Palo Alto will repave the car-free stretch of California Avenue on Thursday, Oct. 1, and Friday, Oct. 2, clearing the way for new outdoor dining standards on the pedestrian corridor.

Crews will work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days on the roughly 935-foot section between El Camino Real and Birch Street, the city announced on X. Once the asphalt is down, the city said updated parklet and streetscape rules will be in effect, supporting the continued activation of Cal Ave.

Those rules give restaurants three pre-approved parklet designs to choose from: a roofless parklet, a cabana with a sloped roof and a pergola with a flat roof. Each parklet can cover no more than 350 square feet of roof area, and no business may operate more than two, according to a city merchant meeting presentation.

Restaurants that want a custom design can still pursue one through a longer review process.

The City Council adopted the standards by a 6-1 vote in late May, with Council member George Lu as the sole dissenter, Palo Alto Online reported. The vote also directed city staff to develop a bike-free plan for the street, after residents and business owners raised safety concerns about e-bikes mixing with diners and pedestrians.

Charlie Weidanz, CEO of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, said in June that the new framework gives businesses the certainty they need. Restaurants had been "hesitant to fund high-quality permanent outdoor structures while operating under temporary rules," Weidanz told Palo Alto Online at the time. The new standards change that.

Urban architect Bruce Fukuji, who has been leading the Cal Ave. redesign, reported to the council in late May that vacancy rates on the street dropped from 16% in 2023 to 7.5% in 2025. Revenue from food sales climbed 13% during the car-free era.

A 2022-2023 city survey found that 90% of Cal Ave. visitors come for outdoor dining and 67% visit at least once a week. The street sits near Stanford Research Park, home to more than 150 companies and roughly 23,000 workers.

The city has not announced when restaurants can begin applying for parklets under the new rules or whether the street will be fully closed to pedestrians during the two days of repaving.