Safe Streets for San Mateo

Summary: This project provides safer access to Fiesta Gardens International School and the Nueva School by improving bicycle infrastructure along Delaware St including separated bike lanes from 19th Ave to 28th Ave and a bicycle boulevard from 28th Ave to Pacific Blvd.  Pedestrian infrastructure at major intersections will also be upgraded.

City Webpage

Next Steps:

• City Council will provide final approval for this project in summer 2025

Previous Steps:

• May 5, 2025 City Council Meeting

• Apr 23, 2025 Broad Community Meeting, 7pm @ Nueva School

• Apr 14, 2025 Local Community Meeting , 7pm @ Fiesta Gardens International School

Summary: The project adds bicycle infrastructure on 28th Ave to provide a safe path of travel for bicyclists and pedestrians accessing the Caltrain Station and traveling to neighborhoods on either side of the Caltrain tracks. This includes a separated bike lane between Edison St and El Camino Real and a striped bike lane between Delaware St and E. Kyne St. 

City Webpage

Next Steps:

• Community Meeting and pop-up table at Hillsdale Caltrain Station

Previous Steps:

• Apr 21, 2025 City Council Meeting

Summary: In October 2021 and February 2022 San Mateo installed sidewalk ADA ramps and bulbouts, and 2.1 miles of striped bicycle lanes along N Humboldt St & Poplar Ave. 170 street parking spaces were removed along the west side of N Humboldt St and 44 street parking spaces were removed on Poplar Ave to accommodate the bicycle lanes. In February 2025 the City Council voted to explore removing a section of the bike lanes from 2nd Ave to Indian Ave and creating an alternative bicycle boulevard along N Idaho St or N Fremont St in order to restore 100 street parking spaces on N Humboldt Ave.

City Webpage: Removal, Installation

Take Action:

• Fill out the official community survey on the bike lane alternatives

• Sign up to receive action alerts about this project

Next Steps:

• Community Workshop late summer 2025

• Community Workshop fall 2025

• Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission Meeting spring 2026

• City Council Meeting spring 2026

Previous Steps:

• Jun 18, 2025 Community Workshop, 6pm @ MLK Jr. Community Center 

• Feb 3, 2025 City Council Meeting

• Dec 4, 2024 Community Meeting, 6pm @ MLK Jr. Community Center

• Feb 22, 2022 City Council Meeting

• Feb 9, 2022 Sustainability & Infrastructure Commission Meeting

• Nov 2021 - Jan 2022: 5 neighborhood pop-up workshops & month long display @ MLK Jr. Community Center

• Oct 27, 2021 City Council Meeting

• May 27, 2021 Virtual Community Meeting

Additional Background

• This section of roadway is one of two segments in San Mateo that is on the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG's) Countywide “High-Injury Network” for vehicle, walking, and biking, with 11 bicycle collisions along this corridor in the past, including one that left an elderly cyclist in a coma for at least 10 months (final outcome unknown). For safety and connectivity reasons, the bicycle lanes along N Humboldt St and Poplar Ave were the #2 and #4 priority projects on the 2020 Bicycle Master Plan.

• These bicycle lanes provide direct access to four schools:

  • San Mateo High School (1,600 students)

  • San Mateo Adult School (3,800 students)

  • College Park Elementary School (433 students)

  • Turnbull Children’s Center (305 students)

• In fall 2025 the College Park Elementary and Fiesta Gardens International School programs will swap campuses, and a new middle school will open next to the College Park Elementary campus. Traffic is expected to increase.

• The San Mateo Foster City School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution in support of the bicycle lanes and 17 out of 21 SMFCSD PTA Councils have signed onto a letter in support of the bicycle lanes. (The remaining 4 have not had an opportunity to weigh in yet.)

• The North Central neighborhood has one of the youngest populations in the County.  Per the United States Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey 5 year estimates for the three census tracts covering the North Central neighborhood:

  • Under 18: 22.8%

  • 18-34: 34.1%

  • 35-49: 19.7%

  • 50-64: 12.3%

  • 65-79: 8.5%

• Per the United States Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey 5 year estimates, only 15.3% of households in North Central have access to more than two vehicles. To date, the city has not explored changing the rules of the Residential Parking Permit Program (which currently require a non-residential “parking generator”) to implement a parking permit program zone in the neighborhood.

• There were 285 responses to the written and online surveys as part of the previous community outreach effort, collected via postcards sent to 3,000 households, posters along the route, 5 neighborhood pop-ups and a month-long display in the MLK Center. The survey demonstrated that a plurality of North Central and adjacent neighborhood residents and a majority of San Mateo residents supported installing the bicycle lanes if additional parking options were implemented.  

Summary: This project improves pedestrian and bicyclist safety at the intersection of 3rd Ave & Norfolk St by creating more visible crosswalks and waiting areas, and adjusting signal timing. It also connects the 3rd Ave shared use path to the San Mateo Creek shared use path. Vehicle waiting times should decrease as a result of these safety improvements.

City Webpage

Next Steps: Phase 1 of construction is complete, Phase 2 of construction is in progress and Phase 3 of construction is scheduled to conclude in early 2026.

Previous Steps:

• Jan 13, 2025 City Council Meeting