New Bike Connection
 

http://www.vta.org/News-and-Media/Connect-with-VTA/Pedestrian-Underpass-at-Santa-Clara-Caltrain-Station-Wins-Golden-State-Award

This is very useful. As the story states, the alternative was a very
long way around on a busy freeway-like overpass. Many people just ran
across multiple sets of operating tracks to get across.

New Bike Connection
 

On Fri, 9 Mar 2018 17:30:28 -0800, sms
wrote:

http://www.vta.org/News-and-Media/Connect-with-VTA/Pedestrian-Underpass-at-Santa-Clara-Caltrain-Station-Wins-Golden-State-Award

This is very useful. As the story states, the alternative was a very
long way around on a busy freeway-like overpass. Many people just ran
across multiple sets of operating tracks to get across.

A question. I looked up "Santa Clara Caltrain Station" on the Wicki
and it shows a photo of a "The new pedestrian tunnel as it appeared in
2012". Your reference says "Opened in July 2017". A new tunnel? A
makeover of the old tunnel?

--
Cheers,

John B.

New Bike Connection
 

On 2018-03-09 17:30, sms wrote:
http://www.vta.org/News-and-Media/Connect-with-VTA/Pedestrian-Underpass-at-Santa-Clara-Caltrain-Station-Wins-Golden-State-Award


This is very useful. As the story states, the alternative was a very
long way around on a busy freeway-like overpass. Many people just ran
across multiple sets of operating tracks to get across.


Probably nobody will ever know how many just didn't cycle because of the
previous condition. We even have that in our little village where people
refuse to cycle through a narrow underpass inbetween cars. So they ...
use their cars.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

New Bike Connection
 

On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 1:40:17 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-03-09 17:30, sms wrote:
http://www.vta.org/News-and-Media/Connect-with-VTA/Pedestrian-Underpass-at-Santa-Clara-Caltrain-Station-Wins-Golden-State-Award


This is very useful. As the story states, the alternative was a very
long way around on a busy freeway-like overpass. Many people just ran
across multiple sets of operating tracks to get across.


Probably nobody will ever know how many just didn't cycle because of the
previous condition. We even have that in our little village where people
refuse to cycle through a narrow underpass inbetween cars. So they ...
use their cars.

Here's a guess. Zero. Did you look at the tunnel? It provides access under some train tracks and cuts out having to ride or run over them elsewhere. It provides better access to the east end of Brokaw Rd. to CalTrans passengers. In the past, cyclists had to go out of their way to get over the tracks, or as SMS notes, run over the tracks with their bikes. It's certainly more convenient for CalTrans-commuting cyclists (and cyclists wanting to get to the east end of Brokaw at that alignment), but it's not any different than putting in another bridge or overpass over a river or rail yard or what-have-you. Living near Sacramento, you undoubtedly know about RR lines that cut up neighborhoods or cities and the PITA of finding a place to cross. As a practical matter, if you live north or south of the alignment, you just get east before the CalTrans station, and it's an entire non-issue. The equivalent to me is the new Tilicum Crossing: https://trimet.org/tilikum/ Lots of bicycle facilities that I could care less about. I cross the river north or south of that point and only take the bridge if I want to be annoyed by sight-seers on Biketown bikes.


-- Jay Beattie.

New Bike Connection
 

On 3/15/2018 7:16 AM, jbeattie wrote:

On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 1:40:17 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:

On 2018-03-09 17:30, sms wrote:

http://www.vta.org/News-and-Media/Connect-with-VTA/Pedestrian-Underpass-at-Santa-Clara-Caltrain-Station-Wins-Golden-State-Award


This is very useful. As the story states, the alternative was a very
long way around on a busy freeway-like overpass. Many people just ran
across multiple sets of operating tracks to get across.



Probably nobody will ever know how many just didn't cycle because of the
previous condition. We even have that in our little village where people
refuse to cycle through a narrow underpass inbetween cars. So they ...
use their cars.


Here's a guess. Zero. Did you look at the tunnel? It provides access under some train tracks and cuts out having to ride or run over them elsewhere. It provides better access to the east end of Brokaw Rd. to CalTrans passengers. In the past, cyclists had to go out of their way to get over the tracks, or as SMS notes, run over the tracks with their bikes. It's certainly more convenient for CalTrans-commuting cyclists (and cyclists wanting to get to the east end of Brokaw at that alignment), but it's not any different than putting in another bridge or overpass over a river or rail yard or what-have-you. Living near Sacramento, you undoubtedly know about RR lines that cut up neighborhoods or cities and the PITA of finding a place to cross. As a practical matter, if you live north or south of the alignment, you just get east before the CalTrans station, and it's an entire non-issue. The equivalent to me is the new Tilicum Crossing: https://trimet.org/tilikum/ Lots of bicycle facilities that I could care less about. I cross the river north or south of that point and only take the bridge if I want to be annoyed by sight-seers on Biketown bikes.


That under-crossing was especially important because there was no safe
pedestrian or bicycle crossing of the tracks for a very long way in
either direction. They built it pretty fast. If you want to take
Caltrain to the soccer stadium, it's now practical to do so. Costco is
also there though not many people in suburban areas take public transit
to Costco (disclaimer, when I was in London a few years ago I wanted to
go to Costco. It's far out in the suburbs. It took three trains and a
bus to get there https://warehouses.costco.co.uk/locations/chingford/).

New Bike Connection
 

On 3/15/2018 1:01 PM, sms wrote:

That under-crossing was especially important because there was no safe
pedestrian or bicycle crossing of the tracks for a very long way in
either direction. They built it pretty fast. If you want to take
Caltrain to the soccer stadium, it's now practical to do so. Costco is
also there though not many people in suburban areas take public transit
to Costco (disclaimer, when I was in London a few years ago I wanted to
go to Costco. It's far out in the suburbs. It took three trains and a
bus to get there https://warehouses.costco.co.uk/locations/chingford/).

FWIW, I'm definitely in favor of bike & pedestrian access crossing
barriers like railroad tracks and especially freeways.

It's very common to find neighborhoods or minor roads that were closed
off when freeways were built. In some cases, certain inner-city
neighborhoods became almost like islands, where there was no real access
out except by car. If the crossings were designed in when the freeways
were built, the cost penalty would have been a tiny part of the project
budget.

In our metro area, after a freeway river crossing was built, they
removed a bridge over the river that provided access for non-freeway
traffic: cars, bikes and pedestrians. That bridge was part of my normal
bike commute route to work. Losing it didn't bother me tremendously
because I could use another bridge (albeit a less pleasant one) maybe
half a mile upstream, and I was heading that direction anyway. It added
negligible distance.

But depending on his route, a pedestrian might have a mile added to
their trip by the loss of the old bridge. That's probably why I still
occasionally see pedestrians crossing illegally by using the freeway bridge.


--
- Frank Krygowski

New Bike Connection
 

On Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 3:00:58 PM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:

But depending on his route, a pedestrian might have a mile added to
their trip by the loss of the old bridge. That's probably why I still
occasionally see pedestrians crossing illegally by using the freeway bridge.

I have a freeway overpass, entrance, exit near me. I sometimes have to walk across it. And sometimes ride my bike over it too. No sidewalk. But I prefer to use overpasses or underpasses one mile east or west of the freeway exit bridge. For bicycling. No 6 lane, 45 mph roads.

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Check the NYT for a how to start you day photo of a maroon cab forward coupe withe bumper off

God bless you man if you were belted ..