San Mateo and Burlingame hope to secure grant funding to improve infrastructure along Peninsula Avenue, which has seen several pedestrian and cyclist injuries, as well as one death, over the past year.
San Mateo and Burlingame are applying for a $1.25 million San Mateo County Transportation Authority grant, largely bolstered by Measure A and W funds. The funds, which would require a 25% local match, would fund a study — including community outreach and preliminary engineering work — and not the construction of the project itself. According to a San Mateo staff report, the study would identify ways to strengthen connectivity between neighborhoods and apartment complexes to SamTrans bus stops, San Mateo High School, Washington Elementary School in Burlingame and the Bay Trail — including more crosswalks, more protected bike lanes and improved traffic signals.
The Peninsula Avenue corridor has been a high priority for the San Mateo City Council, as it “needs safer and more continuous facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists, suffers from outdated signal operations, and experiences congestion and safety challenges that limit multimodal mobility,” the report added.
Allison MacQueen, a San Mateo resident and member of local advocacy group Move San Mateo, said some of the bike lanes along the corridor are dangerously narrow, and the project would improve much-needed connection to Coyote Point.
“Peninsula is a vital nexus to creating safe walking and biking networks, and we’re looking for safety for everyone,” MacQueen said. “The city cannot build more roads. There is no more road capacity so we've got to find other ways to safely get around.”
Last September, a woman was killed when struck by a vehicle whose driver was making a left turn from North Delaware Street onto Peninsula Avenue, which was at the Burlingame-San Mateo border. According to the University of California, Berkeley Transportation Injury Mapping System, several other bike and pedestrian injuries have occurred along the corridor since 2024.
“I am in favor of projects that make it safer and slow traffic down,” Burlingame Vice Mayor Michael Brownrigg said. “There are a lot of people who live there, and a lot of cars getting to the freeway, but we need them to go more slowly and more safely, and pedestrians and cyclists who cross Peninsula Avenue need to be able to do it safely.”
Recently, San Mateo has been trying to rely more heavily on grant funding for infrastructure projects related to improving bike, pedestrian and road traffic. The City Council also approved a $16 million grant application for an infrastructure project at 19th Avenue and Fashion Island Boulevard, which will make bike lane and pedestrian improvements along the corridor, as well as make changes to the Norfolk Street intersection to mitigate frequent congestion.
Recommended for you
But the controversial Humboldt Street bike lanes, installed in 2022, also relied on grant money, albeit federal funds, and the council recently voted to start the process of removing some of the lanes after significant neighborhood pushback. That means the city may have to pay back a decent portion of the grant, and staff have said it could impact future grant application prospects.
“Any time a city or entity says they are going to use money for a project, and that project is not kept, that is a reneging on the agreement, and there can be a clawback on funds,” MacQueen said. “I’m sure grant-making agencies are looking at this because it's a waste of everyone's time. These grants are competitive … there are other cities that have been more aggressive in creating better pedestrian and biking infrastructure, so when grant agencies are looking at who to fund, that’s part of their strategy.”
San Mateo Councilmember Nicole Fernandez said that is a "valid concern," though she anticipates less pushback on the Peninsula Avenue project.
"Unlike the Humboldt issue, it's much more of a commercial zone than it is single-family home-zoned, so I don't anticipate there being as much issues with vehicle parking as there is on Humboldt," she said.
With several other bike and pedestrian-related initiatives in the pipeline, San Mateo City Manager Alex Khojikian added that the city has a good track record and that the merits of the project application "should stand on its own."
San Mateo and Burlingame propose sharing the local match portion, with the former contributing San Mateo providing $245,000 and Burlingame providing $130,000, as San Mateo owns and operates a longer portion of the Peninsula Avenue corridor.
"This is a really important thoroughfare in my district," Fernandez said. "It's not often that you see cities coming together for projects like this. It’s usually a bigger project that cities come together for, like grade separations ... but even the modification of one street can save a life."
quote: "The funds, which would require a 25% local match, would fund a study — including community outreach and preliminary engineering work — and not the construction of the project itself."
San Mateo County Democrats always find a way to misappropriate bike funding. First of all, if San Mateo Democrats wanted to do something good for the most sustainable and healthiest form of transportation, they could do that already. They could use the general fund or the transportation budget - no additional funds needed. But they want to keep that money for more car-centric projects.
"Study" just means one staff member will pull out an old presentation from 20 years ago, will color it differently and roll it out as new. And the city will take $1.5M in bike funding and won't even say 'Thank You' when they put it in their general fund.
Currently the North Central neighborhood is a mix of R1, R2 and R3 zoning, with commercial and R4 zones adjacent to Peninsula Ave.
With the passage of SB 79 (which goes into effect on July 1, 2026), half of North Central and half of Peninsula Ave will be considered a "Transit Oriented Development" zone. Density limits will be 120 / 100 housing units per acre and height limits will be 75 / 65 ft, depending on the distance (within 1/4 mi or 1/2 mi) from the San Mateo and Burlingame Caltrain stations.
As this area grows, making the roads wider to accommodate more vehicles is not a practical option. Now more than ever it's important to plan for and implement pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements to make it safer to move around the neighborhood (and city) without a private vehicle, before traffic congestion gets significantly worse.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(2) comments
Grand Theft Auto - Graft County
quote: "The funds, which would require a 25% local match, would fund a study — including community outreach and preliminary engineering work — and not the construction of the project itself."
San Mateo County Democrats always find a way to misappropriate bike funding. First of all, if San Mateo Democrats wanted to do something good for the most sustainable and healthiest form of transportation, they could do that already. They could use the general fund or the transportation budget - no additional funds needed. But they want to keep that money for more car-centric projects.
"Study" just means one staff member will pull out an old presentation from 20 years ago, will color it differently and roll it out as new. And the city will take $1.5M in bike funding and won't even say 'Thank You' when they put it in their general fund.
Currently the North Central neighborhood is a mix of R1, R2 and R3 zoning, with commercial and R4 zones adjacent to Peninsula Ave.
With the passage of SB 79 (which goes into effect on July 1, 2026), half of North Central and half of Peninsula Ave will be considered a "Transit Oriented Development" zone. Density limits will be 120 / 100 housing units per acre and height limits will be 75 / 65 ft, depending on the distance (within 1/4 mi or 1/2 mi) from the San Mateo and Burlingame Caltrain stations.
As this area grows, making the roads wider to accommodate more vehicles is not a practical option. Now more than ever it's important to plan for and implement pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements to make it safer to move around the neighborhood (and city) without a private vehicle, before traffic congestion gets significantly worse.
(Speaking on my own behalf.)
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.