December 17, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Midtown traffic trial causes snarl

by Jocelyn Dong

An unannounced traffic test turned Midtown into a traffic mess Tuesday, as Palo Alto's transportation staff carried out a promised study on Middlefield Road during the evening commute.

City workers used orange cones to narrow the blocks in front of Midtown shopping center from five lanes to three, to test the feasibility of converting some car lanes into bicycle lanes in the future.

Standing on the sidewalk, Chief Transportation Official Joe Kott gazed out over the bumper-to-bumper Mercedes, Infinitis and Volvos, their headlights and taillights parading past the changing red and green traffic signals. Impatient drivers honked their horns and navigated between the cones.

As covert operations go, this one was as subtle as the Bay of Pigs.

"Because there's been so much controversy, we said, 'Let's just do it,'" Kott said of the test, which had been previously announced for January and sparked vociferous public reaction.

But drivers and residents alike seemed to quickly catch on Tuesday. Curious and irate Midtown neighbors noticed traffic picking up along the side streets and walked over to give Kott a piece of their mind.

A white BMW driver pulled over to give traffic-control worker Will Schade an earful: Lane reduction is a bad idea; it's pushing traffic to the side streets, which is where bicycles should be anyway; and the whole idea is crazy, according to Schade's recap of the 10-second conversation.

If there's anything the test seemed to confirm immediately, it was that drivers in Palo Alto like their routes, hate change and are vocal about their opinions.

But lest anyone think that the transportation staff were getting sadistic pleasure from the two-hour trial, Kott and transportation engineer David Stillman themselves joined the snarl.

Around 5:30 p.m., the pair sat in Kott's Toyota Corolla at the intersection of Moreno Avenue and Middlefield, headed for their 13th timed run of the three-block stretch.

Kott edged his car out, trying to turn onto Middlefield.

"This is just pretty dreadful right here," he said of the intersection, eyeing the unrelenting stream of cars coming from Oregon Expressway. He tried to get the nose of his car to where other drivers could see it.

"An aggressive drive there," he said, as a car whizzed by, oblivious to Kott.

The Toyota's left-turn signal and Stillman's stopwatch ticked off the seconds. Minutes passed.

"How we looking?" Kott asked Stillman, just as a gap finally opened up after two-and-a-half minutes.

With a lurch of the car, the Corolla shot into traffic.

"I'm going to be a nervous wreck if we keep this up," Kott sighed, driving down to the Safeway parking lot before turning around and returning to Moreno. The three-block runs were taking anywhere from about 22 seconds to more than a minute, depending on the signals.

In January Kott and Stillman will return and time the runs under normal conditions for comparison, and a traffic advisory committee made up of residents and city staff will make their recommendation to the City Council. But Kott was already making his prediction: Things would stay as they are.

Despite the evidence supporting five lanes -- a configuration that some members of the public have called a no-brainer -- Kott said the trial was necessary. Not only did the council order it, but to make an off-the-cuff recommendation without gathering statistics would be unprofessional, Kott said.

"We're going to do due diligence. We're not going to be bullied," Kott said, frowning.

Toward 6 p.m., Kott and Stillman decided to shut down the trial early. They had enough data and heard enough opinions. Kott stood in the parking lot of Longs Drugs, frazzled from driving in the traffic jam he himself had created.

He joked with a local resident, "Do they have good wine in there?"

Senior Staff Writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.

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