Fall & Winter 2022 Palo Alto Newsletter

ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND TRANSITION
FALL/WINTER 2022 | www.cityofpaloalto.org
Palo Alto Fiber
Heads to Council
As They Consider
What’s Next
The City is assessing the feasibility of
providing locally owned and controlled
fiber internet services to all residents
and businesses. Since its conception in
the mid-1990s, fiber in Palo Alto has
gone through various phases of ideation
and implementation. The City Council
and Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC)
held a joint session on September 19 to
discuss the City’s fiber expansion plan
and Fiber-to-the-Premises. After receiving
feedback from the joint study session
and community, the City Council will
tentatively consider next steps at their
December 19 meeting. Learn more at
www.cityofpaloalto.org/PaloAltoFiber.
New Shuttle Coming
in 2023: Start and End
Almost Anywhere
in Palo Alto
Thanks to a VTA grant, a new shuttle
service is on track to start this Spring
in Palo Alto.
Customers will
be able to take
trips that start
and end almost
anywhere in Palo Alto. 8-10 vehicles
will serve Palo Alto riders with each trip
estimated to cost $3.50, and $1.00 fares
available for disabled, low-income, youth,
and seniors. For more details, go to
www.cityofpaloalto.org/shuttleservice.
Newly renovated Rinconada Park playground.
Progress on Community Investments
in Public Safety, Parks & More
Improvements to parks, roads, public
safety infrastructure, and flood plans
are progressing, helping to further
Council priorities and community needs
addressing community health, public
safety, transportation and sustainability.
Since July 2016, the City has completed
87 individual community-serving
projects totaling over $284 million
in improvements. Since June 2022,
and despite the pandemic, significant
milestones have been achieved, such
as the completion of the Highway
101 Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge project
in November 2021, the start of the
Public Safety Building construction
and reopening of the Palo Alto Junior
Museum & Zoo.
Parks continue to be a priority, with
the Boulware Park construction and
expansion project beginning in early
2023. The Public Safety Building will
offer 56,000 square feet of space within
a three-story structure and operational
yard and is centrally located in the
middle of Palo Alto to enhance public
safety services to the community. It is
scheduled to be complete by fall 2023.
It will house the Police Department,
911 Emergency Dispatch Center, the
Emergency Operations Center, the
Office of Emergency Services, and
the administration needs of the Fire
Department.
Mitchell Park Fire Station No. 4 is being
replaced. The project is currently in the
Schematic Design phase, which includes
public outreach for input. Design work
is currently underway and construction
is anticipated to begin in April 2024.
Charleston-Arastradero Corridor road
improvements are in the third and final
phase, with much of the work currently
focused at or near El Camino Real.
The 2.3 mile Charleston-Arastradero
Corridor serves as an east-west
connector for the southern section
of Palo Alto, and has seen a major
upgrade to better serve the community.
The corridor will soon boast new
foliage, landscaped medians, curb
extensions/bulb-outs, enhanced bicycle
and pedestrian improvements, and
traffic signal modifications consistent
with the existing striping/roadway
configuration.
Caltrans-led improvements on El
Camino Real continue to be a focus
for some community members. Staff
has been communicating with Caltrans
about the upcoming plans to repave
El Camino Real with work currently
planned for 2023. We are aware of
challenging road conditions on parts of
El Camino Real and when a community
member shares concerns with us, we
send those directly to Caltrans staff. You
can also report safety concerns directly
by going to https://csr.dot.ca.gov. For
more details about the City’s capital
infrastructure projects, go to www.
cityofpaloalto.org/projects.
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