I scream, you scream, we all scream for bike lanes!

Despite popular lore, SVBC employees do not spend all of our time on bicycles, tooling about town with the sun on our faces, fighting injustice in the name of pedal-powered propulsion. Most days, we are stuck at our desks or in meetings, warmed only by the blue glow of florescent tubes.Still, we've lately made a point of getting out of the office for a monthly staff bike ride, both to better the cohesion of the team and to see what bike-friendly amenities (or car-centric catastrophes) adorn downtown San Jose and its environs.This week's roundabout took us to the Willow Glen neighborhood to admire and assess the recently commenced road diet trial. The seven staff members present were all familiar with the previous pedal-if-you-dare layout of Lincoln Avenue, and were delighted to be able to cruise the quaint corridor without injecting ourselves into car traffic.

In addition to a new pair of spacious bike lanes, the road diet also adds pedestrian visibility to the streetscape. Downtown Willow Glen is a compact shopping district, so pedestrian mobility has wisely been promoted with a series of mid-block crosswalks to encourage wandering and exploration. But with two vehicle lanes in each direction, pedestrians attempting to cross the road were often challenged by the threat of stopped cars in one lane blocking them from the view of drivers in the next. With only one lane now intersecting the crosswalks in each direction, people on foot can safely make it to the other side, confident that they're not playing hide-and-seek with motorists.Of course, the addition of bike lanes to a retail district has positive economic benefits as well, as studies show that people who shop by bike tend to spend more than those who arrive by car. We were happy to add to that body of evidence by wrapping up our tour with a stop at the local creamery for some frozen treats. Our curiosity and hunger both sated, we bid Willow Glen adieu and made our way back to the comforting florescence of SVBC Global Headquarters.If you like the idea of being able to get to this gem of a neighborhood by bike, I encourage you to pedal over to Lincoln Avenue today! The road diet trial only lasts for three months. In June, the city will weigh quantitative data as well as community feedback as it considers a permanent transformation. Go give the new lanes a try, drop in to some local businesses, and share your thoughts with the Road Diet Working Group or email Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio directly at pierluigi.oliverio@sanjoseca.gov.