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Staff advises against full Middlefield Road 'road diet' after traffic study; residents press for permanent protected bike lanes
Summary
City engineers presented the Middlefield Road Street Project conceptual design and a traffic analysis showing intersection capacity and queuing impacts under a corridor‑wide road diet; staff recommended against a full diet, while residents and cycling advocates urged permanent protected lanes and narrower vehicle lane widths.
City engineers presented a concept design April 29 for the Middlefield Road Street Project (Project 2201) and concluded that a corridor‑wide reduction from two travel lanes per direction to one each (a full "road diet") would degrade intersection operations and substantially increase vehicle queuing under the city’s traffic model.
"For these above reasons, staff do not recommend implementing a road diet from Middlefield," the project lead said after summarizing the capacity, level‑of‑service and queuing analyses carried out on segmented portions of the corridor.
The presentation reviewed the project history and grant funding (including OBAG/Measure B and housing incentive grants), a proposed scope that includes resurfacing, protected bikeways, intersection improvements and a proposed pedestrian/bicycle crossing at the light‑rail line. Staff also explained that changes to the SR‑85 bridge overpass would require Caltrans approval and a more extensive review that could jeopardize grant deadlines if pursued in the current design schedule.
Several residents and bike commuters pushed back, arguing the staff analysis focused narrowly on vehicle level of service and did not account for benefits from mode shift, demand destruction or reductions in vehicle miles traveled. "The memo doesn't say a road diet is physically impossible," public commenter April said. "It just says that traffic operations may not meet what staff considers acceptable." Several speakers urged the city to adopt modern design guidance, narrow travel lanes and make the draft bike lanes permanent rather than allowing daytime‑only parking in bike lanes.
Some residents noted tradeoffs: parking availability for multi‑unit housing and deliveries, and whether emergency response would be affected. Staff said operational modeling for intersections assumed the same travel patterns — the analysis did not model induced mode shift or diverted demand for the operational LOS/queuing runs. "For our operational analysis at intersection level and roadway level, we assume the travel pattern is the same," a consultant modeler explained.
Several commenters asked the city to convert the temporary, part‑time bike lanes to permanent 24/7 bike lanes as a near‑term fix. Staff cautioned that making temporary bike lanes legally permanent requires changing the municipal code and an ordinance process, which includes council hearings. "It requires an ordinance change ... so there's code change, and it would require two hearings from council," staff said.
What happens next: staff will take the public and BPAC feedback to a Council Transportation Committee briefing scheduled soon and incorporate comments into design work while noting grant and coordination constraints (Caltrans approvals, grant obligation deadlines). Design is expected to proceed toward 2026 completion with construction anticipated in 2027, subject to grants and approvals.
Context: Middlefield is identified in the city’s planning documents as a regional east‑west corridor and appears on the local high‑injury network. The project has attracted strong public interest because of its potential to add protected bike lanes and the volume of planned housing and commercial development in the corridor.
