Invest. Improve. Innovate.
About
Infrastructure Plan
In 2014, the City Council approved an Infrastructure Plan that initially included nine projects including a new public safety building, two parking garages, two fire stations and a bike and pedestrian plan, among other projects. Since then, the mix of projects has shifted slightly with the Council pressing the “pause” button on the downtown parking garage and a necessary redesign of future bike boulevards.
The cost of the plan has also significantly gone up with escalating construction costs and changes to the scope of projects. The current planned cost of the Infrastructure Plan is now $285 million.
PROJECT
COSTS
In June 2014, Palo Alto City Council adopted the Infrastructure Plan that prioritized unfunded projects and identified potential sources of revenue. Included in the plan are nine key projects with the majority of funding coming from an increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel tax) from 12 to 14 percent that was approved by more than 76 percent of Palo Alto voters in November 2014. Additional funding sources for these infrastructure projects come from the City’s Capital Fund, the Stanford Hospital development agreement, parking in-lieu fees, parks development impact fees, and state grants.
Projects
The City is in the process of designing and building the ten infrastructure projects identified by Council. Three are complete, an additional three will be completed in the next year, and more are on their way. Read up on each project to learn more about the status and background of the project.
Downtown Parking Guidance
This project includes design and installation of new downtown parking guidance systems, access controls, and revenue collection equipment.
Design Start
May 2023
Design End
May 2023
Construction Start
Construction End
Summer 2024
Spring 2025
Downtown Parking Garage
To provide a new parking structure in the University Avenue commercial
area.
Design Start
Dec 2024
Design End
Fall 2026
Construction Start
Construction End
TBD
TBD
Making Progress
To date, there has been a lot of progress on the Infrastructure Plan including:
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Construction of Fire Station No. 3 was completed in March 2020.
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Construction of the 627 space California Avenue parking garage was completed in December 2020.
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Council approved a construction contract for the new Public Safety Building in February 2021 and construction will be complete in Spring 2025.
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The Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bike Bridge project was completed in November 2021.
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All phases of the Charleston/Arastradero Corridor project were completed in Summer 2024.
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Council restarted the Downtown Parking Garage Project in 2024 and added the Downtown Parking Guidance project to the Infrastructure Plan projects as part of the Fiscal Year 2020 budget process and the installation will be complete in Fall 2024.