Dear Council Members:
 You may know that this Wednesday is a "Bike to School" day at M-A. I wholly support it, and wish M-A students would learn to reduce their reliance on single-person occupancy cars, or cars generally when they can reasonably manage without.
 However, I'm unsure I will recommend that our daughter participate. We live on the west side of town, and I bike to M-A or the Library occasionally -- so I know how dangerous that ride is. The traffic flow is high, the bike lane is narrow, there are rough areas in the gutter which can catch a wheel if you are not careful, cars sometimes drift into the bike lane, and crossing El Camino (and later Middlefield) is somewhat frightening. Given the many serious bike accidents involving wayward cars in this area, these fears are not exaggerated.
  So my suggestion is for Council to get bike safety high up on its priorities, if not for this Wednesday, then in the near future. Generally, I don't think MP redevelopment is going to be successful until there is major traffic calming on El Camino and some of the major ateries. In many European cities, when traffic becomes excessive, the solution is to radically reduce access by changing roadway use, taxation or other methods. That's what we need to start doing in MP. Improving bike safety through simple, possibly temporary pilot measures, would be a good first step. Some changes could mean negotiations with Cal Trans, since (as I understand it) they manage traffic on El Camino Real. If so, then we need to initiate that process and the needed support for it also.
 Sincerely,
 John Kadvany / 1070 College

From the M-A "eNotes":
BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY, WEDNESDAY
Okay everyone, get pumped because the environmental committee will be having a Bike to School Day on Wednesday, November 28th from 7:20 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. by the vending machines and the M-Wing. They will be providing free breakfast and in addition you will be able to purchase some delicious hot chocolate! So, help save our environment and bike to school this Wednesday! Received on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:55:26 -0800