September 28, 2005

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Funding for road improvements gets green light

by Jocelyn Dong

A year and nine months after the City Council unanimously approved a plan to make Charleston/Arastradero Road safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, the governing body has found a way to pay for it.

By charging developments built over the next 10 years an "impact" fee, the city estimates it will raise $819,000 -- about 12 percent of the funds needed.

The fee will apply to developments within a half-mile of the road. Each residential unit would be charged about $930. Non-residential properties would pay 27 cents per square foot for such improvements as adding pedestrian refuges in the middle of the road, bike lanes, lighted crosswalks, and new street lighting.

Vehicle lanes would be removed along some stretches, to create a left-turn lane in the center of the road. That part of the plan has drawn criticism that it could create traffic jams, but supporters say a central left-turn lane will improve, not impede, traffic flow.

The majority of residents who came to the council meeting supported the fee. "It's not very safe because of the speed of the cars," said Alan Snyder, whose son uses the corridor to get to school every day. "Now it's time to put your money where your mouth is."

Representatives of D.R. Horton -- the company developing housing on the former Rickey's Hyatt site -- and the next door Elks Lodge spoke in favor of the fee.

However, some residents of the Charleston Gardens neighborhood at Middlefield Road and Charleston expressed fears that the plan would cause drivers to use their streets as a cut through.

Council members unanimously favored the fee. Even Council member Dena Mossar, who generally opposes development fees, voted for the pedestrian/bicycling fee because it was proposed with a timeframe, specific criteria and a clear connection between the fee and the project's impacts, she said.

Councilmember Jack Morton, however, urged his colleagues to create well-defined criteria to judge the success or failure of the project. He referred to the controversial 2003 Downtown North traffic calming trial as an example of what could happen if the council did not take a firm leadership role.

The fees will enable the city to apply for matching funds from the federal, state and region. In the past year and a half, the city's transportation division reportedly applied for seven grants, but received none. Fee supporters argued that agencies prefer to award grants to cities that offer some funding for the project.

Eleven schools are located on or near the corridor. The road plan was developed in part due to the number of new residential projects, and new pedestrian and bike traffic, that is expected in the coming years. In addition to the Horton and Elks Lodge properties, major housing projects include the Campus for Jewish Life and the Bridge developments, which are expected to add some 400 new housing units. Senior Staff Writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.