San Carlos · issues
Civic issues
Topics getting the most attention in San Carlos public meetings, ranked by how frequently they come up.
$46 Million Street Repair Investment
Councilmembers McDowell and Rak praised the public works team as paving crews work across town — a $44 million, five-year investment in smoother streets and safer sidewalks. Some residents, like those on El Sereno Drive, feel their streets have been overlooked.
Regional transportation grant applications
The city is chasing state and regional money for major projects: the Brittan-Laurel smart corridor link, a traffic signal operations plan, the East Side streetscape plan, and the big Holly Street/101 interchange rebuild with a pedestrian overcrossing.
Crestview Drive Pilot Improvements — Los Vientos Intersection
Edgewood Park neighbors are split on how to fix the dangerous Crestview/Edmond intersection — one supports the city's safety work, another opposes the proposed roundabout and wants a simple stop sign at Edmond Drive instead.
Caltrain Funding Crisis
Caltrain says it faces a $75 million annual deficit and, without new funding, could cut to hourly weekday trains, end weekend service, and close a third of stations by FY 2028 — a big deal for a town whose station just doubled its service. A five-county regional ballot measure is the hoped-for fix.
SamTrans Connect Bay Area Sales Tax
SamTrans pitched a proposed 14-year half-cent regional sales tax to avert transit service cuts, with about $50 million a year potentially returning to San Mateo County. Council members flagged overcrowded school-route buses and asked how funds flow back to local communities.
Bicycle safety on Industrial Road
A resident cyclist asked for protected bike lanes on Industrial Road near Circle Star, citing dangerous conditions and overgrown sidewalk vegetation, and offered to volunteer for cleanup work.
El Camino Real Multimodal Redesign
SamTrans wants to reshape El Camino Real with three design options — transit, pedestrian, or bike priority. Council leaned bike-first but demanded safer crossings at Cherry, Oak, Holly, and San Carlos Avenue without wrecking the city's smooth traffic flow.
ITS Signal Resiliency and Smart Corridor Expansion
All 24 city traffic signals get battery backups and smart-corridor connections, mostly paid by a $524K county grant — better traffic flow and faster emergency response during outages.