Council debates keeping curb extension some dub ‘overkill’

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

Palo Alto City Council was caught tonight (Aug. 10) between residents trying to slow down traffic and a man who says a curb extension is affecting his livelihood.

“For someone with limited mobility, extra curbs, obstacles and distance are not minor inconveniences — they threaten my ability to remain independent,” James Girand, 89, said in a letter read by his son tonight.

Girand lives at the corner of East Crescent and Southwood drives, where the city put in a curb in 2021 so less cars would cut through the Crescent Park neighborhood.

Resident Greg Welch, who pushed for the curb extension nearly a decade ago, said grid lock and speeding have gone down.

“Traffic used to whip around the corner,” resident Harlan Pinto said.

Councilman Pat Burt said for its size, the project may have set a record for how long it’s taken.

“This is not a timeline that we want to celebrate,” Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims said.

Council voted 5-2 to make the curb extension smaller, while still limiting the turning radius of cars.

“It’s the best thing to do for the neighborhood and the community at large,” Councilman George Lu said.

Councilmen Keith Reckdahl and Ed Lauing were against the curb extension.

“It just seems like overkill,” Reckdahl said.

Planning Commissioners Bryna Chang and Allen Akin wrote a letter to council before the meeting that said the project has “suffered from miscommunications, and the project review and approval process wasn’t clear.

“Both the commission and Mr. Girand felt that a design known to be unacceptable had been forced through,” Chang and Akin said in their letter.

Chief Transportation Official Ria Hutabarat Lo presented council with three options: remove the extended curb, replace it with stop signs or keep it with landscaping.

She recommended keeping the curb because a redesign would be inefficient, and three-quarters of neighbors support the curb extension.

“Unanimous support is unlikely, potentially unattainable or is achievable only in a manner that does not model government efficiency,” Lo said in her report for that council.