all of the beeping trucks and construction noise of the Safeway project was invading our living quarters. She moved again. There is great turn-over at the tracks.

Any construction along El Camino will severely impact the residents. Furthermore, any tunnels in that area will bring unacceptable levels of traffic into Linfield Oaks. For decades we had the car dealers employees parking in the neighborhood and climbing the rail embankment to the other side with a nod and a wink from Menlo Park officials although this was illegal.

We can envision what will happen with a tunnel from the Safeway location and all future employees and visitors of new developments, including a new rail station at the end of Willow, Alma and its environs with numerous existing condos and apartments will become a major parking lot for access to El Camino due to inadequate parking on the King's Highway.

The last council put to rest the question of any further bicycle access until the railroad has finalized its plans for Ravenswood (there are already three bicycle bridges in M.P. - two of them in Linfield Oaks. East/west access should be tabled until the changes of embankments, electrification, catenaries, extra rails hetch-hetchy improvements and possibly HSR are determined.

The existing air and noise pollution of Caltrain is not compatible with unprotected citizens living, walking, bicycling or playing in its close proximity.
Wise people are already wearing hearing protection and should possibly be wearing lung protection.

A planning commissioner asked what were the "other" suggested land uses along ECR. Mine was for kiosks providing ear plugs/attenuators and gas masks for the unshielded residents. I wrote this at a workshop. Of course, it was not mentioned. The consultants not only didn't hear this but apparently chose not to see the writing on the wall.

It appears that if the council does not address the rail corridor problems and plans and begin to cooperate on safety and public health issues, some crossings will end up being closed completely.

The Public Utilities Commission has written letters of concern about the Ravenswood crossing and rail congestion and safety in every E.I.R of development in Linfield Oaks.

Traffic, including diesel trains, is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Until the idling and entrapment of vehicles on the traintracks, which is occurring on a regular basis, are addressed there is no hope for success in this envisioning process, including tunnels just for bicycles.

It is suggested that the city do a survey of the parents of schoolchildren who ostensibly need these tunnels. What parent is willing to send out children on bicycles to mingle with and cross El Camino Real in Menlo Park which is the most congested area of the city and destined to become much worse? I would not have endangered my son in this way and yet he was seriously ill when arriving at school on a bicycle from Linfield Oaks east of the rail due to a lungfull of diesel rumes from behind a school bus. Apart from the dangers of traffic our children need respirators and ear plugs to protect them - and then what will happen when they can't hear anything?

It will be a long time before it will be safe for children to take off on bikes alone, especially through tunnels where muggings and rapes abound and which are used as toilets.

Phase II of the ECR visioning process and the tunnel should be tabled until after the November election and all plans of regional rail are solidified. There are already too many committees, commissions and radical activists with their fingers in the pie and the situation is untenable.

Should city councilmembers who are purportedly not permitted to have their interests conflict with the overall public welfare be allowed to appoint numerous public activists with only their own self-interests to dictate how this city is run?.

Obviously this method is not working. For example the bicycle and transportation commissions, if any, should be one so that all transportation needs are met, including motorists, who pay most of the bills. Transportation commissioners were not invited to the first meeting with the consultant on the "tunnel". If bicyclists want to share the road they should share the costs and be licensed, tested and forced to follow the rules of the road to ensure the safety of all of us? Should we have a motorists' commission? - a pedestrian commission? Why an exclusive bicycle commission which is for the most part anti-motorist? If the bicyclist who raced across Santa Cruz Avenue on to the narrow sidewalk path by Peets and almost knocked me down, while cursing at me for being in his way, reads this I would suggest that he learn some manners and stop the pretense of advocating for little old ladies and schoolchildren.
.
In southern California there was a judgment against a city (I believe Dana Point) of something like $55m to two women who were injured in an accident.
The city was found to be negligent because their bicycle lanes were so wide that they gave the impression of a traffic lane. Have city officials checked this out on Willow and Laurel in Menlo Park? Let's put bicyclists in their place in accordance with the vehicle code and stop catering to their every whim. Now they don't want just one several million dollar tunnel, but many others in the 1+ mile length of MP.

Margaret Petitjean

attached mail follows:

http://www.sacbee.com/111/v-print/story/1082808.html Received on Tue Jul 15 12:11:26 2008