Cañada Road was closed on Wednesday, Nov. 15, until 8 p.m. in light of the meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to a San Mateo County Alert. Vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians had to find alternate routes from Cañada Road between Highway 280 and Highway 92 and Edgewood Road at Highway 280 until the roads opened up.
There was a lot of traffic on Alameda de las Pulgas by Edgewood Road as drivers had to avoid the blockage. However, the roads have since reopened and traffic has subsided.
The meeting between these two leaders spiked curiosity. Biden and Xi were discussing global issues and relations between the U.S. and China.
“The critical global challenges we face, from climate change to counternarcotics to artificial intelligence, demand our joint efforts,” Biden said in a speech to Xi before their meeting commenced.
Biden also emphasized that it is important for the U.S. and China to prevent competition from turning to conflict, which Xi agreed with.
“It is an objective fact that China and the United States are different in history, culture, social system, and development path. However, as long as they respect each other, coexist in peace, and pursue win-win cooperation, they will be fully capable of rising above differences and find the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other,” Xi said via an interpreter.
The two leaders went on to discuss these topics in depth throughout the day.
As this all went down, people outside Filoli and the blocked-off areas gathered to get a glimpse of the happenings.
Christine Brennan, a San Carlos resident, was riding her bike on Edgewood Road when she saw the commotion.
“There were a bunch of tour buses on one side of the street. And there were a couple of cop cars stopping traffic going up. And then I saw a bunch of people walking, and I was just trying to process what’s up with all the buses and all these people walking up the road,” Brennan said.
There were also a variety of people in the crowd milling about.
“Most of them were in red and they were carrying lunches. They were all different: some were old, some young, some Caucasian, some Asian,” Brennan said.
Brennan continued up the road until she got to the top where the majority of people resided.
“Right there at the overpass up 280 was where people were singing and there was music playing,” Brennan said. “The gathering was friendly, and there were some people protesting and others that were there to celebrate and show their support.”
Security was also heavily enforced and would make no exceptions for people attempting to get through the blockade.
“The blockade was on the other side and I couldn’t take my bike there. I asked if I could just go down and told the people guarding it that I wouldn’t go to Filoli; I would take a left instead of a right. It was a big no from them,” Brennan said.
Despite Brennan’s efforts, there was no way to get through the blockade and motorcades. This inevitably caused the traffic seen on Wednesday, but the thought of Biden and Xi being so close to the community intrigued many people.
