Santa Clara County officials plan to schedule public workshops in the fall to make county-controlled roads – most notably Foothill Expressway – more accessible and safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The county’s Department of Roads and Airports is developing an Active Transportation Plan also designed to better accommodate people with disabilities, those wheeling strollers and those using scooters or skateboards.
The county has an interactive map on its Active Santa Clara County website (activesantaclaracounty.org) on which people can mark problem areas and leave comments.
“We are on tap to begin internally mulling over recommendations for the (pedestrian/bike) network in mid-September,” said Ellen Talbo, county transportation planner.
Dates for the public workshops have yet to be finalized, but some areas of Los Altos shown on the county’s interactive online map have already been marked and commented on.
“Would prefer visual indications of how bicyclists go from San Antonio (Road) to south on Foothill,” Kevin Ma noted.
“Bicycle traffic in the southbound direction at El Monte (Avenue) has to cross two busy right-turn lanes in the afternoon,” wrote Steve Folkman. “Please add bike striping, reduce to one right lane and add a bike lane to the left of the right-turn lane. An example is Sand Hill (Road and Interstate) 280.”
“The recent reworking of this intersection (El Monte and Foothill) made it dangerous,” Los Altos resident Anne Paulson said of the recently completed Foothill Expressway upgrade project.
The project added auxiliary lanes in each direction on the expressway between the San Antonio and El Monte intersections. As part of the project, the county squared off the right-turn lanes and required full stops as opposed to through lanes.
“The county put down some green paint, but it is still dangerous,” Paulson said.
Adding to the Foothill feedback was a recent high-profile Nextdoor post from 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki, who has continually pointed to the problem intersection at Foothill and West Edith Avenue.
She said her son was nearly hit by a motorist making a through right-hand turn from Edith onto Foothill, with eyes on auto traffic but not the pedestrian using the intersection.
“As of recent, I haven’t been in touch directly with Los Altos staff specifically about this area, but this is also the first I’m hearing anything going on over here in addition to what people have noted on the interactive map,” Talbo said.
She added that the fall workshops will offer an opportunity for residents to sound off about the Foothill-West Edith intersection as well as other problem areas under county jurisdiction.
