REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Accept the Findings of the Poplar Avenue Sidewalk Study (DPW 21-04), Approval of Installation of a 6-foot Wide Sidewalk and 4-foot Wide Park Strip Along the East Side of Poplar Avenue Between El Camino Real and Peterson Middle School, and Approval of Installation of a Minimum 6-foot Wide Sidewalk on the North and South Sides of Bryant Way East of Poplar Avenue
Report
BACKGROUND
Poplar Avenue between Peterson Middle School and El Camino Real is a two-lane local roadway. It is located within the Raynor Park neighborhood, which was previously annexed from the County of Santa Clara. At the time of the annexation in the 1970s, the residents of Raynor Park expressed a desire to retain the rural character of the neighborhood; therefore, there is currently no sidewalk on either side of the road for the majority of the segment except for locations where redevelopments occurred, and sidewalk was installed as part of those redevelopments.
Peterson Middle School is located at the southern terminus of Poplar Avenue. It is a neighborhood serving public school with approximately 900 students in Grades 6 to 8. Based on the 2018 Safe Routes to School Education Program Hand Tally survey performed at the school, approximately 22% of the students walk to school, and 16% of the students bike to school. There is a secured bicycle parking corral on the east side of Poplar Avenue at Rosalia Avenue.
In May 2019, as part of the development of the Active Transportation Plan (ATP), the project team conducted a School Walk Audit at Peterson Middle School during school dismissal with the school vice principal, school staff, parents, and city staff. The objective of the School Walk Audit was to understand the areas of concern for students walking and bicycling to school, and for the project team to identify infrastructure improvements in the school's vicinity to create a safer walking and bicycling environment for students.
Rosalia Avenue along the school...
Click here for full text