Menlo Park: Traffic woes lead to divide over general plan

"This was the last meeting on the general plan update before the City Council reviews the proposed changes to city zoning that could allow construction of 2.3 million additional square feet of nonresidential buildings, 400 hotel rooms and 4,500 residential units in eastern Menlo Park. The update would also reclassify roadway designations citywide."

While I generally support the proposed zoning changes, ESSENTIAL traffic mitigation plans including infrastructure investments must be identified and sized plus likely funding sources identified before ANY MAJOR developments can be approved. Piecemeal and incremental City decisions will inevitably produce traffic nightmares.

It seems to me blindingly obvious that if continue to allow commercial development, our town becomes a worse place to live. Maybe our property values continue to climb and so we make money off it or our kids do when we die.

Every time I read about our elected officials approving more office space or dense housing I just feel sad to see such a beautiful town slipping away.

And one a big building is built it never gets unbuilt.

It seems Kahle and Barnes have learned very little from the problems associated with the Stanford/Arrillaga project where traffic mitigation was not properly addressed. There was enough community uproar to send that project back to the drawing board. They seem prepared to kick the can down the road again, this time with fire safety and water shortage problems also "less than significant". Maybe this time Peter will be on our side (that being the one that says put the solutions in place before you approve the plan).

Kudos to ALL OF YOU for recognizing the tremendous need to provide housing near the jobs your plan changes will create. Additional traffic mitigation measures - bikes and public transit- would be great, but you've already addressed 90% of the issue by planning for housing near those jobs. Very thoughtful. If you could please call your counterparts in Brisbane and tell them how this is really the only way to mitigate traffic, the rest of the Bay Area would cheer you on!

The best solution to traffic problems is to allow only that commercial development which is proportional to the amount of housing and infrastructure available. Even though not all who live here would work here and not all how work here would live here, but the closer the numbers are, the more likely there would be fewer commuters. Menlo Park does not have the capacity to absorb all the growth that is proposed. Those are the obvious truths that decisionmakers are willfully ignoring as they blindly proceed anyway towards approving a General Plan.

More development that creates more traffic, roads congested all day long, bicyclists and pedestrians in danger on many roads from traffic are full blown out of control problems. On top of that there are office buildings throughout the city already built that remain empty but let's build more. Commuters cut through all the residential streets surrounding Willow Rd all day long, Ravanswood Ave is so crowded it take two or three light changes before you can get onto El Camino.
City council does not care about traffic or residents safety as long as the city gets its money. The balance needed between housing and office buildings for proper growth has gone off the deep end resulting in our roads being choked by traffic. To expect any remedy from our council is a pipe dream. Unfortunately it will continue with Facebook getting everything it wants as long as they throw dollars at the city. Hotels and office space will soon clog El Camino past the point of sanity. It takes 20 minutes to drive from Middlefield road to hiway 101 when using Willow road at 4pm ..... oh wait, did I mention the sunset magazine development. Great idea, City Council has lost its mind