Ewert Road, San Jose airport perimeter road built partly with bicycling funds, is being closed to bicycles
Scott Mace
CABO is already on record as opposing this closure. It is one
of the most direct on-road cycling routes between downtown San
Jose and the industrial parks of Santa Clara. Ewert Road
contains no private auto traffic at all, years after a shuttle
bus to an earlier airport parking lot was closed.
Major credit to Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition's Jordan Moldow
for unearthing some of the sordid details.
From SVBC's Slack:
Help save Ewert Road (SJC perimeter road) for cyclist detours
around GRT flooding and for commuting between Santa Clara and
San Jose. Ewert Road is the only safe, all-weather,
short-distance (0.9 mile) detour route for cyclists to cross
Highway 101 when the Guadalupe River Trail underpass at Highway
101 is flooded or otherwise impassable. In April, the airport
announced the closure of Ewert Road, effective May 1 [now
delayed until October to allow for a modicum of public process.
Here is an
Open Letter that we have shared with some
decision makers. If you are a Santa Clara County resident and
you want to keep this road open for cyclists, consider reviewing
the letter and, if you want to sign, fill out this
quick form. Here is a campaign
document with the latest information and resources.
Rebuttals to SJC's mischaracterizations have been compiled into
a "Myths and
Facts" document.
- Ewert Road did not exist before the mid 1990s. Orange Lot (at Martin Ave) used to be an orchard, as recently as the early 90s (source: SJC staff, during SJ BPAC discussion). When it opened to bikes, it was probably also being opened to cars at roughly the same time.
- The 1996 creation of Ewert Road and the bike infrastructure along it was funded from TDA-3 grants, from both San Jose and Santa Clara.
- A private 2021 MOU between SJC and SJ DOT declared that Ewert would be closed to cyclists. SJC made the decision for the closure. SJ DOT agreed to support their decision, in exchange for SJC allowing some of their property to be used for the new trail along De La Cruz Blvd.
- The bike lanes are not, in any sense, "interim", "unofficial", "temporary", "informal", "undesignated", etc. This was a fabrication by SJC, in the 2021 MOU and the recent communications to the public.
- SJC has only offered a single example of a car/bike collision: a police car that hit a cyclist. The police car may have been speeding around the curve (SJC staff didn't say that they knew that was the case, it was just conjecture). Staff did not mention any other specific incidents of car/bike collisions.
The Santa Clara BPAC had this as a business item (non-action
item) at this afternoon's meeting. I again spoke on behalf of
CABO, and suggested this abuse of TDA funds sets an ugly
precedent. Amazingly, airport officials during the meeting said
the road is on private property, so they believe they can do
anything they want with it.
Even if you don't live in Santa Clara County, you should speak
up as a concerned California cyclist.
Scott Mace
District Director, CABO
Frank Lehnerz
Richard M
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CABOforum" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to caboforum+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/caboforum/a53c7a0a-61ba-4c34-83eb-359bae7f5bdbn%40googlegroups.com.