Bike Lanes Around San Mateo High School Get City Council Approval

SAN MATEO, CA — A controversial bike lane project in San Mateo that will remove more than 200 parking spaces surrounding San Mateo High School received approval from a split city council on Tuesday.

The council voted 3-2 in support of the North Central Bike Lanes Project, which would install more than two miles of bike lanes on Poplar Avenue and Humboldt Street. Vice Mayor Diane Papan and Councilmember Amourence Lee voted against the project, citing concerns over parking, incomplete data and neighborhood input.

Supporters said that the project would improve safety for bicyclists and invite more students to bike to campus. In a city survey of 285 people, more than half of residents supported the project, including the parking removal.

There have been 30 collisions involving bicyclists in the North Central neighborhood since 2017, accounting for nearly a third of the total number of collisions in San Mateo. Eleven of those collisions have happened along the project’s corridor, according to the city.

“We can't continue the status quo if we are serious about providing students and residents a safe alternative to auto traffic and doing what's necessary to prevent sea level rise,” said Mike Swire, a father of two San Mateo High School students, said in an email to Patch.

Swire said that his kids used to bike to school, but he has stopped allowing them to since they started at San Mateo High.

“It’s too dangerous without bike lanes,” Swire said. “Instead, they arrive by car, just like most of their friends.”