Atherton council hears multi‑agency update on Grand Boulevard Initiative for El Camino Real

SamTrans and partner agencies on Oct. 1 updated the Atherton Town Council on the Grand Boulevard Initiative, a multi‑jurisdictional planning study to guide changes along El Camino Real.

The presentation, led by Cassie Halls, manager of major corridors at SamTrans, outlined a countywide effort—supported by the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (TA), Caltrans and regional agencies—to develop corridor‑level concepts and a plan for implementation. Halls said the study responds to “a lot of safety and mobility issues along the corridor,” including “an unusually high rate of fatal and serious injury crashes,” and seeks to provide a menu of improvements cities can consider.

The presentation matters locally because El Camino Real is a state highway that runs through about 1.5 miles of Atherton. Robert Abadio, introduced at the meeting as the town’s Brooks director, said Atherton’s short segment faces different conditions than commercial stretches in other cities and noted the scale and cost of corridor work: $750 million was cited as an estimate to address needs countywide, while Abadio estimated…