Good news from last night's San José City Council meeting! The Council voted unanimously to approve a buffered bike lane along Hedding Street, between 15th Street and the Guadalupe River Trail.
Never quite able to stop thinking about work, Corinne sent me a text this afternoon (10:30 pm where she is), suggesting I share the above photo and point out that "even Galway, Ireland has cycle tracks and dedicated bus lanes..."
Okay, folks. How can we get a few dozen miles of cycle track installed before she gets back, in a week?
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is looking for public feedback regarding updates to its bike plan and Bicycle Technical Guidelines.
From the Los Altos Patch:
Please help me welcome the newest additions to SVBC's Safe Routes to School program team, Ashley Hernandez and Megan Melack! They will be working with Ernesto to strengthen and expand our youth bike education efforts. They are both passionate about bicycles and working with youth. We're so happy to have them!
Thanks to Laura Smith of the Campbell Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) for this update.
As some of you may recall, SVBC has been working on a project to promote formation and improvement of Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees (BPACs) in San Mateo County. We believe that BPACs and similar advisory bodies (Bicycle Commissions, Bicycle Advisory Committees) are an important way to institutionalize active transportation advocacy within a community.
My commute to work on this beautiful Monday morning was marked by two notable bike lane situations. You see, last week I was honked at three times in one day and several times enjoyed the cooling yet alarming breeze caused by very big trucks leaving a very small space between themselves and me. (More people need to check out our safety tips, clearly.) So, I'm trying to seek out less crowded roads and more bike lanes. This has led to mixed discoveries.
Summer at the Bicycle Coalition is traditionally our "down" time. Our work load doesn't actually slow down much, but rather shifts to more administrative tasks - grant applications, pre-semester Safe Routes to School meetings, website tweaking, letterhead orders, program reports, et cetera. With the exception of our valet bike parking program, It's not always highly visible or very exciting stuff, which is why our steady stream of blog updates also slows to a trickle as the (digital) mercury rises.
There is a open comment period regarding the design of a new section of the Bay Trail on a new levee area in Alviso. You can learn more about the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan, and leave comments, at http://www.fws.gov/cno/refuges/DonEdwards/DonEdwards.cfm. There are some concerns about how the design will affect cyclists and advocates are seeking feedback from the bike community. How can the trail be designed so that cyclists and wildlife can live side-by-side?
Congratulations to Kevin Jackson, a Sunnyvale cyclist who put significant time and effort into passing the first reading of an anti-harassment ordinance in his town. The second reading will take place on July 17. The two readings give the public an extended chance to weigh in. Kevin's quick synopsis of the final vote is below.
Results of a study in Palo Alto have recently been published, and the news is great for cyclists. Traffic calming measures implemented on Arastradero Road two years ago seem to be responsible for a drastic reduction in the number of collisions involving motorists and cyclists. The City's report shows the traffic calming had a number of benefits, including reduced incidents of speeding and increased walking and bike riding, despite an increase in overall traffic volume. From the Palo Alto Weekly:
I just got back from a meeting of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where I spoke in favor of two bike/pedestrian infrastructure projects that would benefit significantly if approved to be funded through decade-old mitigation money from Stanford. As is often the case, the outcome was mixed, but mostly positive.
My bike to Work Day began at 6:45 am (not my finest hour), when I boarded a vacant northbound Caltrain to Mountain View. It was pretty early, and I suppose most people riding the rails at that hour opted for the baby bullet that departed a few minutes earlier, so I was all alone in the bike car. No worries about getting bumped, at least!
Hopefully, you're all getting prepared to bike to work on Thursday. That's great! I assume you've gone through the ABC Quick Check and gone over some bicycling safety tips. Well done!
This guest blog was submitted by Wendee Crofoot of the Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning.
Mountain View has a lack of convenient on street bike parking, the solution is more conspicuous, convenient, and plentiful racks. Bicyclists lock their bikes to tree cages, light posts, and railings that were designed to assist the elderly and disabled.
