Overview

The City of Fremont is planning to implement transportation improvements along Paseo Padre Parkway between Driscoll Road and Washington Boulevard.  Paseo Padre Parkway is an important route used by a variety of users, including residents who live along the street, residents who live in nearby neighborhoods, and people who travel through this section of roadway.  This section of Paseo Padre Parkway is characterized by residential land uses along the street and is frequently crossed by students traveling to nearby Hopkins Middle School and Mission San Jose High School; it is also an important thoroughfare connecting South Fremont, Central Fremont, and Interstate 680. 

The City has heard a variety of concerns from residents and frequent users of this section of Paseo Padre Parkway, including but not limited to:

•  Frequent excessive speeding, including several major crashes that were the result of unsafe   speeds

• Frequent property damage crashes, including vehicles running off the road and hitting parked cars

• Congestion back-ups, particularly from southbound commute traffic accessing the I-680/Washington interchange

• Difficulties turning out of side streets and safely crossing the street

• Difficulties turning out of driveways or parking along the street

• Incomplete bikeway facilities

Community Outreach and City Council Action

Staff conducted a community outreach process to share crash and speed data that had been collected along the project corridor and to gather community input through a survey process on various street improvement alternatives.  The results of the community outreach process were then presented to the City Council at meeting in April 2022.  The City Council approved a project that included the following features:

• Maintain the existing number of vehicle lanes (two lanes in each direction)
• New pedestrian crossing flashing beacons at Dorne Place and Mento Drive
• New traffic signals at Covington Drive and Olive Avenue

Schedule

Elements of the approved project scope will be implemented separately and in conjunction with other similar citywide projects that address paving/striping, pedestrian crossing safety improvements, and new traffic signals.

Project Resources

• City Council Staff Report and Presentation
• Community survey responses
• Corridor speed data 

Contact

If you have any questions regarding the project, please contact: 
Noe Veloso
Assistant City Engineer
(510) 494-4774
nveloso@fremont.gov

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the safety history along Paseo Padre Parkway?

Between 2013 and 2021 there were three “major” traffic crashes resulting in a fatality or a severe (life-altering) injury:

• June 2013 – a motorist traveling northbound at excessive speed mounted the curb north of Chadbourne and hit a tree, resulting in the death of the car’s two passengers (and a severe injury to the driver)

• May 2018 – a motorist traveling northbound at excessive speed mounted the median north of Covington and hit a tree, resulting in a severe injury
• August 2018 – a motorist and bicyclist were involved in a red-light running broadside crash at Paseo Padre Parkway and Chadbourne, resulting in a severe injury to the bicyclist

In addition, the corridor has a history of numerous instances of property damage and minor injury crashes involving vehicles running off the road or hitting parked cars. Over this period, there were six instances of vehicles rear-ending or sideswiping parked cars, despite the relatively low number of vehicles that park on-street.

What are the traffic congestion related considerations along this section of Paseo Padre Parkway?

Paseo Padre Parkway is an important thoroughfare that is used by the immediate neighborhood and also provides a connection between South Fremont, Central Fremont, and Interstate 680. Prior to 2020, major traffic backups along southbound Paseo Padre approaching Washington Boulevard were a frequent occurrence during afternoon commute periods. These traffic backups were in large part related to commuter traffic accessing the I-680/Washington interchange, often at the recommendation of navigation apps such as Waze and Google Maps. 

In October 2019, a major project to widen I-680 in the Sunol Grade area of Fremont was completed to provide congestion relief in the I-680 corridor, address regional cut-through traffic along local Fremont streets, and alleviate traffic back-ups at local freeway interchanges. In addition, in 2020, COVID-19 shelter in place orders led to dramatic declines in traffic volumes throughout the Bay Area. Between September 2019 and September 2021, typical weekday traffic volumes along Paseo Padre Parkway dropped from 12,100 vehicles per day to 7,600 vehicles per day. City staff will continue to collect data on traffic volumes along this section of Paseo Padre Parkway as the region’s economy recovers from COVID-19 to ensure that improvements provide for efficient traffic flow and minimize major traffic backups.

Why did the City implement interim improvements in January 2022?

The City restriped this section of Paseo Padre Parkway with narrower travel lanes and basic bike lanes. Narrower travel lanes are a proven countermeasure to manage vehicle speeds by creating a “tighter” operating environment for motorists and discourage higher speed travel. The bike lane closes a gap in the City’s overall bike network between existing bike lanes north of Driscoll Rd. and south of Washington Blvd.

Why is the City implementing narrower travel lanes?  Do narrower travel lanes make roads less safe?

Fremont is implementing 10’ wide travel lanes on arterial roadways as a measure to manage speed and improve safety for all road users, consistent with its Vision Zero traffic safety policy. Previously, many Fremont streets had lane widths of 12’ or greater, which is the design standard for high-speed freeways carrying interstate trucks. In general, wide lanes enable “freeway speeds” on local streets. National research and studies indicate that 10’ travel lanes on local roadways result in reduced vehicle speeds and lower crash rates. Fremont has seen a significant reduction in severe injury and fatal crashes since it adopted its Vision Zero policy in 2015 and began implementing “safe and complete street” design standards (including narrower lanes).

Why can’t the City enforce speed limits rather than redesigning streets?

The Fremont Police Department Traffic Enforcement Unit does patrol this section of Paseo Padre Parkway as part of its focused speeding enforcement on known “hot spots” but it has limited resources that do not enable it to be in all high priority locations at all times. Redesigning the street so that excessive speeders cannot weave between lanes and make unsafe passing maneuvers will ensure that dangerous behavior does not happen when PD cannot be present. During a recent typical week, this section of roadway saw more than 1,000 drivers traveling at over 45 mph (more than 10 miles over the speed limit) and with some vehicles traveling up to 70 mph.

Is a “road diet” in which Paseo Padre Parkway is reduced from 4 lanes to 2 lanes being considered?

The City considered a road diet in Summer 2019 in which Paseo Padre Parkway would be reduced from 4 lanes to 2 lanes between Dorne Place and the I-680 bridge. A goal of the road diet was to address excessive speeding by eliminating the possibility for high end speeders to weave through traffic and attempt unsafe passing maneuvers. The road diet is also recommended in the City’s Bicycle Master Plan. The Fremont City Council elected not to pursue the road diet due to a desire for a more extensive community engagement process and more analysis of traffic volume trends as people return to in-person work following COVID-19.  A road diet may be considered as part of more comprehensive transportation improvements, with the concerns and perspectives of people who live along the corridor, in the nearby neighborhood, and travel through the corridor accounted for.

Why is the City focused on bike lanes along Paseo Padre Parkway when most students traveling to school cross Paseo Padre rather than traveling along it?

Some street design options proposed for Paseo Padre Parkway have involved narrowing travel lanes and allocating width to bicycle lanes. Narrowing lanes can help to reduce speeds, which provides more time for drivers to see and react to pedestrians and bicyclists crossing Paseo Padre Parkway. As part of more comprehensive transportation improvements, additional crossing enhancement measures such as flashing beacons will be considered.

Why did the City implement a 4’ bike lane?

The City’s interim improvements included 4’ wide bike lanes. The 4’ bike lanes adjacent to 7’ parking lanes do not meet the minimum widths recommended in the Caltrans Highway Design Manual and the National Association of City Transportation Officials design guidance. These design manuals are not intended to supersede engineering judgment and location/context-specific considerations. This section of Paseo Padre Parkway has very low parking demand as it is fronted by single family residential homes with garages and driveways. A parking survey conducted in September 2021 found that every block had a parking occupancy less than 25 percent, with most blocks having no vehicles parked on-street. The low parking demand means that there is effectively more width available for bicyclists, as they can ride to the right side of the bike lane without typically being next to a parked vehicle.

Why can’t the City accommodate bicyclists on neighborhood streets rather than busy arterials (such as cities like Palo Alto have done)?

Fremont has a street network in which neighborhood streets often do not provide continuous, direct connections across the City. Paseo Padre Parkway is a particularly important bike route connecting between the City Center area and Mission San Jose neighborhood that does not require traversing a freeway interchange.

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