September 21, 2016Leave a Comment
The city of Santa Clara Central Park Library at 2635 Homestead Rd will unveil their Bike Fixit Station at 10 AM on Saturday, October 15, 2016.
The Library’s Fixit Station has a bike stand and a set of attached theft-resistant tools, including Allen wrenches, screwdrivers, and tire levers. The Fixit Station also includes a heavy duty theft-proof pump that accommodates both Presta and Schrader valves.
June 27, 20164 Comments on San Tomas Aquino Trail mowing
The Santa Clara Valley Water District began mowing along the lower reaches of the San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail in Santa Clara, California last Thursday. Portions of the trail may be subject to closing during mowing.
If you see a tractor on the trail with a big side-mounted mower and the trail is still open, proceed with caution — the operator is watching for trail users, but he also wants to avoid driving his tractor into the creek. If the operator feels like he can’t work safely because some jackass in a hurry just has to get past right away, the contractor will close the trail, so please don’t ruin it for the rest of us, okay?
Contractors are working roughly from north to south, although they haven’t touched the area in the immediate vicinity of Highway 237 as of this writing. This trail work will take place Monday – Saturday and will continue into July as they work through to south of Highway 101.
The City of Santa Clara notice says “trail users to be re-routed to the opposite bank and facilitate passage,” but I don’t know if that means the water district plans to open the unpaved east-bank service road, which is normally closed to the public.
May 7, 20153 Comments on Santa Clara Valley Water postpones trail work for Bike To Work Day
The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and the city of Santa Clara BPAC contacted the Santa Clara Valley Water District as soon as they heard about the scheduled trail maintenance that would close the San Tomas Aquino Trail on Bike to Work Day next week. Valley Water agreed to postpone their work to another date.
I know several other people called and emailed the Water District about this issue. Thank you for doing so.
I’ve found Water District people to be helpful and try to do the right thing, but they’re a small(-ish) operation and sometimes things like Bike to Work Day aren’t on their radar. Big kudos for their willingness to rectify the situation once they’re made aware of the problem. I was honestly not optimistic since this likely involves contracted work and rented equipment, and rescheduling what appears to be a large project can be expensive.
For background on what they fixed, click here.
May 7, 201513 Comments on Water district schedules trail closure for Bike to Work Day
Update: Santa Clara Valley Water agrees to postpone trail work. San Tomas Aquino will remain open for Bike to Work Day.
We love the Santa Clara Valley Water District and their willingness to open up their right-of-way for non-motorized travel. They can occasionally be a little bit tone-deaf, unfortunately. Take, for example, this notice of a trail closure the week of Bike to Work Day. UPDATE: The Water District has agreed to postpone this work. The trail will remain open for Bike to Work Day.
April 20, 20154 Comments on Santa Clara Tasman Drive road diet threatened
Tuesday night, the city of Santa Clara city council will consider a proposed lane reduction / road diet project for Tasman Drive between Lick Mill Boulevard and Old Ironsides Drive. The proposed project will reduce Tasman from the current six lanes down to four general purpose lanes, replacing the outside lanes with buffered bike lanes.
The photo below shows the typical heavy traffic on Tasman at Lick Mill. Due to heavy complaints from the public after the Pruneridge road diet, some council members have expressed reluctance about approving a similar project for Tasman.
October 31, 20148 Comments on Levi’s Stadium bike access pilot continues
The city of Santa Clara pilot to allow some cyclists access on the San Tomas Aquino Trail to Levi’s Stadium continues this Sunday, November 2 for the San Francisco 49ers game with the St. Louis Rams.
