Palo Alto Action Alert: City Council holds study session on bike boulevard projects

City Council of Palo Alto is convening a special study session on Tuesday, June 12 from 6 - 7:30 PM (event details below) to receive updates from city staff on implementation of the Bicycle & Pedestrian Transportation Plan and the Neighborhood Traffic Safety and Bicycle Boulevards.The stand-alone City Council meeting comes on the heels of vigorous community debate over the extent of treatments intended to incentivize shifts toward active modes of transportation -- such as walking and biking -- that also make roadways safer for all users regardless of age, abilities or income.Most notably, as considerable opposition plans to attend tonight's study session to halt early implementation phases of bike boulevard projects, Councilmembers need to hear from you. Please consider either attending this evening's study session, or writing City Council to throw your support behind its visionary efforts to make Palo Alto a more bikable, sustainable, and thriving City (talking points below).Study Session: Update on Implementation of the Bicycle + Pedestrian Transportation PlanTuesday, June 12, 2018Special City Council MeetingMitchell Park Community CenterEl Palo Alto Room3700 Middlefield RoadPalo Alto, CA6:00 - 7:30 PMIf you can't attend, please email city.council@cityofpaloalto.org and bcc me, Ben@bikesiliconvalley.org, NOW with your support of implementing bike boulevard projects and improvements to bicycle infrastructure.Sample talking points for email or public comment:

• Name, neighborhood or employment in Palo Alto, and length of time you’ve lived or worked here.
• Thank Council for making great strides toward moving Palo Alto toward a biking city, particularly with its goal to increase bicycle use for local and work commute trips by 100% by 2020, as stated in The Bicycle + Pedestrian Transportation Plan.
•  Encourage the City in its effort to “Increase bicycle boulevard mileage by 13.1 miles, and redesign streets to support active and non-SOV modes of travel, as set out in its 2018-2020 Sustainability Implementation Plan.
• Specific comments on planned and current bike projects (Phase 1: Amarillo Avenue, Bryant Street, East Meadow Drive, Montrose Avenue, Moreno Avenue, Louis Road, Palo Alto Avenue, and Ross Road.)
• Share your personal story of how these projects help solve real transportation problems for real people.
• Discuss how these infrastructure projects support City goals, policies and programs, with respect to advancing the transportation element of the 2017 Comprehensive Plan and the 2017 Sustainability & Climate Change Action Plan that prioritize safety, sustainability and multi modal transportation.
• Why you enjoy biking in Palo Alto.
• Mention how these bike projects include key safety improvements addressing the need of all roadway users, including motorists, pedestrians, and transit users.
• Thank you.