For some time, residents and officials in East Palo Alto have fretted about rush hour traffic congestion on their main drag, University Avenue.
Small wonder. That roadway leading from Stanford University east toward the approach to the Dumbarton Bridge has become a clogged vehicular nightmare Monday through Friday.
You can thank the area’s runaway office development for that nagging situation — next door, Menlo Park has become a virtual Facebook company town.
It’s not rocket science. Thousands of new employees equal thousands of additional cars on the local highways and byways.
Things have gotten so bad that at least one EPA councilperson has broached the idea of making University Avenue a toll road at certain weekday times.
The notion is radical, far-fetched and fraught with problems.
You might get the impression that the municipal authorities might be taking a skeptical hard line on giving the go-ahead to any more office growth there. You would be incorrect.
Published reports indicate quite the opposite. A new seven-story office building (which will include a modest amount of retail space) recently was approved on a 3-1-1 vote of the City Council.
Where will that structure be located? You guessed it: University Avenue. Yep, the same troubled boulevard that has vexed the community on an ongoing basis.
Apparently, the endless lure of increased tax dollars was just too much to rein in the authorities.
Maybe the timing of the decision makes sense. It’s still the holiday season, after all. And, in this case, planning logic, like most everything else, has taken a holiday for sure.
Dr. James Hutchinson
When it comes to providing medical services, he’s a San Mateo County pioneer.
Dr. James Hutchinson, 96, is the first African-American physician to establish a regular practice on the Peninsula. He did so in the early 1950s.
Still with an office in San Mateo, he is the author of a new book detailing his life and career. “A Short Glimpse of a Long Road” features vignettes spanning the decades from his birth in Louisiana in 1923 to the present.
He found his way to San Mateo via a circuitous route that included college in Texas, service with the U.S. military during World War II in North Africa and Europe, medical school in Tennessee and internship and residency in Sacramento.
Dr. Hutchinson will discuss his book at 1 p.m. Jan. 25 at the San Mateo County History Museum in downtown Redwood City.
HIs talk will be part of the Courthouse Docket series, a regular monthly presentation in the museum’s Courtroom A.
For more information, please call the museum at 650-299-0104.
Census workers needed
The U.S. Census Bureau needs help. It’s looking for workers to assist with the upcoming 2020 census.
In San Mateo County, 800 are needed, according to the bureau.
Making the bureau’s task rather difficult is that the county had the lowest unemployment rate in the state (below 2 percent) in the most recent calculation. If that isn’t a record, it has to be mighty close.
In any event, if you are interested in part-time work, you can apply online at 2020census.gov/jobs or call 1-855-562-2020.
John Horgan’s column appears weekly in the Mercury News. You can contact him by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com or by regular mail at P.O. Box 117083, Burlingame, CA 94011.
