At the Palo Alto City Council meeting on April 22, the Council is reviewing and providing input on concept plans for a Quarry Road Transit Connection to connect the Palo Alto Transit Center directly to El Camino Real.  To do this, the City would need to un-dedicate one third acre of an underutilized section El Camino Park. It would require a ballot measure in November to undedicate the parkland.

The proposal would enable buses to exit to El Camino Real and enter from El Camino Real more quickly, potentially saving an estimated 5-8 minutes per trip for hundreds of bus trips per day.  In addition to saving time for riders, it would improve the reliability of transit connections. Given hundreds of bus trips per day, it would likely save in the low millions of dollars per year in transit operations.

According to the staff report, El Camino Park consists of approximately 10.75 acres of land and is leased by Stanford to the City under a 1915 lease that currently is set to expire in 2042.  

A team from Stanford is working with the city on design for the project, and according to conversations with this blogger, is willing to work with the city on bike connections outside of the direct scope of the project, the better to improve connections to/through the transit center.

The proposed project is estimated to cost between $3-3.5M, with a cost dependent on the final design. Funding is being pursued through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission but may not be identified until after the ballot measure is considered by voters. 

With regard to the reduction of park space,the Parks and Recreation Commission has established an ad hoc committee and been working with staff to identify appropriate locations to dedicate other city-owned property as parkland.

For those interested, the item is estimated to come up at Palo Alto City Council approximately 8:50pm according to the City Council agenda. 

Comments can be made in person at Palo Alto City Hall, or by zoom at https://cityofpaloalto.zoom.us/j/362027238