City of Belmont

A geographically named 4 Corners Working Group was convened as a multi-jurisdictional committee to recommend solutions to various traffic concerns involving pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular circulation issues through the Alameda de las Pulgas/San Carlos Avenue corridor in the vicinity of Carlmont High School and Tierra Linda Middle School.

Click on the buttons below for additional corridor study information.

Thanks to the hard work and concerted efforts of citizens, city staff, and consultants, the Alameda de las Pulgas/San Carlos Avenue Corridor Study and Transportation Improvements Four Corners Traffic Study was unanimously approved by Belmont City Council as a Corridor Context Sensitive Plan on February 9, 2016. View City Council Documents below.

Staff Report

Resolution

Council Meeting

Four Corners Traffic Study

The working group includes staff and elected members of the Cities of Belmont and City of San Carlos, the Sequoia Union High School District, and the San Carlos School District.

In the corridor area, Alameda de Las Pulgas and San Carlos Avenue serve as the main thoroughfares for residents heading to retail destinations in San Carlos and Belmont, as well as regional destinations on Highway 101 and Interstate 280. The corridor is also heavily used by commuters from Belmont and San Carlos heading to their employment destinations or the Caltrain stations in each city.

During the school year, the corridor is heavily congested in the area due to traffic accessing Carlmont High School, Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Charles Armstrong School, and Tierra Linda Middle School. In the AM peak hour, southbound queues on Alameda de Las Pulgas extend from Carlmont Drive to 500 feet east of Dartmouth Avenue, while northbound queues extend from Dartmouth Avenue to nearly Carlmont Drive. 

The four agencies have entered into a memorandum of understanding and are working with a qualified Traffic Engineering consultant to conduct a study of this area. The consultant’s scope of work consists of data collection, review and analysis, alternatives/options development and public outreach. Options/alternatives will include: options for traffic (bicycles and cars) circulation; pedestrian circulation; and parking within the public right of way and on both school campuses. Alternatives will also include: consideration of alternative school entrances/exits, traffic control measures for the corridor and side streets; and alternatives for improving transit through the corridor.

The consultant began work in early March by collecting relevant data in the corridor, and on Tuesday, 4/8/14, City staff and the consultant team meet with the Carlmont High School staff and San Carlos school district officials to evaluate pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular circulation issues through the Alameda de las Pulgas/San Carlos Avenue corridor in the vicinity of these schools. The same group conducted a walking audit to identify barriers, challenges and opportunities to improve the safe operation within the corridor.