The Hedding Street bike lane project is going before the San Jose City Council at their regular meeting at 7pm this Tuesday, August 21.
The bike lane is item 6.1 on page 6 of their posted agenda, which states that there is a recommendation to approve:
[http://www.sanjoseca.gov/clerk/Agenda/20120821/20120821a.pdf]
The SJ Mercury reported the plan in the context of negative input from Hedding Street residents and neighbors at the August 2nd community meeting.
[http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_21256218/some-hedding-street...
This article quotes a disapproving resident as stating that few cyclists use the street, but her assertion seems to be at odds with both the findings of the Department of Transportation and my own informal observations of counting half a dozen to a dozen cyclists besides myself on Hedding Street during a typical trip from Oakland to Park at commute hours.
As the city has identified, Hedding Street is a key connector for bicycles in San Jose, but it is currently a very difficult place to ride. At the August 2 community meeting, Manuel Pineda, Deputy Director of the Department of Transportation, stated that this bike lane project already has "policy approval" and that, although it was intended for construction at a later date, it will be scheduled for construction (if approved) this fall instead, because of relatively lower costs if completed in conjunction with an already-approved pavement maintenance project.
pmackay
August 19, 2012 - 12:05am
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Hedding
I use Hedding to get to Mt Hamilton but have had many close calls from inattentive drivers there. Just today I rode a little while with a guy who had come from Mt H and we were on this subject and he uses Montague now because he feels it's much safer.
DvortyBikes
August 19, 2012 - 12:22am
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Hedding
If you have experience to share, please do attend the meeting and consider speaking. The proposed project shown in the meeting would leave one lane of traffic in either direction, with a turn lane in the middle. The plan would allow space for a buffered bike lane such is now on 4th street. This will be the first time that San Jose would eliminate parking to add a bike lane in this manner.
Currently there is a bike lane on Berryessa north of 101 and not again until Pruneridge crosses Tantau into Cupertino. The current project goes between 17th and 1st, but the eventual plan is to take the bike lane all the way to Winchester, which is the San Jose/Santa Clara border.
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