City presents Nineteenth Avenue'Fashion Island multimodal plan; council, residents weigh trade-offs

City staff and transportation partners presented a 35% design of the Nineteenth Avenue'Fashion Island Boulevard Multimodal Improvement Project on Sept. 15, seeking council and public feedback on bike, pedestrian and congestion-relief elements before final design and a grant application resolution planned for October.

The project, led by the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SMCTA) with city staff support, aims to add protected-separated bike lanes, make pedestrian-safety upgrades and reduce vehicle delays at several congested intersections along the corridor — notably Nineteenth Avenue at Delaware/State Route 92 ramps and Fashion Island Boulevard at Norfolk Avenue. Bethany Lopez, senior engineer overseeing traffic engineering for the city, told the council the presentation was intended to collect input rather than to win final approvals.

Why it matters: Nineteenth Avenue is a key east'west connection across U.S. 101 and one of a small number of crossings between the freeway and the bay. Planners told council the corridor has recorded high collision counts and daily queues that extend back onto adjoining streets. The project is being positioned as a "complete streets" solution to meet multimodal funding rules: grant programs favor projects that combine safety and multimodal elements with congestion relief.

What staff proposed and why: Lopez and SMCTA representative Carolyn Mamaraldo outlined a series of design elements now under study: - Two-way protected cycle track on portions of the corridor to connect existing bike facilities and to close bike-network gaps toward Pacific Boulevard and the Caltrain stations. - Reconfiguration of lane assignments on the Seal Slough bridge to provide additional eastbound capacity at peak times by moving from two westbound/one eastbound lanes to one westbound/two eastbound lanes in selected segments. - A new signal phase and a median at the westbound Delaware/92 off-ramp to reduce conflicts with a high-volume gas-station driveway the team identified as a safety hotspot. - Intersection improvements at Norfolk and Fashion Island Boulevard that could add a dedicated second eastbound lane and convert a northbound lane on Norfolk into a southbound left-turn pocket to improve throughput.

Lopez said design is early and iterative; staff reported the corridor had more than 200 collisions from 2019'24 (the count the team presented did not include a recent fatality near the Seal Slough Bridge). She also said Fashion Island/Norfolk appears on the city's local roadway safety plan as the fifth priority hotspot and is on a countywide high-injury network.

Funding and schedule: Staff said the total construction estimate is about $25.5 million. To date the project has secured about $9 million in funding, and the city has programmed roughly $500,000 in local funds toward planning. The team recently submitted a Transportation Authority (TA) grant request for roughly $16.4 million and plans to use federal funds as match so the city's contribution is minimized; final design completion is targeted for spring 2026 and a second community meeting is scheduled for Nov. 5.

Trade-offs discussed publicly: The draft alignment would remove some on-street parking to make room for bike facilities and turn pockets. Staff showed two blocks where on-street parking would drop from 64 to 43 spaces (about 21 spaces lost) in one segment and from 25 to 11 in another area; staff said some refinements during design could recover a portion of the lost spaces. Lopez emphasized the team is seeking refinements based on the traffic study and community input.

Public reaction: More than a dozen residents and neighborhood representatives spoke at the meeting and in the online forum. Comments reflected wide support for protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements, particularly from parents and schoolchildren who said they ride to school along the corridor. Several residents and neighborhood associations urged staff to preserve parking, to avoid pushing cut-through traffic into Fiesta Gardens, and to collect more detailed bike-count data before finalizing lane swaps. A sampling of public comments: - "This project has so many benefits for our community," said Kevin Simpson, a neighborhood resident and cyclist who spoke in support of the project. - A high-school student, Bridal Shi, told council: "Riding to school so close to fast cars is really dangerous." The student urged protected lanes. - Neighborhood representatives asked staff to preserve community funding agreements and ensure prior developer commitments are applied to congestion relief where appropriate.

Council questions and staff responses: Council members pressed staff on the Delaware/92 ramps intersection, the proposed new signal phase for the gas-station driveway, and the Norfolk/Fashion Island lane swaps. Staff said the new median and dedicated movement at Delaware are designed to reduce conflict with the gas-station driveway (the design would require a new green phase for that movement) and that lane configuration changes on the Seal Slough bridge are intended to rebalance peak-direction capacity where eastbound demand is higher during afternoon peaks.

Next steps: Staff will refine designs based on the feedback, continue outreach (including to SamTrans, the gas-station owner and Bridgepoint mall property owners), and return in early October with a resolution supporting the TA grant application. A second public meeting is planned for Nov. 5 at College Park Elementary; staff aims to complete design next spring and pursue construction funding through TA/federal programs.

Project context and clarifying numbers disclosed by staff: the design-phase collision review documented more than 200 collisions on the corridor from 2019'24 (including recorded pedestrian and bicyclist collisions), one analysis shows up to 80 collisions concentrated at or near the Delaware/92 ramps, and current conceptual construction cost is approximately $25.5 million. Staff described the project as early-stage and underscored that design adjustments can still be made.

Where it stands: This was an informational update and request for council input; no construction authorization or final approvals were taken on Sept. 15. Council signaled support for continued design work and asked staff for additional data and outreach while preparing the October grant-resolution item.

"We are only seeking feedback tonight. We're not necessarily seeking any specific, decisions," Bethany Lopez said during the presentation.