“We need to take action. We need to hold people accountable like Caltrans and myself. We need to find a way,” said San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa during a walking tour of El Camino Real (ECR) in and along Atherton, Calif.
Canepa wanted to experience this section of El Camino Real as a pedestrian after watching the Investigative Unit’s report on Atherton’s disproportionately high pedestrian death rate from 2011 to 2020. This stretch of road reflects Atherton’s non-commercial zoning. It does not have sidewalks and far fewer streetlights than the Menlo Park side of El Camino Real.
Caltrans oversees El Camino Real since it’s a state route.
“Yeah, this is um … this is not very good,” said Canepa after crossing six lanes of traffic to reach a bus stop that 61-year-old James Lazcano was trying to get to when he was mowed down by an SUV in 2020.
Atherton police and San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office increase enforcement
After the Investigative Unit started asking questions, Atherton police say an officer volunteered to lead a traffic operation to crack down on dangerous drivers. The department partnered with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office last Thursday to host a pedestrian safety operation. The operation resulted in 123 citations, which included written warnings. Another one is scheduled before school starts.
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The Sheriff’s Office said it also received pedestrian safety complaints from the public after NBC Bay Area’s report.
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“If someone got out of [a] bus right there, they’re walking right into traffic. And at nighttime or dusk, that’s dangerous,” he said. “I feel like we’re on a freeway here with three lanes [each way] … This is wild. I mean, look at the cars. Look at the speed.”
At one point, the supervisor was feet away from a screeching car making a quick U-turn to avoid oncoming traffic.
“It’s that, you clearly heard it! That’s what I’m talking about,” he said.
Supervisor Canepa’s Letter to Caltrans
As a result of NBC Bay Area’s reporting on Atherton’s pedestrian death rate and victims Shahriar Rahimzadeh (2014), Emiko Chen (2015), James Lazcano (2020) and Sol Gloria (2022), Canepa wrote a letter to Caltrans’ director, Tony Tavares. Canepa called on “the state Department of Transportation to prioritize the town of Atherton’s Selby Spanish School Safe Route to Schools Project … [where] Currently, most of the 730 students … are required to cross ECR at Selby Lane to get to school.”
In the letter, Canepa said “this is an equity project that should be improved immediately to spare future deaths along the corridor.”
When asked if there’s enough money for the entire stretch of El Camino Real in and along Atherton’s portion which has no sidewalks, Canepa said, “these things take time, but … we got to look at exceptions … And if that means doubling down with the money, we have to do it. And that’s what I’m committed to doing.”
Caltrans declines interview, releases statement
The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit asked Caltrans’ director Tony Tavares for an interview multiple times about our reporting and Canepa’s letter, but Tavares declined.
In a statement, the state agency said it’s now “exploring additional funding options that may exist for pedestrian and bicyclist safety improvements on El Camino Real from Selby Lane to Brewster Avenue.”
Caltrans said it supported the $3 million Selby school project but says the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) “ultimately denied that funding application.”
In addition to being a county supervisor, Canepa is also an MTC commissioner.
“The need is so great. We’re not just talking about here but regionally. That’s no excuse. That’s no excuse. With the data you’ve provided … we need to act. I’m committed in my role as MTC Commissioner and on the County Board of Supervisors to seeing how we can fast track this as soon as possible,” he said.
The Town of Atherton applied for that grant application, but an MTC spokesman said it may not have been as competitive against other projects seeking funding because it did not include a housing factor.
Catch up on this reporting series:
Part 1: SamTrans Is Ignoring Headlights Warnings, Bus Drivers
Part 2: San Mateo Family Says SamTrans' Negligence Caused Fatal Bus Crash: Lawsuit
Part 3: Atherton — an expensive, exclusive town — has one of the highest pedestrian death rates in Bay Area
