The recent opening of the University Avenue Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing has unlocked long-suppressed demand for people walking and biking to reach University & Donohoe — the northern gateway to the bridge. Residents can now cross Highway 101 safely via a wide, off-street path that fills a key missing link in the Silicon Valley bicycle network. This success has also highlighted other nearby gaps in connectivity that remain to be addressed, in order to reduce accidents.

Accidents

There have been 39 collisions within 1 block of University Ave & Donohoe St in the last 18 months from 1/1/24 to 6/30/25 - including 7 involving bicycles and 2 involving pedestrians. All of these collisions occurred before the new University Ave bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing opened sometime in July 2025.

The problem appears to have been getting worse. At the June 3, 2025 City Council meeting - prior to the opening of the new overcrossing - East Palo Alto resident Edison Lee made a public comment expressing concerns about 3 bicycle collisions he had seen on University Ave in a 1 month time span while biking home from work:

"I'd like to raise the concern for the street safety of University Ave. Within the span of 9 days, there has been 3 collisions that I myself have observed or heard about within the street. On May 2, there was a collision between the intersection of University Ave and Donohoe St. I was coming back from work. There was a driver and a biker. And the biker was struck and the biker was on the ground and being treated for medical injuries. Secondly, on May the 4th this was the intersection of University and Bay there was a hit and run...on May 10th, there was a third collisions...on University Ave and Woodland Ave. This was a biker who was also hit and paramedics were tending to his wounds. This is just me biking to work everyday. I Just happened to observe two of those collisions first hand. It is also just scary knowing that there may be many other collisions that I have not seen or heard about...This is a pattern of collisions. This suggests that something should be done to improve the road safety."

A few weeks after hearing Edison's public comment, I witnessed another cyclist laying on the ground yelling in pain at University & Bell, who had been in a collision with a car.

The number of vehicle - bicycle and vehicle - pedestrian collisions is projected to increase, due to the increased demand for people walking and biking to the northern gateway of the University pedestrian overcrossing at University Ave & Donohoe St.

Gaps in Connectivity

University Ave Between Donohoe St and Bell St

The Class II painted bike lanes on University Ave are dangerous and non-existent in some places. For instance, as shown in the photo below, the bike lane painting has entirely rubbed off on the section of University Ave in front of the Chevron gas station. I felt very unsafe while biking on this segment due to the cars driving fast on University and the frequent cars turning right into the Chevron gas station or onto Donohoe St. I ended up biking on the sidewalk going southbound on University Ave from Bell St to Donohoe St.

The City has received funds to study a University Grand Corridor project (Project ST-29 in Capital Improvements Plan), but this can take years before implementation and we need to reduce the number of collisions now.

"The General Plan envisions University Ave. being transformed from a cut-through corridor into a mixed use boulevard with high-density housing, neighborhood-serving businesses and offices. This includes multimodal and complete streets improvements along University Avenue. The project is currently in Phase 1, with work expected to continue for the lifecycle of this current Capital Improvement Program."

My recommendation is to widen the sidewalk on the west side of University Ave between Bell St and Donohoe St into a 10 foot Class IV off-street path that can be shared by both pedestrians and cyclists, similar to the wider shared path at the new Mercedes Benz dealership in Palo Alto which is also near a highway interchange. Cyclists are already hopping onto the sidewalk because they feel unsafe, and we can widen the sidewalk in front of the Bell Street Park and remove the bike lanes on the street. The improvement for cyclists is huge and difficult to express with words. When I bike on an off-street shared path, my heart rate drops and I don't feel anxious that I could get hit by a car at any time.

Donohoe St Between Euclid Ave and University Ave

Another gap that needs to be addressed is on Donohoe St between Euclid Ave and University Ave. Yesterday an East Palo Alto resident shared with me a dangerous biking experience they had traversing Donohoe St eastbound from Euclid Ave & Donohoe St to the new University Ave pedestrian overcrossing entrance at University Ave & Donohoe St. Because there are no bike lanes on Donohoe St - and no plans for bike lanes - the resident had to stay off-street on the "sidewalk", only to discover that it is unpaved! As shown in the photo at the top of this post, the dirt and paved portions create uneven tripping hazards for pedestrians and cyclists.

My recommendation here is for the City to immediately pave a 10 foot wide shared path. To reduce costs, we could consider black asphalt pavement—similar to the surface used for the University pedestrian overcrossing near Woodland Ave (see photo below)—rather than concrete. Based on approximate costs of $4/sq ft for asphalt and $15/sq ft for concrete, the 4,000 sq ft of needed sidewalk (600 ft × 10 ft, minus about 2,000 sq ft already existing at the Chevron and school district driveways) would total:

• Asphalt: ~$16,000
• Concrete: ~$60,000

Once the upcoming East Bayshore Pedestrian and Cyclists Safety Improvements is constructed, there will be even more pedestrians and cyclists seeking to travel safely from Euclid & Donohoe to University & Donohoe. That East Bayshore improvement project makes improvements west of Euclid Ave, and there are no other plans I am aware of that improve the section between Euclid St & Donohoe St.

We don't have time to wait for development at the Sobrato Phase II and 2120-2160 affordable housing projects to pay for the sidewalk. The return on investment of installing a wider shared bicycle pedestrian path now for our residents' safety is huge.

Woodland Ave Between University and Cooley Ave

I previously wrote about this here.

The $2 million funding request for the Woodland Ave project is included in the bill which was approved by the full House appropriations committee in July 2025. According to our public works director Humza Javed, we probably won't know the final outcome until the end of the year.

https://kevinmullin.house.gov/contact/fy26-appropriations-requests/

East Palo Alto – Woodland Avenue Safety Improvements – $2,400,000

The entity to receive funding for this project is the city of East Palo Alto, located at 2415 University Avenue East Palo Alto, CA 94303. The funding would be used for the design and construction of safety improvements along a dangerous stretch of Woodland Avenue between University Avenue and Newell Road. This project will provide essential infrastructure and safety improvements for the section of East Palo Alto with the largest number of low and moderate income residents. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because The Woodland Avenue Safety Improvements Project will rehabilitate the deteriorated pavement, install sidewalks, provide ADA accessibility, construct bulb-outs, provide stormwater management improvements, include new signage and striping and utilize other traffic calming measures.

Federal Nexus and Financial Certification Letter

Conclusion

The City has been making incredible improvements to bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing in the past several years. Don't get me wrong: the University Avenue Pedestrian and Bicycle Overcrossing is amazing. Now that we have closed this strategic gap in the regional bicycle network, we need to think and act quickly about closing the gaps leading to both its north and south entrances.