As Palo Alto officials look for ways to add parks to accommodate new housing developments, they are also working with Stanford University on a project that appears to move in the other direction: converting a portion of El Camino Park into a roadway for buses.
The plan, which Palo Alto and Stanford University have been discussing for years, would create a direct connection between the city’s bustling transit center on University Avenue and El Camino Real, saving drivers and passengers time getting to and from the major corridor. Doing that, however, would require “undedicating” a 0.33-acre strip of land on the eastern edge of El Camino Park, which entails a public vote.
The city and the university have been discussing the project since at least 2011, when they signed a development agreement that allowed for an expansion and reconstruction of various Stanford University Medical Center facilities. As part of that deal, Stanford pledged to transfer money to the city to improve connections between the new buildings and local streets. If the project moves forward, Stanford would foot the $3.2-million bill for the new road, which would stretch from the western edge of the bus depot to El Camino.
According to a new report from Philip Kamhi, the city’s chief transportation official, the new roadway would allow bus drivers to avoid circling back through University Circle to get to El Camino, saving them between five and eight minutes per trip. Stanford would be the primary beneficiary. While about 600 buses serve the Palo Alto Transit Center daily, about half of them are the university’s Marguerite shuttles.
Other agencies that rely on the downtown transit center include SamTrans, Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority and Dumbarton Express.
The city’s capital budget underscores Stanford University’s lead role in both funding the infrastructure improvements and in seeking a ballot measure to make the land available. According to the budget, the university had already spent about $1.2 million on planning and design. If things go as planned, it will spend another $1.9 million on construction in fiscal year 2025, which begins on July 1 this year.
While the university may be driving the project, the Palo Alto City Council is fully on board. Palo Alto’s chief planning document, the Comprehensive Plan, includes a program that explicitly calls for collaborating with Stanford and transit agencies to “pursue improvements to the Palo Alto Transit Center area aimed at enhancing the pedestrian experience and improving circulation and access for all modes, including direct access to El Camino Real for transit vehicles.”
The Quarry Road project, according to Kamhi, would include bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvements such as an upgraded crosswalk at El Camino to reduce crossing time and safety measures such as refuge islands and high-visibility bicycle markings. One detail that remains unresolved is on whether it would be a two-way road or an outbound-only transit lane, according to Kamhi’s report.
The city currently leases El Camino Park from Stanford under an agreement set to expire in 2042. Palo Alto had “dedicated” the park for recreational and conservation purposes, which means that any other use would require approval from majority of the voters.
Kamhi noted that the portion of the 10.75-acre part that would need to be dedicated make up about 0.33 acres, which includes an 0.09-acre buffer zone. The portion of the park that would be replaced with a transit way is “underused” and “passive,” he noted. It does not have any playing fields but it does provide “circulation throughput that serves the park.”
If approved, the project would also require removal of about 15 trees, according to the report. And while Palo Alto residents are generally passionate about the topics of tree removal and the reduction of park space, Kamhi argues in the report that the proposed transit road is “akin to a park improvement project in that it improves multi-modal movement to and through the park.”
“The proposed transit connection would enhance the use and enjoyment of El Camino Park and the recreational amenities provided to the residents of Palo Alto and the surrounding communities,” Kamhi wrote.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Commission is scheduled to get an update on the project at its March 26 meeting. It will ultimately be up to the city council to decide whether or not to place this issue on the November ballot.
This is an interesting scenario.
The Bay Area does not appear to value public transit but turning parkland into bus lanes is a first for me. However, the value to the public of this bus lane does not seem to be something that will increase service, bring down the cost of travel on public transit or encourage more to use the service. However, I am not a Stanford person so perhaps I am wrong on that.
However, Palo Alto does need to ramp up its public transit. I would like to see more efficient transit that makes it faster to get from A to B by transit than it does by car and that would include making it cost efficient as well as time efficient.
Stanford needs to do far more than this. Give up private land for housing outside thier “affliates” AND partner with City and CalTrans to make major crossing improvements at University underpass, Embarcadero ECR, Churchill ECR, Cal Ave and Page Mill ECR. Here’s a thought: install two large round-a-bouts on ECR at Embarcadero & ECR Page Mill/Oregon this will slow / calm delivery truck, local & commute auto traffic as well as yes, “efficiently” shorten travel times and be safer for all. Don’t forget about putting the the highly visible, yellow reflector tape around all traffic signals N/S/E/W.
Yes, do it! This would make bus and pedestrian movement more efficient, saving time and reducing car emissions and traffic. Efficiency also encourages more people to use transit — a big win.
The reporter expressed an opinion in the first paragraph. Maybe he is a “Bike” person. This is a great idea. I see the buses sitting on the hill that loads onto the ECR at the PAMF. Yesterday the parking lot at SU was full for the big sports event. I already know that there are many fans and parents of the players that are attending the games coming from far away. They are staying at local hotels. How great that they could get on a bus at a hotel on ECR and just ride down to the event. Further down ECR near San Antonio are less expensive apartments that students stay at. How great that they can just get on a bus and get to school.
The PACC’s job is to increase the revenue producing businesses in the city. I watched the PACC Meeting replay yesterday where they were discussing the priorities for the year and then ended with the fact that they do not have enough budget money for most of the projects. Budget money comes from full restaurants, full hotels, happy residents who want to live here. And they are coming to attend sports and entertainment events at both PAHS – which is on ECR, and SU. Happily SU is paying for this. They know how to run a business and a university.
According the the city of Palo Alto’s comprehensive plan the city is suppose to add 4 acres of park space for every 1000 new residents. They have not done so for decades and don’t seem even mildly interested in addressing this issue. Kids (and adults) these days mostly stay inside and play on their screens, but perhaps some of this is due to the fact that local (near by) open lots, fields and parks are a thing of the past. These days even the openness of a parking lot is being undergrounded and high rises put on top of them.
Given that the city seems no longer interested in supplying parks and open space to its citizens, the least they could do is to NEVER make the existing park space smaller! If there is a good reason to take away existing park space for another use, it should be mandated to be replace with twice as much space elsewhere that integrates well with other park space amenities.
Yes buses are important but park space trumps that every time!