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Residents and council press for traffic-safety fixes, expanded fire-mitigation funding
Summary
Residents flagged an apparently dangerous intersection and urged bigger rebates for fire-hazard mitigation at the June 24 Woodside Town Council meeting; staff said the Portola and Sand Veil redesign is a county project, will follow up with the county, and asked council to consider contracting with the fire district for vegetation removal.
Multiple residents and council members raised traffic-safety and fire-hazard mitigation issues during the June 24 meeting.
A resident participating by Zoom described three recent crashes at the Portola and Sand Veil intersection — two narrowly avoided vehicle-on-vehicle or vehicle-on-bicycle collisions and one motorcycle crash — and said the sequence of incidents “highlighted that that intersection continues to be a hazard to people’s lives.” The resident also asked the council to revisit an earlier proposal to increase the town's fire-hazard mitigation rebate matching from $3,000 to $6,000 per year to help residents pay for expensive tree and brush work in the Western Hills.
Town Manager Jason Ledbetter said staff have been seeking funding options and that the town has discussed whether higher matching funds could be targeted to the Western Hills; no funding has been secured. Public Works Director Yaz (first name not reported) told council the Portola/Sand Veil redesign is a San Mateo County project and said he would follow up with county staff about safety and traffic control.
The council also discussed a temporary traffic light on Old La Honda Road. Staff reported the town currently spends roughly $200,000 a year to keep that temporary signal in place and that a permanent signal had been quoted at about $1.2 million (staff said that estimate may have changed). Staff said there were no plans to remove the temporary light without community engagement and that if the council wants a permanent fixture, the project should be placed on the capital improvement program (CIP) for planning and funding.
On vegetation management, the town manager and public works staff reported the San Mateo County fire district operates a vegetation-removal crew and that contracting with the fire district for right-of-way maintenance could be more cost-effective than private contractors; staff said they will present options to council in the future. The council and staff noted capacity limits for town public-works crews and said partnering with the fire district could expand the town's ability to remove ladder fuels and clear brush to fire-district standards.
