The Bike Pedestrian Commission discussed yesterday at their regular meeting the implementation of the 2016 Bike Plan. The Toole Design concept drawings are expected to be complete in the next two weeks. The next step will be to hire a consulting engineer to create the engineering drawings for the Class IV bike lanes along Stevens Creek and McClellan. Posting for the position and hiring of the engineer will take approximately 6 weeks, and the drawings will need a further two months to be completed. By the end of 2016, it is expected that portions of Stevens Creek will have the class IV bike lanes. Areas easiest to convert will be worked on first, based upon width of the street, setbacks, and number of driveways. Other smaller projects, such as bike boulevards, signage, etc., will be worked on concurrently with the bike lane projects. Over the summer, it is planned to have resident forums on the bike boulevards and smaller bike projects.
One item which had much discussion was a proposal by SRTS Coordinator Chelsea Biklen and former Bike Ped Commissioner Vidula Aiyer. “Bike to Shop” would be a day in which one lane of Stevens Creek would be blocked off as a temporary bike-only lane, and residents would be encouraged to bike to various Cupertino stores and restaurants through incentives such as discounts or a redeemable punch card. The discounts or punch card incentive would also be carried on for a period of time (without the lane disturbance) to encourage repeat biking behavior. The commission agreed that the idea was sound. As the focus is to encourage long-term use of bikes for shopping, it was agreed to delay implementation of the idea until next April (2018), when more of the bike lanes would be finished. The commission will again be discussing this proposal at their June 2017 meeting. Further details on promotion, implementation, and much more from this discussion will be available in the BP Commission’s post-meeting minutes published on the Cupertino City website.
David Stillman reported that as part of the annual street refurbishment, there continues to be improvements to curb “cuts” into crosswalks in Cupertino. There are several types of curb cuts that are ADA compliant, and the preferred type used here will be type “A” with large sloping sides. Only when this is not possible (through easements, setbacks, etc.) will another style, (still ADA compliant) be chosen. Some of this work is funded by HUD grants ($230K). There was also brief discussion on resident input to the in-progress Pedestrian Plan. Input has been solicited since 1/25/17.
The Bike Ped Commission held elections and made an appointment. For the coming year, Sean Lyn was elected Chair of the Bike Pedestrian Commission, and Jennifer Shearin as Vice Chair. Erik Linskog will now be the VTA BPAC Representative and Jennifer Shearin will be joining the Public Relations Subcommittee.
Note: This is a condensed summary of the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission meeting of 2/15/17 and does not supersede the official minutes published by the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission. It does not reflect the opinion of the Bike Pedestrian Commission as a whole or of its individual members. Please consult the official meeting minutes of the Bicycle Pedestrian for complete information. These are available on the City of Cupertino website. Members of the public are welcome at any Bicycle Pedestrian Commission meeting, and agendas are published at least 72 hours prior to every meeting.