Capital Improvement Investments: Progress on Key Community Projects

Published in

PaloAltoConnect

7 min readNov 4, 2021

Learn more about the City’s capital improvement program and project updates furthering community priorities

As the City of Palo Alto continues its recovery phase from the pandemic, there are encouraging signs of new growth, including progress on capital improvement projects that further community priorities. These projects, which range from the long-awaited Highway 101 Pedestrian/ Bike Bridge and park improvements to a new Public Safety Building, offer ways the public can be “together again.” This blog shares updates on the latest projects that further the City Council’s priorities and enhance the quality of life in Palo Alto.

Highway 101 Pedestrian / Bike Bridge Project Opening Soon

The highly anticipated Highway 101 Pedestrian / Bike Bridge Project will open on Saturday, Nov. 20 with a special opening ceremony, weather permitting. The project, funded from local, state and federal sources, including a $5.5 million grant from the County of Santa Clara’s Stanford Recreation Mitigation Fund, will better link regional trails and recreational areas such as the Baylands Nature Preserve to businesses such as Google Intuit and Space Systems. This new, year-round bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing is located over Highway 101 at Adobe Creek near the City’s southern border.

The new structure replaces the seasonal Benjamin Lefkowitz Underpass, that was available only half the year on average due to seasonal flooding. The new overcrossing includes a new Class I trail connection, connecting West Bayshore Road to the Baylands Nature Preserve. This project also completed the new Adobe Creek Reach Trail that connects East Meadow Drive and West Bayshore Road. The trail opened on Friday, October 22.

The Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bike Bridget Project contractor is completing the final work items including the remaining architectural railing installation, site amenities, bridge striping, and miscellaneous utilities, and site clean-up. Partial lane closures are planned on Highway 101 in northbound and southbound directions to complete installation of remaining railing components over the freeway in the weeks of November 1 and November 8, between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., weather permitting.

For more information about the project, please visit the project webpage: www.cityofpaloalto.org/101Bridge

New Expanded Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo Reopening Soon

Coinciding with the Highway 101 Pedestrian / Bike Bridge Project opening in November, the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo (JMZ) — a place where families can explore, discover, create and play — will reopen in a new facility on November 13. The old facility closed due to the pandemic, providing an opportunity to reimagine and expand its offerings in an expanded building.

The completely rebuilt facility is designed to reflect JMZ’s core beliefs about best practice science learning for young children, wildlife conservation, and animal welfare. At 38,518 total square feet, the footprint of the new sustainable building is nearly twice as large as the prior facility, which they had outgrown a decade ago. Stay tuned to this blog in the coming weeks for an inside look at the new and improved JMZ, which will include will use the expanded space to provide much needed visitor amenities, fully accessible exhibits, the best quality of animal care, and additional program space for delivering excellent learning experiences for children.

Learn more about the project here: www.cityofpaloalto.org/jmz

Rinconada Park Improvements Continue

In 2017, the Council adopted the Rinconada Park Long Range Plan (LRP), which identified — with community input — improvement needs for the park. Phase 1 improvements at Rinconada Park, which launched in September, includes upgrades to safety, site amenities, playground facilities, irrigation, drainage, restroom, and accessibility improvements in the western half of the park. The project addresses much-needed upgrades to the existing playgrounds and replaces existing walkways. This phase, which is expected to be completed by February 2022, will cost $1.95 million.

Phase 2 improvements will include renovating the eastern half of the park by 2024, including pathway improvements, a new restroom facility; renovated and expanded group picnic areas, native and habitat planting, irrigation improvements, ADA upgrades, directional signage, site furnishing, lighting, and green infrastructure elements. According to the LRP, future improvement phases would include enhancements to the arbor area, development around the electrical substation, and renovation to the pool area.

Read more about the project here.

New Public Safety Building Under Construction

Due to the growth of public safety services and changes in regulations, the existing 25,000-square-foot Public Service Building at 275 Forest Avenue no longer meets current seismic, accessibility, or regulatory code requirements of the Essential Services Buildings Seismic Safety Act (ESBSSA). To accommodate expanding public services and ESBSSA requirements, a new Public Safety Building (PSB) is underway.

The new PSB, under construction at 250 Sherman Avenue next to the new California Avenue Area Parking Garage, 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. Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the PSB and garage, part of the 2014 Council Infrastructure Plan, are considered as a single project because the garage will mitigate the loss of approximately 310 existing public surface parking spaces on both sites.

The PSB will be a three-story building, built over an operational basement and below grade parking for staff, will feature a public plaza and main entry on Birch Street, a multi-purpose training room and meeting space, and a secured operations yard with large public safety vehicle parking. There will also be public parking available at the new California Avenue Area Parking Garage, which will eventually feature solar panels to support the PSB energy needs.

In the last couple months, the construction team completed groundwater drawdown to lower water surface elevation for the excavation, finished tieback installation to reinforce stability of the retaining wall and completed the mass excavation. This month, the team will complete waterproofing membrane installation and place mat foundation rebar in preparation of the first mat slab pour tentatively scheduled for early December.

Learn more about the $117 million project, slated for completion in July 2023, here www.cityofpaloalto.org/PSB . You can also subscribe to the monthly PSB Construction News for updates via this link: Subscribe for Email Updates.

Charleston/Arastradero Corridor Project — Phase 3

The Charleston-Arastradero Corridor is a heavily used artery serving as an east-west connector for South Palo Alto. Comprehensive Plan Policy T4.3 specifically names Charleston Road and Arastradero Road as Residential Arterials, which are to be treated with landscaping, medians, and other visual improvements to distinguish them as residential streets to reduce speeds and improve neighborhood quality of life. Council previously approved trial striping pavement marking for permeant retention along the corridor. The construction phase of this project will install landscaped medians, bulb-outs, traffic signal modifications, and enhance bicycle and pedestrian improvements consistent with the existing striping/roadway configuration

The corridor project has been divided into three phases to meet grant funding deadlines and to minimize disruption along the corridor. Phase 1 included Arastradero Road from Miranda Avenue to Los Palos Avenue. Phase 2 included East Charleston Road from Alma Street to Middlefield Road. Phase 1 and 2 started construction in July 2018 and were completed in early 2020. Phase 3 includes Arastradero Road from Los Palos Avenue to El Camino Real (SR 82), West Charleston Road from El Camino Real (SR 82) to Alma Street, and East Charleston Road from Middlefield Road to San Antonio Road.

In August, the construction team laid out temporary mock-up of bulb-outs. In September, a community meeting was held virtually to discuss any concerns or questions regarding these changes. Last month, the construction team started potholing for utilities and storm drain work, which should be completed in November. Concrete work on curb ramps and bulb-outs started and is anticipated to be complete by the end of the year.

For more about the Charleston/Arastradero Corridor Project, go here.