Staff presents eight bike/ped crossing concepts for South Palo Alto; commissioners raise safety, traffic and property-impact concerns

City transportation staff and consultants presented an initial analysis of eight conceptual bicycle and pedestrian crossing alternatives for South Palo Alto at the Sept. 10 Planning and Transportation Commission meeting and sought commissioner feedback on trade-offs among safety, right-of-way impacts and interagency complexity.

Charlie Cole, senior transportation planner in the Office of Transportation, said the project’s objective is to identify locations and develop 15%-level design concepts for up to two additional grade-separated bicycle and pedestrian crossings in the southern portion of the city. "Our scope of work provided the city with some flexibility to advance up to two alternatives to the 15% design level for further refinement," Cole said.

The staff presentation summarized an initial screening of more than two dozen options that was narrowed to eight concept alternatives. The…