Rolling out the red carpet for bicyclists Rolling out the red carpet for bicyclists (January 21, 2005)

Route will link downtown Mountain View to Palo Alto

By Jon Wiener

Mountain View's first bicycle boulevard is one step closer to reality, after the city council unanimously approved an estimated $25,000 project to improve bicycle access from the Mayfield site to downtown.

A report prepared by the members of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee detailed two possible routes from San Antonio Road and Nita Avenue to the Stevens Creek Trail entrance at Central Avenue.

Bicycle boulevards are usually existing low-traffic streets that are redesigned to be bicycle-friendly. Common elements include signage to direct cyclists and stoplights sensitive enough to detect bikes. Some also have speed bumps, turn restrictions and partial road closures, all of which are unlikely to be installed on Mountain View's new route.

Committee chair Jerri-Ann Meyer said the goal is to create a route that is "convenient, efficient and safe."

"It's targeted for all different types of cyclists," said Meyer.

The proposed 3-mile route will wind through the Monta Loma neighborhood, then travel along the length of Montecito Road before going by Castro Street and reaching the Stevens Creek Trail. An alternative route would use Hackett and Wright Avenues to cross Shoreline Boulevard.

This route will link Palo Alto's Ellen Fletcher bike boulevard with Mountain View's Stevens Creek Trail and pass by two transit centers, Monta Loma and Theuerkauf Schools, downtown and the Bailey Park shopping center.

Meyer is optimistic the bicycle boulevard will be the first such route in an eventual citywide network. At the request of the council, her committee will continue to investigate several other potential routes throughout the city.

"MV is already bicycle-friendly. We want to continue to improve the bike network," said Meyer.

The committee recommended building the boulevards in three phases, with the smallest and least intrusive changes to be made first.

"We're not talking about major stuff here, just seeing what types of signage would be appropriate here and where to put them," said Peter Skinner, a Mountain View transportation analyst.

Skinner added that Palo Alto's bicycle boulevard, which is blocked off to vehicular traffic at several spots, met with stiff opposition from neighbors early but became more popular as more bicyclists began using it.

Meyer said the Mayfield-to-downtown route was chosen in part because its connection to the Fletcher path. She added that she hopes the route will provide a viable regional link for bicycle commuters, who make up just less than 3 percent of total commuters in the city.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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