San Mateo · issues
Civic issues
Topics getting the most attention in San Mateo public meetings, ranked by how frequently they come up.
Hillsdale High School parking permit program expansion appeal
Neighbors near Hillsdale High School asked the city to expand residential parking permits because students, staff, and faculty keep clogging their streets. The approved expansion is now on appeal, and this hearing is where residents get their say before a final decision.
Central El Camino Real Multimodal Plan and corridor redesign
SamTrans is leading a plan to redesign El Camino Real for safer walking, biking, and transit across San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, and part of Redwood City. Council approved $70,000 in Measure A funds for extra local study and outreach; the actual choice of a design alternative comes in 2027-2028.
Delaware Street congestion and safety
Commissioner Narita described witnessing unsafe moves by drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists during the 5-6 p.m. crunch on Delaware, and warned that new construction (MU 2 and MU 3) will make it worse. Staff pointed to signal improvements coming with the Delaware corridor project and safety work at Peninsula/Delaware.
Hillsdale Boulevard corridor improvements and US 101 bike/ped crossing
The Clearview project will build a long-missing sidewalk along West Hillsdale Boulevard toward the College of San Mateo, on Caltrans right-of-way. Commissioners urged designing it so a future separated bike lane on that stretch can be added without redoing work.
Pedestrian safety at Fifth/Laurel and Fifth/Ellsworth intersections
Dozens of speakers — many seniors — described near-misses and dangerous crossings near Central Park and asked for high-visibility crosswalks, signalization, and moving-van routing on Seventh Avenue. Staff said the project can't legally be required to fix intersections that don't fail traffic thresholds, but the city's Local Road Safety Plan flags Fifth Avenue as a priority.
19th Avenue / Fashion Island Boulevard Multimodal Improvements
The corridor sees heavy congestion and 80 collisions near the Delaware/SR 92 ramps between 2019 and 2025, including a pedestrian fatality on the Seal Slough Bridge. The project adds protected bike lanes, fixes the Norfolk bottleneck, and separates freeway off-ramp traffic from the gas station driveway. Drivers get big eastbound time savings; some street parking disappears.
Local Roadway Safety Plan Funding
Residents want a faster, less complicated process to get speed humps and traffic calming installed, with better grant funding. Council discussed lowering thresholds, increasing the traffic calming budget, and possibly a rapid implementation team.