Belmont outlines multimodal goals, traffic-safety process; council notes need for more cycling infrastructure

Public Works staff presented Belmont’s annual transportation and mobility update to the City Council on April 22, outlining engineering, education and enforcement strategies and describing how traffic-safety requests are processed through the Parking & Traffic Safety Committee (PTSC).

Daniel Matthews, who manages Belmont’s pavement program and serves on PTSC, told council the committee receives public requests through a formal form (belmont.gov/ptsc), evaluates traffic history and collision data, performs speed or traffic counts when needed, and then issues recommendations at quarterly PTSC meetings. In 2024, PTSC received 32 formal requests — an 18% increase over the prior year — and staff recommended improvements on 11 of those requests. Matthews said two recommended improvements have been implemented, one is pending installation (a bike box at Ralston Avenue and South Road), three items await City Council approval and five were resolved via enforcement or maintenance actions.

Maintenance accomplishments highlighted by staff included repainting nearly 4,000 linear feet of red curb, crack-sealing nearly three miles of pavement, installing about 200 tons of asphalt, constructing three ADA ramps in-house, repairing roughly 60 potholes and addressing more than 65 pavement marking and signage issues. The city also flagged planned 2025 projects, including pavement rehabilitation and design work on Belmont Village bike and pedestrian improvements and a Hawk crossing on El Camino Real.

Matthews stressed the city’s three-part approach to safety: (1) engineering (infrastructure and capital projects), (2) education (public outreach, updates on new traffic laws and events such as Bike to Work Day), and (3) enforcement (directed traffic details and parking hotline follow-up). Belmont Police Department’s Clyde Hussey reported enforcement figures for 2024: about 2,000 traffic stops, 330 directed traffic enforcement details, 600 moving citations and more than 1,000 verbal warnings; the department emphasized education-first enforcement for new rules such as AB 413 (the daylighting law) and said it has not issued citations under AB 413 as of the meeting.

San Mateo Consolidated Fire’s Melinda Martin said emergency access and parked-car obstruction remain top concerns for fire apparatus; the department has been working with PTSC on targeted red-curb installations to improve access and cited a recent effort on Irene Court.

Public commenters pressed the council for faster action on bike infrastructure and stronger mode-shift policies. Community member Giuliano Carlini urged Belmont to invest more in cycling infrastructure and mode-shift programs rather than focusing mainly on signal timing and car-flow optimization. Carlini criticized delays to a proposed bike-lane extension and called paint-only measures (bike boxes) inadequate. Resident Tiffany Obayashi presented a petition with 904 signatures asking the city to formally place a proposal to install a pedestrian railing along the Ralston Avenue sidewalk near Ralston Middle School on a future agenda; she asked for a full council discussion rather than a three-minute public-comment slot. Matthews and staff said PTSC is the formal route to evaluate such requests and encouraged residents to submit the PTSC form so staff can study the location and provide a recommendation.

Matthews also said the city is seeking funding for a transportation master plan to guide longer-term mode-shift and mobility investments. He described potential tools including adaptive signal technology, safe routes to school work, transit coordination, and transportation-demand-management measures tied to development.

Councilmembers asked staff to continue outreach on safe routes to school and to route resident safety concerns through PTSC or the myBelmont app for formal tracking. No formal council action was taken on any new capital appropriations at the meeting; consent calendar business earlier in the evening did include authorization of a regional linkage/nexus study grant (see Votes at a glance).