Parking improvements offered to North Central | Local News | smdailyjournal.com – San Mateo Daily Journal

Mitigation measures for North Central San Mateo residents affected by the removal of 200 parking spots to add bike lanes are ongoing, with overnight parking programs and red curbs for driveways seeing significant neighborhood interest amid further city action.

The city in July started its pilot King Center Overnight Parking program to help reduce parking congestion. The city issued 17 of 30 free permits in July to residents to provide parking in an off-street lot between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., with permits available monthly on a first-come, first-served basis. City staff said some cars have remained in the lot beyond the time limit, but police warnings have led to compliance. The city is also close to completing the evaluation and installation of 12 on-street accessible parking spots for eligible neighborhood residents with a current ADA placard or hangtag. It has also completed the painting of close to 108 red curbs for driveways in the neighborhood at no cost. A driveway entrance program allowing some residents to park parallel on the street in front of their driveways has seen little interest.

Staff also conducted a neighborhood survey about offering residential parking permits lasting from June to July 8. The survey was available online, and a mailed copy was sent to 3,000 households in the neighborhood. The city received 588 survey responses and is analyzing the data. Staff intends to return to the City Council in the fall with survey findings and permit program options for consideration. Public Works Director Azalea Mitch said the city is developing better ways to assess and make clear the public impacts of projects early in the planning process in light of the resident resistance to the Bike Lanes Project. Sustainability and Infrastructure Commissioner Adam Loraine was looking forward to the survey results to get a better understanding to improve parking issues for North Central residents.

Im hoping that these options are helping North Central residents and this project is working better for them, Loraine said.

The North Central Bike Lanes Project removed 200 spaces to bring in a bicycle boulevard and bicycle lanes on Humboldt Street and bicycle lanes on Poplar and Indian avenues to connect to the recently completed North San Mateo Drive project. It received significant resistance from neighborhood residents because of the parking loss in an already crowded neighborhood, with the city agreeing to significant parking mitigation measures to offset the loss. The high-priority project identified in the citys bicycle master plan is vital to improving connectivity to the east side of San Mateo through a west-east connection. The project would also reduce the citys carbon footprint, improve safety and likely reduce the risk and frequency of future collisions by removing bicyclists from shared lanes. From 2017 to 2021, there were 11 bicycle-involved collisions on the project corridor and 30 in the neighborhood.

The citys ongoing paving projects will also add bicycle infrastructure in early 2023, like a bicycle boulevard on Sunnybrae Boulevard from South Delaware Street to South Amphlett Boulevard, a class two bike lane on South Humboldt Street from Fifth to Ninth avenues, and a bicycle boulevard on Fifth Avenue. The citys ongoing paving projects will also add bicycle infrastructure in early 2023, like a bicycle boulevard on Sunnybrae Boulevard from South Delaware Street to South Amphlett Boulevard, a class two bike lane on South Humboldt Street from Fifth to Ninth avenues, and a bicycle boulevard on Fifth Avenue from South Delaware Street to South Amphlett Boulevard, according to a staff report. The city has also been awarded funding for design and environmental review for a bike lane on 28th Avenue from Edison Street to El Camino Real to connect the existing bicycle boulevard, along with bike lanes and boulevard along Delaware Street south of Bermuda Drive for school kids.

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Parking improvements offered to North Central | Local News | smdailyjournal.com - San Mateo Daily Journal