|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Caltrans’ proposal to install bike lanes on both sides of El Camino has engendered a lot of local debate. Under the banner of improving bicycle safety on this major highway, state officials have come up with a plan that will make this major thoroughfare more dangerous and less safe. El Camino currently does not have bike lanes.
This project would cost around $40 million, including some street improvements. It will eliminate all on-street parking on both sides of El Camino and would heavily impact small retail businesses, because parking by their stores would no longer be available. Customers would have to park on side streets.
The proposed bike lanes would run from south Mountain View through Palo Alto to north Redwood City along what is now Highway 82 and was once called the King’s Highway.
Caltrans points to several bike accidents over the past five years (about 20 in Palo Alto, at four intersections) as the reason for the lanes. However, many of the cyclist-car incidents were side impacts, cars coming from streets perpendicular to El Camino. Bike lanes, I submit, may not help alleviate those accidents, but would help improve bicycle safety by having cyclists drive parallel to the traffic flow in a dedicated right-hand lane.
The bike lanes will most likely be painted green and perhaps, official say, partitioned off by white bollards (about four-feet tall white posts) along the way.
El Camino is a busy street. We all use it to shop locally, and get from one town to another. Traffic flourishes all day long. If bike lanes were installed, some local commuters may use them to get to and from work. Long-distance cyclists may use them, because once they are declared bike lanes, Google puts them on their bike maps.
What I worry about is the multitude of entrances and exits onto El Camino that really could endanger the cyclists. Think about all the other ingress and egress interruptions on El Camino: dozens of gas stations, retail stores (including bike stores), small and huge grocery stores, fast-food take-outs and restaurants. Then there are the hotels and motels all along the way. Of course, the biggest bike lane interrupters are people coming to and from Stanford University,
Stanford Hospital, Stanford Shopping Center, Town & Country and the shopping center at San Antonio Road – and that focus is only on the Palo Alto portion of the six miles of planned bike lanes.
Then there’s the bus problem. Buses along El Camino would have to turn across a bike lane to let passengers on and off curbside. Bikers would have to stop and wait in back of the bus until the bus moves. Of course, there are those impetuous cyclists who may decide to go around the bus into the main auto lanes of El Camino. That doesn’t sound safe.
Some of my concerns came up at a community meeting on the Caltrans proposal. Palo Alto council member Pat Burt, an avid cyclist, also questioned whether bike lanes are a good idea for Palo Alto.
So, the issue is should Palo Alto agree to allow Caltrans to have bike lanes run through this city. It is not clear whether objections from the Palo Alto City Council would result in Caltrans’ cancellation of the entire bike lane proposal or not.
This is the time to contact council members with your thoughts and attend the council meeting Monday evening, April 1, at Palo Alto City Hal, 250 Hamilton Avenue.
I agree with what you say about all the driveways and bus lanes that complicate the freeflow of bikes.
Additionally, is that any bike that is using a business has to U turn to get back to where they came from and that means crossing all those lanes of El Camino at the next light. Of course they can do that and then act as a pedestrian to cross ECR, but the likelihood is that many will enter the bike lane and travel in the wrong direction rather than behave as a car would have to do.
Dreadful idea to put bike lanes on such a busy street with driveways, bus stops and difficulties of getting into the right side of the road to go back for return trip.
I also agree with Diana Diamond that putting an official bike lane along busy El Camino Real is a bad idea. They don’t mix well since bikers have to travel at a much slower pace than the adjacent 3-4 lanes used by faster moving cars. You just don’t pair up a cyclist next to 3 deep car drivers when their respective pace of travel is not even close! The average bicycling speed is 10-15 mph on level ground, and the average speed of cars is 20-40 mph on El Camino Real, a busy, high traffic, faster paced car thoroughfare through town.
I rode my bike on El Camino on Monday to patronize 2 different businesses. Bike lanes will be a great improvement. The driveway conflicts exist right now, and they will be much safer (visible) without the on-street parking. The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition has already done a lot of outreach and research on the parking issue. Most businesses have off-street parking and think the bike lanes will be good for their business. It’s hardly one of the fastest roads I ride. Alma Street south of Homer is about the only road I regularly avoid.
This is a horrible idea that is dangerous for bikes, cars and pedestrians. It’s also horrible because of all the restaurants and retailers on El Camino that it will destroy, depriving the city of sales tax revenues which will lead them to raise our utility rates again to cover more retail and transportation consultants to see why retail’s dying….
Lather, rinse, repeat. $$$$
Somehow I don’t think the author is really worried about the safety of bicyclists. It’s amazing how anything that inconveniences cars becomes a bicycle safety issue.
Palo Alto’s Sustainability / Climate Action Plan calls for ECR Protected Bike lanes to meet 40% of work trips by 2030 goal. The wonderful 50%+ bike mode share of students in Palo Alto needs to be replicated by providing Safe Routes not just to Schools but also to Work centers and Shopping corridors.
$30M of Caltrans funding for the-once-in 20-year project, is a down payment toward Complete Streets for pedestrians, bikers and drivers – no city funding required to get started.
This project transforms ECR from car-centric to multi-modal & towards regional Grand Blvd Complete Streets Vision
Action to improve high injury network must be taken. Bikers TODAY ride the wrong-way on the sidewalks, surprising drivers at all the driveways who fail to look right as they enter ECR. Near misses are not reported.
Vision Zero, the goal of no fatalities or serious injuries, is possible. See Hoboken NJ’s example when street parking is removed, sightlines improve for all.
Bike lanes offer predictable space for bikers (not travel lanes nor sidewalks) which help bus drivers know where bikers will be and how to mix at bus stops.
With 3000 Housing Element additions on ECR, affordable equitable transportation is needed and transit, walking and biking must be added as cars cannot scale.
If we’re going to reference other cities, note that even in progressive San Francisco merchants have sued the city for replacing customer parking with bike lanes and documented the negative effect the bike lanes have had on their businesses.
So the perps here are the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition. This is like the group in SF that ruined Valenica Street. Some SF lady provided a write-up in the SF Chronicle of how wonderful it felt to ride on the street. Much like one of our Palo Alto Forward ladies. What they all keep using is the “I” word. The problem with the “I” word is that they don’t seem to recognize that to live in a city you have to first generate a tax base so that it all keeps working. If you keep interfering with the tax base you no longer have a city worth living in. El Camino is a state highway which I believe appears to be a “goal” street for the coalition to test. If they can wrangle the state then they are successful. But that has nothing to do with the businesses that are on El Camino, including all of the new apartment buildings. All of those businesses and condos went through a lengthy, expensive process to have an address on that street.
Pat Burt is mentioned here – a PACC member who is working against the problems we are having in the city regarding empty buildings and disappearing tax base? WE are using this street to increase our tax base – not destroy it. We were suppose to have a bus lane to accommodate all of the people who don’t have cars. No -you are not going to sell bikes to them. All of you people who live in bike heaven are very limited. And now not appreciated at all. And all of those accidents? Because they do not follow the rules of the road as dictated by the State of California and the Department of Motor Vehicles – which also include the rules for bikes and pedestrians. It is not the job of the PACC to destroy the business base – it is the job of the PACC to build the business base of the city. The amount of money required here has better uses -like repaving the street and 101 which is now deteriorating.
Pat Burt and PACC are using ECR for the housing element. They are adding new residents along this roadway who deserve a transportation alternative to cars. E-bikes and scooters can use these new lanes too. Class 3 e-bikes can go 28mph and haul a lot of groceries.
Bike lanes on El Camino are a great idea. Palo Alto should look to Paris and London for inspiration on how to make our region bike mobility focused. We visited both cities last year and it was inspiring to see how area that were previously choked with cars are now lovely boulevards with safe space for biking, scooters, and other non-car forms of transportation.
Car storage is about the worst use of space on a road like El Camino.
Yes, put the bike lanes in. In addition to Paris and London, Amsterdam is full of bikers and their streets are also carrying traffic. Old and young ride, as well as people with their children. We can do it.
Looks like there’s a lot to agree upon such as preserving the city’s tax base and
supporting local businesses. El Camino Real needs a reboot as the corridor’s businesses’ viability with the status quo car centricity isn’t working well as evidenced by the closures especially between Page Mill and Robles. Bike lanes bring customers and employees and in combination with buses and cars offer a wide range of trip options. Studies in other cities have shown increased tax receipts when bike lanes are added.
Caltrans’ plan is a state-funded investment that PA doesn’t have the money to make. There’s ample off-street parking to continue car trips, replacing on-street parking with bike lanes is a not zero-sum, it’s a win-win for businesses that need to grow their customers, many of whom already arrive by bike. All modes deserve infrastructure improvements. The status quo public right of way privileges cars and is not balanced as a comprehensive mobility solution for vehicular traffic, transit and bicyclists and pedestrians.
Land use, housing and transportation need to be planned in coordination. Accessible and equitable transportation is needed where housing will be added. ECR needs to grow as a place people want to go, including feeling safer with better sightlines, slower speeds, and space dedicated to predictable travel for bikers who adhere to the California Vehicle Code. As of January 1, 2023, motor vehicle drivers in California must move over one lane when passing bicyclists, instead of only keeping a distance of three feet. This is the new law under Assembly Bill 1909, also known as the OmniBike Bill, which was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2022. Easy when there’s a bike lane.
While finding common ground may be challenging given the deeply held beliefs expressed, we can all find common purpose in maintaining a thriving community, improving safety and mobility for all, and making fiscally responsible decisions that foster a more productive dialogue.
Where are all of the comments? How many platforms are you using?
Where is the main platform with comments and how to access it. You are over complicating the use of your programs. That costs money. Now this is a duplicate comment? Can’t see any other comments.