Out of the blue, when we were least expecting it, Caltrans has ridden to the rescue of a substantial part of El Camino Real. And the folks in town are all excited. At the city council candidates' forum three weeks ago, I asked the question "what can be done for a short-term fix of El Camino as we await the multi-tens of millions of dollar Big Fix being worked on by the Task Force?" It was question #4 of the evening and drew murmurs from the small crowd assembled.
Mayor Colson went first and noted that even though it is a state highway, our Public Works crews jump in and fill potholes on occasion, but otherwise we have a commitment from Caltrans on the Big Fix. Emily Beach echoed that. Mike Dunham noted there is no perfect answer, but his long term vision would be for more public transit by introducing dedicated bus lanes. Not quite sure how one does that on a four-lane road, but we'll leave that for later.
In the meantime, let's luxuriate in the 15 sections of fresh asphalt that have been laid down in the right southbound lane–some of them quite lengthy. Reading between the lines of the answer to my question three weeks ago, no one saw this coming. Could there be more in the works–maybe on the northbound side? Only the Shadow knows.
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