El Monte Corridor Improvements, CTC meeting

[Mary Dateo]

Hi All,

I didn't get my comments in in time to include in the SVBC MV letter to the CTC about the El Monte Corridor, but I've sent an email myself to the council members about 2 additional safety issues.

If you happen to agree that these 2 spots are issues, and plan to speak this evening, AND have a few spare seconds, please bring attention to these 2 spots, and share your suggestions for improving them.

1. For safety, at the intersection of Escuela and El Camino Real:

El Camino Real is at least 7 lanes wide at this intersection. In the time it takes for a cyclist on Escuela to get up to speed to make a left-hand turn from Escuela to El Camino, new cars can suddenly appear at the exit of the parking lot. Especially if they are going straight, but even if they're turning left or right, the cyclist can suddenly be on a collision course.
To address this, please remove the exit from Walgreens at this intersection. There are 2 other entrances / exits onto El Camino Real from this rather small shopping center, as well as an entrance / exit onto Clark, which has a traffic light with El Camino Real.

Alternatively, please officially request that Caltrans change the timing of the traffic light at Escuela, so that the exit from Walgreens and Escuela are NOT green at the same time. I did log a ticket to Caltrans to request this in Oct. 2022, but have not yet received an answer from the Traffic Ops Division.



2. For safety, at the intersection of El Monte with Springer, for southbound traffic:
Please address the slip lane from El Monte where it bears to the right to remain on El Monte.

This slip lane crosses the path of southbound cyclists going straight from El Monte to Springer.
Today, cars frequently drive very fast here. In future, in this section, as El Monte increases from the new single southbound lane to two lanes (one toward Springer, one toward El Monte),  I expect some impatient drivers will speed up into the right turn slip lane, right where bikes are designed to cross that lane. Please add some traffic calming for cars in this section.

Regards,

Mary

[Serge Bonte]

My 2 cents as someone who lives 2 homes away from El Monte and 4 homes away from the Springer/El Monte Y intersection and as a parent whose child crossed El Monte by foot, bike and scooter twice every school day for 12+ school years. 

I sent my own comments to CTC urging them to adopt Alternative 3  -which is the consensus after nearly a decade of studies, meetings, outreach cycles ..and probably a half dozen BPAC meetings- w/o anything that could delay or change the scope of the project . I wish these improvements were reached during our child's school years....I now hope it'll be done during my lifetime :( 

re: your two suggestions:

I agree that the Escuela/ECR intersection treatment could be better BUT this was covered -at length- during the El Camino Real Streetscape in preparation of the ECR repaving project and BPAC during its deliberations at the last meeting considered it as settled. As currently proposed it's a huge safety improvement. I want the community to see these benefits asap vs. waiting -for who knows how long- for perfection. A safer way to make a left -specially for kids- will be to use the crosswalk from the CostPlus side- and use the new bike lanes through the intersection-

The second issue was always out of scope for the Study (which started nearly a decade ago), that part of the street is also controlled by Los Altos which would complicate things.. Maybe another project down the road in collaboration with Los Altos, Let's refrain from scope creep on this particular project. Same goes with the idea of a roundabout at Springer/El Monte intersection mentioned in the letter. It was always out of scope from the study and is controlled by Los Altos.  

Serge

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[Bruce England]

Hi, Mary:

I actually meant to include the point about the Escuela / El Camino intersection in the letter but lost it in the mix. Sigh!

On El Monte / Springer, I didn't include it for the reasons Serge cited in his own response to this thread.

Cheers,
Bruce 

On Mon, May 15, 2023 at 12:16 PM Mary Dateo <mda...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

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[Chris Parry]

The slow pace of these projects is definitely a concern.  There seems to be a lot of energy spent on a project by project basis.  But it isn’t clear to me whether there is a periodic review (e.g., annual or semi-annual) on the macro-level assessments:  mode-share stats, safety stats, total time to complete new projects, whether these projects are coming in within budget, etc.

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[Li Zhang]

Hi All,

I am new to these bicycle lane  Corridor improvement  projects.   I am wondering if cyclists are more likely to use Springer Rd or El Monte Ave to commute from the North side of the El Camino to the South Side of the El Camino?  The reason I am asking is that I used to ride on "Springer rd" a lot and do not think the bike lanes are that safe either. 

Regards, Li

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[Serge Bonte]

Hi Li,

Maybe I got my directions wrong, but Springer merges into El Monte (4 homes from me) at that sort of Y intersection with El Monte. The El Monte Corridor Study's covers El Monte from El Camino Real to that Y intersection at El Monte/Springer but not Springer.. It was extended to also include Escuela/ECR/El Monte area. The goal of these improvements is to reduce speed and improve safety for all street users. 

Our neighborhood- in Mountain view but south of the Y intersection- is currently zoned for Springer Elementary. I hope that as Los Altos and Mountain View amp up their efforts for Safe Routes to School there will be ANOTHER project to improve bike lanes and sidewalks gaps on Springer and Miramonte (the only two ways to get to Springer from my neighborhood) 

Serge