Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, June 28, 2019, 1:42 PM
Town Square
El Camino Real to get protected bike lanes
Original post made on Jun 28, 2019
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, June 28, 2019, 1:42 PM
Comments (16)
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Jun 28, 2019 at 1:55 pm
Why only 1.5 miles? What are bicyclists supposed to do when the bike lane ends? I hope there is a plan to expand this bicycle route into neighboring cities.
a resident of another community
on Jun 28, 2019 at 2:24 pm
Lines do not stop cars. Just look at the carpool lanes on 237 at 880 and the carpool lanes along Evelyn. There is little law enforcement. What could help are permanent solid barriers such as those in China and Amsterdam.
Losing 556 parking spaces will have little impact? Not to the people who currently use them and the businesses they patronize.
a resident of St. Francis Acres
on Jun 28, 2019 at 2:32 pm
What sticks out to me is the fact that our pothole filled road won't be fixed for another 2 or 3 years. It's hard on the cars, and me too!
a resident of Waverly Park
on Jun 28, 2019 at 2:46 pm
"...Currently, not many people use the on-street parking, and approximately one in three spots are occupied on average, a city survey noted..."
I'm not sure how 1/3 = not many, but so long as all new construction includes parking (preferably underground) and all El Camino businesses have accessible parking nearby, that should be okay.
I hope that before this resurfacing project is executed in 2022, there will not be more deaths and paraplegics caused by vehicle-bicycle incidents on El Camino, and that the powers that be will increase the protected lanes for more than a mere 1.5 miles.
But overall this is a step in the right direction.
a resident of Rengstorff Park
on Jun 28, 2019 at 4:19 pm
Green lanes aren't going to do a thing. If you want to make a difference for bicycle safety, you have to make awareness to drivers and cyclists. Nearly every morning in the DT area, I come to a stop and am about to go when a cyclist blows through. They'll do anything to not have their foot touch the ground. Drivers too, they are clueless of their surroundings and are always in a rush. I've mentioned it plenty of times on these forums (but I don't think MVPD is reading them) that if they want to solve problems, put some traffic enforcement at 237 and ECR and start issuing tickets to cyclists, drivers and even jay walkers
a resident of Sylvan Park
on Jun 28, 2019 at 4:49 pm
So many times i’m making a left turn or u-turn on green arrow and some stupid punk on a bike doesn’t stop on red. Or riding on the wrong side of the road. It seems the concentration of stupid bike riders is stronger near the Stevens Creek Trail.
a resident of The Crossings
on Jun 28, 2019 at 7:07 pm
So we are willing to rob the businesses on ECR of their on-street parking so that we can increase the number of bikers on a road clearly not meant for them. Meanwhile, the street where a bike lane makes sense (California) is ignored. I guess we won't worry about the consequences of such foolishness until one of these bikers gets run over because they aren't obeying traffic laws. Commuting on a bike down ECR is dangerous and ignorant, which is why most bikers don't do it. The smart ones will continue to avoid it because adding bike lanes doesn't reduce speeding or the number of construction vehicles on the road.
Stupidest. Idea. Ever.
a resident of Rengstorff Park
on Jun 29, 2019 at 6:09 am
Jeremy Hoffman is a registered user.
To state the obvious, people bike to businesses too. An entire new lane that brings customers on bikes will more than make up for removing a handful of car parking spaces in front of that store.
a resident of another community
on Jun 29, 2019 at 7:46 am
What is a "protected bike lane"? Is it a separate path with its own bike traffic lights in the sequence? Is it completely separated from motorized vehicle traffic as well as pedestrian traffic? European cities do a great job with separated bike paths.
a resident of Sylvan Park
on Jun 29, 2019 at 9:49 am
The parking spaces are not needed? where do the business customers park? If there is a lot guess what the cars use to to enter exit. Not to mention the Uber and Lift drivers. FYI Mathilda has added bike lane Thank now the 2 bikes that use it have a nice path to ride in, meanwhile Mathilda is now a traffic mess for all the cars that did not lose a traffic lane... but lost the parking and merge and exit lane. Does any council member ride a bike?
a resident of Blossom Valley
on Jun 29, 2019 at 5:22 pm
“Losing that on-street parking, a total of 556 spaces, would have little impact, according to city staff. Currently, not many people use the on-street parking, and approximately one in three spots are occupied on average”
1/3 of 556 at any given time is not “not many” and more than a “handful” of people parking along El Camino. This will definitely impact businesses unnecessarily. As the article stated most bikers don’t use El Camino so other safer, more practical routes are available. Does the city ever poll the public before making these decisions? Because this is a really dumb plan that’s going to annoy the majority of people that use El Camino and smart bikers will continue to use alternative routes.
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Jun 29, 2019 at 5:32 pm
This is fantastic! The only thing better would be if the protected lane were a little longer and it happened sooner - I will certainly bike this route once safe infrastructure is in place.
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Jun 30, 2019 at 8:01 am
I always avoided riding this section. Thanks for opening it up for more safe riding. Now I can easily access the businesses on that route as well
a resident of another community
on Jul 2, 2019 at 3:13 pm
This is a good proposal. On-street parking on ECR is abused by RV's and other vehicle dwellers who park and never move. Palo Alto and Stanford need to adopt similar measure to get rid of the RV's parked along ECR border with Stanford.
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Jul 2, 2019 at 4:18 pm
Now put bike lanes down Shoreline from El Camino across 101 and back. Hopefully MVCC takes note. I think it's a great idea for the last mile (or 3) to North Bayshore. Maybe folks that live along Latham could petition for Bike Lanes very much like the already present bike lanes along Calderon.
a resident of another community
on Jul 3, 2019 at 9:25 am
This is what we in the business call a win-win.
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