Blog: Three Lawmakers answer to 'Public Outcry'

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When San Mateo Democrats answer to ‘public outcry’, it is time to become curious.

The other day, something interesting happened. Out of nowhere a few articles showed up on local channels about how Josh Becker (CA Senate), Marc Berman (CA Assembly), Ray Mueller (SMC Board of Supervisors) – all three from Menlo Park – were made aware of a safety issue, took initiative, requested action, and voilà: success.

The timeline is fascinating, and such a swift turnaround on serious safety issues is virtually unheard of in this area.

05/12/2025: Press Release by three lawmakers
05/13/2025: SMDJ – Lawmakers raise concerns around wet conditions on 92
05/15/2025: Coastside News – Caltrans plans to fix slippery section of State Route 92
05/15/2025: SMDaily – Caltrans plans to fix slippery section of State Route 92
05/15/2025: CBSNews – Caltrans plans fix to slippery section of Highway 92 near Half Moon Bay after spinouts
05/17/2025: LocalNews – Caltrans to fix slippery section of Hwy 92 near Half Moon Bay after public outcry

The press release on the 12th still reads: “The three elected officials are urging Caltrans to immediately assess and implement both interim and permanent fixes—such as improved signage, resurfacing, and drainage to ensure Highway 92 is safe [to speed] for the thousands who rely on it daily.“

Just three days later, several articles about the same problem appeared all over the place, lauding the lawmakers and promising a solution from Caltrans. A small problem that got the attention of three major lawmakers and a three-day turnaround to have a solution seems fairly odd in San Mateo County. This might deserve some attention, maybe even praise.

However, all these articles on the 15th started with exactly the same sentence “After weeks of public outcry and pressure from local officials, Caltrans announced on Wednesday that it is developing plans to address a slippery section of State Route 92 …“. This isn’t coincidence, this makes it very likely that the same PR team pushed all out. If there was so much outcry more local reporters would have heard and written about this story.

Was the issue even worth all the effort?

This is a problem related to aquaplaning or hydroplaning. Hydroplaning occurs when driving at a speed higher than recommended during wet conditions. Apparently, Caltrans did say that there is nothing they could do. The flooding is related to natural weather patterns and precipitation. As the rainy season appears to be over, Caltrans doesn’t expect issues for the next few months, as the natural spring in this area should be dry by now.

Caltrans could easily just reduce the speed limit here, because speed is what leads to aquaplaning and aquaplaning leads to spinouts. If a road section is prone to spinouts, lowering the recommended speed is also the recommended solution. Spinning out at 45 mph going uphill is way harder than going 70 mph around a wet curve.

If we combine all this, it sounds like the communicated urgency by our lawmakers isn’t really there.

Comparing that to other important safety issues along the Coast

Let’s do a little comparison. Two highway safety issues were reported in two articles in a local newspaper. Both articles reported on the same kind of problem: cars are driving too fast.

2025/05/02: Caltrans says natural spring source of water on Hwy 92

“slippery conditions that have led to some vehicles spinning out.“

“There were reports of three accidents on the highway last weekend when many visitors came over the hill to attend Pacific Coast Dream Machines in Half Moon Bay.“

A former geologist and teacher made Caltrans aware of the problem, but they didn’t react. He added that as the weather warms up, the water will probably go away.

“[Caltrans] did say that they might put up a sign, but they haven’t done that. I think there are things that could be done there like looking at the drainage or putting sand on the road, putting a sign up.”

So someone was complaining to lawmakers that when inexperienced drivers go fast around the long curve on Hwy 92, this might lead to spinouts. This is happening in the eastbound two-lane uphill section, where, during the rainy season, water might pool and flow across the highway. Along Hwy 17, these sections are usually marked with speed limits of 45 – 55 mph, because spinouts become rarer when speed is lowered.

Within less than two weeks after this article, a few magic things happened:

Three lawmakers united and put their combined might into this one problem
Three lawmakers pushed out a press release pressuring Caltrans
Caltrans responded almost immediately, promising to fix the problem

Now let’s compare that with the second article from August 2024:

2024/08/15: Leadership needed for highway safety on Hwy 1

In this article, the local newspaper reports on fatal crashes along the world-famous Cabrillo Hwy (Hwy 1). Did three lawmakers get together, call for action and demand results from Caltrans?

“The silence from local and state leaders about highway safety has been deafening.“

“Assemblymember Marc Berman did provide a statement in response to a query from Coastside News. He expressed his condolences …”

“The Board of Supervisors approved the 200-page plan that includes 32 specific recommendations for infrastructure improvements in the Highway 1 and Highway 92 corridors two years ago. It seems to have been gathering dust since then, even though the report concluded that projects that improve an identified safety concern are of high importance.“

“Even small actions that could help on Highway 1 have not been taken. Half Moon Bay received transportation grants of more than $1 million several years ago to connect the bike path (“multi-modal trail”) on the east side of the highway to Main Street so cyclists can safely travel separate from traffic. This project remains unfulfilled.“

“It is possible that one or more of the collisions was due to impaired driving or even an intentional act.“

“No one can make the highway perfect, but improvements are possible when leadership and voters demand them.“

“To address beach safety before the July 4th weekend … officials held a press conference urging the public to stay safe. Digital displays were placed along the highway telling drivers not to turn their backs on the ocean. The dangers of driving along the coast deserve at least this much attention.“

Apparently the safety on Hwy 1 does not seem to have the same urgency for Marc Berman, Josh Becker, and Ray Mueller.

How do the two calls for safety compare?

To understand this, we need to reiterate that San Mateo County has voluntarily subscribed to the transportation methodology called “Vision Zero.” No one forced them to, but they did it anyway, which also means they know the rules.

This voluntary philosophy has now been transformed into the Federal program named National Road Safety Strategy. Since this is coming from the U.S. DOT, this strategy has become almost mandatory, as it is tied to budgets and funding. Both, the voluntary Vision Zero and the near-mandatory National Road Safety Strategy favor lowering speed to reduce injuries and deaths, because traffic engineers and politicians know very well: Speed Kills.

Once we understand this, the solution for both highways is exactly the same: lowering speed reduces collisions, serious injuries, and deaths.

And what did Marc Berman, Josh Becker, Ray Mueller do?

Hwy 92: The lawmakers put all their might behind this project to allow driving 70 mph around a corner and uphill, where a speed limit of 45mph would be more appropriate.

Hwy 1: The lawmakers stayed silent about this project, which makes sure motor vehicles are not slowed down.

Both projects – the one they acted on and the one they are silent about – will be causing still more collisions, injuries and death, because both times these three lawmakers made the choice to support speed.

Summary

Instead of reducing speeds to benefit both projects, three lawmakers were focusing on speeding up in both cases. Only one of the two cases has real urgency. Was there even real ‘public outcry‘ or was that made up as well?

… to be continued

More Information

Vision Zero Network
National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS)
NRSS: Safer Speeds
HMB Review: Caltrans says natural spring source of water on Hwy 92
HMB Review: Leadership needed for highway safety on Hwy 1
Press Release by three lawmakers

Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in all blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Redwood City Pulse or its staff.