The City of Redwood City removed the barricades blocking a section of Southgate Street on Wednesday after it was closed for nearly a year and a half for the Lawrie Duncan Park Pilot Project.
The project connected the two grassy islands on either side of Southgate Street between Brewster Avenue and Outer Circle, aiming to calm traffic and increase park and recreational spaces in the area.
Some neighbors expressed heavy criticism of the pilot project.
Kate Allison, a neighborhood resident, alleged in August that the city does not have a right to the land it was using for the pilot project. Allison said after 17 months of closure, she was “starting to interview lawyers.”
The city told the Pulse that it does have the right to use the segment of Southgate Street as a public right-of-way, which can include vehicle, bicycle and/or pedestrian traffic.
Neighbors, Patricia Girardi and Rosemary Girardi, who live in homes on Inner Circle, wrote in a letter last fall that the closure makes them fear for their safety every time they leave their neighborhood.
They said they’ve nearly been hit several times while turning left onto Brewster Avenue. It feels like “you are putting your life in jeopardy and hoping and praying that no car is coming,” they wrote.
Both Brewster Avenue and Nevada Street, which border Lawrie Duncan Park, are through-roads that sit on hills and have fast-moving traffic.
The closure of Southgate Street redirected traffic so that drivers must make a 270-degree left turn to get onto Brewster Avenue or Nevada Street from Outer Circle, rather than having what the Girardis consider to be a safer approach through Southgate Street.
While the street has been reopened, city officials said they intend to continue engaging with the community while evaluating whether a longer-term shutdown should be implemented.
The city defended the pilot project as a response to concerns raised by residents about traffic conditions at the location’s five-way intersection in a press release Tuesday, Oct. 6. The temporary closure, the release said, provided an opportunity for the city to observe traffic patterns and gather information about potential approaches to improving circulation.
Prior temporary closures like the one on Southgate Street have included segments of Theatre Way and Middlefield Road, as well as the 2000 block of Broadway, said Jeanne Sullivan Billeci, the city’s communications consultant. In both cases, Redwood City’s City Council ultimately decided to close the blocks to vehicle traffic.
The city will hold a community meeting in late October to discuss the pilot and gather public feedback regarding a more permanent closure of that section of Southgate Street, the press release stated.
A decision on a permanent shutdown is anticipated by the end of 2026, Billeci said in August, at which point the roadway would either be permanently closed to vehicles or reopened for vehicle traffic. If it is closed to vehicles, permanent barricades, signage and striping will be installed.
Allison said she intends to participate in the engagement process, but doing so does not waive her concerns about the existing closure or mean that “those affected must wait until the end of the year before considering other options.”
