GENERAL NOTES – Compilation of DTNNA meetings held on 9/18, 9/24 and 9/25 (One General Meeting and 3 sectional meetings)

These notes are a recording of the minutes from four DTNNA meetings. The purpose of these meetings was to

1) give everyone an opportunity to be heard and

2) to start to identify what isn’t working.

With trends and issues identified, then the Traffic Dept can use these comments to begin to formulate a recommendation on the trial. What is documented here are summarized statements from individuals, recorded by a volunteer note-taker.

What this document is not:

It is not a thorough poll of all residents.

It did not limit comments from residents. Therefore some residents recorded multiple comments/concerns.

The document first has the compilation of individual comments. They were developed at the general meeting on 9/18 and in 3 regional meetings held on 9/24 and 9/25. The regional meetings divided the neighborhood as follows:

·        Easterly Region: Cowper to Middlefield and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton.

·        Center Region: Kipling to both sides of Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton.

·        Western Region: Ramona to Alma and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton.

· General Thematic Comments: developed from topics that transcended specific sections of the neighborhood.

These regions also participated in an exercise where every person had an opportunity to place a colored dot in front of their residence indicating whether there were traffic/speed was worse (RED); traffic/speed was better (GREEN) or that there was an increase in inconvenience (BLUE). The composite map showing the results of this exercise is attached in a jpeg file.

Individual comments were also collected and grouped for the streets that connect Middlefield with Alma: Palo Alto Ave, Hawthorne and Everett.

In addition to the individual comments based on a geographic grouping, there are also comments grouped by a theme. They were developed from topics that transcended specific sections of the neighborhood. These thematic comments cover 1) Emergency Response times; 2) Lytton Ave; and 3) Bulb-outs.

If there are any questions about these minutes, please contact Dan Lorimer, Geoff Ball, Tricia Dolkas and Sally-Ann Rudd since they were the meeting facilitators and note-takers.

Regional Comments:

Easterly Region: Cowper to Middlefield

1. Middlefield (Area A of issues in the Easterly Region of DTN – see attached jpeg.)

200 block of Middlefield – 15 years there. Accidents at Everett have reduced. But speed is a major issue. (Cars have gone up onto sidewalk) can we get light sign telling people how fast they are going? -- This area has seen no benefit and yet sees worse response times for Fire and Police
Everett/Middlefield intersection tremendous quantity of accidents (34) now – no accidents since calming. Seems smoother.
Everett/Middlefield intersection was highest accident place, and highest cut-thru in PA, and highest neighborhood counts in PA (2200/day) not being a NIMBI if we get normal levels of traffic
Modifications to Lytton/Middlefield, please move line up to original place (people don’t know that they can turn right on red so cars back up)
We see children in the front yards and they are not safe
Speed seems to have increased to 40 to 60 Miles per hour.
Future plans are to move bike lanes on to Middlefield, from the sidewalk, thus decreasing its width thus making it even more difficult to handle the excess car traffic. There seems to be no plan for bike lights to allow easy crossing on Everett. If these are implemented, then of course this will also increase the problems of traffic at this intersection.
It will probably be most effective for the people in this area to identify a "new" problem, in addition to the problems caused by traffic calming and work directly with the transportation to solve the Middlefield problem
Middlefield in Menlo Park narrows as it enters Palo Alto to 4 lanes, thus making the traffic "congest".
Palo Alto should make it apparent that when cars enter the city, via Middlefield that they need to observe reasonable speeds. via tickets, via automatic speed displays (discussed elsewhere) Then the cars will tend to observe the speed laws through out the rest of the area and city.

- Since Middlefield does not satisfy the requirements for a "slow" street, it is not legal to enforce the speed limits on it.

Clarify the right turn problem from Middlefield to Lytton

- There has been a shift of the line on Middlefield 20 feet back, why. It causes major uncertainty in turning.

- We are told that the intersection can not be widened because there is property there that does not allow a widening.

Easterly Region: Cowper to Middlefield

2. Byron between Lytton and Everett (Area B of issues in the Easterly Region of DTN – see attached jpeg.)

Lots of traffic on Byron between Everett and Lytton Middlefield gets backed up.
On Byron between Hawthorn and Everett – cars have greatly increased and are faster. Cars trying to avoid barriers are too fast. 30 seconds does matter to response time for F/P/A
This area has also not been benefited from the Traffic Calming plan!!!
There is increased traffic from, or to, Middlefield, via Everett, via Byron, turning toward Lytton or toward Hawthorne to avoid the congestion at Middlefield and Lytton or to cut thru the neighborhood.
As Byron is a narrow street, it is difficult/impossible to have 2 way traffic when parking is on both sides of the street.
Lytton to Byron there is no left turn painted, Lytton narrows and thus rven to do yellow line?
There are no signal lights on Lytton and Byron so these turns are dangerous.
It may be that traffic counts measure "average" counts, but the problem is probably most serious during a rush hour and thus the counts may not represent the true problem.
This is a major problem.
The backup at Lytton / Middlefield cause a temptation to avoid that intersection, thus turning into Everett and then using Byron.
Note: also there is a gutter on Byron that reduces the width of the street
The trucks that service Lytton Gardens are parked in this area, thus increasing the problems of traffic.
There is additional traffic as the cut thru passes along Byron toward Hawthorne.
The heavy traffic tends to move toward Byron from Lytton / Middlefield
People are getting ticketed in this area now and are getting Flet???
Due to the barriers these locations outside of the barriers are no longer part of the Neighborhood!!!
It is cut off from houses that want to use Everett to get to them.
The previous measured counts are probable not going to be correct.
Hawthorne is treated unfairly and thus extra Byron traffic flowed to Hawthorne. ( see area “c)” )
There is vast traffic that is backed up on Middlefield that flows into Everett.
It was expected that the commute traffic would be on Lytton, but there is only a single line - which has more to do with light timing.
The condominium complex on Lytton has a Garage at Byron and Lytton that also causes an increase in the traffic in this area.
A resident does like the dead end on Everett at Byron.
The reason that one resident is not annoyed is that another house blocks the noise that another resident hears and the other resident sees the increase in Byron traffic.
It makes it difficult to move out of their driveway and makes them look when they pull out.
Byron traffic should be less then Everett as Byron has bad access, bad speeding - what was the goal of the Traffic Calming project?

Easterly Region: Cowper to Middlefield

3. Hawthorne between Middlefield and Webster (Area C of issues in the Easterly Region of DTN – see attached jpeg.)

There is major cut thru traffic which speeds up and runs the stop signs and goes between Middlefield via Hawthorn to Webster. The problem is both during rush hour and off hours
It is caused also by the lines of cars on Middlefield that make drivers want to avoid the intersection by cutting thru.
The traffic is now on:

· Middlefield - Everett - Byron - Hawthorne

· Palo Alto Ave - Webster - Hawthorn - Middlefield

· Webster or Tasso – Lytton

· Middlefield - Hawthorn -- Byron or Webster - Ruthven

Also there is a lot of resident traffic as this is the single exit to Middlefield
There is cut thru traffic from Middlefield or Alma that goes thru the maze via Hawthorn
Even though there is less traffic, people don't stop so it is less safe.
Traffic is very fast as it then goes into the "C" area via Hawthorne.

Easterly Region: Cowper to Middlefield

4. Tasso St. – between Palo Alto Ave. and Ruthvan (Area D of issues in the Easterly Region of DTN – see attached jpeg.)

There is a lot of cut thru traffic on Ruthven - there are too few police to properly patrol the area, (only one?), with the parking in the area drivers can not be around and thus can't see when it is safe to turn or cross
The streets were build in the 1910-20's and thus don't match the current load.

· Getting more traffic and fast speed but still pro the current plan. Are there increased accidents on Middlefield now?

The situation was gotten worse.
We should try to distinguish between neighbors and commuters as Tasso may be used by neighbors who are trying to get around.
Think that the increase in traffic is mostly commuters – neighbors/residents will learn.
The problem is not mainly at night thus indicating that the problem is commuters.

Easterly Region: Cowper to Middlefield

5. Cowper Ave. (individual comments. In these meetings, Cowper was not identified as a street that has significant issues)

Feel that it is better. Visibility problem at intersections. Lytton is safer than Everett and more appropriate for commuter traffic.
Inequitable levels of traffic. Not ok or fair to move the traffic to different, traffic study was done at height of dot.com too most aggressive approach, need less aggressive approach to calm all the streets.
Lived here for 3 years. we are in a city. Need something that works or majority and not a few. Accept that you live in a city.
Hawthorne / Cowper – supports the traffic calming. Important to check which streets have negative impact.

6. General comments from Easterly Region: Cowper to Middlefield:

1) There are 6 million people in the bay area and a plan based on rough neighborhood considerations will not be correct, we need a scientific study, set of metrics, plan, implementation, measurements, etc.

2) Typical maximum observable traffic was from 100 to 3,899 Vehicle Trips Day and the reasonable that Stoffel stated was 2,500

3) There is a classification of varieties of streets: Freeways, Expressways, Arterials, Residential Arterials, Collectors, and Local streets. DTN has only local streets surrounded by a creek and arterials.

4) We need to be informed, resolute so that we can know where we are -- we need a timely scientifically study and plan not based on feelings and need to know what we are discussing.

5) Is there money for modifying the plan, e.g. did the city think there would be modifications?

Answer from DTNNA officer: the next City Council will be needed to allocate money to tune or remove. The plan was budgeted at $95,000, and to implement it has cost $45,000.

7. Suggested Solutions from Easterly Region: Cowper to Middlefield:

1) Temporary signs telling people that of the best streets to use to cut thru the neighborhood.

2) There is a large consistency who believe in Law enforcement, not re-routing -- we should insist on police both local and others.

2.1) Palo Alto only has 4 full time police

2.2) If the residents demand endorsement, then they can get it. It requires that we call the police regularly.

3) Move the bulb-outs back from Middlefield

4) Prevent turns into the neighborhood by having no right turns into Hawthorn or Everett, perhaps only during rush hour and no left turns out of the neighborhood EVER.

Another point - reduce volume -- how many during rush hour on Everett.

6) Can we get more blockages?

Answer from Dan Lorimer: The original plan was to Install the plan, see what problems it cause, tune it by moving things, etc., measure the traffic and then determine how is was working. Then a recommendation, based on measurements, surveys, feedback, proposals, will be given to the city. The TUNING of the plan was eliminated in the budget, thus not permitting us to improve it before the final recommendation is made.

Even then, it is felt that only incremental changes can be made.

Perhaps we could get turn restrictions during the trial, but probably we could not add closures during the Trial. The original plan was to synchronize lights during the trial, making traffic easy during the morning westward and then during the evening changing the lights to make the traffic easer eastward -- It was agreed that we did not see this and wanted to have the Lytton lights improved to make it easier to travel on Lytton.

There was a proposal for what was REALLY desired:

7) MOST DESIRABLE -- move the barriers to where they should be, e.g. to Middlefield and Alma rather than to be within the neighborhood. -- The plan as implemented is a maze makes it difficult to get within the neighborhood and at the same time, as we see, there are sneak paths, parts of the neighborhood that are not "in" the neighborhood, etc. --

The neighborhood wants to block traffic from Middlefield

The simple proposal is to Block Middlefield and Alma -- WHY NOT

If there is a blockage at Middlefield and Alma then there is also a parking problem for the people who live on Middlefield,

Every trip to and from the neighborhood would require one to go to Lytton, thus increasing the traffic on Lytton too much. The streets should be "filters" used for Neighborhood traffic not cut thru traffic. If the barriers are moved to Alma and Middlefield then this also defeats the "filter" option.

This blockage plan was not thought to be able to "win" as it would be labeled as making the neighborhood a "gaited" community. Note: It was felt that this objection would be made both by the rest of the city as well as by some of the neighborhood residents.

We gain simplicity if we block the streets at each end. Comment from Dan Lorimer: We did want to block at the ends by everyone we talked to said don't try to propose it, it will not be accepted.

If we rip the barriers our and replace them it would be more expensive that if we move some of the barriers.

8) If we can't get a correct plan, then a more effective plan would be:

8.1) No right turns from Middlefield on to Hawthorne or Everett during rush hour.

8.2) No left turns off Hawthorne or Everett to Middlefield

8.3) Move the Everett blockage from Byron to Webster

The No Left-Turns may not work -- people tend to ignore them unless there is active enforcement and that costs money.

They are good, they may be a violation of the state law, they can be tested and then if they don’t work, they can be removed

9) We need to know what restrictions the state would place on the plan,

We want to recognize that we want to do the "right thing" and not be tied up with considering if a solution is "not likely" As in normal life we need to push past where we want to go to get what we really want.

10) The result is like gaited, but the real solution is to build the willow expressway to provide an adequate path for the traffic.

11) In fact most of the traffic excess is cut thru, most of the traffic does go thru Lytton

12) But there is still some neighborhood traffic.

13) Remove the Palo Alto Barrier so that some of the traffic would be shifted to that street.

15) Remove the Everett - Byron barrier

16) Put up a Light Radar, e.g. a sign that shows the speed at Middlefield at Palo Alto Ave, as people enter Palo Alto

16.1) This will remind people that Palo Alto considers speed important.

16.2) Kids enjoy breaking the lights and running the radar

16.3) We need some way to slow traffic down on Middlefield

Regional Comments:

Center Region: Kipling to both sides of Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

1. Bryant Street:

Before cars too fast. Now there are more joggers and walkers. More relaxed and safe. Now it’s wonderful. Poor signage initially caused irritation of drivers. Now better signage.
We really need more stop signs in addition to current plan. Especially at Bryant and Everett speed is really bad.

200 block of Bryant

have suffered 22 yrs of traffic from apartments
whole neighborhood is quieter
small cars can pass through the closures, which is very dangerous as other traffic is not expecting this; they put one wheel up on curb and can squeeze through. Is this illegal?
Hawthorne traffic quieter, more like a neighborhood
occasional bicyclist incorrectly assuming right of way, this has been eliminated

100 block of Bryant

some areas in neighborhood more dangerous and have more cars
Bryant St still dangerous, always has been dangerous
stop signs on Bryant would solve speeding problems better/ simpler than other calming measures
Turning onto southbound Middlefield from Everett or Hawthorne now more dangerous than before. Having to swerve around bulbouts has made these intersections more dangerous than before. They were dangerous before, now very dangerous.
traffic patterns around neighborhood have been changed, there is now more traffic on streets that are not suited for traffic e.g. Ramona

200 block of Bryant

22 yrs resident
thought knew all neighbors' dogs; now at least 25-30 new dogs. More community feeling, people feeling more confident and comfortable walking around

200 block of Bryant

Feels significant inconvenience with barriers.
Not fair that some streets have more impact than others.
Concerned about response time for emergency vehicles.

100 block Bryant (@ Hawthorne)

wife & 2 young children
love traffic calming, but not perfect
neighborhood is quiet
frequent car accidents at Bryant - weekly
Request: Bryant is bicycle boulevard, but please put traffic circle at every intersection. That would slow traffic and allow bikes to have access.

Center Region: Kipling to both sides of Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

2. Bryant & Palo Alto Ave

poor signage - lots of drivers turning around
most people who are upset about blockages on Palo Alto Ave and Bryant seem to be outside of neighborhood
Illegal left turns from Alma to Palo Alto Ave - has always been a problem, ends up with problems on Emerson
Better signage really helped on Bryant.
speed is faster but volume is reduced
lost drivers are even faster coming back down Bryant
Speed seems to increase on Bryant once people have seen barriers
Increased wildlife, good for creek
Reduced pollution

Center Region: Kipling to both sides of Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

3. Bryant Street – General Comments/ Proposed Solutions

Downtown garage construction impact - will that change ability to go up and down on Bryant?
Police put a speed truck on Bryant, but they parked it behind a parked car. No one could see it. Totally ineffective.
Line of sight issue on Bryant - there are too many parked cars
Cross-traffic cannot see through traffic on Bryant. Still same problem. This is a problem irrespective of speed.
Still valet parking on Bryant. Isn't this illegal?
Speed always a problem on Bryant; this is exacerbated by lack of traffic calming in the other direction.
Everett northbound at Waverley example that even if you have a stop sign, it's ineffective because people don't bother to stop when they know there's no cross traffic
Traffic circles would work for Bryant because they slow cars, give bikes access, and more efficient because if there's no other traffic you can keep going without stopping
Bryant / Palo Alto Ave intersection particularly bad because drivers frustrated when they get all the way to PA Ave then realize they can't go any further
Many parking garage workers are parking on Bryant
Speed bumps on Bryant would work
Bryant is a little worse than before. Traffic circle would be best measure.
Most people who know area stop at Bryant anyway, even though no stop sign, because they know it is dangerous.
Put the old Bryant Street stop sign(s) at Everett back in. (Was taken out back when Bryant was made a bike boulevard.
Menlo Park / Willow has speed tables, these are no problems for bikes
Fire/ Police do not usually like speed bumps. Speed tables any better?
Traffic circles are expensive - we would need many. Nice but costly.
4-way stops on Bryant @ Hawthorne & Everett might work better than restoring 2-way stops
Bryant bike boulevard should get some attention independent of traffic calming in DTN.

Center Region: Kipling to both sides of Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

4. Bryant Ct

Bryant Ct is alley with 3 speed bumps, there is no change in traffic.
Nighborhood is quiet, you can hear people in park talking etc
Dive to work every day. Now lights on Lytton are resynced, takes same time as before to get to work
A the weekend, make 5-10 trips and have not noticed increase in journey times

Center Region: Kipling to both sides of Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

5. Waverley

100 block Waverley – loves the trial, but the bulb out on Everett – too close to Middlefield too narrow needs modification
100 block of Waverley – people are parking in front of barriers that is a concern. Please post location of counters. Can we get those locations identified?
200 block of Waverley – concerned about cut though traffic support calming. How about additional tables and stop signs on the cross streets (Bryant, Emerson, Ramona)?
200 block of Waverley (lived there for 30 years) prefers forced traffic lights on the corners of Hawthorne/Everett at Alma and middle field. Car was totaled. Wants traffic lights.
Webster/Hawthorne – loves it in spite of inconvenience
200 block of Waverley (3 years in neighborhood) noise has significantly reduced. Noticed that increased load on Lytton could flow better too much backup cars, concerned about safety. For calming, not closures. Not equitable to all. Should readdress
Waverley/Everett – see more people walking to park. Fewer drivers, more bikers
Waverley getting more noise and traffic than before on Lytton
Waverley is noisier
200 block of Waverley: overall traffic volume has decreased.
Waverley still busy but half a block away at children's area of park, calm and safe
Important to look beyond your own front yard and see benefits
Since you can walk from anywhere in neighborhood to Lytton in 2 minutes, how can it possibly take extra 2 mins to get there in car?

Center Region: Kipling to both sides of Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

6. Kipling:

300 block of Kipling

1. good to track down places where traffic is better or worse

2. Colleague who lives at 280/ Page Mill. He used to commute through neighborhood but now cannot. He is considerate driver. But, seems only way to improve driver behavior is through coercion which means closing streets.

Center Region: Kipling to both sides of Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

7. Poe Street:

· Back to DTN (On Poe) after being gone to Seattle. Loves traffic calming.

300 block of Poe: much quieter, especially in the mornings

Regional Comments:

Westerly Region: Alma to Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

1. Emerson Street:

100 block of Emerson – all the traffic has come here. Family safety is a concern. Please help us regain safety / calm
100 block of Emerson – really bad. Emerson ¿ Palo alto ¿ Menlo Park. Lots of traffic on Byron bet Everett and Lytton Middlefield gets backed up. Then come Everett ¿ Byron – Lytton, also we have to reduce access. Hard to get onto Lytton, can boundaries be re-looked at?
200 block of Emerson (6.5 years) everyone is coming down his street. Hostile drivers, why not 4-way stops on every corner along with traffic table? Lytton is not safe to cross now
200 block of Emerson – this redistributes traffic on to street. Seems that there is less police control, Bryant – too fast – no stop signs because it is a bike corridor, need one, now I do a grand tour of the neighborhood while I zigzag through
200 block of Emerson – traffic has greatly increased. Object to this after buying house – now street isn’t calm.
Drivers are upset at the barriers because they are not getting through.
They are coming from Hawthorne up Emerson.
100 block of Emerson - Drivers are too fast north on Emerson - angry that they can't get through
Now fast drivers since now this is the only way to get through to El Camino & Menlo Park.
Driving too fast
What did the speed monitor find on Emerson?
Support (traffic calming) concept but bummed about the volume of traffic & speed on Emerson (perception may be higher than reality)
Delivery trucks now route down Emerson
200 block of Emerson - agree that the cut-through routes between Menlo Park and downtown Palo Alto is now Emerson
Coming out of driveway, need to make left turn, now it's very busy and feel threatened
Everett and Hawthorne are great; Emerson is awful now
200 block of Emerson: have to back out of driveway, very difficult to do now
Can see traffic turning on Hawthorne to avoid Lytton left-hand turn
Traffic on Emerson comes from south (University), East (Everett) and West (Alma)
Stop sign on Hawthorne / Emerson it is difficult for drivers to cross since too many drivers on Emerson - too much too fast
200 block of Emerson - sees people get caught at Emerson/ Everett corner
go very fast to avoid blockage at Everett & High
More cars at higher speed on 200 block Emerson
Lots of delivery trucks, Hawthorne to Everett
300 block of Emerson - don't perceive any change in traffic volumes or speed. But don't like the inconvenience to get to work. MIL @ Lytton Gardens has difficulty getting in/ out of driveway. Don't want to add to the backup on Lytton, so will cut through the neighborhood.

Westerly Region: Alma to Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

2. Ramona Street

Hawthorne/ Ramona very dangerous
Volume seems same as before
Drivers historically rude
Need more stop signs
Streets in DTN should be used by neighbors only, not commuters
Signage was very poorly placed (southeast corner). Now is better.
Walking from train station, have to cross Everett at Ramona. Seems more dangerous now to cross.

Westerly Region: Alma to Bryant and Palo Alto Ave to Lytton

3. Suggestions/General Comments:

Lytton / Middlefield neighbors are not getting any benefit, they are getting more traffic problems
Palo Alto has arterials for traffic, and residential streets which are not for traffic.
neighborhood streets have come to be used as arterials, this is root of problem
no one would design a neighborhood like DTN if they were designing it today
Garbage trucks have keys to bollards - they can get through amazingly fast, why can't fire truck get through as fast?
Has redone traffic patterns. Has added 45 hours per year to time in car. More pollution.
Have been accidents from hitting bollard at Bryant [what bollard?]
Trucks on Poe and Bryant collided
Can city pass a law that would outlaw commuter traffic? If so, there is technology which would help
Take down barriers & replace with speed tables (like on Willow Rd) and 4-way stops on every corner
Put barriers at the edges of DTN on Hawthorne, PA Ave & Everett, close to Alma & Middlefield
More stop signs are needed to make people behave
4-way stop signs on every corner
Improving Lytton so it's the best possible street that it can be. Stop signs & speed tables, and remove blockages.
Get better signage
Add a sign at Lytton/ Bryant that Bryant is not a through street
Have maps available to help people get out
Pot the baby trees, put them at barriers for people to take as thank you’s that they are taking the arterials.
More 4-way stop signs
More 4-way stops and speed tables & take out barriers
Keep barrier at PA Ave & Bryant
Improve line of sight at intersections by extending red curbs
Everett/ Waverley -- how about diagonal, 1/2 way barriers. Worth looking at.
Bryant bike route needs stop sign
Add more barriers. Change Hawthorne gateway to barrier
Can we use long-term data to assess impact on various streets
If can't solve the Emerson problems, take all the barriers out

Regional Comments: Streets connecting Middlefield with Alma:

1. Everett Ave.

400 block of Everett – there is a learning curve for people coming thru. Things are better now than at the beginning. Traffic calming is working. Inconvenience is worth the overall improvement in the neighborhood.
500 block of Everett Court (also lived on Emerson). It is better to have stop signs. Didn’t want to live in a gated community
Lytton and Everett on Middlefield –Traffic diversion is not traffic calming
600 block of Everett – Alma / Lytton – too much traffic, too dangerous. Now go to forest in order to come back to DTN. Difference between streets and avenues. Avenues are wider. Streets are too narrow.
600 block of Everett – implementation is not equitable. Hard to get out of cars, children in core do not have monopoly on safety, willow has traffic tables – seems to work fine, move the traffic barrier, wants more thought and equality
Calming isn’t perfect, but feels it is safer. Safety to kids is much more important than 30 seconds of reduced response time
Up to 15 yrs – DTN was calm. Then got very busy with traffic. Now it is very calm.
300 block of Everett: Moved to neighborhood in April 2003. When moved in, amazed at how loud traffic was, and how fast, especially considering proximity of senior center and park. love traffic calming, have observed overall decrease in traffic and slower speeds
300 block of Everett: have noticed decrease in traffic. Cross Everett on foot and now don't have to wait for traffic. People wanting to go north on Middlefield inconvenienced, because can't easily turn north. Willing to tolerate inconvenience for benefits
200 block Everett: Traffic has increased between High & Waverley on Everett. Now lots of U-turns. Cars come from south on Ramona, Emerson & Bryant onto Everett. Don't own a car, but friends coming have a hard time finding the house
200 block of Everett: through traffic from commuters is less. Speed is the same, no change in that.
600 block of Everett – prefer preventative protection of the barriers.

2. Hawthorne

400 block of Hawthorne (7 years) – lots of fast cars before. Was difficult to get into driveway. Now wonderful - huge reduction in traffic around park.
400 block of Hawthorne – trial has moved traffic to Emerson maybe need more barriers.
600 block of Hawthorne – be patient – this is a process. Really like it. Let’s voice our opinions. Let’s see how things can be modified before throwing out.
200 block of Hawthorne - is 2 minutes extra in the car really an improvement in quality of life for residents? 2 minutes a trip can easily result in extra 16 minutes each day - people don't want to have to spend extra time in the car.
300 Hawthorne - huge net benefit: quieter and can sit in house with front door open and still have conversation.
Committed to not driving by choice - glad for more community support for biking and walking. Good to favor walkers and bikers for once.

3. Ruthven

400 block of Ruthven (4 years in the neighborhood) – worried that Ruthven would get too much traffic. While traffic is a little worse it is not that bad. Before trial – problem was the speed on Ruthven. Over all neighborhood is better.
400 block of Ruthven - enjoy feeling of community from street closures - feels more friendly. don't mind driving around block to get out of neighborhood
As a pedestrian, no longer have to wait to cross Hawthorne - much easier.

4. Palo Alto Ave.

Palo Alto Ave used to have lots of traffic, now better, we are a neighborhood.
400 block of Palo Alto: car dealers used to send clients down PA Ave to test drive cars on the windy road. It doesn’t happen any more.
300 block Palo Alto Ave – takes no more time to get in/out and it is safer

· 300 block of Palo Alto Ave – more crime due to police not capturing criminals – that’s an issue

· 400 block of Palo Alto Ave. – law officer says that the # of drunks leaving (driving out of) DTN is reduced

300 block of Palo Alto Ave

1. minimal inconvenience outweighed by safety, quietness brought about by calming measures

2. extra 2 minutes to get out of neighborhood, even with kids in the car, is not an inconvenience.

3. We make 2-4 trips per day, which means 8-10 mins per day extra in the car. Not a problem.

400 block of Palo Alto Ave

1. speeding on Palo Alto Ave greatly reduced.

2. Menlo Park car dealers used to use Palo Alto Ave for test drives, now stopped.

3. SamTrans bus used to go down Palo Alto Ave; now stopped.

Going East on Palo Alto Ave, the only way out is on Emerson.
Traffic has reduced on Palo Alto Ave between Emerson & Bryant.

General Thematic Comments:

These were developed from topics that transcended specific sections of the neighborhood. These thematic comments cover 1) Emergency Response times; 2) Lytton Ave; and 3) Bulb-outs

Emergency response

Are fire and police allowed to give free comment?
Benchmark is < 4 minutes. Average in our neighborhood is 1.5 minutes
Can F/P respond individually?
Can redesign posts so that they go down when emergency vehicle goes through?
Concern over increase of 30 sec – 60 sec will impact people’s safety
Concern that F/P response will take longer than now
Fear for life before with cars but now better. What’s more likely a house burning down or someone hit by a car?
Incident – on Waverly and Everett, Fire did not have the key
Talked and police officer doesn’t like it.
Want the fire dept to give their opinions to the city
Will they lose their jobs if they give honest opinion?
Do not like the inconvenience of not being able to cut through
Art & wine festival - saw so many people circling around, frustrated
Are police patrols happening as before? 2 police officers said the ability to patrol is hampered by barriers.
Asked police officer in Johnson Park whether there was an impact. He said that one time a person was caught because of the barriers and one time a person got away because of the barriers. So, in total, no difference.
All traffic calming increases emergency response time - even 1 minute makes a difference - fire can get established in 1 min

Bulbouts/Gateways:

Definitions - bulbouts only exist at Hawthorne and at Waverley. They are wider and designed to slow traffic. Gateways indicate entering residential neighborhood and are narrower.
childrens' park needs protection from cars; bulbout on Waverley at park does nothing to slow traffic - only as wide as a parked car, most of time cannot be seen
Menlo Park / University Ave: there are gateways there, they are better. They are higher and closer to curb. Gateways should be taller and more noticeable
Gateways should be placed nearer neighborhood on residential street
Mountain View / Dana / Villa: there are bulbouts which do work to slow traffic
Bulbout design is not clear - drivers don't know what to do, which causes dangerous confusion
bulbouts will cause a head-on collision because they are confusing
gateways at Hawthorne & Everett @ Middlefield are dangerous because if you stop for oncoming car, a car behind you is not expecting you to stop
need to look at more effective bulbout design, something that makes it clearer what a driver is supposed to do
Middlefield gateways are inappropriate. Waverley bulbout needs redesign
Better signage would provide just as effective a deterrent as gateways
Everyone agrees that they are bad -- dangerous, cause people to zoom thru them swerve and barely get thru them. (comment referring to ones on Hawthorne near Middlefield.
What should they be replaced by, some other measure, put something else in, signs that identify the entries as neighborhood streets.
They seemed to reduce accidents but they are ugly and reduced available parking.
Middlefield bulbouts dangerous the way they are now.
Bulb outs are a mistake.
Bulbout at Hawthorne/ Alma is not working

Lytton Avenue – General Comments/Ideas of how to Improve:

· People are confused about new stopping point on Middlefield.

· Remove parking spaces on Lytton and make it 4 lanes

· Make Lytton & Hamilton into 1-way streets

· Time lights better on Lytton

· Take out parking spaces on 1 side of Lytton, make it 3 lanes in commute direction, maybe switch 3rd lane like Golden Gate Bridge

· Remove some lights on Lytton

· Make Lytton less resistant to traffic

· Lytton / Bryant residents can't park on street now

· If Lytton is fast traffic, if too many lanes, Lytton will cut DTN off from downtown. Difficult to walk across

· Have to look at whole of downtown, not just Lytton. If fix Lytton, should also fix Hamilton & University at same time. Not just a DTN problem.

· No problems with traffic on Lytton

· Traffic flow issue - people coming on Everett and circling park to continue on Everett. This is not right, it's creating more traffic on Kipling and near park.

· We should be considerate of our neighbors. Some streets cannot take a lot of traffic, so we residents should avoid them and should not speed.

· Lytton lights are not synchronized well enough. Too unpleasant, too slow. Not working.

· Lytton stinks -- the lights were to be synchronized but they are not and thus the traffic flow is bad and pushes people off to the neighborhood.

· Lytton left turn lane on southbound Alma has greatly reduced drive time.

· Improve timing of lights on Lytton. Lytton could be designed better for high volume of traffic.

· Lytton very noisy.

· Traffic lights on Lytton still need improvement

Attachments from residents:

Comments from David Adams, 167 Bryant St.

650-787-9817

General thesis:

Palo Alto has grown population from 55K to 61K – more people = more cars
1700 units, more than 5,000 people, at least 3500 cars in DTNN – this isn’t cut-through traffic – IT’S US!
Traffic “calming” is focused on reducing number of cars, yet danger has nothing to do with the number of cars!
Specific issues:
Roadblocks do not solve danger on Bryant St
Bulbouts on Middlefield increase danger
Roadblocks force traffic onto streets that cannot take the traffic, increasing danger to residents on those streets
Real alternatives to traffic management were not considered
Bryant St.
Roadblocks force neighborhood traffic onto Ramona and Emerson, which are not large enough to support the traffic
Residents are still at risk at the corner of Everett x Bryant, but less so at Hawthorne x Bryant.
SOLUTION: Additional stop signs along Bryant St solve the problem of the dangerous 2-way stop. Remove the roadblocks to allow traffic to move freely without danger.
Emerson St. & Ramona St.
New traffic pattern has cars making turns from Hawthorne and Everett onto Emerson and Ramona without a stop sign.
SOLUTION: Wasn’t a problem before, but now it’s dangerous. Removal of the roadblocks will redirect traffic back onto Hawthorne and Everett, streets built to handle the traffic and move cars efficiently to their destinations.
Palo Alto Ave.
Roadblocks sharply cut neighborhood traffic on Palo Alto Ave. unnecessarily
SOLUTION: One-way streets on Palo Alto at Alma and Middlefield will significantly reduce “cut-through” traffic while allowing residents free access to their homes and jobs. I.e. replace roadblocks with ONE-WAY signs at those locations.
Kipling St.
When traveling East, residents are forced to drive around the park on Kipling, a street that is not equipped for traffic
Danger has been increased to children and elderly that walk across the street to get to the park.
No stop sign at the corners of Hawthorne and Everett allow traffic to come around corner without seeing pedestrians jaywalking.
SOLUTION: removal of roadblocks redirects traffic onto Hawthorne and Everett and allows through traffic safely.
Middlefield
Turns from Middlefield onto Hawthorne and Everett are dangerous.
Bulbouts make them VERY dangerous.
SOLUTION: Remove bulbouts and enforce speed limit on Middlefield
Misc: Bulbout at Hawthorne x High have no purpose – why add the danger?