New path will link Anzar High School to city of San Juan
Bautista
Construction on a 3.5-mile bicycle lane designed to improve
mobility and student safety from the northwestern edge of San Juan
Bautista to Anzar High School is expected to begin in the
spring.
The approximately seven-foot-wide lanes will run on both sides
of San Juan Highway and include signage, striping and stenciling to
alert motorists that Anzar students and bicycle enthusiasts will be
using the pathway.
New path will link Anzar High School to city of San Juan Bautista
Construction on a 3.5-mile bicycle lane designed to improve mobility and student safety from the northwestern edge of San Juan Bautista to Anzar High School is expected to begin in the spring.
The approximately seven-foot-wide lanes will run on both sides of San Juan Highway and include signage, striping and stenciling to alert motorists that Anzar students and bicycle enthusiasts will be using the pathway.
“We’re really excited about the project,” said Veronica Lezama, transportation planner for the San Benito County Council of Governments (COG). “As soon as we get in the construction phase, we’ll initiate an educational campaign to focus not only on the bicyclists using the lane but on motorists; telling them that students will be there.”
The project, estimated to cost $2.1 million, is being funded from a variety of sources, including a Safe Routes to School account, state bicycle transportation funding and money from the Monterey Bay Air Pollution Control District.
“It’s definitely going to benefit not only students but those who want to do recreational cycling,” Lezama said.
Meanwhile, the COG board will consider adopting the San Benito County Bikeway and Pedestrian Master Plan at its Dec. 17 meeting. The plan, developed in the 1990s and last updated seven years ago, serves multiple purposes: it sets guidelines for planners and developers to use when considering accessibility issues for new projects and it makes it easier for local cities and the county to receive grant funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects.
A series of public meetings were held to gather input on the plan, which includes maps showing safe routes for children to walk or ride their bicycles to local schools.
“We’ve gotten a really good response from the community,” said Lezama, who noted that the safe routes component was essential because approximately one-third of San Benito County residents are under the age of 18.
In addition to establishing grant funding eligibility for the county and local cities, the development of the plan has helped trigger the upgrade of local railroad crossings, which – when not properly maintained – are a hazard for bicyclists.
The safe routes to school brochure is being developed for school districts throughout the county, with a target completion date of July so it can be handed out to students before the start of the 2010-11 school year.
As an offshoot of the Bikeway and Pedestrian Master Plan, an advisory committee in September sent letters to local businesses to gauge how or whether they provide bicycle parking.
“Available bicycle parking at local businesses is a benefit for both businesses and bicycle users,” the letter stated. “Encouraging bicycle travel to your business will promote cleaner air and healthy living, for a more sustainable San Benito County.”
Lezama said she has received responses from about one-third of the nearly 60 businesses to which the letter was sent.
“We want to get an idea if businesses are interested in providing bicycle racks and what we can do as a local agency to encourage that,” she said. “A lot of businesses are struggling, so we want to encourage pedestrian travel to those places.”
Pedestrian safety is the goal of two lighted crosswalks planned for local roadways that are expected to get heavy foot traffic once construction projects are completed.
At its November meeting, COG allocated funding for a lighted crosswalk at the corner of Monterey and Fourth streets, near the new county courthouse expected to open by 2012. The agency also provided partial funding for a similar crosswalk on Sunset Drive near Hazel Hawkins Hospital, which is in the process of expanding its facility.
Both crosswalks, which will be similar to the lighted crosswalk on Nash Road near Monterey Street by San Benito High School, are expected to be built after the adjoining construction projects are finished.
