Alameda de las Pulgas/San Carlos Ave Corridor Study

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OVERVIEW | TRAFFIC STUDIES | MEETINGS & UPDATES | GET INVOLVED

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 staff report and resolution. View video

Overview

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.

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.

Members:	Belmont City Council	Charles Stone Doug Kim
	San Carlos School Board	Kathleen Farley
	San Carlos City Council	Ron Collins (Chair) Bob Grassilli
	Sequoia Union High School District	Carrie Du Bois Alan Sarver

What is the Study?

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.

Background

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.

RalstonCorridorStudy

OVERVIEW | STUDY MAPS | MEETINGS & UPDATES | GET INVOLVED

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Ralston Corridor Study Overview

The Ralston Avenue Corridor Study and Improvements Project was a 2012/13 Belmont City Council Priority project. The City Council through their priority setting process acknowledged the need for a context-sensitive redesign of the roadway to not only improve service for existing users but to also effectuate a preferred future.

Thanks to the hard work and concerted efforts of citizens, city staff, and consultants, the Ralston Avenue Corridor Study and Transportation Improvements Plan was unanimously approved by Belmont City Council as a Corridor Context Sensitive Plan on August 26, 2014. View staff report and resolution. View video

What is the study?
Ralston Avenue is an east-west divided arterial and a major thoroughfare that extends from State Route 92 in the west to U.S. Highway 101 in the east. The cross section varies from four lanes at its western end to two lanes at/near Alameda De Las Pulgas; and, again widens back to four lanes near Twin Pines Park and City Hall. Ralston Avenue is a unique and distinctive corridor in the region. This distinctive character of Ralston is due to the varying degrees of urban setting, cross-section and topography, which can be experienced as one travels through the corridor.

The purpose of the study is to determine the adequacy of the corridor for multi-modal use including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, and vehicles under existing and future conditions, and to develop context sensitive transportation alternatives to improve multi-modal use along the corridor.

As this corridor is diverse in pedestrian activity, traffic patterns and community character, the corridor has been broken into three distinct segments:

Area 1 (Downtown) – Highway 101 to South Road
Area 2 (Middle Segment) – South Road to Alameda de las Pulgas
Area 3 (Western Segment) – Alameda de las Pulgas to Highway 92

By breaking the corridor down, the community and project team can focus on the specific issues within that area. As the project progresses, the concepts developed for each area will be blended to create a comprehensive plan for improving access and mobility along the entire corridor.

Background
City staff worked with the consultant to create a scope of work that will meet the City’s needs and available budget. The consultant team will work with the community to solicit their input, perform detailed analysis to assess existing transportation conditions and projected 2030 conditions, develop concepts, evaluate alternatives, formulate a refined conceptual design plan, estimate the cost of concepts, and put forth a project implementation plan. The primary components of the work program were divided into three phases:

Phase I – Data collection, and community outreach meetings/workshops with residents, business owners, schools and stakeholders (Council and Planning Commission among others);

Phase II – Mobility assessments and identifying issues along the corridor based on the collected data and Council/community outreach meetings/workshops, develop draft alternatives and draft budget;

Phase III – (NOT AUTHORIZED, PENDING COUNCIL APPROVAL OF PHASE II REPORT) Develop final alternatives, short term and long term capital improvement projects, associated budgets and funding strategies.