Our Beloved Creek and Trees Are in Jeopardy



The San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority and the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) are currently considering two options to replace the Pope-Chaucer Street Bridge. Both are envisioned as part of a larger project to protect against a 100-year (1% chance per year) flood that will likely require the construction of floodwalls on both sides of the creek, upstream and downstream of the bridge, for a total of about 2,400 linear feet, almost 1/2 mile! Go to January 24th  blog post for details. 

Floodwalls will forever change the nature of our neighborhoods. Many heritage trees will be removed. The remaining oaks are likely to die within years from root damage because the foundations of the floodwall need to be about as deep as its height. Instead of “looking at nature” we will be looking at floodwalls, up to seven feet high in some places, as we walk, bicycle, and drive along the creek.


SCVWD is holding a PUBLIC MEETING at 6:30 PM this Wednesday, January 29th in the Willows at the East Palo Alto Academy Multi-purpose room at 475 Pope Street, Menlo Park (enter from Elm Street). THEIR GOAL for this meeting is “to address questions about the two alternatives and to gain a better understanding of which of the two alternatives the community prefers us to further develop.”


Let the meeting organizers know that our community does not want them to further develop either of these alternatives and instead wants them to consider alternatives to solve the problem without the need for future floodwalls!  

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