After May 7 cycling fatality, Atherton and Redwood City may cut speed limits to 15 mph
Scott Mace
Atherton and Redwood City may cut speed limits to 15 mph
By Adriana Hernanez, Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto Daily Post, May 19, 2025
Atherton and Redwood City are expected to vote this week to reduce speed limits after the death of a school employee who was biking to work. In some school zones, the speed limit will be reduced to 15 mph.
This follows the death of Dylan Taylor, 30, a paraeducator for the district and athletic coach at Menlo-Atherton High School, who was hit by a garbage truck while riding his bike near the intersection of Middlefield Road and Prior Lane in Atherton on May 7.
Atherton City Council, which meets Wednesday, will be looking to set a speed limit of 15 at Las Lomitas Elementary, Laurel Elementary, Nativity and Sacred Heart Schools. The streets considered for change will be Camino al Lago, Edge Road, Laurel Avenue and Emilie Avenue.
Bicyclists have voiced concerns about Middlefield Road after Taylor’s death.
“Some cars come awfully close to cyclists and faster than the speed limit, because there is little to no police presence in the morning nor the afternoon commute times. We want everyone to ride to school to reduce congestion and pollution frm our streets, but we need help so that people are safe,” Margarita Mendez said in an email to the Menlo Park City Council after Taylor’s death.
Atherton Police Chief Steven McCulley said in a statement Friday that the department will be increasing education and enforcement, focusing on both cyclist safety and driver awareness.
Mendez said that she wears a neon jacket, has flashing lights on her helmet, and has a taillight, but she is still concerned about the lack of effort being made to ensure bicyclist safety.
Council designated Alameda de las Pulgas, Marsh Road, Middlefield Road, Oak Grove Avenue and Valparaiso Avenue as safety corridors that could have speed limits of 15 mph. It could even be considered to lower the speed limit to 5 mph in dense residential districts and safety corridors.
Council will also decide on lowering the speed limit on Valparaiso Avenue at Cotton Street to El Camino Real from 30 mph to 25 mph.
Redwood City speed reductions
Redwood City Council will also be considering lowering the speed limit to 15 mph at Hoover Elementary, Roy Cloud Elementary and Kennedy Middle School.
In the past, El Camino Real has consistently ranked among the streets with the highest collision numbers in town, according to Public Works Director Robert Ovadia. In 2019, Ovadia reported that El Camino had had 18 crashes and 40 the previous year. There have been 203 crashes on Atherton’s stretch of El Camino over the past six years, from 2019, according to Ovadia’s report.
From 2016 to 2020, 32 bicyclists were injured on El Camino in Palo Alto, according to Caltrans Division Chief Nick Seleh.
Redwood City Council will be looking at how to make streets 500 feet from schools safer.
· - Streets around Hoover Elementary that may go to 15 mph are Charter Street, Willow Street, Laurel Street, Manzanita Street, Stambaugh Street and Spring Street.
· - Streets being looked at near Kennedy Middle School are Connecticut Drive, Carson Street, Goodwin Avenue, Oregon Avenue, Palm Avenue and Washington Avenue.
· - Roy Cloud Elementary could potentially see speed limit reductions on Seminole Way, Jefferson Avenue, Emerald Hill, Red Oak Way, Bret Harte Drive, Glennan Drive and McNulty Way.
Redwood City Council will be meeting on Monday to discuss speed limit reductions at school zones.