Sunday, May 03, 2009

The Amazing Mary Ave Bike/Ped Bridge!

The new Sunnyvale-Cupertino bicycle-pedestrian bridge at Mary Avenue is wonderful and beautiful night and day. This is one amazing bridge!




However there are at least 3 issues that need correction to let this masterpiece achieve perfection:

1) The bollards at each end of the bridge are a bit hazardous to bicyclists.
2) The main approach paths to the bridge are a bit narrow leading to more conflict than necessary between bicyclists and pedestrians.
3) The Sunnyvale intersection at Mary and Homestead has a problem because there is no safe and natural way for bicyclists traveling north bound onto Mary to get across this intersection.

#1 & #2 could be solved simply by making the approach paths wider:
The extra width would allow both bicyclists and wheelchair users to go to the right of each bollard in their direction without catching a wheel on the edge of the path in the dirt.

As for #3, the Mary and Homestead intersection in Sunnyvale, I think the easiest solution is to open the gate to allow northbound cyclists to pass through the Homestead High School parking lot and into the right lane heading north on Mary.

Cheers,
Tim

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I didn't have a problem with the bollards on my ride the other day. The bridge was somewhat congested but I expect that to diminish over time. But I must agree about the intersection of Mary and Homestead. Its very lame. In addition to there being no easy way for a bike to reintegrate with traffic, there is a ramp that almost looks like it's for this purpose but with a big Do Not Enter sign on it. That added to the confusion.

I guess even Civil Engineers have bugs.

Brian B.