Fremont’s Future Is Bikeable
Change is in the air in Fremont, and we’re not just talking about the new BART station at Warm Springs. The city, located on the edge of Silicon Valley, is setting the ambitious goal to shed its image as a sprawling suburb and become a walkable and bikeable city. In 2012, the city adopted this vision in the General Plan:
“Fremont will serve as a national model of how an auto-oriented suburb can evolve into a sustainable, strategically urban, modern city.”
If successful, Fremont will create a roadmap for how communities around the East Bay — and the United States — can become home to a growing population without adding drivers to already congested roads.
Challenging Conditions
Even with this grand vision, James Rardin, owner of CentriPEDAL Bikes in Fremont, believes that Fremont has a long road ahead before bikes are seen as more convenient than cars. Downtown Fremont is dominated by enormous parking lots serving strip malls, BART, and office buildings. Bike racks are few and far between. Those who do bike frequently ride on the sidewalk to avoid intimidating traffic conditions. These challenges are reflected in Rardin’s customer base: mainly recreational riders who seek out the city’s trail network or ride with clubs. Very rarely does he see commuters come into the shop.
“Most of our [recreational] riders have a hard time getting themselves to ride on the streets,” wrote Rardin. “Most of the complaints I hear are around how bike lanes are inconsistent and that there is a lot of flat-causing debris in the bike lanes.”
Planning for Biking
The city’s soon-to-be-adopted bicycle master plan sets the course for dramatically redesigning the suburban streetscape. The backbone of the plan is a network of a dozen protected bike lanes that will encourage biking in the downtown area.
Not only is this design visionary, it is extremely doable. Like most post-war suburbs, the town is criss-crossed by high-traffic and high-speed streets that currently pose major barriers for people walking and biking. These streets are easily wide enough for installing protected bikeways, which will have the added benefit of calming traffic and improving safety for both pedestrians and bicyclists. This people-oriented street network could be built within the next five years using funds from Alameda County’s Measure B and BB funds.
City staff are excited to be leading this work. Noe Veloso, Principal Transportation Engineer and Fremont resident, came to work for the city in October 2015, drawn by the vision of the General Plan. Noe says, “I wanted to work on impactful projects and drive change.”
Tapping Local Knowledge
To make the plan even better, Bike East Bay tapped local knowledge in order to find out what changes bicyclists would like to see in their city. We partnered with both the Fremont Freewheelers Bicycle Club and local advocacy group Bikeways for Fremont to audit the proposed bike network and make suggestions for future bikeways. We also helped recruit new members for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Technical Advisory Committee and supported the applicants in stepping up to this important civic role.
The owner of CentriPEDAL Bikes is on board with this plan. Rardin said, “I welcome this direction and am thrilled to see the city become more bike friendly.”
You can help lead the city into its bike-friendly future. From Bike to Work Day Happy Hours to advocacy rides, Bike East Bay and local leaders Bikeways for Fremont are busy bringing people together. Get involved at BikeEastBay.org/Fremont
Back to the Spring 2017 issue of RideOn, Bike East Bay’s quarterly newsletter.
