Atherton committee recommends school-zone speed reductions, delays changes to safety-corridor limits

The Town of Atherton Transportation, Bike and Ped Safety Committee on Jan. 28 recommended that the City Council pursue lower speed limits at several school zones while declining to change speed limits along the town’s designated safety corridors at this time.

Robert, a transportation staff member, told the committee the California Vehicle Code normally sets speed limits using an 85th-percentile (often rounded to the nearest 5 mph) and that recent state law changes allow additional five-mile reductions in business districts, senior areas and along safety corridors and permit school-zone reductions as low as 15 mph when children are present. He said the council had already adopted a local roadway safety plan and designated Alameda de las Pulgas, Marsh Road, Middlefield, Oak Grove and Valparaiso as safety corridors and asked the committee to evaluate possible speed-limit adjustments.

The committee focused its safety-corridor discussion on Valparaiso, a road split jurisdictionally down the center line with Menlo Park. Staff noted recent bike-lane buffering and lane-narrowing on Valparaiso and said Menlo Park has asked Atherton to consider reducing Valparaiso’s non-school speed limit from 30 to 25 mph. Sergeant Metzger of the police department noted that school-zone enforcement differs from general speed enforcement: “When school’s in session, that 25 mile an hour zone all the way through there… the violation is 26,” he said, and added that critical speed measurements must be re-taken after traffic patterns change before enforcement at lower non‑school limits is practical.

Public commenters urged broader school-zone reductions. Johnny Wilson, a parent, said temporary traffic calming on Encinal has “been working really well” and that he observed “1 person violated it out of 50 cars.” Wilson and other public speakers urged committee support for 15 mph school-zone limits near elementary schools, arguing lower posted limits better protect young pedestrians and bicyclists while giving police enforcement tools. Adrian Silva, a parent volunteer with the Safe Routes to School program, asked staff to coordinate with school volunteers, San Mateo County and Menlo Park so school-focused infrastructure and outreach efforts are aligned.

After discussion and public comment, the committee voted to recommend no changes to the speed limits on the safety corridors at this time and to recommend that the council pursue speed-limit reductions in specific school zones: Camino Al Lago (coordination required with San Mateo County because a portion is under county jurisdiction), Edge Road, Laurel (the area near Nativity), and the stretch described as Emily (the committee identified Emily as a segment near the former Saint Joseph site / Sacred Heart area). The motion was seconded and approved by unanimous voice vote.

Committee members repeatedly emphasized coordination: several of the streets proposed for change either border Menlo Park or the county, and staff and members said any final signage or ordinance would need matching actions from those neighboring jurisdictions. The committee also recommended continued outreach and, where the town lacks jurisdiction, that staff pursue coordinated requests to county or neighboring-city traffic engineers.

The committee asked staff to summarize the recommended changes and return language and maps that the council could consider formally adopting.