Protected bikeways and intersections all the rage

First separated bikeway on a state highway will be located in Albany on San Pablo Avenue.

Get ready to see more separated bike lanes and bike-friendly intersections in the coming years, just like the Netherlands, our Western world bike nirvana.

I’m all in. Over the years I’ve been a big fan of Effective Cycling principles, espoused by John Forester starting in the 1960s. The “father of vehicular cycling” lived in Palo Alto many years ago and had a profound influence on cyclists near and far.

Forester believed bikes should mix with cars and taught cyclists how to do it safely. However, there’s a sea change underway in the cycling community, a growing awareness that we can increase the number of commute cyclists if we separate bikes from cars. It’s a concept that has been applied with great success in Europe and elsewhere. Not so in the U.S.

Starting this year, California has official guidelines for Class IV bikeways, or protected bikeways as they’re called.

Projects are already underway, the first one for the state being built in Albany on San Pablo Avenue (a state highway) near Dartmouth Street. This according to Sergio Ruiz, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, Caltrans District 4, at the Silicon Valley Bike Summit. University Village Bikeway is only two blocks long, but it’s a start. El Cerrito also approved a separated bikeway.

While I believe cyclists should learn to mix with cars, most people are not professional cyclists like myself. They just want to make a quick trip to a local store on their garage bike. In high-density neighborhoods with lots of traffic, separated bikeways are the way to go, and will encourage casual cyclists to make short trips.

To help people get used to the idea of separated bikeways, local bike groups, like Cycletopia in Mountain View, have created pop-up protected bikeways and invited the public to check them out, as was done on University Avenue in Palo Alto recently.

Davis re-built a busy intersection especially with bikes in mind.