Home > Your Region > South Bay > Campaigns > Grand Boulevard Initiative

Revitalizing the Royal Road

El Camino Real is a vital thoroughfare on the Peninsula, yet it suffers from traffic congestion, neglect and dangerous conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists. Efforts are underway to transform El Camino Real into a grand boulevard with wide sidewalks and bike lanes, townhomes and parks.

Greenbelt Alliance has been invited to work with SamTrans and the San Mateo County Health System on its Grand Boulevard Initiative, established in 2006. By encouraging coordinated regional planning rather than isolated city-by-city development, El Camino Real can connect residents to their communities while improving mobility. The Grand Boulevard will also target housing and job growth in key cities and make it easier to use Caltrain and buses. To learn more about the Grand Boulevard Initiative and its guiding principles, please visit GrandBoulevard.net.

How you can help

The Grand Boulevard Initiative will only succeed with the enthusiastic support of residents and business leaders. Greenbelt Alliance is reaching out to residents to hear their concerns, hopes and organizing supporters for a revitalized boulevard.

The Technical Advisory Committee

Greenbelt Alliance invited community leaders to participate on a Technical Advisory Committee to test and select messages that resonate with residents, students and small business owners.  Committee members include representatives from the Sierra Club, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, Healthy Eating Active Living and the Northern California Carpenters Union.

We agree that plans around El Camino Real should prioritize:

• Securing local jobs and supporting downtown merchants
• Enhancing infrastructure such as sidewalks and bike lanes
• Meeting the needs of Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials
• Reducing impacts to climate and safeguard disappearing open spaces
• Providing homes for everyone
• Fighting obesity and diabetes and addressing health disparities
• Making neighborhoods with safe routes to schools and multi-generational communities

What's At Stake

Without local participation, the vision of a walkable and thriving El Camino Real will be stalled or stopped. By speaking up and staying informed, your needs will be taken into account as cities plan for development. 

What You Can Do

You will have the opportunity to shape how this thoroughfare will grow in the next two decades. Instead of just talking about a brighter future, you can walk your city leaders down the path toward a healthier and revitalized boulevard.

• Sign up for the Grand Boulevard Bulletin and become a Friend of the Grand Boulevard!
• Attend and participate in a Walk the Talk Forum (check the calendar for the next one).