This month’s Bicycle Pedestrian Commission meeting included a final review of the Bike Boulevards in northern Cupertino, an update on all the Bike Projects, and discussions on a survey of Commissioners for improved communications between the City Council and City Commissioners. The Commission also elected a new Chair and Vice Chair. For 2019, the BPC Chair will be Gerhard Eschelbeck, a WBC Board member, and the Vice Chair will be Erik Lindskog. Both have been recently re-appointed to the BPC for four year terms. Walk-Bike Cupertino wishes them both well in their new positions.
Bike Boulevards discussed during the meeting were area #1 and #5 (see map below), which are along Portal Avenue, Merritt Drive, Greenleaf Drive, and Beardon Drive. A short stretch of painted bike lane will be added on Portal Avenue between Stevens Creek Blvd and Wheaton Drive (the small traffic circle). North of that intersection, the bikes will share the lane with traffic, including adding sharrows. Mid-block just north of Amherst Drive there will be a raised pedestrian crossing, to improve crossing safety and add some traffic calming. There will also be a speed table installed on Portal between the pedestrian crossing and Merritt Drive. Wayfinding signs have already been installed.
Along Merritt Drive between Portal Avenue and Blaney Avenue, there will be speed tables installed as traffic calming measures, along with signage. There will be one more speed table installed west of Blaney, then continuing west, a large raised crosswalk will be installed at the corner of Vista Drive and Merritt Drive. There are a very large number of pedestrian crossings due to the location of Lawson Middle School at this corner.
For the changes to be made along Greenleaf Drive, the largest change will be restructuring the openings in the wall for pedestrians at Bandley and Mariani. This will continue to be closed to traffic, but instead of one opening on the south side of the intersection, there will now also be a second opening on the north side to allow students heading west easier and safer access to Greenleaf Drive when returning home. Beardon Drive will add two additional speed tables, one to the north of western Greenleaf and one to the south of eastern Greenleaf. This will help slow traffic along Beardon Drive. Just south of the northern speed table will be a pedestrian crosswalk crossing Beardon.
All these Bike Boulevard changes are anticipated to begin construction this June (2019). For more information from the City of Cupertino on all Cupertino’s planned Bike Boulevards, click here.
There are many bike projects that are ‘in the works’ or are planned for construction in 2019. Significant projects that are expected to have major work this summer are:
- Class IV Bike Lanes on McClellan Road, between Imperial Ave. and Stelling Rd., which are scheduled to start construction in May and be completed by September;
- Class IV Bike Lane Intersections at McClellan /Bubb and McClellan/Stelling, which are scheduled for construction this summer;
- Class IV Bike Lanes on Stevens Creek Blvd, between Tantau and Wolfe, which are scheduled for construction this summer;
- Bike Boulevard updates on Torre Avenue at the City Center, which are anticipated to begin construction in June;
- Regnart Creek Trail drawings to be 65% complete and have a City Council review in May;
- Carmen Road Bridge Feasibility Study anticipated to be complete in early summer;
- Bryne Avenue sidewalk project anticipated to begin construction this summer.
One last topic was a survey of Commissioners by the City Council on how to improve communications, commission procedures and about a proposed Code of Ethics. Timm Borden, acting City Manager, explained the reasons for the survey and answered any questions. There was some discussion on individual answers to the questions, but as several of the commission members had not completed the survey yet this was limited. Discussion was stopped when it appeared that it was not productive and was drifting off-topic.
The next Bicycle Pedestrian Commission meeting is scheduled for March 20 at 7pm in City Hall, Conference Room C. The agenda will be published at least 72 hours in advance.
This post only reflects the views of the author personally and Walk-Bike Cupertino. It does not represent any other organization, including the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission or the City of Cupertino. For more information on the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission, see this link on the City of Cupertino’s site: BPC.