Menlo Park is currently on the road to improve traffic safety across town. Since July 5, the local government has begun smoothing things over through paving activities throughout the city. As explained by the Menlo Park city website, the surface layer of asphalt in select areas will be repaved. Additionally, sidewalks and curbs that have taken significant damage will be entirely replaced. The status of this project is nearly complete; the city aims to fully finish reworking roads by the end of this fall.
One such initiative launched by the City of Menlo Park was called The 2023 Pavement Preservation Project, which reconstructs unincorporated areas of San Mateo County such as Ladera and West Menlo Park. It entailed microsurfacing and slurry sealing – two types of pavement treatment – and bicycle striping for roads, among other improvements. The latest status update from the city in September 2023 noted that road surface treatment was 99% complete, and that permanent traffic markers were placed starting Sept. 25.
More recently, starting on Nov. 6, the city of Menlo Park partnered with construction company McGuire and Hester to begin planning road changes on Haven Avenue, on the Bay side of US-101. The resurfacing of asphalt roads are tentatively scheduled from spring to fall 2024.
A similar project in Menlo Park occurred this past May. The lanes on Middlefield Road between Ravenswood Avenue and Willow Road were repaved near Menlo Atherton High School. Willow Road is a major street that connects East Palo Alto to Menlo Park and Atherton.
Overall, road resurfacing can considerably affect Menlo Park’s traffic in the short term. Drivers may need to take alternative routes in their commutes to avoid construction zones, which can be inconvenient for students trying to get to school. Additionally, road repaving usually involves hefty machinery, creating noise and physical pollution that can affect residents and neighborhoods. To mitigate this, no work will be done or scheduled on weekends, according to the County of San Mateo. However, repaving roads can bring positive changes to the city’s safety in the long run. The city said that repaving can eliminate cracks, potholes and other road defects that may cause risk of accidents or vehicle damage.
Asphalt Paving Solutions, an asphalt maintenance company, states on its website that asphalt pavement typically lasts around 25 years — so once Menlo Park’s current repaving project has been accomplished, it may be a while before the city decides to revamp its roads again.
