Quick Builds, Not Just Capital Plans
On January 23, Veronica Vasquez was killed on El Camino Real at the intersection of 17th Ave and Bovet Rd in San Mateo. This is the second pedestrian killed by a left turning driver in San Mateo in recent memory. Yolanda Villar was killed at the intersection of Delaware St and Peninsula Ave on September 12, 2024.
How Quick Builds Complement the Current Process
After the pedestrian death at Peninsula & Delaware San Mateo started planning a capital improvement project. Construction isn't expected to start until Summer 2026, nearly two years after the death.
Quick build treatments can be installed in days or weeks, not years. They are not a replacement for permanent capital improvements, they are a complement that provides immediate risk reduction while longer-term projects move ahead. Many cities have adopted this approach as standard practice: install quick build safety improvements immediately after a fatal crash, then follow up with permanent infrastructure.
San Mateo should adopt the same approach. At El Camino Real and 17th/Bovet, at Peninsula and Delaware, and at every intersection where someone has been killed or seriously injured, the question should not be "what can we build in two years?" but "what can we install this week?"
What Would Have Saved Two Lives
Both at ECR & 17th/Bovet and Peninsula & Delaware a left-turning driver killed a pedestrian legally crossing in a crosswalk. The quick build fix for dangerous left turns exists: Left Turn Traffic Calming and Centerline Hardening using low-cost physical treatments that force slower, tighter turns and keep drivers from sweeping through crosswalks at speed.
Centerline hardening has a strong evidence base. The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) identifies it as a key intersection safety treatment. Studies have shown that hardened centerlines can:
- Reduce turning speeds by 5-10 mph
- Reduce pedestrian-involved crashes at treated intersections
- Improve yielding behavior at crosswalks
These fixes can be installed in days or weeks with limited cost while longer-term capital projects make their way forward.
What Needs to Happen
El Camino Real is a Caltrans facility, which means the City of San Mateo does not have direct control over modifications to the roadway. However, the city can and should:
- Request that Caltrans install centerline hardening at El Camino Real and 17th/Bovet immediately, using interim materials like flexible delineator posts that can be installed in days. This should go along with other common-sense fixes like extending the Lead Pedstrian Interval to 7 seconds from the current 3 seconds.
- Adopt a quick build response policy so that every fatal or serious injury crash triggers an immediate interim safety treatment at the location, installed within weeks (Examples from Oakland, CA and Charlottesville, VA)
- Identify other high-risk intersections along the El Camino Real corridor in San Mateo for the same treatment
- Work on longer-term capital improvements at this intersection. The normal process that takes years shouldn't be ignored but it shouldn't be the only thing we're donig to increase safety.
No one should die walking across the street. Centerline hardening at this intersection is a concrete, proven step the city and Caltrans can take to prevent the next tragedy and it can be done now, not in two years.