The union claims that Google announced the layoff of hundreds of employees on its mobile device teams on April 11, which was reported by news organizations at the time. But according to the union, neither Google nor its parent company Alphabet filed a Cal-WARN Notice with the Employment Development Department.

The Cal-WARN Act requires employers to provide a 60-day notice to workers and state and local government officials before a mass layoff so that they have adequate time to prepare for the economic impact.

Google contests the allegations and says the team changes announced in April did not rise to the level of needing to file a WARN notice.

“We’re in full compliance with all applicable WARN laws, and as we always do, we provided employees whose roles were impacted with the required notice period. Any suggestion otherwise is simply untrue and not based on the facts,” a Google spokesperson told the Voice on June 25.

The Alphabet Workers Union however says that the layoffs impacted more than 150 employees in Mountain View, according to a complaint submitted to the California Department of Industrial Relations on June 17.

The complaint alleges that Google informed workers in April that their positions were being eliminated and they had 60 days to find a new role at the company or they would be terminated. At least 99 workers lost their jobs as of June 15, according to the filing.

The union also claims that Google should have informed Mountain View about the layoffs. Google had a legal obligation to tell the city, said Gavin Achtemeier, a Google software engineer and union organizer who spoke at a City Council meeting on June 24.

“The WARN Act was specifically written for cities like Mountain View, cities with single employers that employ a large portion or otherwise provide large portions of revenue to the city and to people who work there,” Achtemeier said.

Mountain View spokesperson Lenka Wright told the Voice that the city has not received a WARN notice from Google about layoffs this year, adding that the city has reached out to Google for more information about it.

At the council meeting, union organizers urged the city to enforce the Cal-WARN Act.

“Our union is asking each of the council members to publicly affirm that Google must follow the letter of the law by paying laid off workers the wages and benefits that they’re entitled to,” said Andy Blank, a Google software engineer, union organizer and Mountain View resident.

Blank added that the Cal-WARN Act also helps ensure public transparency and accountability.

“Most companies would rather not disclose the details of these mass layoffs. That’s why laws like this exist,” Blank said. “Doing nothing here sets a precedent that employers in Mountain View and everywhere in California can just ignore the law with impunity. Enforcing the law helps us hold employers accountable and provides transparency around mass layoffs.”

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.

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“Our budget is less robust than it has been in prior years,” said City Manager Kimbra McCarthy, who presented the trimmed down budget to the City Council Tuesday, June 10.

Revenues for the city’s general fund are expected to grow to $195.7 million for the upcoming fiscal year, while expenditures are expected to grow to $195.4 million, according to the report. The balanced budget is predicated on some savings due to vacancies. The city anticipates it will close out the year with an operating balance of about $232,000.

While the budget is structurally balanced for the 2025-26 fiscal year, things are looking less rosy in the long-term forecast with modest deficits anticipated down the road, according to Derek Rampone, the city’s finance and administrative services director.

“We’re not experiencing the revenue growth that we saw the last few years,” Rampone said, describing particular volatility with the city’s business tax and sales tax revenue. Corporate layoffs are continuing to have a negative impact locally, he said, while store closures, audit adjustments and slower spending are contributing to declining revenues as well.

On the flip side, the city continues to see growth in its property tax and lease revenue, both major sources of revenue, Rampone said. The city also is banking on a property transfer tax that Mountain View voters passed last year. The tax is expected to funnel $8 million to $9.5 million annually to the city’s coffers, although it could be “bumpy” and “sporadic” depending on the number of transactions, Rampone said.

Another potential complication to the budget is the possible reduction or elimination of federal funding. The city has been awarded more than $35 million in funding for capital projects, the majority of which has not yet been spent or in some cases, formally budgeted as the city is waiting on signed agreements, Rampone said.

A big chunk, $10 million, is slated for an advanced water purification system shared with Palo Alto, while $5.1 million is for housing funds. There has been no indication that the funds are in jeopardy at this time, Rampone said.

However, the city has identified $3.1 million that could be at risk, including $1.6 million in housing funds, $1.5 million in sustainability funding and about $26,000 in police grants. The city also received a $200,000 sustainability and energy-related grant that is in a kind of “wait and see” period, Rampone said.

To boost ongoing revenue, the city is updating its “master fee schedule” to recoup expenses for services and programs delivered to parts of the community. The Development Services Fund, which collects building permit fees, has been experiencing an annual operating shortfall of $8.5 million, according to the report.

Councilmembers expressed support for “right sizing” development fees to help recover service costs, although Councilmember Lucas Ramirez questioned the impact, given the downturn in development activity in the city overall.

“Looking at multifamily housing starts this year and last year, I worry that even with healthy or a robust increase in fees, if we’re not seeing development occur in practice… then any dollar amount multiplied by zero is zero,” he said.

Even so, councilmembers backed the budget recommendations, including the funding of four full time staff positions, fewer than previous years but still significant.

“We’re now at the levels of staffing that we were at over two decades ago,” McCarthy said.

Councilmembers closed out the discussion with a favorable outlook about the budget but also noted the challenges of planning for growth amid so much uncertainty.

“We are the bulwark of government at the moment but at the same time we can’t forget what’s happening in other places and how other levels of government are impacting us,” Councilmember Pat Showalter said.

“I think that it’s always very important to have facts that we can hang our hats on and rely on,” she added, praising the work of staff.

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.

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In a 6-1 vote, the City Council provided direction Tuesday evening for city staff to pursue a local ordinance in partnership with Santa Clara County that would tighten up the city’s tobacco regulations.

Council member Lucas Ramirez cast the dissenting vote, citing a preference for stricter regulations that would include asking all customers for identification when purchasing tobacco products.

“I grew up in a household with a smoker, and it was miserable. And I think we ought to make it as hard as possible to smoke in our community,” Ramirez said at the May 27 meeting.

California has some of the strongest regulations in the U.S. for flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes, according to the council report. Senate Bill 793 prohibits the sale of most flavored tobacco, including flavored e-cigarettes, the report said.

But for many cities, it has not been enough to curb teen tobacco use, and some have taken it a step further by enacting local ordinances that ban the sale of all e-cigarettes, even if they are not sold with flavored tobacco products, the report said.

Mountain View has lagged behind, according to the council report, which pointed out that the American Lung Association gave the city an overall grade of a “C” for its tobacco control policies. The city received a “F” in the specific category of “reducing sales of tobacco products.”

To remedy the situation, staff are recommending that Mountain View tap into Santa Clara County’s Tobacco Retail Permit program. The program has existed for nearly 10 years, and has been adopted by neighboring jurisdictions like Palo Alto, Cupertino and Los Gatos.

Under the program, Mountain View would model its ordinance on the county’s ordinance that bans most flavored tobacco and all e-cigarette devices. The permit program provides a licensing procedure for retailers to follow, processes applications and renewals, collects fees, and maintains a retailer database.

Currently, Mountain View does not have these processes in place, nor does it require most retailers to apply for or maintain a permit to operate in the city, the report said.

Mountain View does have a special permit process for “significant tobacco retailers.” These are allowed to operate only in certain parts of the city and require compliance with existing regulations, like ensuring that only store employees have access to tobacco products. They also have to adhere to advertising and age restrictions, the report said.

City Council members expressed support for adopting a local ordinance based on the county permit program, which would have stronger regulations and would help with retail licensing and enforcement. But there was some concern about enacting a potentially stringent permit process and its impact on local businesses.

Council member Pat Showalter voiced a preference for striking the right balance, so that retailers would not find it too onerous to set up shop and also would be more likely to comply with the regulations. “You don’t want to make it too hard or too easy. It’s got to be just the right amount so everybody does it,” she said.

Council member Lucas Ramirez took a different stance and advocated for making it harder to open up a tobacco retail store. “I think generally it should be easy to get a permit, except for this one,” Ramirez said. “This one should be as hard as possible. We should make it challenging to sell vaping tobacco in our community because it’s not good. It serves no purpose. It kills people quickly.”

The Mountain View Police Department has conducted some early outreach about the potential changes to the city’s tobacco regulations. According to the council report, officers met with two retailers, Great Vape and Fatty Zone. “Both businesses stated that the sales of e-cigarette devices were not a significant portion of their overall sales,” the report said.

The city plans to continue conducting outreach to businesses and to advisory committees before the ordinance is presented to the City Council later this year.

“I’m glad that we’re taking up this ordinance,” said Council member Emily Ann Ramos, adding that she also was in strong support of the county’s tobacco retail permit program.

“To be able to partner shows in our ability to be a very collaborative jurisdiction,” Ramos said. “This is one way we can do that, and there’s no really better value to do that than to protect the youth in our city.”

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.

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The tech behemoth confirmed to the Voice that it is exploring the sale of Middlefield Park, a 40-acre site in the East Whisman area – a part of the city that consists mostly of low-density office buildings and surface parking. The interest in selling the property was first reported by the Mercury News last week.

Three years ago, the Mountain View City Council approved Google’s plan to build 1,900 new homes at Middlefield Park that included a 2.4-acre land dedication to the city for affordable housing. The project also proposed 1.3 million square feet of office space, roughly doubling the amount of offices on the site.

Now it is looking more likely that the redevelopment will not come to fruition as planned, at least under the direction of Google.

The tech company is considering potential buyers with expertise and resources to build housing at Middlefield Park, but declined to provide more details about it.

“We continue to focus on investing in real estate efficiently to meet the needs of our hybrid workforce and business,” said Google spokesperson Ryan Lamont in an emailed statement. “We remain committed to our long-term presence in Mountain View,” he added.

Mountain View spokesperson Lenka Wright confirmed that Google had conveyed its intentions to sell off Middlefield Park but was keeping its plans for residential development on the table.

“The city is aware that Google is in an offering process with multiple potential residential developer purchasers for its Middlefield Park property,” Wright said in an emailed statement. “Google has assured the city of its commitment to the housing planned for Middlefield Park in any transaction that may occur for the property.”

Planning for housing and office growth

The stakes are high for the city, as it rezoned East Whisman, an area of about 400 acres, not that long ago in 2019. The goal was to put in more housing to create a better balance of jobs to homes, in what largely has been a sprawling office park.

The city’s blueprint for East Whisman allows for 5,000 new homes – a big jump from what existed before, which was zero – and 2.3 million square feet of additional office space. The redevelopment at Middlefield Park would have contributed to about a third of the housing growth contemplated for East Whisman.

ut even early on, there were signs that the uptake could be challenging for Google.

When Google originally pitched Middlefield Park to the City Council, it was working with Lendlease, an Australian-based real estate developer. A year later, Google announced that it was parting ways with Lendlease, but maintained it was still committed to delivering housing in the Bay Area, including Mountain View.

At the time, Google said it was “broadening its relationships with developers and other capital partners to continue moving the Bay Area projects forward.”

Then in 2024, the tech giant quietly terminated a mega office development in the North Bayshore that would have greatly expanded its footprint in the city. Dubbed the Google Landings, the project spanned 41-acres and proposed a series of five-story office buildings along Highway 101.

Google explained its retreat from the Landings project as an economic decision, similar to the reasons it gave for the Middlefield Park project. Google said it was “taking a measured approach” to its real estate investments, looking to ensure that it “matched the current and future needs of our workforce, business and communities.”

The termination of the Landings project also left a substantial package of community benefits in limbo, including the withdrawal of major infrastructure improvements and creek and open space enhancements in the North Bayshore.

Similarly, it is unclear what will happen with the 2.4-acre land dedication that was proposed for the Middlefield Park project, as Google did not respond to questions about it. Google offered the land to the city as a site to build roughly 380 affordable units, which would help the Middlefield Park project meet its affordable housing requirements.

More rollbacks on the horizon?

The sell-off of Middlefield Park also leaves a bigger question of what is in store for other Google land holdings in Mountain View. In 2023, the City Council approved an even larger mega-development in North Bayshore, about three times the size of the Middlefield Park project.

Like East Whisman, North Bayshore was recently rezoned to check unfettered office growth and to allow for more dense housing of up to 9,850 residential units.

But even more so than East Whisman, a big share of the housing growth is tied to Google. The tech giant is planning to build 7,000 new homes, 3 million square feet of office space, restaurants and retail and 26 acres of parks and open space over the next 30 years.

The city has acknowledged that changing economic circumstances could alter or defer these plans, similar to what is happening at Middlefield Park.

“With the need for office space declining due to changes in workforce trends as a result of the pandemic, economic changes, and the increase in remote work, the city expects office development will be reduced or deferred,” Wright said.

“However, as with Middlefield Park, the city anticipates that residential will continue to move forward in North Bayshore,” Wright added.

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.

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The Mountain View City Council unanimously approved the 7-story commercial development at the corner of San Antonio Road and California Street on Tuesday evening, cementing a long-anticipated plan to build out the western half of the San Antonio Center.

“I think the project has great merit, and I will be supporting it,” said Council member Lucas Ramirez – a sentiment shared by the rest of the council at the May 27 meeting.

But council members also expressed concern that the community might not reap the full benefit of a complex land deal that allows the developer to build at a much greater density than typically allowed for the site in exchange for financing a new school in the area.

About five years ago, the Los Altos School District purchased land at the San Antonio Center to build a future campus. At the time, the district set up a process that would allow it to sell square footage or “transfer development rights” to third parties to use elsewhere, as a way to help defray the construction costs for a “10th school site.”

The biggest taker was Merlone Geier, a real estate company that has spent more than a decade redeveloping the San Antonio Center into a major commercial hub. In 2019, Merlone Geier agreed to purchase 150,000 square feet of development rights from the school district for nearly $20 million in exchange for being allowed to build at a density around five times greater than what would normally be allowed at the site.

To put it in perspective, the nearly 1-acre site used to house the Milk Pail Market and another low-density commercial building.

When the development was initially pitched to the council several years ago, it was met with very little enthusiasm. Council members at the time expressed dismay about the proposed density, height and style of the project, which they said did not fit in with their vision for the area.

Now after some major revisions, the City Council is on board with the development. At more than 180,000 square feet, the project is still massive in scale but not nearly as imposing as before, according to the council report.

“The applicant completely redesigned the project to address council direction for a more distinctive curvilinear design with a high-quality pedestrian environment and gateway presence,” said Deputy Zoning Administrator Rebecca Shapiro who introduced the plans at the May 27 meeting.

The  7-story building is mainly for office use at nearly 170,000 square feet. The project also includes ground-floor retail and a three-level underground garage, in addition to a shared parking plan at San Antonio Center.

Council members praised the developer’s responsiveness to concerns about the massing of the building as well as its plans to widen sidewalks and create more public-serving spaces.

But they expressed some skepticism that the community benefit would materialize – not because of any lack of commitment from the developer, but because of complications with the Los Altos School District.

“The community benefit that is most closely associated with this project is the delivery of a neighborhood-serving school in the San Antonio area. And unfortunately, there is, I would say, uncertainty about whether that particular community benefit is likely to be delivered,” Ramirez said.

Council member Alison Hicks expressed similar concerns, noting that the city might need “to make some tweaks to make sure that we do get the community benefit.”

The City Council supported a motion to explore other ways to “effectuate the project without Merlone Geier’s purchase of TDR square footage from LASD, in the event the city and LASD cannot reach agreement on a new funding and joint use agreement.”

For its part, Merlone Geier has asked for an extended development agreement that would lengthen the entitlement period to seven years.

The uncertainty of the office market slowed down the project several years ago, said David Geiser, managing director at Merlone Geier Partners. “One of the reasons we didn’t bring the project forward is knowing that we’d have a limited amount of time to develop,” Geiser said. “We thought it prudent to have additional time,” he added.

The developer has agreed to pay the city an additional $500,000 for this extension, which the City Council approved.

“I’m very happy to see this project move forward with this final parcel of land to really complete the whole system,” said Council member Emily Ann Ramos, expressing support for the project. “I’m excited to roll this forward. Let’s get this done,” she said.

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.

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The project has been many years in the making and is now nearing completion, with the bike lanes already largely installed, including green pavement markings. Still to come are flexible posts that will separate the bike lanes from vehicle traffic.

Street parking is being eliminated to make room for the bike lanes, although the same number of vehicle travel lanes will remain. The elimination of parking has prompted concerns from some business owners.

In recent weeks, local cyclists have started to test out the new lanes. For some bikers, they are a substantial and exciting improvement.

Terry Barton, who chairs the Mountain View’s Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, is a longtime bike commuter who uses El Camino Real for part of his route to work in Menlo Park. While he said the new lanes aren’t perfect, including being quite narrow in some spots, Barton described them a “huge improvement.”

“It’s not pleasant on El Camino, but it’s vastly improved in terms of comfort and perceived safety,” Barton said, noting that he was sharing his personal experience and not speaking on behalf of BPAC.

However, not all bicyclists feel safe using the new lanes. Mountain View resident Eleanor Hopkins is a fan of bike infrastructure and was excited when she heard that El Camino Real was getting bike lanes. But when she tried using the new lanes for the first time, she was nearly hit while going over the bridge that spans Highway 85. That was the moment that she decided that “this is my first time and last time that I am biking on this road.”

“El Camino is such a great thoroughfare. I take it driving all the time to get to different places … and I would love to be able to bike on it, but I’m just too scared,” Hopkins said.

Adding bike lanes to El Camino Real has long been a topic of discussion and debate in the community. The road is one of the most direct routes through towns along the Peninsula, connecting multiple downtowns, major shopping centers, Stanford University and other popular destinations. Those opting not to bike along El Camino have often had to cobble together longer routes using multiple smaller roads.

At the same time, El Camino is a major vehicle thoroughfare, with cars often going well above the posted speed limit, which is 35 mph along much of the route. El Camino also intersects with a number of other large roads, including U.S. Highway 237, San Antonio Road and Page Mill Road, which makes for some large – and potentially stressful – intersections.

El Camino Real is formally a state highway known as State Route 82, which means that changes to the roadway are overseen by the California Department of Transportation, rather than local cities.

The current bike lane installation is being done as part of a broader repaving project, which also includes crosswalk and sidewalk upgrades. Before the road was repaved, El Camino had become notorious among local drivers for large and plentiful potholes.

As the project nears completion, this news publication spoke with representatives from Caltrans to get details on what changes local residents can expect to see. Here’s what we learned.

What is the current status of the project?

The road repaving is complete and pavement markings that indicate the location of the bike lanes have largely been installed. That striping is expected to be completed by the end of May, Caltrans Complete Streets Coordinator Sergio Ruiz told this publication last month.

Caltrans also intends to install lane separators to distinguish the bike lanes from those where cars will be traveling. Those are expected to be installed by the end of June, Ruiz said.

The project includes more than just bike lanes. Caltrans is planning to add high visibility crosswalk markings and accessible pedestrian signals.

Upgrades are also being made to install new curb ramps that are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Curb ramp and sidewalk work is expected to be completed by the end of October, Ruiz said.

There is also various electrical work that needs to be done, including installing three “pedestrian hybrid beacon” systems, which allow pedestrians to activate warning lights when crossing the street. The timeline to complete electrical work is also the end of October, Ruiz said.

Updated signage will also need to be installed along the route, including “No Parking” signs and “No Right Turn on Red” signs at certain intersections. Signage is expected to be completed by mid-August, Ruiz said.

In total, the plan is for the full project to be done in winter 2025, he added.

Bike lanes will be separated from car traffic, how?

Caltrans plans to use a product from Qwick Kurb, which will involve a raised curb that has vertical flex posts coming out of it, Ruiz said.

Known as a “curb channelizing system,” Ruiz said that having the posts attached to a curb makes it “a lot beefier” than the flex posts people might be familiar with.

“That plastic curb component was a key factor in why we decided to go with that device, based on feedback we heard from some of the city staff and bike stakeholders,” Ruiz said.

The plan is to install the separators along much of the length of the bike lanes, with the exception of “conflict points.” These are areas where drivers will need to cross the path of bicyclists, including driveways, bus stops and intersections.

In general, the public can expect to see the flex posts installed where there’s currently solid white “buffer striping,” Ruiz said.

“Aside from the conflict areas, our intention is to provide a separated bikeway – separated from motor traffic,” he said.

Why wasn’t additional protection added for bikers?

Some bicyclists wanted to see greater separation between cyclists and cars. Asked why Caltrans opted for flex posts, rather than something more substantial, Ruiz said that cost was a very real factor.

He added that these bike lanes are being installed as part of an existing repaving project, rather than this being a standalone initiative. With the flex posts, there may also be room for refining the design down the line, allowing for changes to be made more cost effectively, Ruiz said.

What’s the situation with parking?

There will be no on-street parking along the full length where bike lanes are being installed, Ruiz said. That runs from the intersection with Sylvan Avenue/The Americana near the border of Mountain View and Sunnyvale to the intersection with Sand Hill Road/Palo Alto Avenue at the border of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

In recent weeks, a number of cars have still been parking along El Camino, often blocking the newly installed bike lanes.

The plan is to indicate the parking restriction with standard “No Parking” signs, Ruiz said.

Does the entire length of the project include dedicated bike lanes?

No. While much of the route now has a separate bike lane, there are areas, particularly at some major intersections, where bicyclists will have to share a lane with cars.

As one example, when a bicyclist traveling southbound approaches the intersection of Grant Road and State Highway 237, the bike lane disappears and green pavement markings indicate that the biker should now share the right turn lane with cars.

That particular intersection has long been a cause for concern in Mountain View, considered one of the city’s most dangerous spots, including a bicycle/vehicle collision in 2022 that left a middle schooler dead.

Ruiz acknowledged the concerns around having intersections without dedicated bike lanes.

“We do know that this project is establishing the bike lanes for the first time, but there’s still going to be some spot locations where maybe some additional improvements could be beneficial,” Ruiz said.

He noted that when the bike lanes end, it’s largely at locations where multiple left turn lanes exist to accommodate the volume of vehicle traffic. Having more than one turn lane takes up more of the roadway and didn’t leave space for a dedicated bike lane.

Because the current project was essentially a repaving effort, Caltrans wasn’t able to do a traffic study to evaluate the potential to reduce vehicle lanes or reconfigure turn lanes, Ruiz said.

Caltrans is interested in working with cities and the county to do a broader planning study and develop a corridor plan, but that would be a separate effort, he said.

“We don’t see this paving project as the last, final design for the corridor,” Ruiz said. “I think there’s still a lot of opportunity for more improvements.”

At what locations will cyclists be sharing a lane?

According to Ruiz, these are the locations with lane sharing:

• Southbound direction, approaching Grant Road
• Northbound direction approaching Shoreline Boulevard
• Southbound direction, approaching Miramonte Avenue
• Southbound direction, approaching El Monte Avenue
• Northbound direction, approaching San Antonio Road
• Southbound direction, approaching Arastradero Road
• Northbound direction, approaching Oregon Expressway
• Southbound direction, approaching Page Mill Road
• Northbound direction, approaching Churchill Avenue

How are buses and bikes supposed to interact in the new lanes?

El Camino Real is a major route for Valley Transportation Authority buses, with stops frequently located along the roadway. Bikes and buses will be sharing the new bus lanes, with the lanes often widening near bus stops.

According to Ruiz, while it would have been preferable to separate buses and bikes, there wasn’t sufficient roadway width to have designated pull-out areas for buses. Instead, the bus stops are being treated as “conflict areas,” where the bike lane essentially extends through the bus stop, Ruiz said.

When a bus is stopped, bicyclists have the option of either waiting for the bus to move or, if they feel comfortable, merging into the vehicle lane to go around the bus, Ruiz said.

A bus pulls over into a shared section of the new bike lanes on El Camino Real on April 17, 2025. Photo by Anna hoch-Kenney.

Is anything being done to help cyclists make left turns?

With a large road like El Camino, making a left turn can often be tricky for bikers, because it would generally involve merging across multiple lanes of traffic. To help address this concern, Caltrans is planning to install “two-stage bicycle turn boxes” at certain intersections, Ruiz said.

The way that two-stage bike boxes work is that a bicyclist trying to make a left turn would wait for a green light and then proceed straight across the intersection to a designated turn box on the other side of the street. The bicyclist would then turn their bike in the box to face the direction they want to go, wait again for a green light and then cross. In that way, the left turn is done across two signal phases, Ruiz said.

This mimics what some bikers do naturally on wide streets, opting to make the left turn in two steps, rather than merging into vehicle lanes, he added.

At the locations where Caltrans adds two-stage bike boxes, they will be paired with “No Right Turn on Red” signs to prevent conflicts between bicyclists and vehicles, Ruiz said.

Where will right turns on red be restricted?

According to Ruiz, there will be “No Right Turn on Red” restrictions at these intersections:

• Grant Road
• Calderon Avenue/Phyllis Avenue
• Shoreline Boulevard / Miramonte Avenue
• Los Altos Avenue
• Arastradero Road/West Charleston Road
• Maybell Avenue/El Camino Way
• Los Robles Avenue/El Camino Way
• Ventura Avenue
• Curtner Avenue
• Matadero Avenue/Margarita Avenue
• Page Mill Road/Oregon Expressway
• California Avenue
• Cambridge Avenue
• Stanford Avenue
• Park Boulevard/Serra Street
• Churchill Avenue
• Embarcadero Road / Galvez Street

Installation of the “No Right Turn on Red” signs is expected in May and June, Ruiz said.

How far does the project extend?

As mentioned above, the northern tip of the project is the intersection with Sand Hill Road/Palo Alto Avenue, which is at the border of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

On the southern end, the bike lanes run until the intersection with Sylvan Avenue/The Americana. That means that the lanes stop short of the Sunnyvale border by several blocks. Mountain View’s boundaries extend past the intersection with Crestview Drive.

While the lanes stop at Sylvan, the project technically extends to Crestview Drive, where Caltrans plans to install a pedestrian hybrid beacon.

What’s a pedestrian hybrid beacon and where will they be installed?

Caltrans is planning to install pedestrian hybrid beacon systems at three intersections in Mountain View: Bonita Avenue, Crestview Drive and Pettis Avenue.

The systems allow pedestrians to push a button, which activates warning lights so that cars know to stop while the pedestrian crosses the street.

Response from local bicyclists

Multiple local bicyclists interviewed for this story stressed how challenging it was to bike on El Camino Real before the lanes were installed. While some still expressed doubts about whether the new lanes go far enough to protect bicyclists, they often said that it was still a sizable improvement.

James Kuszmaul, who serves as BPAC’s vice chair but was speaking in his personal capacity, described the lanes as a very positive development. He noted that there are a lot of destinations along El Camino and that the area is only expected to grow.

“There’s plans for more housing, more businesses, more need for people to get places that are along El Camino,” Kuszmaul said. “The bike lanes enable more people to do that safely.”

While he was pleased to see the lanes being installed, Kuszmaul noted that at many of the intersections where injury and fatal collisions have occurred, the roadway was too narrow to maintain protected bike lanes with the existing lane configuration.

“I am not a fan of forcing cyclists to merge with traffic at the intersections like that,” Kuszmaul said.

The question of whether to install bike lanes along major roads like El Camino Real has sometimes proved controversial. Locally, there has been particular debate in Palo Alto about these efforts. The Palo Alto City Council ultimately signed off on the plans for bike lanes along El Camino, but not without substantial disagreements among community members and elected officials.

In Mountain View, the plans for El Camino bike lanes proved to be far less controversial.

Mountain View resident Bruce England, who is involved in local bike advocacy efforts, acknowledged that there are differing opinions among cyclists about whether to add lanes to major streets or stick to improving smaller streets.

However, England noted that El Camino is an important commuter route, which provides a straighter shot between cities along the Peninsula.

“If you want to use those inside side streets, those parallel streets, fine. But you should be able to use El Camino as a commuter route, at least, in a safe and comfortable way,” England said.

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Director of Advocacy Matt Jones said that his group had been involved in advocating for the lanes on El Camino, and that he was excited to see them come to fruition.

“It creates better connectivity,” Jones said. “It allows people to now consider taking their bike to downtown instead of driving.”

Local businesses worry about loss of parking

For some business owners along El Camino Real, the loss of parking is a concern.

Mike D’Ambrosio, who is a co-owner of Giorgio’s Italian Grill & Pizzeria in Mountain View, said that he was trying to be positive and understood the goals of the repaving project, but said that not having street parking was a challenge for his business.

While he has parking on site, D’Ambrosio said that this isn’t necessarily obvious to patrons, especially those who are trying to pick up take-out orders, which is a substantial part of Giorgio’s business model.

“It’s definitely hindered business,” D’Ambrosio said. “So from that standpoint, it’s a hard pill to swallow.”

Diana Tucker, owner of West Valley Music in Mountain View, said the bike lanes would not necessarily impact her business as much as others. The store is located at the corner of El Camino Real and customers could park on another street. They also have a parking lot.

But Tucker noted that other businesses did not have the same options. “Parking is always an issue in Mountain View,” she said. “I wish they were more practical about the whole thing.”

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Zoe Morgan joined the Mountain View Voice in 2021, with a focus on covering local schools, youth and families. Emily Margaretten contributed to the story.

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But the break in came at a bad time, Puga said. The family does not have a lot of leeway to navigate extra expenses.

“We’re paying more for avocados, tomatoes and other things,” Puga said.

Now the restaurant is contending with the possibility of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

The proposed tariffs cover a wide range of imported goods: from fresh produce, flowers, meats, wines and liquors to textiles, steel, aluminum and auto parts.

“We’re holding out but it’s difficult,” Puga said – a sentiment shared by many small businesses in downtown Mountain View and along Moffett.

In recent years, business owners have had to deal with pandemic closures, rising costs and a large number of storefront vacancies that have deterred people from visiting the downtown area.

The on-again, off-again tariffs are not helping, creating a lot of economic insecurity for Mountain View businesses that already are operating on thin margins.

“Uncertainty is never a good thing for businesses of any size, especially those with limited resources who cannot ride out wild fluctuations – particularly in the pricing and availability of goods and services,” said Peter Katz, president and CEO of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce in an emailed statement.

The Voice spoke with seven business owners in downtown Mountain View, many of whom expressed concerns that the tariffs were another obstacle to keeping their doors open.

“I’m already struggling to stay in business,” said Denise Ta, owner of a facial boutique store on Castro Street. The shelves of Ta’s store are stocked with products from Japan, a country facing steep tariffs from the Trump administration.

“It’s going to be bad,” she said.

To stay afloat, several business owners said they would consider raising prices on their products and services. But it was not seen as an ideal solution, as it could deter customers.

“Prices have been going up since COVID,” said Alberto Sousa, owner of Sousa’s Wine and Liquors on Moffett Boulevard. “Who can afford it, especially in Silicon Valley where it’s already so expensive to live?”

Sousa sells a lot of Portuguese and Brazilian specialty items. To appeal to cash-strapped customers, he’s prominently displaying cheaper drinks at the store entrance and offering cost-saving deals.

Sousa also is considering stocking more local products.

One customer was not convinced by the idea and laid out about half a dozen packages of frozen Brazilian cheese bread at the cash register. “There is no American cheese bread so I’ll keep paying for it even if prices go up,” she said.

The woman conceded that she would buy American wine if imported wines became too costly.

However, it’s not so easy to source inexpensive local products, according to Juan Origel, owner of Ava’s Downtown Market and Deli on Castro Street.

When Origel first opened Ava’s, he wanted to promote only local products, but then realized it would be unaffordable for the average person.

“We already have some of the highest cost of doing business in the nation, perhaps the world – high labor cost, insurance and too many government regulations,” Origel said in an email.

“Only a few people understand these factors and are willing to pay for these goods, knowing they are helping the local economy as well as generating a smaller carbon footprint. However, the majority of Americans don’t think that way,” Origel said. Or they can’t afford it, he added.

Even when products are locally sourced, a lot of the packaging is manufactured in foreign countries like China. “There is no escape,” Origel said.

For some Mountain View business owners, the tariffs were cause for concern but also seen as beyond their control.

“I’m just putting up with the pricing for now,” said Paolo Mejia, owner of Art Frame Studio on Castro Street. Like others, Mejia was worried that passing on costs would scare off customers.

Stefan Flores, general manager of Crash Champions on Moffett Boulevard, said the store was not experiencing higher prices on auto parts or supply chain issues yet. But most of the parts they order come from China, Germany and Japan, and they’re expecting the costs to go up.

“We will be upfront with our customers,” Flores said, referring to possible price increases because of tariffs. “It’s nothing we can control,” he added.

But it was not just the tariffs that were troubling many downtown Mountain View businesses. They also spoke about more localized concerns, like the street closure at Castro Street that the city implemented during the pandemic to support outdoor dining. The pedestrian mall has become a permanent fixture, cutting off thoroughfare traffic at Moffett Boulevard.

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Work began last month on the roughly $6 million pilot project, which will run along California Street from Showers Drive to S. Shoreline Boulevard. The city expects that construction will be completed by the fall.

The city plans to add protected bike lanes along the full length of the project. Either side of the road would include a bike lane, followed by a buffered area, a parking lane and then the driving lane. To provide clear sight lines at driveways and intersections, about 63 out of the current 275 on-street parking spaces will be removed.

The project will also include a “road diet,” removing one lane of vehicle traffic in each direction.

There will now be a single driving lane in each direction, plus a center left-turn lane from Showers Drive to Mariposa Avenue. Between Mariposa and Shoreline, there won’t be a center lane because an existing median with trees will remain in place.

According to the city’s website, the project is meant “to enhance safety, eliminate fatal or severe injury crashes, and increase the number of sustainable trips.” California Street is included on the city’s “high injury network,” which refers to the roads with highest rates of severe injury and fatal crashes.

In addition to the changes to bike and car lanes, the project will include a number of other safety improvements. Among them are high-visibility crosswalks, protected intersections that separate bikes from vehicle traffic and temporary bulb-outs that add protected space at corners.

The city will also add three high-visibility midblock crossings, which will include bulb-outs, refuge islands and enhanced lighting, according to the city. The new crossings will be located between Showers Drive and Ortega Avenue, Ortega Avenue and Rengstorff Avenue, and Rengstorff Avenue and Escuela Avenue.

The new bike lanes will be separated from the parked cars by a five-foot buffered area. The city plans to test out different options to fill this area, including flex posts, small oval-shaped bumps called “armadillos” and planter boxes.

As a pilot program, the city will use certain “non-permanent treatment measures” and will assess the results of the pilot one year after construction is complete, city spokesperson Lenka Wright said.

Installing permanent improvements isn’t currently funded and is expected to be a “significant cost,” Wright added. The city has previously estimated that the permanent build-out could cost $30 million.

During construction of the pilot project, the city has said that some traffic disruptions should be expected, including lane closures.

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Zoe Morgan joined the Mountain View Voice in 2021, with a focus on covering local schools, youth and families. Emily Margaretten contributed to the story.

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The Environmental Planning Commission deliberated on three land use options Wednesday evening, ultimately expressing a preference for a “blended approach” to housing density along Moffett Boulevard.

The commissioners also sought ways to preserve existing businesses in the area, although had different ideas about ground floor retail requirements for new buildings at the March 19 meeting.

The area under consideration runs the length of Moffett Boulevard and includes properties along both sides of the corridor, from Central Expressway to West Middlefield Road.

Last year, the City Council proposed expanding the boundaries to consider additional sites for redevelopment at 500 Moffett Boulevard (Shenandoah Square), 500 W. Middlefield Road (Willow Park) and 555 W. Middlefield Road. Several residential blocks near the Mountain View Transit Center also were discussed for potential inclusion in the precise plan.

Now staff have returned with three options that lay out possible densities and development standards for the Moffett Boulevard area, excluding the additional sites for the time being.

The three scenarios – described as alternatives A, B and C in the staff report – present building heights and land uses that vary in intensity. But each envisions additional housing growth alongside anywhere from 50,000 to 95,000 square feet of nonresidential uses.

Alternative A, a “medium-intensity mixed use” option, would allow for building heights of four to five stories and 75 residential units per acre. It would encourage ground floor commercial uses along Moffett Boulevard but not require it.

Alternative B, a “higher-intensity mixed use” option, would allow for building heights of five to seven stories and 100 residential units per acre. It would require ground floor commercial uses.

Alternative C, a “focused mixed use” option, is a combination of alternatives A and B and would have medium-density housing in most of the land use area, except in two key areas or “nodes” that would allow for increased density and taller buildings of five to seven stories.

The planning commission largely supported the third option, expressing a preference for a combination approach to residential density and required ground floor uses, although they had different ideas about what it could look like.

“I would be interested in a blend of C’s nodes and the density of B with the option to kind of go higher to be able to get more of what we want on the ground floor,” Commissioner Alex Nuñez said.

Commissioner Bill Cranston advocated for higher density on both sides of Moffett Boulevard from Central Avenue to Cypress Point Drive, as well as a concentration of required ground-floor uses.

“I would not have removed the high density from the west side of Moffett,” Cranston said. “It’s got some restaurants in it today. It’s got a liquor store in it, local convenience stores. The place across the street, there’s a level of activity around those that would be great to keep.”

Several other commissioners also expressed a strong desire to retain existing businesses and to keep retail sites clustered, making their economic viability more likely.

“It would be nice to just retain the businesses,” Commissioner Joyce Yin said, referring to retail by the city’s transit center. “Once you redevelop, it becomes expensive, they’re probably going to have to go and I don’t want to see that,” she said.

Commissioners also weighed in on street improvements to Moffett Boulevard, expressing a preference for wider sidewalks and protected bicycle lanes. A few commissioners raised concerns about accessible parking as well.

“Some parking wouldn’t hurt, honestly, it would help with the economic vitality of the area,” Yin said.

The City Council will consider the planning commission’s recommendations and proposed land use changes at a study session next month, according to the staff report.

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.

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The board members voted unanimously at a Thursday, March 20, meeting to pass the resolution, which states that the district “remains committed to supporting our schools in creating and sustaining inclusive spaces that promote a sense of belonging for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

“Mountain View Whisman School District remains a steadfast advocate for equity, justice, and the right of all individuals to thrive as their most authentic selves, rejecting any efforts to erase or undermine the existence of LGBTQ+ identities,” the resolution goes on to say.

The school board’s vote comes at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has taken various actions aimed at curtailing the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, with a particular focus on transgender people.

Trump has signed executive orders seeking to ban transgender students from competing on girls’ sports teams, pull federal funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to young people, and ban openly transgender people from serving in the military. Many of these orders are being challenged in court.

School board member Devon Conley noted that the LGBTQ+ community is experiencing a lot of fear right now and said that she felt it was important for Mountain View Whisman’s board to publicly support this resolution.

“It is a very challenging time,” Conley said. “I think we need to be very clear in our commitment to everyone in our community, but especially those who are gender nonconforming – who are being targeted explicitly.”

Other school boards throughout Santa Clara County are taking up similar resolutions, Conley said. The Santa Clara County Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution last month affirming its support for protections for LGBTQ+ students at school.

Interim Superintendent Jeff Baier told the board that the resolution was meant to make clear to families, district staff and the broader community that Mountain View Whisman is interested in supporting all students. Baier noted that the district has also passed resolutions in the past in support of various other groups.

“At MVWSD, we stand with our LGBTQIA+ students, families, and staff — now and always,” Baier wrote in an email to families earlier this month. “Recent federal efforts to roll back LGBTQIA+ rights do not change our values or our commitment.”

When Trump signed an executive order in February targeting transgender students’ participation in sports, Mountain View Whisman said it would stick with its current rules allowing students to play on teams that align with their gender identities, while also awaiting further guidance

At Thursday’s meeting, Conley requested to have the full text of the Mountain View Whisman’s resolution read aloud, but President Bill Lambert opted to just read the beginning and end, citing time constraints.

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Zoe Morgan joined the Mountain View Voice in 2021, with a focus on covering local schools, youth and families. Emily Margaretten contributed to the story.

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