New Traffic Measures To Discourage Hwy 101, SR 92 Shortcuts

FOSTER CITY, CA — Starting next week, motorists taking a short cut through Foster City to avoid gridlock on Highway 101 and state Highway 92 will find it less convenient.

Left turns and U-turns from eastbound East Hillsdale Boulevard onto Edgewater Boulevard and onto Shell Boulevard will be prohibited from 4 p.m. to 7 pm., Monday to Friday, city officials announced Monday.

The measures, which take effect Feb. 11, are part of a 3-month traffic-relief pilot program approved in December by the City Council, aimed to reduce an influx of traffic during peak commute hours.

Contributing to the congestion are the rising popularity of navigation apps, such as Apple Maps, Google Maps, and Waze, which direct regional commuters from the surrounding highways onto Foster City streets in order to save a few minutes, city officials said.

Several factors that have also led to the traffic gridlock include a severe jobs and housing imbalance on the Peninsula and Foster City's location at the crossroads between where jobs are located and housing in the East Bay, according to city officials.

More information on the traffic relief pilot program is available on the city's website at https://www.fostercity.org/publicworks/page/traffic-relief-pilot-program-5.

— By Bay City News Service / Image via Shutterstock