November 14, 2012 letter regarding Alpine Road & Highway 280 interchange

November 14, 2012

San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Hall of Justice
400 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94063

VIA EMAIL: bos_webmaster@co.sanmateo.ca.us

RE: Alpine Road/Highway 280 intersection

Honorable Supervisors:

I am writing to share Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition’s position on the current circumstances regarding the Alpine Road/Highway 280 intersection.

After two years of working with County staff and our member advocates, our preference for redesigning the underpass was design D-2. However, after deliberation with numerous stakeholders, including our own Policy Advisory Committee and several bicyclists familiar with the situation, and given the operational constraints voiced by Caltrans, we feel that it is acceptable to proceed with option D-3 at this time.

There are additional design elements that could make design D-3 safer for road users. Our support of this project is given with the understanding that the County will work with SVBC and local advocates, and that the following factors will be explored in the design finalization:

• Make sure the area where cars merge to the right for 280 S is before the shadow line of the overpass (to enhance visibility of people on bikes in that area).
• Add 1-2 ft cross-hatch buffers on either side of the bike lane to allow more comfortable riding for people on bikes, and so that motorists will be heavily discouraged from merging after the appropriate point. Also consider flexible stanchions to avoid cars merging across the bike lane after the appropriate point.
• Add better lighting in the underpass area.
• Reduce the minimum acceptable travel lane widths in the design to encourage slower vehicle speeds overall.
• Highlight bike-car conflict areas with green paint or slurry seal.

We appreciate the County's steadfast leadership in finding funding for this project. We look forward to working with the County in a collaborative and open process during design finalization.

Sincerely,

Corinne Winter
President and Executive Director

Cc: Joe Lo Coco jlococo@smcgov.org
Ann Stillman astillman@smcgov.org,
Diana Shu dshu@smcgov.org,
GillesTourel gtourel@smcgov.org,
Jim Porter jporter@smcgov.org