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State and local officials on Monday celebrated the completion of the suddenly popular but sparsely used bike lanes on El Camino Real with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was attended by dozens of cyclists and advocates for safer streets.
City officials from Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto voiced their appreciation for the project’s completion and for the numerous regional and state agencies that collaborated to make it possible. The project was initially controversial, particularly in Palo Alto, with critics arguing that El Camino is a dangerous route and that cyclists should be steered toward safer and slower streets. Others complained about the loss of parking all along the El Camino corridor.
The criticisms that had defined the early phase of the project were notably absent Monday as Caltrans and local officials lauded their partnership and the final result.
“Normally it takes a village to deliver something,” said Nick Saleh, district division chief at Caltrans. “To be honest, it took like three villages, three big villages.”
The changes to El Camino include the addition of 13.5 miles of bike lanes in either direction, which are protected along most of the route by thick plastic bollards, as well as repaving from the southern border of Mountain View to the northern border of Palo Alto. A number of ADA improvements were also installed at intersections along the route, such as improving curb ramps and crosswalks.
In total, the repaving project that includes the new bike lanes cost around $55 million and years of collaboration between the cities and Caltrans, which has ultimate authority over El Camino, also known as State Route 82.
“This project, although long in duration, underscores the importance of partnership,” said state Sen. Josh Becker. “It underscores the importance of partnership between all of our different communities and with the state to get something done and really to take the time and listen to the residents. … We really took the time to listen to the residents, get that input, and said, ‘What is the best project possible for our community?’”
Cyclists have historically avoided El Camino due to its lack of bicycle infrastructure and its six wide lanes for vehicles, which often travel significantly faster than the posted 35 mph speed limit. Although the route is a useful thoroughfare to connect many cities along the Peninsula, cyclists still appear hesitant to take advantage of it.
“What we’re talking about today is mobility and how it’s essential for our economic health, community life and long-term sustainability. … It’s a real win for our entire community – all users of El Camino,” said Mountain View Mayor Ellen Kamei, whose city kicked in $3.7 million toward the project.
Over a 15-minute period after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, reporters with this publication observed just one cyclist using the new bike lanes in either direction in Palo Alto. In the past, some cyclists have told this publication that they prefer cobbling together a slightly longer route on parallel streets that have fewer cars as opposed to taking El Camino.
A number of intersections now also have “no right turn on red” signs, in large part to protect cyclists and vehicles from colliding on El Camino. That provision of the project received by far the loudest applause from cyclist attendees at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but it is also one of the most contentious among drivers who say it slows them down.
Although the bike lanes are perhaps the most visible upgrade to El Camino, state Assemblymember Marc Berman gave a glowing review of the repaving effort for vehicle traffic as well.
“It’s definitely about the bike improvements and the pedestrian improvements, but it’s also about repairing potholes,” he said at the ceremony. “I used to joke that you could hide a small child in them.”
The repairs to the pavement also benefit the many bus routes that use El Camino, said Palo Alto Vice Mayor Vicki Veenker, who praised the fact that visitors will have a “less bumpy introduction” to the city.
Dave Ambuehl, acting district director for Caltrans Bay Area, said that the El Camino effort is “more than just a pavement project.”
“It’s an investment in safety and sustainability and the future of mobility along the El Camino Real,” Ambuehl said.
El Camino Real is a TERRIBLE road to bike on, for numerous reasons. I think the cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View knew that previously and had set up good bike routes away from ECR in the past.
The bike lane project seems to be something CalTrans got excited about, it certainly was expensive and disruptive to execute, but it did not change the fact that the route is risky for bikes due to frequent intersections, driveways and lots of cross-traffic (evident by the constant interruptions to the protected bike lanes).
Also… the wide bike lanes are very frequently occupied by cars and trucks who are illegally stopping in them… even inside the protective bollards!
well I’ve been avoiding daytime trips on ECR and in Mountain View in general, in response to the city’s efforts to reduce unneeded auto trips (I just shop online or use the Costco in Sunnyvale), but I’ve never seen anyone biking in these lanes. I’m sure the loss of parking is taking its toll on the merchants on ECR but maybe people are walking or biking while I can’t see them. At night I find the retro-reflective bollards very distracting.
And y’all think this project is a waste of money, knowing it’s not safe biking on ECR? What about a disaster that is now California Street!! I hardly see any cyclists on it. Parking has been drastically reduced, and it takes forever to drive down California Street and to make right turns.
The idea might be good, but the planning is really bad
Amazing to see nice crosswalks on the street crossing el Camino in Palo Alto….but in Moubtain View, nothing.
It’s clear their city employees pushed harder to get a better experience. Even sunnyvale has better crosswalks at Mathilda.
They could at least have fancied up the Castro crosswalk.
I think it will take a bit of time for people to start using the bike lanes. I’m starting to use them more. We all have habits for routes we take and the mode of transport.
Unfortunately, the bike lanes have some gaps, e.g. at Grant and ECR, Shoreline and ECR, and San Antonio and ECR, the bike lane disappears and bikes are supposed to use the rightmost car lane, which probably few are eager to do. It is as if you have a new road, but there are several sections missing and then it seems surprising that few people use the road…
In any case, I bet bike traffic will pick up in time.
While the project is not perfect, it’s a drastic improvement for people who want or need to bike on El Camino. As with any road project, Caltrans and cities can make future continuous improvements after monitoring. Anecdotally, before the project, I would avoid biking on El Camino (taking back streets) unless I had to. But with some El Camino blocks being very long (over 1000′), when I was going to a destination on El Camino, I used to ride on the sidewalk, which is proven to be more dangerous than the new bikeway. Now I ride it at least twice a week. Also, it’s a generally accepted that projects should wait for at least a year to conduct “after” counts to measure change in behavior – allowig people to adjust. (I’m a transportation planning professional and would be happy to share studies.) So let’s give the project more than a month to measure change. Thanks
The $55M price tag comes primarily from the resurfacing costs not the bike lanes’ and misc pedestrian improvements.
When driving ECR I am really thankful for this project (and so are my tires and shocks), I also like the new reflective bike vertical dividers as they improve visibility.
When biking, prior to the project I avoided ECR like the plague (ECR has been ranked the most dangerous road in CA). With the bike lanes in place, I’m slowly changing my habits and find the bike lanes quite safe and comfortable.
I suspect many other cyclists will slowly adopt the bike lanes ….
As it wasn’t mentioned in the article, kudos to Vice Mayor Showalter, Council Member Hicks and some Public Works planners for biking on ECR from City Hall to the ribbon cutting ceremony AND back.
These bike lanes are fantastic. Very wide, visible, and even protected in some places. Prior to the implementation of these lanes, El Camino was the deadliest cycling corridor in the area. You would see bikers having to ride on the sidewalk to get where they needed to go. Now, with the bike lanes, they don’t have to do that. Hopefully we will see fewer crashes as a result!