Message-ID: <3CF1386F.170BE795@dougmoran.com> Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 12:33:03 -0700 From: Douglas Moran To: BPA open list Subject: Narrow to 4-lanes? Part of [bpa] El Camino comments -- Workshop June 1! References: >> See http://www2.bpaonline.org/mailing-lists.html for info on this list, << >> appropriate content, etiquette, (un)subscribing, ... << BPA: Part of the proposal for redesign of El Camino would narrow it to four-lanes between Barron Avenue and Maybell. My first reaction was "No way". Like most of us, I have seen that the closing of a single lane (for construction) creates serious backups. And I know what happens when El Camino goes from 6 lanes to 4 in Menlo Park (I used to work there). However, I then watched the traffic pattern on El Camino in the BP segment and what I saw was that the traffic lights created serious clustering of the traffic: there would be a long period where few or no cars would pass and then suddenly there was a dense clump of cars, followed by another long gap. Better management of the traffic signals *might* smooth out the flow enough that 4 lanes *might* be practical. The message that I would encourage residents to send to the planners (reiterating part of Ned Farquhar's overview of the workshop). is to *not* take any hard-to-reverse decisions based upon models of traffic, but to make changes in the current segment that clearly demonstrate via observations of actual traffic that 4-lanes would be adequate, and _only_then_ reconfigure the street. Example problem with current signal management: I am traveling north on El Camino and want to turn left onto Matadero. Although there is absolutely no oncoming traffic for as far as I can see (beyond the Hansen/Portage traffic lights), I sit there waiting (and waiting) for the light to turn. It finally does turns just as the clump of cars released by the Page Mill light arrives at this intersection, increasing their delay and re-concentrating the pack of cars. -- Doug Moran