City of Cupertino Infrastructure Ride Recap
The City of Cupertino hosted us for the second year in a row with a wonderful infrastructure ride on a warm and sunny October 4. Sunnyvale and Mountain View staff, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Members from Cupertino, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale rode together to learn about the latest changes Cupertino has implemented and/or plans to implement to make cycling safer for everyone.
SVBC in collaboration with Santa Clara County is doing a series of series of 13 educational infrastructure rides. This was the fifth ride in the series after previous rides in San Jose, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, and Santa Clara. The ride was an approximately twelve-mile loop during which we stopped at several locations to discuss current bike facilities, proposed plans, and potential ideas and solutions.
Our trip began and ended at the Trail Head Cyclery on Stevens Creek Blvd. We rode West to Stelling Ave then North to look at the Greenleaf Bike Boulevard. This is a challenging location in front of a school with narrow travel lanes. We continued North to our next stop, the joint project with Sunnyvale on Homestead Rd. just past the Mary Ave. Bicycle Bridge. The Intersection of Mary Ave. and Homestead Rd. is particularly sensitive because of the high school next door. It was great to see the two cities working together to make this location safer for everyone.
Our third stop was a quick discussion about the study to create a ‘Junipero Serra Trail’ along I-280 and a separated bikeway on Mary Ave. A highlight of the trip was at our next stop, the almost completed Phase 1 of the protected bikeway on McClellan Rd. The new protected bikeway was still waiting to be painted, but was otherwise ready to ride so please check it out!
Stop 5 was a quick update on the recently approved Regnart Creek Trail, a Class 1 path along the creek which will connect numerous schools, parks, and the Civic Center. This project won unanimous approval by the Cupertino City Council after a marathon meeting that lasted until 4 in the morning and is already funded to completion.
Heading East from city hall, we made a quick stop at a pilot project constructed of bulb-out and bollards at the intersection of Finch and Calle de Barcelona. Pilot projects are a great way for cities to test out new infrastructure designs quickly and at a low cost.
Our final stop was to envision what Steven Creek Blvd. would be like with protected bikeways. An employer in Cupertino and the city are discussing funding protected bikeways along this important and busy East-West corridor.
Everyone enjoyed riding and learning about recent and future infrastructure improvements in Cupertino. The ride fostered great discussions between all the stakeholders, sharing of new ideas, and observations, all while biking through the city. Participants ended the ride better informed and inspired to push for an improved community, environment, and economy in Cupertino by getting more people to ride bikes for everyday use.
Once again, we thank all those who carved out time on a Friday morning to join us on the ride. Special thanks to City of Cupertino transportation planner Chris Corrao for all his planning and management to make the ride a huge success! A big thank you to Cherie Walkowiak, Cupertino Safe Routes to School Coordinator, for being our photographer. Thank you David Stillman, Cupertino Transportation Manager, for explaining the projects to us.