Political leaders call for Caltrans to act on El Camino hazards

The Chandler verdict was $9.5 million plus legal expenses. The cost of the Almendral beacon was $350K. If Caltrans had any forethought, they would have realized one tragic accident's verdict against them would have paid for all the needed beacons up and down El Camino. That's not even mentioning the lives and injuries saved. Caltrans decision to do nothing makes no sense from a safety nor financial standpoint.

Unfortunately, Caltrans thinks its entire job is making cars move faster. Pedestrian safety doesn't get addressed unless there are lawsuits. Atherton (and other cities) needs to sue Caltrans to get action on safer streets.

I have my doubts that a single pedestrian crossing light is going to stop pedestrians from getting hit. Cars go way too fast on El Camino and some percentage of them are going to say they didn't see the red light when they run it. Street safety has to start by lowering the speed limit and reconfiguring the road to support a lower speed limit. Why is El Camino 6 lanes wide in Atherton but only 4 lanes wide in Menlo Park, and Menlo Park also has more frequent stop lights? I would like to see El Camino reduced to 4 lanes in Atherton. Make the center median wider and install bike lanes and sidewalks on the sides of the road. That will get drivers to slow down to a safe speed.

"Make the center median wider and install bike lanes and sidewalks on the sides of the road. That will get drivers to slow down to a safe speed."

Yes, to traffic jam speeds a la ECR through Menlo Park.

Studies have repeatedly shown most auto vs ped accidents are the pedestrians' fault. Slowing traffic MAY fix that, but at what cost to the majority of us traveling ECR?

(Copy of post made in related story but also relevant here.)

El Camino Real is unfortunately a fine example of a "stroad", a term the Strong Towns organization (see http://www.strongtowns.org) has coined to describe a hybrid between a "street" (think Santa Cruz Avenue in downtown Menlo Park) and a "road" (think Foothill Expressway in Los Altos or Central Expressway in Mountain View). See Web Link for a description of stroads and why they should be eliminated, not the least because they are demonstrably dangerous, expensive, and financially unproductive.

I personally would prefer to see El Camino Real become more of a "street", at least in Menlo Park. If Atherton residents would prefer ECR to become more of a "road", they should consider significantly limiting access (for both pedestrians AND cars) and re-engineering the road for expressway speeds. Adding pedestrian beacons without a complete re-design of the stroad to decrease traffic speeds will make absolutely no difference in pedestrian safety. As Strong Towns points out: if you need a sign to tell people to slow down, you designed the street wrong. #SlowTheCars

Regarding street vs road vs stroad...

Interesting point. However, I'd expand on this a bit and suggest that a street can become a stroad due to the configuration in adjacent towns/cities.

For example, one of the issues with Menlo Park's El Camino configuration is that it is at odds with the usage and configurations on both sides: both Atherton's and Palo Alto's configuration of El Camino is clearly as a "road", using the above definition of a road.

Menlo Park can try to make El Camino a "street" all it wants, but it's going to be for naught since both Atherton and Palo Alto use El Camino as "roads".

Why was I-280 recently repaved there are far worse roads in the Bay Area that need attention over that stretch of highway. Take I-580 over Altamont Pass there are HUGE potholes there.