The Grand Boulevard Initiative

The Grand Boulevard is a collaboration of 19 cities, counties, local and regional agencies united to improve the performance, safety and aesthetics of El Camino Real. Starting at the northern Daly City city limit (where it is named Mission Street) and ending near the Diridon Caltrain Station in central San Jose (where it is named The Alameda), the initiative brings together for the first time all of the agencies having responsibility for the condition, use and performance of the street.

El Camino Real is the most important arterial on the Peninsula, carrying more people than any other. It meets these responsibilities fairly well, though there are widespread complaints about congestion, appearance and safety. The public perception has been that the street is not well planned.

Though many localized planning efforts are underway, they remain uncoordinated. For that reason, the San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), Santa Clara Transportation Authority (VTA) Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and SAMCEDA (San Mateo Economic Development Association) started an extensive program of collaboration, bringing together all of the agencies having partial responsibility for the street, for the first time in the history of El Camino.

The effort also includes businesses located on El Camino, environmentalists, labor, and advocates for housing, transit, bicyclists, economic development and smart growth. It features two committees, a Task Force comprised of policy makers from the public and private sector, which will make the final decisions on all matters, and a Working Committee comprised of local and regional agency staff members, which will perform the detailed research and make recommendations to the Task Force. The Working Committee anticipates widespread participation from the many interested groups.

Technically the goal is to produce a coordinated series of policy decisions that will be embraced by all jurisdictions, thereby helping El Camino Real to function and look better. But the vision goes farther: the Grand Boulevard initiative seeks to recreate the street to do a better job of connecting our communities (north-south) and of better integrating it with each of our communities (east-west.). It will transform El Camino Real into a boulevard that will stand as one of the highlights of our communities, successfully fulfilling its role as the Peninsula’s most important arterial, while bringing pride and unity to San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.