Brushing aside concerns about safety and cost, the city council called Tuesday night for the construction of a pedestrian tunnel that would connect residents of the new Mayfield Mall development with the San Antonio Caltrain station.
It is estimated the tunnel will cost between $1.5 and $2 million. City staff had instead recommended street-level modifications that would cost a fraction of that, but council members said a tunnel would ultimately be a safer connection.
“We need to look at what is the best-quality project we can put together,” said council member Laura Macias. “This is no time to try to do a crossing on the cheap.”
Macias added that the tunnel represents a rare opportunity for the city to deliver on its promises of improving pedestrian and bicycle safety throughout the town.
Nearly 100 people use the current crossing every morning. That number is expected to at least double with the construction of Toll Brothers’ 578 proposed units at the 26-acre Mayfield site.
A consultant’s report, conducted with a $25,000 grant from the Valley Transportation Authority, said the proposed tunnel would need to be 165 feet long to cross the Central Expressway.
Vice Mayor Greg Perry suggested making some of the recommended street improvements in order to shorten the length needed for the tunnel. He also said that adding a light well in the Central Expressway median could make it a more attractive option.
Mayor Nick Galiotto was the only council member to object to the tunnel idea. Galiotto, who was on the police force when the city closed a pedestrian tunnel beneath El Camino Real at Calderon Avenue because of crime, said he thought the tunnel would wind up sitting empty.
The council rejected the concept of a pedestrian bridge over Central, which would cost about $5 million and add a quarter mile to the distance between the development and the station.
Council eyes Palo Alto’s cash
The other topic of Tuesday night’s council study session on the Mayfield project revolved around the size and type of the new development’s parks. The city has said it will require Toll Brothers to provide park space in the development, rather than pay the in-lieu fees that many developers of smaller projects prefer.Staff recommended giving Toll Brothers a strip of city-owned land along the expressway in exchange for building a larger park inside the development. Residents of Monta Loma neighborhood asked the city to consider using general fund money to supplement the parks. Meanwhile, members of the group Save Open Space suggested the city make use of in-lieu fees from projects in neighborhoods with more park space in order purchase more land at Mayfield.
Council members appeared receptive to those ideas, at least in part, but they were much more excited about the prospect of somehow convincing Palo Alto to contribute $290,000 in “community facilities fees.” The vast majority of the proposed units are planned for the Mountain View portion of the site, but according to staff, the residents of the 48 homes on the Palo Alto side are likely to use the parks in Mountain View.
“I see no reason why Palo Alto would not relinquish those,” said council member Matt Pear. “I don’t want to use the word greed, [but] I don’t see how they could really put together an argument.”
Senior city planner Lynnie Melena said she had not broached the topic with anyone in Palo Alto, but told the council, “We don’t know what their response would be. It would probably be the same as if Mountain View was asked.”
Melena drew some laughs with her comment, and the first council members to speak in favor of the request appeared to be at least half-joking. But Mayor Nick Galiotto, who had the last word on the subject, looked completely serious.
“I think it’s fair to ask them,” he said.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com
