Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Betty Olsen maneuvers through traffic on Los Gatos Boulevard. Trails and Bikeways Committee members say bike lanes would make the road safer.

Car dealers fight bike lanes on boulevard

By Clarence Cromwell

It will be a showdown between bicyclists and motorists when the Los Gatos Boulevard Plan returns to the General Plan Committee Oct. 8 for a rewrite.

It looks like the bicyclists may have already lost.

Car dealers say that narrower auto lanes--whittled from 12 feet down to 11 feet to make way for bike lanes--will cause congestion and increase accidents. Town Council members appeared to agree.

Swanson Ford partner Bob Swanson told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times that he objects to the narrower lanes not only because he believes them unsafe, but because shoppers may be so uncomfortable driving in the narrow lanes that they start shopping somewhere else.

Before sending the boulevard plan back to the General Plan Committee, some councilmembers at their Sept. 15 meeting spoke against bike lanes.

Councilmember Steve Blanton said: "I certainly think there's a place for bikes in Los Gatos; I just question whether that place is in high traffic areas." Blanton said he also was concerned that the narrower traffic lanes might be unsafe.

Councilmember Jan Hutchins said narrower auto lanes would be "clearly unacceptable."

Mayor Joanne Benjamin said bike lanes may offer riders a false sense of security but no real protection.

The council directed the General Plan Committee to revise the plan based on council comments.

Trails and Bikeways Committee chairman Sheldon Smith disagreed with the council's criticism. "There is no question of safety, and there is no question of congestion," Smith said.

Smith said that during his research on traffic flow and bike lanes, he learned that Florida requires 11-foot-wide lanes on most roads, that San Luis Obispo's downtown streets boast 10-foot-wide lanes and that streets in Washington, D.C., give drivers no more than nine feet to maneuver.

Smith says the narrower car lanes, combined with bike lanes, would be safer. "People naturally slow down when they see the way ahead of them slow," he explained. "Is anyone going to argue that slowing down that traffic is unsafe?"

He added that separating slower-moving bikes from fast-moving cars would make travel safer for both. He added that the four-foot bike lanes would help drivers pulling away from the curb, exiting driveways or parking, by giving them room to accelerate or decelerate in or out of traffic and by giving them a better line of sight to spot approaching cars.

The bike lanes mean a great deal to cyclists, Smith concluded. "The lanes really improve the bicyclists' comfort level and feeling of confidence and safety," he said.

Peter Siemens, a member of the Trails and Bikeways Committee, likewise said it's important to separate bikes from cars. "It adds another level of safety," he said. "Cars think they can use the whole lane and bikers won't get out where they're supposed to be."

Siemens supports narrow car lanes as well. "I've been on a lot of roads in Europe that are narrower than what we're used to. Narrow lanes require more attention: If you have a big wide road, people tend to wander around in it."

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