The Santa Clara City Council approved two bike plans along major corridors in the city on Oct. 22.
The first was a plan for a four-lane protected bike lane that eliminated parking on the street along Martin and Walsh Avenues. The second was a stretch along De La Cruz Boulevard.
The first item detailed segments of Walsh Avenue from Bowers Avenue to Lafayette Street and on Martin Avenue from Lafayette Street to De La Cruz Boulevard.
“We do want to make sure there is adequate site distance .., we do want to make sure that bicyclists can be seen, that drivers can be seen as they are exiting driveways,” said Michael Liw, assistant director of public works. “The goal here is to increase visibility.”
Liw said that there were 52 collisions — one bike and one pedestrian — along Walsh Avenue from 2017 to 2022 and 23 on Martin Avenue in the same period, with none involving pedestrians or cyclists. There were no fatalities or severe injuries for any of the collisions, he added.
However, Betsy Megas, a member of the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee speaking for herself, said those numbers do not tell the whole story.
“If there are very few bicycle and pedestrian collisions on Walsh and Martin today, it is because there are very few people walking and biking on Walsh and Martin, which in turn is because this is a very stressful, uninviting place to ride,” she said. “This entire sector of our city is not built for bikes.”
Megas added that this is “the place for protected bike lanes. She applauded the approval of the plan.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor called the plan a “good compromise for everyone.”
The second bicycle area studied was along De La Cruz Boulevard from Central Expressway to Lafayette Street and along Coleman Avenue to Brokaw Road. Because of the amount of traffic, city employees did not consider removing lanes along the corridor, Liw said, instead opting for protected lanes.
“Folks are not very comfortable riding on roadways like this unless there is protection,” Liw said.
The De La Cruz bike pathway linked up with the aforementioned segments along Walsh and Martin Avenues.
Liw said the goal was to connect De La Cruz to Coleman Avenue.
The council approved both plans unanimously.
Swim Center Repairs Not Timely Enough For Some Council Members
A contract for replastering at the George F. Haines International Swim Center (ISC) also saw much discussion.
The $420,072 contract garnered much attention, rehashing issues of maintaining the legacy of the ISC. The swim center has been closed nearly a year because of ongoing maintenance demands, most of which involve safety hazards relating to county-mandated repairs.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor pulled the item from the consent calendar for discussion. She challenged why the work at the ISC, which in addition to the replastering includes a fence replacement, is taking so long. The timeline for the work’s completion is the end of March next year.
“It just really seems like a long, long, long process,” Gillmor said. “It is a jewel of our city … we have to do better. We have to put the effort into making it a real priority.”
Many agreed, with council colleagues joining Gillmor’s chagrin. Vice Mayor Anthony Becker apologized to residents for the “red tape” and “snail-pace” of the work.
“This is not something that happened in the last three, four years. This is not something that happened because of COVID. This is something that happened because of inattentiveness throughout the last few decades,” Council Member Kevin Park said. “If you keep putting things off, it is like your car; it is going to fail.”
Council Member Suds Jain defended city employees, saying it makes no sense that they would have any reason to delay repairs at the swim center. He said previous councils “kicked the can down the road,” and now the city and its residents are paying the price.
“This just seems outrageous, frankly,” said Amanda Pease with the Santa Clara Swim Club. “We are facing, seriously facing, the possibility of disappearing. If we don’t have a miracle, we might not be around when the ISC reopens.”
City Manager Jovan Grogan said the decision to close the pool was a difficult one, but he knows that it was right, given the safety hazard it presented.
The council approved the contract in a 6-1 vote, with Council Member Karen Hardy voting “no.”
Consent Calendar Spending
The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:
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A $700,000 purchase order with “vendors” for the replacement of street-light poles on Great America Parkway.
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A $4.7 million agreement with Prime Electric for light system replacement at Levi’s Stadium.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 12 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.
Members of the public can participate in the Santa Clara City Council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/
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Thank you for posting these concerns and solutions
By the time I am done with my volunteering with the homeless and working on my house
I’m to worn out to go out
And I am known to have strong opinions on community issues
Again thank you