In late 2022 and early 2023, CalWater replaced a water main on Middlefield Road. As part of this work, CalWater repaved a significant portion of Middlefield Road between Ravenswood Avenue and Willow Road. The City used this opportunity to address concerns about traffic safety, speeds and pedestrian safety. The City installed new lane markings as a pilot, convert the repaved section to three lanes (one in each direction plus a center turn lane). This provides separate left turns (including for driveways) and can maintain roadway capacity and increase safety by separating vehicles traveling at different speeds. View a simplified concept of the striping changes(PDF, 1MB) .
Staff used data from 2019 (pre-pandemic data) to evaluate the potential striping change. Traffic volumes on Middlefield are generally lower than those on Willow Road between Gilbert Avenue and Middlefield Road, and on Santa Cruz Avenue between Olive Street and Johnson Street where we have a similar three lane section (though the time of day patterns on Santa Cruz Avenue are different).