Lane Reduction Projects in our Neighboring Cities

For many years, cities in the United States designed urban streets mainly for moving cars. But recently, the complete streets movement that aims to make streets safer for all modes of transportation has spread out nationwide. In the Bay Area, from Palo Alto to Morgan Hill, from Redwood City to San Jose, a number of cities have been rethinking street design by shifting the priority to pedestrians and cyclists. Below we highlight the lane reduction projects in some our neighboring cities. Through most projects are still in an experimental period, they can be an inspiration for Mountain View.

California Avenue, Palo Alto
The California Avenue streetscape improvement project was completed in early May. This $7.1 million project has cut the number of vehicle lanes from four to two between El Camino and the Caltrain station, widened sidewalks, and added new light fixtures. It aims to calm vehicular traffic, improve the walking environment, and increase pedestrian traffic to boost local business. The city had gone through a long process to convince the local business to make this change happen. Upon the completion of the project, some previous critics became fans. Read more: “City celebrates revamped California Avenue”

Lincoln Avenue, Willow Glen in San Jose

In order to calm the traffic at downtown, the city of San Jose is conducting a brief road diet trial along the Lincoln Avenue to see whether the road diet could improve Downtown Willow Glen vitality by improving people’s shopping, biking and walking environment. During the trial period from March to June this year, the Lincoln Avenue will convert from a four-lane to two-lane street with a center lane for left turns and bike lanes in each direction. The project was supported not only by the city but also the local business association and residents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monterey Road, Morgan Hill
In February Morgan Hill began a six-month complete street trial on Monterey Road through downtown. For more than 15 years, residents, business owners, and City Hall have discussed the idea of turning Monterey Road to a two-lane road and its potential improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists and the local economy. Some are skeptical about whether the change will benefit businesses and visitors as the proponents claim. The trial will reduce the number of lanes from four to two and will change the right lane on each side of the street to a buffered bicycle lane leaving the left lane reserved for vehicles. Throughout the experiment, the city will measure traffic and economic performance and report back to the council periodically.

Farm Hill Boulevard, Redwood City
In July this year, Redwood City began piloting a two mile road diet on Farm Hill Boulevard. The project will reduce the number of lanes from four to three (0ne lane in each direction and a two-way center turn lane) to calm the traffic. Currently, speeding is the primary cause of crashes causing injury on the street which occur about every other month and 60-90% of drivers exceed the 35 mph speed limit. This road diet pilot will last for one year for data collection and evaluation to determine if changes should be made permanent.