Redwood City Awarded Bike Friendly Community Bronze Level Award
League of American Bicyclists Award recognizes cities for their efforts to create bike friendly communities
In celebration of receiving the bronze level award as a bike friendly community by the League of American Bicyclists, this blog provides an update on various projects that strive to reduce congestion, enhance air quality and make it easier and safer to use a bike in Redwood City.
The League of American Bicyclists announced 34 new Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC), including Redwood City! There are now 372 BFCs, in all 50 states. Over 72 million people in the United States now live in a Bicycle Friendly Community.
BREWSTER PROJECT
The Brewster Avenue Improvement Project modified the roadway to increase safety for all roadway uses.
Improvements included:
· Installing raised median islands and bulbouts to slow vehicle speeds and to reduce exposure for people crossing the street
· Rebuilding the entrance to Sequoia High School to reduce the speed of vehicles passing across, to increase visibility of people crossing the street and for those riding bicycles through the intersection
· Re-striping Brewster Avenue between Broadway and Elwood Street to create a center-turn lane and bicycle lanes
· Installing bike-sensitive detectors, green bike lanes, and a green “bike box” at the signalized Brewster/Broadway intersection
· Enhancing the marked crosswalk across Broadway at Arch
MIDDLEFIELD ROAD ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
The overall goal of the Middlefield Road Street Enhancement project is to create a safe and comfortable street for pedestrians, bicyclists, and people who live and work on Middlefield Road. In addition to electrical under-grounding and utility trenching, much of what this project would do is help enhance the street including adding benches, creating a neighborhood identity through accents for pavement, street and sidewalk furnishings, and implementing bike lane options.
The Complete Streets Advisory Committee reviewed the conceptual design of the Middlefield Road Street Enhancement project in March and a community open house will be scheduled later this summer for additional community input.
HWY 101 UNDERCROSSING
One recent project that just received design approval is the the U.S. Highway 101 Pedestrian Undercrossing Project. This project is Redwood City’s first east-west, bike-pedestrian connection. This pathway will go under Highway 101 next to Redwood Creek. It will connect the One Marina area (and adjacent developments) with the area west of 101. The project was approved unanimously by the City Council at the April 25th Council meeting.
To access all development project information, visit the City’s new development pages here.
UPCOMING RED MORTON PARK RENOVATIONS
The City of Redwood City will be seeking community input around Red Morton Park renovation planning efforts later this fall.
Objectives of the park improvements include:
1. Improve circulation throughout the park — specifically the connectivity between centers (existing and future), fields, and play spaces, and other amenities including neighborhood entrances to the park; addition of bike and pedestrian friendly pathways; as well as safe crossings to and from streets that surround the park
2. Create a new and improved playground for all and renovate the picnic area
3. Create a master plan for improved play spaces, sport field spectator areas, landscaping and more
STUDIES COMING UP
The City is working on a number of studies and regional coordination efforts that will further the City’s bicycle friendly status and support transportation priorities citywide.
Transportation Plan
Citywide Transportation Plan to be completed in the fall of 2017. The Citywide transportation plan will assess the current state of the City’s transportation system and engage our community in identifying, prioritizing, and tracking the performance of transportation projects and programs.
Traffic Calming Policy
In addition, the Complete Streets Advisory Committee is reviewing this June current traffic calming program details and likely make recommendations to the Council this August.
Regional Bike Share Options
Effective June 30, Bay Area Bike Share will discontinue operations in Redwood City. The City will continue its collaborative efforts with neighboring communities and transit agencies to explore options for a regional bike share program on the Peninsula. Learn more here.
REGIONAL PLANNING EFFORTS
Caltrain Bike Parking Study
The Bike Parking Management Plan is a grant-funded study to both help Caltrain and surrounding communities understand what kinds of bike parking will best serve their customers and guide how to efficiently deliver and operate bike parking throughout the Caltrain system.
For this plan, Redwood City is working with Caltrain as a member of its technical advisory committee to develop a shared vision for a modern bike parking system.
Currently, Caltrain carries over 7,000 bikes on board its trains every weekday, representing over 10% of the daily ridership. A smaller number of passengers (roughly 1% of weekday riders) park their bicycles at a Caltrain station before boarding. With limited space on the trains, the Bike Parking Management Plan is needed to identify ways to sustain and grow the number of customers accessing Caltrain by bike.
Dumbarton Transportation Corridor Study
SamTrans is conducting a transportation feasibility study of the Dumbarton Corridor to identify short and long-term strategies that reduce traffic congestion and improve mobility between Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The study will examine potential solutions to address both congestion on the Dumbarton Bridge (Highway 84) and connecting roadways, as well as the rehabilitation and re-purposing of the Dumbarton rail bridge to the south. As a feasibility study, the study will not approve any future projects, but instead provide local stakeholders with options to consider for future development. The Corridor directly connects the cities of Newark, Fremont and Union City in the East Bay, and Redwood City, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and Palo Alto on the Peninsula.
Redwood City is working with SamTrans to provide input into the study, feedback during the process, and is serving as a conduit for sharing project information with our community.
REDWOOD CITY BIKE-FRIENDLY BUSINESSES
Are you a bike-friendly business? Redwood City has a number of bike friendly businesses and encourage local businesses to sign-up to be recognized by the League of American Bicyclist here.
For more details about the City of Redwood City, visit here.
