San Mateo County Allocates $2.26 million in Bike and Pedestrian Funds but Good Projects Left Unfunded

Image: the proposed Class II bike lanes and Class III bike routes in Foster CityThis blog was contributed by guest blogger, SVBC member, Chair of the Redwood City Complete Streets Commission, and member of the City and County Association of Governments Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Matthew Self.The City and County Association of Governments Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (C/CAG BPAC) scored applications for the 2017-18 Transportation Development Act-Article 3 (TDA-3) grants last Thursday, Oct. 26  The recommendation will be sent to the C/CAG board for approval, but the board usually goes with the BPAC's recommendation. See a list of applications on page 8 of the agenda packet.

The grant call was very oversubscribed.  There were 21 applications for capital projects requesting $6.9 million. Of these, 5 were recommended to receive the $1.9 million that was available:

1. Foster City (Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements along E. Hillsdale Boulevard and Beach Park Boulevard)*
2. San Bruno (Huntington/San Antonio Bicycle Corridor and Lomita Park Elementary Safe Routes to School Project)*
3. Millbrae (Transit Center to Spur Trails (Phase I and II) Connection and Pedestrian/Bicyclist Safety Improvements)*
4. Atherton (El Camino Real between Selby Lane/5th Ave Complete Streets Improvements)
5. South San Francisco (The South San Francisco Regional Bike Network Connectivity Project: North)

The scoring was incredibly close, with Menlo Park only coming in 0.1 point behind SSF (out of 100 points), with Redwood City and Belmont close behind.

There were also 6 applications for planning projects for $470,000, of which 4 were recommended to receive the $350,000 that was available:

1. South San Francisco Bicycle Master Plan Project
2. Pacifica Comprehensive Bike and Pedestrian Plan
3. San Carlos Comprehensive Pedestrian and Bike Plan*
4. San Mateo city Bicycle Master Plan Update (partial funding)*

Overall, the quality of the applications was very high and the real takeaway is that the Peninsula cities have become much more interested in and capable of developing good bike/ped infrastructure, but the funding has not kept pace.

*Staff note: Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition wrote support letters for applications marked with a star. Not every applicant requested a support letter from SVBC.