Big win on Sunnyvale Avenue!
Big Win on Sunnyvale Avenue!
Sunnyvale Ave makes up the most important and most used north-south bicycle corridor in the City of Sunnyvale. It connects residents to the Downtown, Moffett Park, numerous neighborhoods, and three schools. However, the 3/4 mile section between Maude Ave and Hendy Ave has no bicycle lanes. Bicyclists are forced to ride in the street with vehicles. There have been 7 recorded cyclist collisions with cars from 2016-2019 and countless near misses. It does not feel safe to ride here, especially for the elderly, children, and inexperienced riders. This needed to change, and with the help of a few residents near Sunnyvale Avenue, we were able to make the street safe for all.
This Fall the city proposed a project to install buffered bike lanes on Sunnyvale Ave. The project also included crosswalk improvements and lane width reductions that will slow down speeding drivers. This project would make the street safer and close a critical bike lane gap, resulting in 11 miles of continuous bike lanes connecting the Bay Trail to Saratoga. It would also enable children to safely ride to school on their own.
Overcoming Challenges
Unfortunately, a small but vocal group of people opposed the project because some on-street parking would need to be removed in front of their houses to fit in the bike lanes. However, there is plenty of parking available across the street, or around the block. This small inconvenience is well worth the safety improvements this project provides for the greater community. The opposition did not see it this way, and their vocal resistance risked derailing the entire project.
The Power of Community
Fortunately, Daniel and Lauren, two residents who live adjacent to the project, were very supportive and reached out to collaborate with Bike Sunnyvale. Together, we set up zoom meetings with city council members, educated them about the proposed project, and explained its importance. Speaking to council members individually allowed us to understand their questions and concerns. Ultimately, we refined our “pitch” from one that focused on the limited impact of parking to one that highlighted the safety improvements, policy support, and community benefits of the project.
Getting the project approved
We needed to demonstrate that the larger community was in favor of the project, so we recruited enthusiastic people to share their support for the project by sending emails to the city council. We tabled at the farmer’s market and Lauren and Daniel stood on Sunnyvale Ave during rush hour and handed out flyers to people biking past. We got an announcement sent out to thousands of cyclists via the SVBC E-Bulletin. The flyers and E-Bulletin directed people to a webpage (made by us) where people could easily write an email. In the end, we had over 52 letters sent! We appreciate that so many people took time out of their busy days to write some very impactful personalized letters. Each letter made a difference!
We also recruited dozens of people to speak at the BPAC and City Council meetings during the public comment periods. At the City Council meeting on September 28th, the public comment lasted over an hour and people supported the project by a margin of nearly 3 to 1. To top it off, at the end I gave a slide show presentation summarizing our points. These combined efforts convinced some council members who were previously on the fence. The resulting vote was 6-1. Victory!
A Big Win for the Community!!
The bike lanes will likely be installed in late 2022. To celebrate, we will be doing a fun Victory Bike Ride on Sunday, October 17th. I encourage you to join!
I want to thank everyone who sent letters, spoke at the meetings, and joined our calls with city council members, along with my family for supporting me. I’d also like to give a special thank you to Lauren and Daniel for the many hours they dedicated to this campaign. Having nearby residents speak up in support of the project made a big difference in convincing the council to vote to approve the project.
If you want to help with future advocacy efforts, to develop the tools to get a project started and onto the “Victory lap”, please become a member of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and join Bike Sunnyvale.