It’s happened to all of us, you arrive at a red light and there’s no bike pavement marking or a way for a bicyclist to trigger a green light. While a state law (AB 1581) requires cities to make new and modified signals bike-friendly, it doesn’t apply to older signals that aren’t being modified.
To address this need, the City of San José is seeking grant funds to make some existing signals bike-friendly. If the City receives the grant it will only be enough for about 20 signals. So which San José bikeway corridors are in greatest need? Which streets would you like to see receive bike-friendly signals with pavement markings? Let us know your top five corridors. Include street name and cross streets (e.g. Main Street from A Street to B Street).
So please feel free to comment below on which corridors you would like to see included. (San Jose Bike Map)
Comments
It seems like I've had to run
It seems like I've had to run lights on Park Street in San Jose. I might make a run on that this evening or tomorrow to note which intersections fail to note my bike wheels.
I didn't make it to Park
I didn't make it to Park Street, but I noticed Autumn @ Julian doesn't seem to sense my wheels.
The intersection of Stockton
The intersection of Stockton & Julian please!. This is an important access point from the Rosegarden neighborhood to the Guadalupe Rider Trail and downtown. Most days I have to make a left turn onto Julian against the red light if there is no car to trigger the turn arrow.
The intersection of Monroe
The intersection of Monroe and Stevens Creek is in great need. Southbound is lousy, but it is especially difficult to cross northbound (from the side of the bicycle overpass going toward Valley Fair). The only cross walk is to the left of the intersection. This requires three crossings of traffic lanes (cross Monroe to get to signal, cross SC, then cross Monroe again to continue north).
As a former grad' student @
As a former grad' student @ SJSU, commuting from Palo Alto via Caltrain, I DON'T have fond memories of my 1.5 mile bike ride along San Fernando from Diridon. Fortunately, bike lanes and sharrows have gone up on San Fernanado - but the twin, one-way streets of Autumn and Montgomery still represent bad memories of this commute as they are bike-unfriendly in terms of activating the light - so for future Caltrain (assuming there is one) bike commuters to SJSU, I nominate those two intersections.
The two areas that seem to
The two areas that seem to give me the greatest grief are around Diridon station - getting to/from the city core - Autumn st onto Julian, as well as all the signals on Santa Clara between the station and 1st St. The other problem area is crossing east-west in the area of the airport. Hedding at coleman is very bike unfriendly, not detecting bicycles, and having the right turn slip lane are two bad things, Taylor is another very unfriendly st between 1st st and the alameda. North of the airport is also a problem - getting from De La Cruz onto Central or from the airport road (Ewert?) onto Central is always a challenge.
Westbound Williams Road at
Westbound Williams Road at Winchester Blvd -- has neither bicycle symbol nor visible detector loop. This is a natural through route for anyone using the Downing Avenue overpass of Highway 17. Auto traffic is fairly light on this part of Williams Road, so a bicyclist often has no choice but to use the pedestrian button.
San Thomas Expressway, but
San Thomas Expressway, but especially at Monroe and at Cabrillo.
Monroe & El Camino Real in
Monroe & El Camino Real in Santa Clara (heading N or S on Monroe)
Lincoln Ave & W San Carlos St in San Jose (heading N or S on Lincoln)
Willow St & Bird Ave in San Jose (heading W on Bird)
Surprisingly, I've only got 3 that bother me!
At the west end of Coe, where
At the west end of Coe, where it meets Lincoln Ave. (Coe was recently repaved, and now the traffic loop is no longer visible.)
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