by KRISTI MYLLENBECK | kmyllenbeck@bayareanewsgroup.com
The city of Cupertino is looking to make an investment in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
At a June 6 study session, the city council heard a presentation from staff on the Capital Improvement Program budget, which includes a slew of proposed bicycle and pedestrian projects.
The Capital Improvement Program will be part of the city budget that will be voted on June 20.
“We have almost $7 million worth of projects that we can realistically but aggressively achieve next fiscal year,” Roger Lee, assistant director of public works, told the council regarding the bike and pedestrian budget.
David Stillman, associate civil engineer, told the council there are six “sub-projects” prioritized by staff, including a bicycle way-finding program, bicycle boulevards, separated bicycle lanes on McClellan Road and Stevens Creek Boulevard, and two trail feasibility studies for the Interstate 280 channel trail and the Union Pacific Railroad trail between Saratoga and the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve.
Stillman said the feasibility studies will cost about $250,000 each, and the city will be “moving forward with those feasibility studies over the course of the next year.”
The way-finding program according to Stillman will include signs detailing “destinations and distances” on bicycle routes to help guide riders through the city. The program is expected to cost about $60,000 and is slated for a September completion.
A separated bicycle lane is proposed on Stevens Creek Boulevard from Tantau Avenue to Foothill Boulevard. Design and construction of the segment from Tantau Avenue to Wolfe Road will cost an estimated $1.8 million. Design and construction of the segment from Wolfe Road to Blaney Avenue will cost approximately $400,000. Just the design is proposed for the remaining segment from Blaney Avenue to Foothill Boulevard and it will cost $650,000. Stillman said construction for that segment will be done in a “subsequent year.”
The lane is proposed to be separated from traffic by a six-inch high, curb-like “island.”
“It will be along the segments, and we will likely have separated bicycle phasing at the major intersections so bicycles can proceed through on a green bicycle phase and be separated from cars that are turning right,” Stillman said.
Councilman Steven Scharf expressed concern over how all the driveways in and out of businesses on Stevens Creek Boulevard will interact with the bike lanes. Jennifer Griffin, a resident of the Rancho Rinconada neighborhood, shared similar concerns.
“I thought that the separated bike lane down Stevens Creek from Tantau to Blaney was just going to be a stripe,” she said. “I will tell you that if it’s a six-inch concrete structure, I am a little bit concerned about that because this is something new for the area. I’m really interested in how that’s going to work because it is quite complicated in that you have all these driveways on Stevens Creek, you have a lot of apartments; you have delivery trucks going in and out.”
Stillman said the next phase will involve engineers looking at each driveway on the corridor and figuring out best ways to mitigate any potential issues.
Three phases of separated bicycle lanes on McClellan Road will cost an estimated $1.8 million, and the outreach process could take a little longer than the Stevens Creek Boulevard bike lanes.
“McClellan will be a little bit more challenging than Stevens Creek Boulevard, frankly, because of all the dense residential development along McClellan,” Stillman said. “We don’t have the necessary right of way in all locations, so we have to have individual discussions with each of the property owners about potentially getting dedications or roadway easements from them so we’re able to construct our class IV bike lanes across their frontages.”
Bicycle boulevards in the city are expected to cost a total of $1,417,000. A plan will be presented to the bicycle pedestrian commission on June 21 and the council in the fall.
Stillman said the network of bike routes are “intended to connect neighborhoods with schools and arterials.”
“Basically they’re the spiderwebs to get people out to the destinations and to the major streets. We identified a subset of those bike boulevard to focus on the first year, and we’ve tried to be equitable as far as the distribution throughout the city,” he said.
Stillman added that neighborhood outreach will done in fall, but said the city has already gotten some negative feedback regarding speed bumps on certain streets.
“If we get good neighborhood support, we’ll be able to move very quickly through getting these bike boulevards constructed,” he said. “If folks aren’t necessarily happy with what we’re proposing in front of their house, then it can draw things out a bit.”