In the first step of implementing the El Camino Real Streetscape Plan, Caltrans will repave El Camino Real in Mountain View, all lanes in both directions, beginning this Fall 2024. The construction schedule is subject to change. Construction activities will include scraping off old pavement, and repairing cracks and potholes. Caltrans will install new pavement, lane striping, high visibility crosswalks, ADA curb ramp improvements, protected bike lanes, and 3 new pedestrian crossing beacons at Bonita Avenue, Crestview Drive and Pettis Avenue. The space where on-street parking has been will be repurposed and used for the bike lane.

Tentative Construction Schedule

• January 2024 - Start of construction
• April 2024 - Start of concrete work to improve sidewalks and curb ramps in Palo Alto
• April to August 2024 - Concrete work to improve sidewalks and curb ramps in Mountain View
• September 9, 2024 - Start of paving work in Palo Alto (night work)
• October 7, 2024 - Start of paving work in Los Altos (night work)
• October 11, 2024 - Start of paving work in Mountain View (night work)
• November/December 2024 - Estimated pavement completion
• Late 2025 - Estimated project completion

Funding

This project received:
$4 million from the voter-approved 2016 Measure B program
$3.7 million from the City of Mountain View
$2.544 million from Caltrans
The project's total funding is $10.244 million

 

Community Outreach

Community outreach and engagement conducted for the Streetscape Plan and El Camino Real Pedestrian/Bicycle Improvements Project included 4,000 postcards mailed on 5 separate occasions, door-to-door outreach to all properties fronting El Camino Real, email blasts, yard signs, three community meetings, four Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meetings, two Council Transportation Committee (CTC) meetings, and two City Council meetings. These early outreach efforts are outlined on page 2 of the Council Report from October 1, 2019.
A virtual community meeting was held on August 4, 2021 to obtain feedback on implementation of the Streetscape Plan. This issue was also presented to the BPAC at their August 25, 2021 meeting and City Council on September 14, 2021. 

In January of 2024, city staff sent 13,000 postcards to properties on both sides of El Camino Real to announce the coming construction and parking removal.

City staff in the Economic Development Department included an announcement with a printable flyer in the September 3, 2024 e-mail newsletter.

In mid-September, 2024, city staff installed 100 signs, at every intersection and cross street to inform pedestrians and residents of the coming improvements.

More Information

See the Pavement Delineation section and the Sign Plan of the final project plans from Caltrans
Visit the Caltrans website for this project
Read the Caltrans Fact Sheet, the Caltrans Flyer in English or the Caltrans Flyer in Spanish
Send an email to Victor.Gauthier@dot.ca.gov with Caltrans Public Affairs

Contact the City of Mountain View's Public Works Department at 650‑903‑6311 public.works@mountainview.gov

Senator Josh Becker and Assembly member Marc Berman hosted a community meeting with Caltrans for a discussion on El Camino Real (SR-82) maintenance concerns and future projects on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the Mountain View Community Center, 201 S. Rengstorff Ave., from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and also provided a Zoom option. Representatives from Caltrans—as well as City staff members from Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto—were on hand to discuss the upcoming Caltrans Pavement Rehabilitation and ADA Improvements Project.

El Camino Real Streetscape Plan

El Camino Real, also known as State Route 82, is owned and operated by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). It is an important multimodal transportation corridor that travels through Mountain View and is a spine of activity connecting shops, businesses and multi-family housing with freeways, trails, neighborhood streets, and transit. The City’s General Plan envisions the corridor as a revitalized boulevard that connects rather than divides the City. However, the City’s Vision Zero analysis identified El Camino Real as the highest corridor on Mountain View’s high injury network. Between 2011 and 2020, 13 of the 21 fatal or severe injury collisions that occurred on El Camino affected a person walking or biking.

To advance the General Plan vision of a revitalized El Camino, Mountain View City Council approved the El Camino Real Precise Plan in 2014 and El Camino Real Streetscape Plan in 2019.

Plan Details

The Streetscape Plan calls for pedestrian and bicycle improvements that include conversion of on-street parking to protected bikeways and bike lanes along El Camino Real, intersection improvements and three new pedestrian crossings. Parking surveys completed on weekdays and weekends in 2018 and 2019 indicate low on-street parking utilization along El Camino Real in Mountain View. In locations where people parked on street, surveys indicated that the parked vehicles could be accommodated in vacant on-site (off-street) spaces for all but three or four properties. Conditions of developments require that parking demand be accommodated on-site for new developments.

On September 14, 2021, the City Council approved entering into a cooperative agreement with Caltrans to provide $6.7 million in City and grant funds toward incorporating many of the pedestrian and bicycle improvements identified in the Streetscape Plan into Caltrans' upcoming project to repave El Camino Real. The Council also adopted a resolution to remove all on-street parking along El Camino Real between Sylvan Avenue and Rengstorff Avenue to make this space to add bike facilities.

The City is working with Caltrans to integrate Streetscape Plan improvements between Sylvan Avenue and Rengstorff Avenue into the upcoming repaving project. Caltrans expects to begin construction in 2024. Planned improvements include:

• Resurfaced pavement
• Curb ramp upgrades
• High visibility crosswalks at all signalized intersections
• Corner bulbouts at various unsignalized side streets
• Class IV protected bikeways for most segments between Sylvan Avenue and Rengstorff Avenue
• Segments of Class II bike lanes and green dashed paint at locations with constricted right-of-way, and across driveways and intersections
• Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) crossings at Pettis Avenue, Bonita Avenue and Crestview Drive in Mountain View