Commission reviews 35% design for Nineteenth Avenue–Fashion Island multimodal project as residents press for safer bike and pedestrian crossings

The San Mateo Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission on Aug. 13 reviewed a 35% design for the Nineteenth Avenue–Fashion Island Boulevard multimodal improvement project intended to reduce congestion, add protected bicycle facilities and improve pedestrian access on a corridor city staff said has a high number of collisions.

The commission heard the presentation from Bethany Lopez, senior engineer for the city’s public works department, who described the project’s goals as “to improve congestion relief, improve traffic flows” and to expand safe walking, bicycling and transit access while keeping parking where feasible.

The corridor analysis presented to commissioners and about 15 public speakers showed roughly 200 collisions from 2019–2024 across the corridor; Lopez said about 74 of those occurred at the Nineteenth Avenue–Delaware intersection and roughly 50 were concentrated at the Fashion Island/Norfolk area. Lopez also identified three pedestrian and three bicycle collisions in that period and noted a recent pedestrian fatality not in her dataset.

At 35% design the project proposes several main elements: a separated (physically protected) two‑way bikeway on the south side of Nineteenth Avenue for most of the corridor; a new raised median extending from the…