BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Members of Palo Alto City Council are worried about the $40 million price tag for widening the sidewalks on University Avenue but voted to advance the redesign after City Manager Ed Shikada told them construction is the only way to get a first-class downtown.
“The challenge we have is that the existing sidewalks are decades old, and until they are replaced they will look decades old,” Shikada said on Monday (Dec. 9). “They also are built in a style with typical gray concrete with ribbons of brick … Quite frankly, it’s a dated look.”
Shikada and council members are looking with envy to Burlingame, where new sidewalks are made of decorative concrete pavers.
Mayor Greer Stone, who is a teacher in San Carlos, said his students go to downtown Burlingame to hang out. “I ask them why, they say because it’s such a nice place to be and to spend an afternoon, and you know you don’t have to spend any money to just enjoy being in those types of locations,” Stone said.
Burlingame finished a $16 million redesign of Burlingame Avenue in 2014, widening sidewalks from 10 to 16 feet and switching from angled to parallel parking on four blocks. The city also added trees, streetlights and hanging flower baskets along the sidewalks while replacing 100-year-old water and sewer lines.
To save money in Palo Alto, Vice Mayor Ed Lauing asked Shikada about cutting the University Avenue project in half, rather than the current plan to widen sidewalks on nine blocks between High Street and Cowper Street.
Construction would be largely funded by downtown property owners who would benefit from the project, Shikada said.
Councilwoman Lydia Kou asked if the city could widen the existing sidewalks by adding more concrete.
Assistant Director of Public Works Holly Boyd said extending the sidewalks would create drainage issues. Councilman Greg Tanaka wanted to move the construction project up two years, but nobody else on council backed him.
Construction would begin in 2027 and finish in 2030, Public Works Director Brad Eggleston said in a report for council.
Sidewalks would go from 12 feet to 17.5 feet, and the corners would be extended further into the street to make room for benches, landscaping and shorter crosswalks. The city would go from 177 angled parking spaces to 155 parallel parking spaces, Eggleston said.
That will be the most expensive per square foot ever sold in the United States. You can follow the donations to see which politician’s donors construction company gets the job. $40 million we should have granite right? $40 million. How can Ed Shikada make that ask with a straight face?
Yeah, it must be the sidewalks that are the problem.
I’m sure there are thousands of people who avoid downtown PA because of the dated sidewalks.
How much are we paying Shikada, again?
Eddie sure knows how to waste OUR money. He hires “retail consultants” for millions of dollars who can’t even track down retailers who left PA for Los Altos and Menlo Park even though they advertise locally BECAUSE they have no local knowledge.
And anyone who thinks parallel parking vs angled parking will speed through traffic is delusional.
We need an audit on the waste of OUR money! How about the STREET CLEANING we’ve long requested? Too cost-effective and not enough kickback potential???
And didn’t we learn anything from the Jaime Rodriquez bejeweled sidewalk fiasco that closed Cal Ave for so many years due to cost overruns and silly delays.
Shameful. And shame on Pat Burt and the CC for supporting this when they can’t even visit Los Altos to see how their downtown is bustling with so many people on First Fridays you can’t even see the sidewalks! WHO CARES about sidewalks anyone except those making millions from boondoggles like this.
How about they fix all the abandoned shops, people running red lights constantly or something more important than sidewalks.
This is the worst run city I’ve ever lived in, the city council, et al are completely clueless. I’m shocked people keep voting for these clowns
WHAT ABOUT CAL.AVE?! There’s all this new $$$ for improvements on University Ave., but still nothing for California Ave. Local leaders wanted to close Cal Ave and have done nothing to make it inviting to customers beyond the atrocious orange construction barriers with temporary ad paper. Please allocate funds for this area of town!
I hope they don’t eliminate the news racks. I’m sure council members would love to shut down the Daily Post. But the community needs to speak out and save the news racks.
Let’s look back at how many times the city has “redesigned” or “reimagined” Cal Ave. How much money was wasted on that. It’s now worse than what it was 20 years ago. Given that history, why would anyone allow council to screw up University Avenue? And at a price of 40 million dollars? Are we crazy? If the council members go forward with this, they should be removed from office for mental health reasons. This is insane.
Fyi the City Priority Survey awaits your input. We can’t post external links here but the City Manager’s weekly newsletter has a link.
Note that you can write in comments and specify your priorities if you don’t agree with the choices presented since they didn’t include Fiscal Responsibility, Providing Cost-effective Services, Accountability, etc.