North San Antonio Road
The City of Los Altos received a $7.3M OBAG3 grant to execute a Complete Streets plan for North San Antonio Road from Foothill Expressway to El Camino. This is an exciting project that will include protected bike lanes that connect with the new El Camino Bikeway, to Foothill Expressway, and to other key Los Altos locations including local schools and Downtown Los Altos.
On 6/13/23, the Los Altos City Council passed a resolution of local support that authorizes staff to file an application for funding assigned to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, commits the necessary $1.8M matching funds from the City, and states assurance to MTC that the City will complete the N. San Antonio Rd. The next step is for the City to gather RFPs for the project study. It is imperative that citizens support this project which will improve the transportation network in the town for multimodal transportation, especially as more people adopt bike and e-bike transportation as their preferred means over cars. Many detractors may say that bike lanes decrease housing values, but studies on this subject show otherwise.
The goals for this project are to:
Improve safety of crossings to access downtown Los Altos at multiple crossings between Foothill expressway and Almond Avenue, as well as Pine Lane and Portola.
Eliminate injuries/deaths to pedestrians and bicyclists
Provide students and commuters with safe routes to work and school
Improve traffic flow at the intersection of Edith and San Antonio Rd.
Per the Staff Report the project includes:
Class IV protected bikeways
Improved integration between transit and bicycle lanes
Median landscaping
High visibility crosswalks
Pedestrian enhancements
Median reconstruction
Next Steps:
RFPs to be sent out by the City of Los Altos for Design
Community Meetings and Engagement
Timeline for Construction
Studies show that when you make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, retail establishments do better and property values increase.
Myth Busters: Are Bike Lanes Bad for Business?
Bike Lanes reduce emission, ease congestion, and are a boon for business.
Read this article for the facts on what happens to businesses when you make the streets friendly and safe to pedestrians.
Time Magazine on How Cities Thrive when they prioritize pedestrians and bicycles.

