Palo Alto celebrates new bike lanes, few appear to use them - San Jose Spotlight

"State and local officials on Monday celebrated the completion of the suddenly popular but sparsely used bike lanes on El Camino Real with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was attended by dozens of cyclists and advocates for safer streets. City officials from Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto voiced their appreciation for the project's completion and for the numerous regional and state agencies that collaborated to make it possible."

"The project had initially divided Palo Alto's elected officials and bike advocates, with many critics arguing that El Camino is a dangerous route and that cyclists should be steered toward safer and slower streets such as Park Boulevard. Others complained about the loss of parking all along the El Camino corridor, which displaced the dozens of RVs that had previously parked along the thoroughfare and have since relocated to other streets."

"But with no real leverage to stop the project on what is technically a state highway, Palo Alto officials began to collaborate with Caltrans to modify the design plans and add new safety features at El Camino intersections that serve as school routes. The criticisms that had defined the early phase of the project were notably absent Monday as Caltrans and local officials lauded their partnership and the final result."

"The changes to El Camino include the addition of 13.5 miles of bike lanes in either direction, which are protected along most of the route by thick plastic bollards, as well as repaving from the southern border of Mountain View to the northern border of Palo Alto. A number of ADA improvements were also installed at intersections along the route, such as improving curb ramps and crosswalks."

Dozens of cyclists and safer-streets advocates attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking completion of protected bike lanes on El Camino Real. Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto officials thanked regional and state agencies for collaborating on the project. Initial controversy divided Palo Alto officials and bike advocates over route safety and loss of parking that displaced RVs. Palo Alto worked with Caltrans to modify designs and add safety features at school-route intersections. The project added 13.5 miles of protected bike lanes with plastic bollards, repaved the corridor between Mountain View and Palo Alto, installed ADA curb-ramp and crosswalk improvements, and cost about $55 million.

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