Did you know there are residents who grew up on Holly that have lived on Holly for half a century?

Did you know the recent changes to Holly Street in converting a two lane street to a four lane “boulevard” has substantially altered and detrimentally impacted a neighborhood that has existed as two lane City Street for over 50 years???!!!

The City Council decided on July 14, 2014, to substantially alter a neighborhood without public input and with no regard to the environment and public safety! Children of all ages live on Holly Street and are put in harm’s way by increased traffic and speeding along Holly Street. This is all courtesy of the City Council who also voted to not increase park space in San Carlos by voting “No! Not In Their Neighborhood!” to the Charter School land swap deal.

This is not the 19th Century where men on horses get to town on one road. The City of San Carlos needs to take inspiration from City of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Mountain View - look at University Ave and MiddleField Rd.

At a time when San Carlos is under continued assault from increased traffic and circulation problems, be it the Transit village, 250 room hotel projects, or the new school proposal, the undersigned stand with Holly Street Residents in requesting the City Council of San Carlos immediately undertake the following remedial solutions to reduce the impact of the haphazard actions taken by the City Council in restriping Holly Street and unreasonably restricting parking. The lawsuit brought by Rick Martinez and Alicia Cabrera v. City of San Carlos challenges the restriping of Holly Street under the California Environmental Quality Act. Therefore, the Residents of Holly Street and those undersigned supporters of Holly Street request the following:

1. The City already agreed to improve safety for residents getting in and out of their driveways by increasing each Holly Street Residents’ driveway apron. This will allow safer ingress and egress of property by Residents and minimize disruption to traffic on Holly Street.

2. The traffic lights at El Camino Real, Old County Road and Industrial Rd need to be synchronized so traffic is not zipping(>35mph) by as it is now on Holly after the restriping. On a timed cycle of at least ten minutes, green lights on Holly Street currently last for no more than 35-40 seconds, but red lights on Holly Street take over a minute and a half to two minutes to change to green. Therefore, the increased back-up in traffic is caused by irregular and unpredictable light cycles.

3. We would like to remind the city of their promise to disallow heavy trucks and buses on Holly during the discussion of the restriping ordinance. Trucks add to the increased noise and pollutants from the increased traffic resulting from the restriping. Since the restriping took place there has been an increase in heavy truck traffic and even Google bus traffic utilizing Holly Street.

4. The current restriction on parking all day 7 AM to 6 PM is not working as it significantly restricts and impacts the ability of residents to maintain their homes. Further, the City has failed to deliver on its promise to institute an expedited permit process allowing exceptions for plumbers and other contractors who perform work on Residents’ homes. Therefore, Residents propose that on the north side of Holly Street, parking should only be restricted during the day between the hours of 4PM to 6PM weekdays and on the south side of the Holly, parking to be restricted only between 8AM and 10AM, and 3PM to 6PM weekdays. All times in PST.

5. Reduce the speed limit to 25mph on Holly Street, and install better speed limit signage and speeding deterrents such as flashing lights and radar speed limit signs that display a vehicle’s current velocity.

6. Add a cross walk in the mid-section of Holly street so pedestrians and pets can cross safely.

Make Holly Street safe for everyone! Especially the children in the area!.