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VIDEO. From Coastside Video News. Video recording & edit by Coastside Video. Much more information, including the slides and exhibits from the meeting (which were the source of graphics used in the video above), and Coastside transportation planning history, can be found on the County of San Mateo website, planning page: smcgov.org/planning/moss-beach-sr-1
CLICK for VIDEO on Coastside Video News
Here are the three roadway plan exhibits from the meeting:
Here’s an audio recording of the Question & Answer session after the Sept 19th, 2023 meeting (16 minutes).
And here’s the same Q&A session on the County YouTube channel. This video only shows the static screen (last slide), not the participants.
Here’s a video of the Sept 19th, 2023 meeting recorded by the County (link is to the County’s YouTube channel).This video only shows the screen with slides, not the participants. This is the same presentation found in the video at top of this Coastside Video News page.
Here’s another great source for
Coastside – Highway 1
transportation planning information:
MCC – Midcoast Community Council
Highway 1 webpage:
midcoastcommunitycouncil.org/highway-1
The MCC Hwy 1 info includes a webpage for the Moss Beach SR-1 Corridor Study (aka Congestion & Safety Improvements Project). The same topic as the video at top of this Coastside Video News page.
Here’s an older
Coastside Video News webpage
about Coastside transportation planning
April 2011 video:
Coastside Traffic & Trails Planning
Contact: [email protected]
Open House for the Moss Beach State Route 1 Congestion & Safety Improvements Project
On Tuesday, September 19, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority hosted an open house to showcase proposed improvements along Highway 1 in Moss Beach.
Learn more at smcgov.org/planning/Moss-
The Moss Beach SR-1 Congestion & Safety Improvements Project aims to improve traffic flow and safety on State Route 1 from 16th Street to Cypress Avenue, which includes three major intersections: SR-1/16th Street, SR-1/California Avenue, and SR-1/Cypress Avenue. The project aims to improve safety and accessibility for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders, with careful consideration given to preserving the character of Moss Beach’s unique coastal community.
Learn more about the project and sign up for updates at the
project webpage.
Open House Tuesday, Sept 19, 2023 from 6 – 8 PM
SMC District 3 Coastside Office, Harbor Village,
270 Capistrano Rd #6, Princeton
Project Overview
The County of San Mateo and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (TA), in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), are initiating a project along State Route 1 (SR-1) in Moss Beach.
The goal of this project is to improve traffic flow and safety within the project area, which includes three major intersections: SR-1/16th Street, SR-1/California Avenue, and SR-1/Cypress Avenue. Improvements for the intersections and surrounding project area may include roundabouts, signals, dedicated turn lanes, high-visibility crosswalks, pedestrian walkways, bus stop enhancements, and bike lanes.
To stay aligned with the vision of Connect the Coastside, the project aims to meet the needs of drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders, while preserving the character of the coastal community of Moss Beach.
The first and current phase of this project is “Project Initiation,” described further below in the “Project Development Phases” section.
Background
For more than a decade, the County of San Mateo has engaged in transportation planning along State Route 1 (SR-1) to identify transportation improvements that meet the unique and complex needs of the County’s midcoast.
In 2009, the County began an intensive community-based planning process along Highway 1 with the Highway 1 Safety and Mobility Improvement Study. The study engaged citizens in developing short- and long-term transportation improvements to better serve pedestrians and people traveling by car and bike in Miramar, El Granada, and Princeton (Phase 1) and in Moss Beach and Montara (Phase 2). The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors adopted Phase 1 and Phase 2 in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
In 2012, the County received $1.5 million in countywide transportation funds to design and permit these congestion-reducing and safety-enhancing projects. The Highway 1 Congestion and Safety Improvement Project Preliminary Planning Study was completed in 2015, which further defined potential improvements.
In 2021, the TA Board of Directors approved a grant (see Item 11b) to support Project Initiation for the Moss Beach SR-1 Congestion and Safety Improvements Project.
In 2022, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors adopted Connect the Coastside, a plan that’s development identified additional potential improvements in the Moss Beach area to better accommodate future transportation needs.
Project Development Phases
The plans referenced in the Background section above set the vision and need for improvements in Moss Beach. However, to create a “buildable” project and make changes to highways operated by Caltrans, agencies must follow four project development phases. These phases, described below, will be implemented during the Moss Beach project. For additional details, view the publication How Caltrans Builds Projects. The timeline below describes the earliest possible development of the project, assuming available funding.
Project Initiation (Current Phase)
Project Initiation is the first formal project phase required by Caltrans to move forward with the Moss Beach Highway 1 recommendations identified in Connect the Coastside. During this phase, the project team will establish the purpose and need for the project, study challenges within the project area, identify possible solutions, and estimate the resources needed to complete improvements. Findings from the study are summarized in a Project Initiation Document (PID) and submitted to Caltrans for consideration. A Caltrans’ approved PID is required for any major work on the State Highway System and allows the project to be eligible for additional funding.
The Project Initiation phase began in September 2022 and is expected to conclude in November 2023. This phase is funded by the County of San Mateo and with Measure W funds from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority.
Environmental Studies and Project Approval
The second step is for the project team to perform preliminary design work and conduct environmental studies to analyze the effect and impact of the project alternatives. These studies are required by state and federal laws under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Potential impacts on a range of subjects such as water quality, plants and animals, and transportation are evaluated during this phase.
The studies result in an Environmental Document (ED) which forms the basis for selecting the preferred alternative. The Draft ED is circulated for public comment, after which it is finalized and approved.
Project Design and Right-of-Way
The third step is for the project team to prepare the detailed project design on the approved alternative. This phase is called Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E). Project information is reviewed and updated, an alternative is selected, and design and engineering reports are generated. Plans for any structures are also prepared. During this phase, any necessary permits and approvals are also coordinated such as a coastal development permit.
Final right-of-way requirements are determined and procurement is initiated during PS&E. At the completion of the PS&E phase, a complete set of project plans are provided to allow a contractor to bid and build the project.
Construction
The construction phase of the project entails building the improvements as shown on the plans. The contractor’s work is overseen by construction inspectors and a Caltrans engineer. Care is taken to protect existing resources and minimize impacts during construction.
Project Timeline
Upcoming Events
Please check back for additional events and join our project mailing list below for additional updates.
- Presentation and Community Open House
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Supervisor Mueller’s Coastside Office, 270 Capistrano Road, Unit 6, Half Moon Bay
Engagement Documents:
- Moss Beach SR-1 Congestion and Safety Improvements Project Factsheet, November 2022 – English | Spanish | Multilingual
- Midcoast Community Council Meeting, November 30, 2022 – Presentation
Related studies, plans, and policies:
- Highway 1 Safety and Mobility Improvement Study – Phase 1, 2009
- Highway 1 Safety and Mobility Improvement Study – Phase 2, 2012
- Highway 1 Congestion and Safety Improvement Project Preliminary Planning Study, 2015
- Connect the Coastside, San Mateo County Midcoast Comprehensive Transportation Management Plan, 2022
- Local Coastal Program, 2012
Project Initiation Phase Transportation Authority grant:
- San Mateo County Board of Supervisor’s Project Support, November 2021
- Presentation to Midcoast Community Council on Moss Beach Project, September 2021
- Midcoast Community Council Letter of Support for Moss Beach Project
- Transportation Authority Board of Directors approval, December 2021
Contact Us
For questions about this project, please contact:
Chanda Singh, Senior Transportation Planner, County of San Mateo
[email protected]
Katie Faulkner, Planner III, County of San Mateo
[email protected]
Lilliana Price, Project Manager, San Mateo County Transportation Authority
[email protected]
Author: Coastside Buzz
Me
The upcoming Pumpkin Debacle in HMB on 10/14 and 10/15 will be a particularly good weekend to see where traffic problems are most intense on 511.org.
Roundabouts will plug free-flowing Route 1 in Moss Beach causing backups during any time with moderate to heavy traffic. It will be difficult for locals to enter the roundabouts from the side streets when they are full, causing frustrating delays for locals as bad as current left-hand turns or and worse worse than the current right-hand turns when Route 1 traffic is busy. None of the Connect the Coastside “solutions” for Moss Beach have been properly modeled with real-world data. If the county’s mistakes in pushing population- and traffic-boosting Big Wave and Cypress Point into our communities were not being made, we would not even be having this debate.
If improved traffic flow is what is desired, spend effort on the several-times-daily jam-ups at Coronado, Frenchman’s Creek, the lights in HMB, etc., before trying to ram the developer-serving Moss Beach fiasco down our throats.
Here’s a little exercise for those who are falling for the myth that we have a traffic flow problem in Moss Beach. During commute times, school times, and, especially, busy weekends, go to 511.org and expand the map a bit to see where traffic is slowing and stopped on the coastside. See all that continuous, real-time green through Moss Beach and Montara? Then go to El Granada, HMB, 92, and Pacifica. Then ask yourself why the Connect the Coastside boosters are avoiding this kind of evidence.
I’m advocating the roundabouts with raised medians. Roundabout collisions are usually sideswipe collisions with far less damage and radically lower deaths and serious injuries when compared to a traffic light where if someone runs the light they usually T-bone another car broadside at full or nearly full highway speed. I’m also a strong advocate of pedestrian underpasses-I would like to see one every 1000′ from Montara to Wavecrest (Camerons). Having to cross a lane of 50+ mph traffic to turn onto Highway 1 at any of these intersections is the scariest maneuver I have to make when driving locally. An infrastructure improvement is decades (and a number of deaths) overdue.
his was a sales job by the Connect the Coastside pushers. From the beginning years ago, this particular effort by mostly non-coastside, developer-serving political and financial interests was couched in often inaccurate and real-world-ignorant language acting as a laxative to ease its passage through the process. That continued at this presentation with a continuing inaccurate characterization of the current highway, severely limited options for future highway design that were presented, the severely limited and narrowly channeled feedback from the public accepted, and the glossing over of many important associated factors that were not included or kicked down the road with empty assurances that they would be handled when their time comes (a time at which, we know from experience, it will be stated it is too late to make any changes).
If the many long-time residents from Moss Beach at this promotion were polled on what was presented with all the associated considerations included, their overwhelming vote would have been “none of the above.” Relative newcomers might be swayed by the political spin and highway design theory of outside consultants, but Midcoasters who have lived the highway situation in Moss Beach for many years know they are being steamrolled.