Willow Glen Resident
News
Hamilton to be striped for new bike lane between Leigh and Bascom
By Eli Segall
Whether on residential roads or arterial avenues, San Jose bicyclists are often squeezed to the curb by zooming cars. Bikers say this could be prevented with more bike lanes added to city streets. And it looks as if help is on the way.
The San Jose City Council on June 26 approved 10 new bicycle lanes throughout the city. One lane will be added in Willow Glen, a 0.5-mile stretch on Hamilton Avenue between Bascom and Leigh avenues. Two of the lanes are in Almaden Valley--a 0.6-mile stretch on Almaden Road between Almaden Expressway and McKean Road, and 1.3 miles of Camden Avenue, between Coleman Road and Meridian Avenue. The other lanes are primarily in Evergreen and downtown.
The new lanes will cost $50,000 to stripe and maintain and will be funded almost entirely by state transportation grants, according to John Brazil, bicycle and pedestrian program manager for the San Jose Transportation Department.
The new lanes, which are a combined nine miles long and should be striped this summer and fall, will help San Jose reach its goal of 300 miles of on-street bicycle routes, as outlined in the city's General Plan. To date the city has completed about 150 miles, according to Brazil.
"The new lanes are for both commuting and getting around town," Brazil said. "They'll help motorists and bicyclists share space."
Some residents are eager for the additional miles to be completed.
"We definitely choose our route to avoid traffic," said Almaden Valley resident John Domingue, a father of two whose family takes regular bike rides to neighborhood parks and trails. "It's nice for cars to see that that's your space."
Many San Jose streets are high-speed, high-volume roadways, which is not an ideal bicycling environment, Brazil acknowledged. However, conditions are improving.
Last fall, San Jose was honored by the American League of Cyclists, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, for its expansive network of bicycle routes and bike accessibility on public trains and buses, said Andy Clarke, the group's executive director.
"The thing that struck us was the good mileage of lanes and trails," Clarke said, "but it's not complete by any means. There's still room for improvement."
Accordingly, the city's transportation department is considering several pilot programs, Brazil said. One is to add "Wrong Way" signs on the back of existing road signs to discourage wrong-way bicycle riding, which, according to Clark, led to 17 fatalities in San Jose between 2001 and 2005. Another idea is to install guideway signs that direct bicyclists to a safe route from Morgan Hill to Milpitas, Brazil said.
In addition, the city offers a host of free bicycle education and safety programs for both children and adults.
"San Jose is by no means perfect," Clarke said, "but there's a good plan in place."
For more information, call 408.535.3850, or visit www.sanjoseca.gov/transportation.
