The neighborhood around Monroe Park (Miller Ave & Monroe Dr) doesn't have any sidewalks. Should walking be banned in that neighborhood, since "Walking in the street is never a good idea"?

If you want sidewalks you could try to contact the city of Palo Alto and lobby for them.

The Wilkie bridge is primarily a bicycle route. When we're walking, we use Middlefield Road or El Camino Real or Alma, which do have sidewalks from Palo Alto to Mountain View. The residential neighborhoods in southern Palo Alto are sketchy for pedestrians because of cars frequently run stop signs without looking for pedestrians.

Do I detect some hostility here from Mountain View residents to those of us who are neighbors to the north?

I am just concerned about a pedestrian route that has no sidewalks. Is it too much to expect a safe sidewalk on a pedestrian route? What about a blind person, or a person on a mobility scooter, would it be safe for them to walk in the street?

Actually, Middlefield or El Camino would both make a long detour to my route which was about a mile using the bridge. Having to first walk to Middlefield (San Antonio doesn't appear to be a good route for pedestrians) or El Camino would have in fact doubled my walk to the car parts store which would have probably made me drive rather than walk.

@Palo Alto Walker

So what are you suggesting? Are you suggesting that the bridge shouldn't have been built because the neighborhood around Monroe Park doesn't have any sidewalks? Or are you suggesting that sidewalks be built in the neighborhood around Monroe park? Or are you suggesting something else entirely?

I am not sure what I am suggesting as there isn't obviously a solution.

I suppose that I was just incredulous and taken aback that when I left the bridge I was unable to find a safe route to walk. Perhaps a warning on the bridge or Google maps that it isn't safe for pedestrians may be in order.

Because I had my phone I was able to navigate to my destination, but it was not an easy walk as I felt I had missed the right way to go or taken a wrong turning.

Is this route "advertised" by the city or by Google Maps? I never trust Google Maps for pedestrian routes without at least checking Google Street View to make sure the route has sidewalks. Many of the routes shown on Google Maps are dangerous and sometimes illegal for pedestrians. I believe Google Maps pedestrian routes is still in beta and they encourage you to report bad routes.

Safety is a relative thing. Some people feel safe walking in a residential area where traffic is extremely light, like the area around Wilkie. The OP obviously does not. Some people feel driving on the freeway is unsafe, others are fine with it.

Since there have not been issues with pedestrian safety in that area for the decades the bridge has been around, I chalk this up to simply one person's idea about what is safe for them. I personally have been taking my morning walks over and back on that bridge for any years and have never experienced any safety concerns. I believe the signage calls out "Bike Bridge". Not sure if that's the issue, but I'm not concerned with my safety in that area as it pertains to cars on the road.

Does the OP have examples of accidents in that area that would prove it unsafe, or is it just the OP's perception of what they consider safe?

Based on StreetView, the sign on the Wilkie Way end of the bridge says "pedestrian/bike bridge".

Guide Dogs for the Blind trains their guide dogs to work in neighborhoods without sidewalks, like the one around Monroe Park. If blind people using guide dogs can navigate such neighborhoods, then I find it difficult to automatically label all such neighborhoods as unsafe for pedestrians.