El Camino Real is a key roadway connecting cities throughout the Peninsula, and it provides a key transportation route through downtown Menlo Park. El Camino Real serves many local businesses fronting and adjacent to the street, and is one of few north-south thoroughfares in the City, providing connections for residents to jobs and services in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Atherton, Redwood City, and beyond.
El Camino Real also divides the City, with the downtown business district on the west side and the Civic Center, recreation facilities and library on the east side, and the Menlo Park City School District schools straddling both sides. This orientation requires frequent crossings by Menlo Park residents on a daily basis, and represents a challenging situation for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists making short trips to local destinations.
Why was the corridor study done?
El Camino Real does not adequately serve the Menlo Park community’s need for safe and efficient multi-modal transportation and access to local destinations. This study considered existing conditions, developed and evaluated alternatives, and recommended a preferred option. Community input was incorporated throughout the process.
In 2012, the City completed a process to re-envision the El Camino Real corridor and Downtown Menlo Park through the City’s El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan. The Specific Plan provides the framework for redevelopment of many underutilized parcels in the Plan Area, and encourages transit-oriented, mixed-use and infill development.
Key issues identified during the project
As the Specific Plan Area has begun to redevelop, the community, several City Commissions, and City Council have raised concerns about the functionality of El Camino Real to serve multi-modal transportation users safely and efficiently. Key issues raised have included:
- Occurrence of congested conditions and delay to motorists, transit vehicles, and emergency vehicles during peak commute hours;
- Occurrence of a bottleneck for vehicular traffic in the northbound direction, where El Camino Real, Sand Hill Road, and Alma Street (six total lanes) feed traffic to El Camino Real, which drops from three to two lanes at Ravenswood Avenue-Menlo Avenue;
- Ability to serve local traffic and connect local businesses, including provision of on-street parking;
- Safety of motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians traveling along and across El Camino Real;
- Barriers to vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians attempting to cross El Camino Real;
- Prevalence of motorists making U-turns at Cambridge Avenue;
- Comfort of bicyclists traveling on El Camino Real, and bicyclists’ need to access local destinations in the corridor; and
- Designation of El Camino Real as a Class II bike lane/minimum Class III bike route facility in the Specific Plan.