Housing & Transportation City Council Candidates Forum

by | Sep 3, 2014 | City Council, Elections, Events | 2 comments

CandidatesFlrumMountain View will select three new City Councilmembers this November to join the four existing Councilmembers. This new City Council will define the character of Mountain View for years to come. During their term, they will decide the intensity and type of development in the San Antonio, North Bayshore, El Camino Real Corridor, and East Whisman areas. They will decide how we will allocate space to motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders throughout the city including California Street and Shoreline Boulevard. They will tackle thorny issues like how much and where to grow the housing supply and office space, the minimum wage, and Bus Rapid Transit. How do the candidates stand on these issues? How do you stand on these issues? More than 120 people turned out at the Housing & Transportation Forum yesterday to join the conversation by submitting their questions and hearing all nine City Council Candidates articulate their vision for Mountain View. As Keith wrote in the comments of our Candidate Forum Page, “The conversation is headed in the right direction. What a special time to be in The MV!”. We agree!

See below to watch the video of the Candidates Forum and to catch the live tweets from @ladyfleur and @jakatmu

The Forum was co-sponsored Great Streets Mountain View, Bicycle Exchange, Community Action Team, Friends of Caltrain, Greenbelt Alliance, Safe Mountain View.

Special thanks to Debbie Mytels for moderating the forum and Wendee Crofoot to for organizing the event!

Candidates for Mountain View City Council

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Watch the Video

 Live Tweets

How can we make Mountain View a better place for walking and biking?

by | Aug 11, 2014 | Events | 4 comments

JarrettAt the our Thursday Night Live booth last week, we invited you to answer the question “How can we make Mountain View a better place for walking and biking?” We were amazed by your passionate and detailed descriptions of the street segments, crossings, and corners that need safety improvements. We’ve summarized your feedback below and will be making the results available to Mountain View’s Bicycle Pedestrian Committee, the Department of Public Works, and City Council. Please feel free to keep those suggestions coming by sending email to contactus@greatstreetsmv.org.

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More Scenes from the GSMV booth at Thursday Night Live

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Cycletopia!

by | Jul 25, 2014 | Bike lanes, Events

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Thanks to everyone who came to our Thursday Night Live booth to experience the demonstration separated bikeway and for providing your thoughts on how to make Mountain View a better place for bicycling.  We had a great time! We hope you did too!

Thanks to Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and Safe Moves for your generous support and to the City of Mountain View Recreation Department for letting us take over a block of California Street.  And a big kudos to the Safe Mountain View team who were the driving force behind the event.

And now some scenes from Cycletopia!

Setting up…

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Taking a spin on the cycle track with one of our loaner bikes…. (and check out John’s impressive cargo-toting skills on the bike!)

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Youngsters create their own separated bikeways on our model streets…

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Discussing bicycle infrastrastructure:  protected bike lanes and protected intersections….

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Where do you want to see better bike lanes?  Plot it on our map….

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Visits from City Council candidates Margaret Capriles (shown below), Ken Rosenberg, Lenny Siegel, and Greg Unangst….

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A fun ride!

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“And the winner of the free bike is…”

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Envisioning Protected Bike Lanes in Mountain View

by | Jul 15, 2014 | Bike lanes, Events

Last weekend, at our Bikefest booth, these young bikers learned about protected bike lanes, saw pictures of inspiring bike lanes from around the world, and had a chance to build their own protected bikelane on our model street.

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And they also had a chance to ride through the cool demonstration protected bike lane that was hosted by Safe Mountain View:

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Missed the fun?  Don’t worry, you will have another chance to ride the demonstration bike lane and build your own on our model street at Thursday Night Live on Thursday July 24th, 5:30-8:30pm, Castro Street @ California Street

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Mountain View’s 2014-15 Bicyclist and Pedestrian Projects

by | Jun 17, 2014 | Bike lanes, CIP, City Council, Trails

Source: Flickr gregraisman

Tonight, the Mountain View City Council adopted the FY2014-15 Budget and Capital Improvement Program. In addition to the projects underway, the budget includes several projects aimed at improving the bicycle and pedestrian experience. Great Streets Mountain View met with City staff and City Councilmembers and, spoke at City Council, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Parks and Recreation Commission, and Environmental Planning Commission meetings to push for bike and pedestrian projects. Thanks to all of you who also spoke or emailed and lent your support! Please see the list of projects funded for the coming year.

Mobility Coordinator Position
Funding: $150,000
Provides funding for a new Mobility Coordinator position. This is intended to be a two-year, limited-term position to focus on furthering the Council goal of Improve Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility. This new position would provide expertise in developing policies, guidelines, and projects; support the B/PAC; and provide input on private development projects. It will also free up some staff resources in Traffic Engineering and Transportation to focus on other priorities.

Associate Civil Engineer—Traffic
Funding: $110,500
Provides funding for an Associate Civil Engineer position to support the increased workload in the Traffic Section due to the high levels of private development activity.

Permanente Creek Trail, Rock Street to West Middlefield Road, Design
Funding: $370,000
Extension of the Permanente Creek Trail from its terminus at Rock Street to West Middlefield Road.

Permanente Creek Trail Extension – West Middlefield Rd to McKelvey Park, Feasibility Study
Funding: $55,000
Feasibility study to extend the Permanente Creek Trail from West Middlefield Road to McKelvey Park.

Permanente Creek Trail – Amphitheatre Parkway Crossing, Construction
Funding: $1,265,000
Construct improvements to the existing Trail under-crossing at Amphitheatre Parkway.

Modifications to Grant/Phyllis/Martens Intersection
Funding: $897,000
Pedestrian improvements including shortened pedestrian crossing distances, elimination of free right-turn lanes to reduce vehicle speeds, and replacement of an aging traffic signal with a new signal with a dedicated left-turn movement.

Shoreline Boulevard Pathway (Villa St to Wright Ave), Design
Funding: $280,000
Design of pathway and connection improvements for bicycles and pedestrians along Shoreline Boulevard between Villa Street and Wright Avenue.

Green Bike Lane Pilot Project
Funding: $65,000
This pilot project will improve bike safety through the application of green paint to bike lanes in select areas to be determined.

Dana Street Reconstruction
Funding: $374,000
Additional funding for the existing West Dana Street reconstruction project to provide a safe pedestrian route to Mariposa Park from the adjacent neighborhood. Additional outside design services are required.

Additional projects to be undertaken by the Mountain View City Staff

  • Feasibility study for safer bike lanes on Shoreline Blvd from El Camino Real to Wright Ave with the possibility of reducing lanes from six to four to improve  the bicyclist and pedestrian experience
  • Feasibility study of an east-west trail with the first option to be studied being the Caltrain Corridor
  • Study greater access to bulk transit passes for residents
  • Study a city-wide community shuttle
  • Library Bike Stop, including a bike fix-it service station