Do you know those “part-time” bike lanes on Homestead Avenue in Sunnvayle, CA. Street parking is prohibited during the day from 7 AM to 6 PM, but overnight parking is allowed in the bike lanes? The city proposes removing this overnight parking to make these bike lanes a 24 hour facility.
From Kevin Jackson, vice chair of the Sunnyvale BPAC:
Anyone who rides on Homestead Road in Sunnyvale knows the bike lanes are only available on weekdays, from 7:00am to 6:00pm according to the signs. In reality, you can’t count on being able to use them at any time because car owners figure there’s nothing wrong with cheating just a bit (much like with speed limits) and the police generally have higher priorities.
So cyclists are routinely forced to merge with high-speed, high-volume motor vehicle traffic in substandard width lanes. This discourages most people from cycling, and leaves the rest of us with deep fingernail marks in our handlebar tape. Fortunately, the city is considering converting these failed part-time bike lanes to full-time.
Do you think the students of West Valley Elementary, Cupertino Middle, and Homestead High Schools deserve to ride safely to and from campus? Do you believe reliable, safe bike accommodation will help to mitigate traffic problems by encouraging more people to choose this mode when commuting to the new Apple campus and other large employers along this corridor? Should utility and recreational cyclists be provided with safe connections to the Mary Avenue bike/pedestrian bridge, the Stevens Creek Trail, north/south routes to major employment centers, and other critical destinations?
If you answered Yes to any of these questions, please show up for the meeting next Monday, August 10 at 6:30pm and say so! Ortega Park is halfway between Wolfe Road and Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road (aka De Anza Blvd), fronting on Inverness Way (first street of any size north of Homestead). If you can’t make the meeting, the next best (though far less effective) option is to email your support to: COchoa@sunnyvale.ca.gov by close of business the next day.
The public meeting takes place Monday night; emailed comments are due by Tuesday evening. I’ve asked about the results of the city parking study for this portion of Homestead and will update this post when I find out.