We have an election coming up, folks. Now is the time to quiz the candidates on their plans and commitment to bicycle safety in Mountain View!

There used to be bike lanes on Calderon. I was on the city's Pedestrian-Bicycle Committee when the council decided to remove them. We fought it but were unsuccessful. Now the city is considering $340,000 to put them back.

The "bike boulevard" portion that runs down Central Avenue and Stierlin Rd. between Moffett boulevard and Shoreline is one of the most dangerous.

Central Ave. is a direct route for bikers to and from the creek trail, but many cars and trucks also use this section to get between Moffett and Shoreline. It's too narrow for bike lanes unless street parking is eliminated in that area.

It would be an ideal section for those cul-de-sac barriers if it weren't for the fact that fire trucks and emerg. vehicles from the downtown station also travel this route often. If it's sufficient for them to use Middlefield Rd. instead, then I say block it, or at least add speed bumps to slow the occasional speeder I see blast through there.

Something tells me that cramming more new apartments into Mountain View will not make bicycle safety any better.

While making biking safer and easier is a good idea, I'm leery of proposals that achieve this by degrading the car driving experience. Traffic is already bad enough, and slow enough, without making it worse. Bike travel is by itself good for the environment, but the analysis gets complicated when it increases car drive and idle times.

And note there are lots of people who simply cannot use bikes, including due to physical disabilities.

Lets focus on making bike improvements that do not subtract from our current vehicle resources.

Neighborhood: Oaktree Commons
I'm disabled and use my electric bike a lot. OK if we can't make more bike lanes, how about fixing the streets in that lane? Would somebody please fix the sidewalks? Thanks