"NO BIKES" Sign in Los Altos Hills
Submitted by maiki on December 8, 2008 - 6:44pm
A few days ago it was reported in our fora that there was a "NO BIKES" sign painted on El Monte Road in Los Altos Hills. Greg McPheeters posted photos online showing the situation.
Corinne Winter, SVBC Executive Director sent out a letter to Mr. Richard Chiu, Jr., Public Works Director for the City of Los Altos Hills, copying Mayor Dean Warshawsky, City Attorney Steven Mattas, and City Clerk Karen Jost.
A copy of the letter is available as a PDF: NO BIKES Sign in Los Altos Hills.
We will post updated information as we get it. You can discuss it in the forum topic at http://bikesiliconvalley.org/content/527. We thank Jeff Orum for bringing this to the attention of our community.
Submitted by MikeOnBike on December 11, 2008 - 11:01am.
"The pavement marking was originally installed to encourage bicyclist[s] to use the new pathway"
Prohibiting "A" is a rather draconian way to encourage "B", don't ya' think?
I'm glad they're fixing it, but the explanation sounds odd.
Submitted by Bob Shanteau on December 11, 2008 - 12:32am.
I just received this email from the Town's Public Works Director. Whatever we did, worked.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: New "NO BIKES" marking in Los Altos Hills
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:21:34 -0800
From: Richard Chiu
To: Bob Shanteau
Bob,
Thanks for the information. The pavement marking was originally installed to encourage bicyclist to use the new pathway through the college. It was brought to our attention that some drivers may act more aggressively towards bicyclist with the markings in place.
The Town wants to encourage various modes of transportation and does not want to do anything that would result in more drivers behaving badly. As a result, the Town has temporarily covered the markings and made arrangement to have it permanently removed by early next week.
Thanks again.
Richard Chiu
Public Works Director
Town of Los Altos Hills
(650) 947-2516
Submitted by Jim Pravetz on December 10, 2008 - 6:28pm.
The NO BIKES marking was painted over in black today. It looked like it might have been spray painted. Hopefully this was done officially by the city.
Submitted by Jeff Orum on December 10, 2008 - 2:41pm.
Les,
I noticed you sent your letter to Jean Mordo and I think SVBC sent their letter to Dean Warshawsky. From the town's website (http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/government/city-council.html) it appears the Mordo's term expired 11/08 and Warshawsky is the Mayor Pro Tem until 11/10. Since you live there you probably know which one is the right one to notify better than anyone, and if it is Mordo he can get a copy of the SVBC letter from the website or from the city offices.
Thanks for adding your voice to this.
Jeff
Submitted by Les Earnest on December 11, 2008 - 7:41pm.
No, Jean (pronounced "Jon")Mordo began his term just a few months ago and will reign until next summer.
Submitted by Les Earnest on December 10, 2008 - 12:05pm.
I see that the headline "Los Altos NO BIKES Sign" has the location wrong (Los Altos Hills, not Los Altos) but the letter got it right. Here is an email that I sent to the current Mayor, Jean Mordo, with copies to other Town officials.
--------------
Jean,
I see that the Town recently put a stencil on the pavement at the entrance to El Monte Road from its intersection with Moody saying "NO BIKES". I see also that the Town has been notified by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition that there is no legal basis for the posting of such signage -- see http://bikesiliconvalley.org/files/documents/letters/081208_Los_Altos_NO.... Unfortunately there is some history behind this example of what I call "bicycle bigotry" that I believe warrants a review of the Town's procedures.
It is true that the segment of El Monte between the first entrance to Foothill College and the intersection with Moody and Elena Roads is hazardous for cyclists inasmuch as it is a narrow, winding route without shoulders. However there is no legal basis for excluding cyclists there. In fact, cyclists who live on that stretch of road have no choice but to ride there.
Unfortunately this is the second time that the Town has acted improperly in this matter. In the 1970s signs were posted at both ends of this road segment saying "NO BICYCLES". At that time I and other cyclists appeared before the Council to point out the illegality of such signage and it was eventually removed.
Now that the Town has again acted improperly it appears to me that the Council should review its procedures for legal review of such matters. Specifically, did anyone get legal advice on the posting of such signage? If so, the Town should seek more reliable advice in the future. If not, an additional step should be inserted in your review process.
Incidentally, I believe that there is something constructive that can be done to mitigate the safety issue. Given that there is a bike path that bypasses this difficult road segment but that is not visible from the Moody-El Monte intersection, I suggest posting a large sign there at the entrance road to Foothill College saying "BIKE PATH TO EL MONTE ROAD".
If the Council would like to discuss any of this I will be happy to appear and comment.
-Les Earnest
Submitted by Carl Hagenmaier on December 10, 2008 - 10:48am.
The signs are in Los Altos Hills, not in Los Altos. These are different cities, each with their own councils, city managers, and staffs.
Los Altos has a BPAC. Los Altos Hills does not.
Submitted by Mark Eliot on December 9, 2008 - 11:16am.
And, I think we should thank Jeff for his help in crafting SVBC's response to this issue. He alerted SVBC to the problem on the 5th, gave us a letter over the weekend, and with some minor edits, we had a letter stating SVBC's position out to Los Altos Hills by the 8th. This is a prime example of something I'd like to see more often: quick reaction to something that is clearly wrong. By the way, if you aren't familiar with SVBC's letter writing procedure, you can check it out here.