El Camino bike lanes are finally here: What you need to know

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Long known as a route that many bicyclists will go out of their way to avoid, El Camino Real is getting a major upgrade, with dedicated bike lanes being installed throughout the Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto portions of the roadway.

The project has been many years in the making and is now nearing completion, with the bike lanes already largely installed, including green pavement markings. Still to come are flexible posts that will separate the bike lanes from vehicle traffic.

Street parking is being eliminated to make room for the bike lanes, although the same number of vehicle travel lanes will remain. The elimination of parking has prompted concerns from some business owners.

In recent weeks, local cyclists have started to test out the new lanes. For some bikers, they are a substantial and exciting improvement.

Terry Barton, who chairs the Mountain View’s Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, is a longtime bike commuter who uses El Camino Real for part of his route to work in Menlo Park. While he said the new lanes aren’t perfect, including being quite narrow in some spots, Barton described them a “huge improvement.”

“It’s not pleasant on El Camino, but it’s vastly improved in terms of comfort and perceived safety,” Barton said, noting that he was sharing his personal experience and not speaking on behalf of BPAC.

However, not all bicyclists feel safe using the new lanes. Mountain View resident Eleanor Hopkins is a fan of bike infrastructure and was excited when she heard that El Camino Real was getting bike lanes. But when she tried using the new lanes for the first time, she was nearly hit while going over the bridge that spans Highway 85. That was the moment that she decided that “this is my first time and last time that I am biking on this road.”

“El Camino is such a great thoroughfare. I take it driving all the time to get to different places … and I would love to be able to bike on it, but I’m just too scared,” Hopkins said.

Adding bike lanes to El Camino Real has long been a topic of discussion and debate in the community. The road is one of the most direct routes through towns along the Peninsula, connecting multiple downtowns, major shopping centers, Stanford University and other popular destinations. Those opting not to bike along El Camino have often had to cobble together longer routes using multiple smaller roads.

At the same time, El Camino is a major vehicle thoroughfare, with cars often going well above the posted speed limit, which is 35 mph along much of the route. El Camino also intersects with a number of other large roads, including U.S. Highway 237, San Antonio Road and Page Mill Road, which makes for some large – and potentially stressful – intersections.

El Camino Real is formally a state highway known as State Route 82, which means that changes to the roadway are overseen by the California Department of Transportation, rather than local cities.

The current bike lane installation is being done as part of a broader repaving project, which also includes crosswalk and sidewalk upgrades. Before the road was repaved, El Camino had become notorious among local drivers for large and plentiful potholes.

As the project nears completion, this news publication spoke with representatives from Caltrans to get details on what changes local residents can expect to see. Here’s what we learned.

What is the current status of the project and when will it be finished?

The road repaving is complete and pavement markings that indicate the location of the bike lanes have largely been installed. That striping is expected to be completed by the end of May, Caltrans Complete Streets Coordinator Sergio Ruiz told this publication last month. 

Caltrans also intends to install lane separators to distinguish the bike lanes from those where cars will be traveling. Those are expected to be installed by the end of June, Ruiz said.

The project includes more than just bike lanes. Caltrans is planning to add high visibility crosswalk markings and accessible pedestrian signals.

Upgrades are also being made to install new curb ramps that are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Curb ramp and sidewalk work is expected to be completed by the end of October, Ruiz said.

There is also various electrical work that needs to be done, including installing three “pedestrian hybrid beacon” systems, which allow pedestrians to activate warning lights when crossing the street. The timeline to complete electrical work is also the end of October, Ruiz said.

Updated signage will also need to be installed along the route, including “No Parking” signs and “No Right Turn on Red” signs at certain intersections. Signage is expected to be completed by mid-August, Ruiz said.

In total, the plan is for the full project to be done in winter 2025, he added.

Bike lanes will be separated from car traffic. What will that look like?

Caltrans plans to use a product from Qwick Kurb, which will involve a raised curb that has vertical flex posts coming out of it, Ruiz said.

Known as a “curb channelizing system,” Ruiz said that having the posts attached to a curb makes it “a lot beefier” than the flex posts people might be familiar with.

“That plastic curb component was a key factor in why we decided to go with that device, based on feedback we heard from some of the city staff and bike stakeholders,” Ruiz said.

The plan is to install the separators along much of the length of the bike lanes, with the exception of “conflict points.” These are areas where drivers will need to cross the path of bicyclists, including driveways, bus stops and intersections.

In general, the public can expect to see the flex posts installed where there’s currently solid white “buffer striping,” Ruiz said.

“Aside from the conflict areas, our intention is to provide a separated bikeway – separated from motor traffic,” he said.

Why wasn’t there additional protection added for bikers?

Some bicyclists wanted to see greater separation between cyclists and cars. Asked why Caltrans opted for flex posts, rather than something more substantial, Ruiz said that cost was a very real factor. 

He added that these bike lanes are being installed as part of an existing repaving project, rather than this being a standalone initiative. With the flex posts, there may also be room for refining the design down the line, allowing for changes to be made more cost effectively, Ruiz said.

What’s the situation with parking?

There will be no on-street parking along the full length where bike lanes are being installed, Ruiz said. That runs from the intersection with Sylvan Avenue/The Americana near the border of Mountain View and Sunnyvale to the intersection with Sand Hill Road/Palo Alto Avenue at the border of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

In recent weeks, a number of cars have still been parking along El Camino, often blocking the newly installed bike lanes.

The plan is to indicate the parking restriction with standard “No Parking” signs, Ruiz said.

Does the entire length of the project include dedicated bike lanes?

No. While much of the route now has a separate bike lane, there are areas, particularly at some major intersections, where bicyclists will have to share a lane with cars.

As one example, when a bicyclist traveling southbound approaches the intersection of Grant Road and State Highway 237, the bike lane disappears and green pavement markings indicate that the biker should now share the right turn lane with cars.

That particular intersection has long been a cause for concern in Mountain View, considered one of the city’s most dangerous spots, including a bicycle/vehicle collision in 2022 that left a middle schooler dead.

Ruiz acknowledged the concerns around having intersections without dedicated bike lanes. 

“We do know that this project is establishing the bike lanes for the first time, but there’s still going to be some spot locations where maybe some additional improvements could be beneficial,” Ruiz said.

He noted that when the bike lanes end, it’s largely at locations where multiple left turn lanes exist to accommodate the volume of vehicle traffic. Having more than one turn lane takes up more of the roadway and didn’t leave space for a dedicated bike lane.

Because the current project was essentially a repaving effort, Caltrans wasn’t able to do a traffic study to evaluate the potential to reduce vehicle lanes or reconfigure turn lanes, Ruiz said.

Caltrans is interested in working with cities and the county to do a broader planning study and develop a corridor plan, but that would be a separate effort, he said.

“We don’t see this paving project as the last, final design for the corridor,” Ruiz said. “I think there’s still a lot of opportunity for more improvements.”

At what locations will cyclists be sharing a lane?

According to Ruiz, these are the locations with lane sharing: 

• Southbound direction, approaching Grant Road
• Northbound direction approaching Shoreline Boulevard
• Southbound direction, approaching Miramonte Avenue
• Southbound direction, approaching El Monte Avenue
• Northbound direction, approaching San Antonio Road
• Southbound direction, approaching Arastradero Road
• Northbound direction, approaching Oregon Expressway
• Southbound direction, approaching Page Mill Road
• Northbound direction, approaching Churchill Avenue

How are buses and bikes supposed to interact in the new lanes?

El Camino Real is a major route for Valley Transportation Authority buses, with stops frequently located along the roadway. Bikes and buses will be sharing the new bus lanes, with the lanes often widening near bus stops. 

According to Ruiz, while it would have been preferable to separate buses and bikes, there wasn’t sufficient roadway width to have designated pull-out areas for buses. Instead, the bus stops are being treated as “conflict areas,” where the bike lane essentially extends through the bus stop, Ruiz said.

When a bus is stopped, bicyclists have the option of either waiting for the bus to move or, if they feel comfortable, merging into the vehicle lane to go around the bus, Ruiz said.

Is anything being done to help cyclists make left turns?

With a large road like El Camino, making a left turn can often be tricky for bikers, because it would generally involve merging across multiple lanes of traffic. To help address this concern, Caltrans is planning to install “two-stage bicycle turn boxes” at certain intersections, Ruiz said.

The way that two-stage bike boxes work is that a bicyclist trying to make a left turn would wait for a green light and then proceed straight across the intersection to a designated turn box on the other side of the street. The bicyclist would then turn their bike in the box to face the direction they want to go, wait again for a green light and then cross. In that way, the left turn is done across two signal phases, Ruiz said.

This mimics what some bikers do naturally on wide streets, opting to make the left turn in two steps, rather than merging into vehicle lanes, he added.

At the locations where Caltrans adds two-stage bike boxes, they will be paired with “No Right Turn on Red” signs to prevent conflicts between bicyclists and vehicles, Ruiz said.

Where will right turns on red be restricted?

According to Ruiz, there will be “No Right Turn on Red” restrictions at these intersections:

• Grant Road
• Calderon Avenue/Phyllis Avenue
• Shoreline Boulevard / Miramonte Avenue
• Los Altos Avenue
• Arastradero Road/West Charleston Road
• Maybell Avenue/El Camino Way
• Los Robles Avenue/El Camino Way
• Ventura Avenue
• Curtner Avenue
• Matadero Avenue/Margarita Avenue
• Page Mill Road/Oregon Expressway
• California Avenue
• Cambridge Avenue
• Stanford Avenue
• Park Boulevard/Serra Street
• Churchill Avenue
• Embarcadero Road / Galvez Street

Installation of the “No Right Turn on Red” signs is expected in May and June, Ruiz said.

How far does the project extend?

As mentioned above, the northern tip of the project is the intersection with Sand Hill Road/Palo Alto Avenue, which is at the border of Palo Alto and Menlo Park. 

On the southern end, the bike lanes run until the intersection with Sylvan Avenue/The Americana. That means that the lanes stop short of the Sunnyvale border by several blocks. Mountain View’s boundaries extend past the intersection with Crestview Drive.

While the lanes stop at Sylvan, the project technically extends to Crestview Drive, where Caltrans plans to install a pedestrian hybrid beacon. 

What’s a pedestrian hybrid beacon and where will they be installed?

Caltrans is planning to install pedestrian hybrid beacon systems at three intersections in Mountain View: Bonita Avenue, Crestview Drive and Pettis Avenue. 

The systems allow pedestrians to push a button, which activates warning lights so that cars know to stop while the pedestrian crosses the street.

Response from local bicyclists

Multiple local bicyclists interviewed for this story stressed how challenging it was to bike on El Camino Real before the lanes were installed. While some still expressed doubts about whether the new lanes go far enough to protect bicyclists, they often said that it was still a sizable improvement.

James Kuszmaul, who serves as BPAC’s vice chair but was speaking in his personal capacity, described the lanes as a very positive development. He noted that there are a lot of destinations along El Camino and that the area is only expected to grow.

“There’s plans for more housing, more businesses, more need for people to get places that are along El Camino,” Kuszmaul said. “The bike lanes enable more people to do that safely.”

While he was pleased to see the lanes being installed, Kuszmaul noted that at many of the intersections where injury and fatal collisions have occurred, the roadway was too narrow to maintain protected bike lanes with the existing lane configuration.

“I am not a fan of forcing cyclists to merge with traffic at the intersections like that,” Kuszmaul said.

The question of whether to install bike lanes along major roads like El Camino Real has sometimes proved controversial. Locally, there has been particular debate in Palo Alto about these efforts. The Palo Alto City Council ultimately signed off on the plans for bike lanes along El Camino, but not without substantial disagreements among community members and elected officials.

In Mountain View, the plans for El Camino bike lanes proved to be far less controversial. 

Mountain View resident Bruce England, who is involved in local bike advocacy efforts, acknowledged that there are differing opinions among cyclists about whether to add lanes to major streets or stick to improving smaller streets.

However, England noted that El Camino is an important commuter route, which provides a straighter shot between cities along the Peninsula.

“If you want to use those inside side streets, those parallel streets, fine. But you should be able to use El Camino as a commuter route, at least, in a safe and comfortable way,” England said.

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Director of Advocacy Matt Jones said that his group had been involved in advocating for the lanes on El Camino, and that he was excited to see them come to fruition. 

“It creates better connectivity,” Jones said. “It allows people to now consider taking their bike to downtown instead of driving.”

Local businesses worry about loss of parking

For some business owners along El Camino Real, the loss of parking is a concern. 

Mike D’Ambrosio, who is a co-owner of Giorgio’s Italian Grill & Pizzeria in Mountain View, said that he was trying to be positive and understood the goals of the repaving project, but said that not having street parking was a challenge for his business. 

While he has parking on site, D’Ambrosio said that this isn’t necessarily obvious to patrons, especially those who are trying to pick up take-out orders, which is a substantial part of Giorgio’s business model.

“It’s definitely hindered business,” D’Ambrosio said. “So from that standpoint, it’s a hard pill to swallow.”

Diana Tucker, owner of West Valley Music in Mountain View, said the bike lanes would not necessarily impact her business as much as others. The store is located at the corner of El Camino Real and customers could park on another street. They also have a parking lot.

But Tucker noted that other businesses did not have the same options. “Parking is always an issue in Mountain View,” she said. “I wish they were more practical about the whole thing.”

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