AROUND THE BLOCK AROUND THE BLOCK (June 30, 2004)

IT'S PARTY TIME . . . Fire up the "BarBie," it's block party month in Palo Alto. For the months of July, and September, permits to close off streets for block parties are free. Normally they're $30. Several neighborhoods are taking advantage of the deal, including a handful this July 4 weekend. One fete will even include ping-pong along with its traditional barbecue and potluck. Neighbors can get permit applications online through the Palo Alto Police Department at www.papd.org. The applications are due 10 days before the event.

FLOODS VS. TRAFFIC? . . . Could calming traffic cause homes to flood? That's the question some residents in the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood have been asking, since the April installation of trial street devices to ease traffic along Channing Avenue. At issue are speed tables -- broad asphalt mounds -- placed across the road to slow vehicles. Bart Hechtman, who said he lives "downstream" on Channing, and his neighbors wonder if water would be blocked by horizontal bumps -- and diverted into their driveways. In 1998, the neighborhood experienced a devastating flood when the San Francisquito Creek overflowed. Mary Schaefer was out walking the night of the flood and recalled a "tremendous torrent" of water coming down Channing off of Newell Road. "I just think you shouldn't put anything on the road that will add to the risk," she said. Changing the table to a median -- which runs the same direction as the street -- would work better, she thought. Joe Kott, Palo Alto's chief transportation official, said that a consultation with the city's hydrology engineer, Joe Terisi, has convinced him that a speed table would not cause flooding. Nonetheless, he added, the speed table at De Soto Drive that concerned Schaefer will be converted to a median. Not because of the flooding issue, but because of noise complaints from cars driving over it, he said.

PERKING UP PARKS . . . Three parks in College Terrace are in line for a makeover this year: Cameron, Mayfield and Weisshaar. Cameron, which neighbors complained has a dangerously uneven field, is expected to undergo a turf renovation. Mayfield, located next to the neighborhood library, will get a picnic area with a canopy just outside the library's front door. Weisshaar, with its two tennis courts, may get new windscreens. The old ones have caused the metal fence to lean.

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