Biking is better than busing. At least you won't catch Covid-19. But don't forget about tele-commuting. Much of the time spent traveling to work (and school) is avoidable.

If Karen Holman offers to be an advisor , tell her “thanks, but no thanks”

"Mountain View City Councilman Chris Clark said he wondered whether the Shoreline bridge could still include some type of aesthetic elements to make it more interesting. Though Caltrans has to give its blessing and generally opposes driver distractions, he suggested the bridge be designed to light up or have some kind of back-lit art that can be seen from below."

Why don't we just use an existing, proven design... instead of something that will cost $2m to design and $20m to construct? This can also be completed sooner with a more conventional design. Happy to see this done either way; this is much needed!

Yes, lets built it cheap and basic without any care for aesthetics...like what they do in North Korea.

2000ft to the north there is Permanente Creek trail bridge, and 2000ft to the south there's Stevens Creek trail. What is the rationale to add a 3'rd?

What could you do to improve bike/foot traffic experience in MV with $20M, other than this bridge?

This will be directly adjacent to the Shoreline bridge. Why would you do anything other than adapt the same design elements as the existing bridge? I'd rather just have it blend in -- it's a small bridge over the freeway. What matters to most will be width, grade, smoothness, and ease of entry/exit. Prioritize those things and the aesthetics will follow.

Hans ayone seen any of the plans they're being critical of, or are we at the phase where we imagine something bad is going to happen, say that we HOPE this imagined bad thing does not happen, then go on to rail about why it should not happen.
Are we there yet?
Just checking.

IIRC, the Stevens Creek Trail underpass at 101 closes seasonally due to flooding. An overpass that integrates with the SCT could be useful for those who use the SCT for commuting, to allow them to bike to work when the SCT underpass is closed.

This strikes me as a colossal waste of money. Given the low number of bicyclists who currently use the existing freeway crossovers (or -unders), projected usage to justify the expense of $20 million (or more, most likely) seems wildly unrealistic. Why not improve North Bayshore access to the existing pathways, for far less money?

Current Permanente Creek Trail bike/walk path is great, but there's weird endpoints that make it less useful.
The first North Bayshore exit dumps you in the Google Parking lot, although Alta Ave and the Google bike paths are just 200 feet away. The next junction dumps you on Charleston Rd without a safe easy way to cross the street to resume the trail that then continues on to the waterfront.

On the Stevens Creek Trail, what if there were more exits, like onto Shorebird Way that connects with the Google paths. And when will we finally be able to cross easily over to Ames and Moffett from more parts of Stevens Creek Trail?

There are small fixes needed that seem much more timely and inexpensive than a third walk/bike bridge.

@Too Funny, you must be new to the internet. We're there. We've been there for years.

In fact, we're so far beyond that point that we've almost reached the spot where we take up arms to protest the imagined bad thing from happening, mostly to distract us from the horrible things that are *actually* happening.

:-)

I fully support a new bike bridge. Shoreline is a really good spot for it. A pragmatic, tried-and-true design seems appropriate for this spot.

As to the cost, we spend billions on car infrastructure without batting an eye. Biking is win-win -- bikes take up less space than cars, they don't pollute the air with CO2 or tire particles, the biker gets health benefits from the activity, and fewer people get seriously injured in collisions.

This bridge is a much needed addition. Yes, there are 2 other crossings 2000 ft on either side. That's 0.4 miles, so diverting to that and back adds almost a mile. People in cars complain about such detours from the exertion of pressing their gas pedal. Let's be a little charitable to the people out there breaking a sweat to improve traffic by not being part of it.

Also, the Stevens Creek Trail crossing of 101 is woefully inadequate. Someone mentioned that it closes in the winter. Well, pretty rarely. But, it is only about 6' wide under 101 with a blind corner at the bottom of a ramp. Lots of accidents happen there. It really needs to be rebuilt and would likely cost well over $20 million.

If you want to include some aesthetics, I say put them on the top deck where the users can see them - not for the cars passing under. And I agree with Allison Hicks that staff should learn about the Copenhagen design done 6 years ago. Steel is quite often cheaper than concrete. We have to get not just good or great, but EXCELLENT at building bike/ped bridges because we actually need quite a few of them.

I think a bike bridge that is well lit and safe for bikes 24/7 is a good idea. It should blend in with the Rengsdorff overpass when crossing 101. The most important features should be on the approaches and exits: A well lit set of dedicated bike lanes that have individual signal lights would improve safety for riders and automobile (etc) drivers.

If the existing bike overpasses could be modified to meet the standards described above, that would be good. Underpasses that flood during rainy periods are not a good choice. Fine for recreation, not for commuters.

In my neighborhood, I can cross El Camino at the signals/pedestrian crossings. The bigger issues are bikes disregarding signal lights, stop signs, and pedestrians in the cross walks. The same issues for cars and other motor vehicles. A “culture change” would support commuters using all forms of transportation. “Jaywalking” across El Camino, etc. is another issue.

Google should pay for it

How about just reconfiguring Shoreline? Put pedestrians on one side, narrow the median, and then a dedicated bike lanes in place of the other sidewalk. Use the same bridge. It seems like the city is full of expensive unnecessary ideas.

As someone who does walk across 101 at shoreline, and bikes via the Stevens Creek and Permanente Creek trail:

WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY.

Walking across the bridge is fine in the current state.

Adding a bridge in the middle of an unsafe path does not help.
Until Shoreline has a physically separate biking lane, it isn't safe. Drivers forget about the painted lines (e.g. while texting). Riding on Shoreline is Russian Roulette.

Getting a bike over the Shoreline overpass area is very sketchy. The is GREAT and WELCOME news. People complaining have only imagined the issues.

Based on the current map, I expect that very few people would use this proposed bridge. Biking on Shoreline, one would need to take a detour to reach it. I think most would opt to bike on Shoreline instead to save time.

While MV is pandering to billion dollar employers and building bike bridges every .5 miles over 101, bike access across Central and the tracks is awful. A bike bridge near Rengstorff is badly needed, it should be prioritized over this needless and redundant bridge.

I commute to North Bayshore on a daily basis - walking or biking, never driving.

I use both existing commuter trails (SCT under 101, Permanente bridge over 101). They both have some blind spots and missing exits/crossings, but those can be fixed for I hope far less than $20M.

New bridge would take in commuters from Shoreline blvd. which is dangerous to ride on. Until there is a clear bike path separation on it, it's going to stay like that.

City should spend money on Central Expy underpass (from train station), and better connection from transit center to SCT and Permanente crossing.

Stevens creek trail is used already, Safer and closer to any destination a bike would go. Seems any money should be spent to improve the existing path rather than to to design in a expensive fluff item that in total goes nowhere.

The density of office workers is not concentrated just at the two end of North Bayshore. This new bridge proposal allows crossing right in the middle of the work-zone. The Stevens Creak crossing and the Permanent crossing will need to be supplemented IN THE FUTURE if fossil-fuel (carbon rich) transportation is to be mitigated.

Biking - corn-based energy (I know fertilizer/transport etc). Not exactly Co2 free, but biking is one of the most energy-efficient human transport systems available!

SCR has become very impacted during commute hours creating some dangerous situations due to it's hemmed in nature. I can't wait to see the plans. Hurry!

Ya'll will likely have a decade to whine and complain about all the aspects of this.
Pace yourselves.

This is great! Would appreciate the designers commenting on the access to the bridge from the West of 101. For instance, where will the access be & what would be the suggested bike routes to get to/from the access point?