Out of the Honda: Hitting the streets as a novice bicyclist Out of the Honda: Hitting the streets as a novice bicyclist (December 29, 2004)

Reporter explores the pros and cons of Menlo Park's bike network

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

So I was visiting a friend in Los Angeles and we decided to go to the movies.

The theater was just down the street. And yet there was my friend, jangling her car keys from one finger.

"Aren't we going to walk?" I asked. She looked at me like I was nuts.

The story's good for a chuckle. But when I watched the Menlo Park City Council adopt a citywide bicycle plan on December 14, I realized that I'm just as bad as an Angeleno.

The plan points out gaps in the bike network and tries to attract new cyclists by showing desirable routes around town. Suddenly it struck me that when I go to the library or the store I never even think of not taking my Honda.

As a suburbanite-slash-novice cyclist, I may be a fine example of the type the bike proponents are trying to reach.

Granted, I did ride everywhere at U.C. Davis, but there the school mascot is the Schwinn. Even the bike lanes have bike lanes. So I thought it was time to check out the mean streets of Menlo Park.

Starting at Menlo-Atherton High School, I picked three of the many routes recommended in the bike plan, which was created by bicycle commissioners, other residents and Berkeley consultants Alta Planning + Design.
Route 1: The Willows

John Fox chairs Menlo Park's Bicycle Commission, but even he discovered new routes while researching the bike plan. He said riding through one corner of the Willows area was a revelation.

"I had never seen this neighborhood at all. It had older houses and a lot of architectural character," he said.

I decided to follow in his footsteps. From busy Ringwood Avenue, I turned right on Coleman Avenue and had a lovely, calm ride into the Willows. I had forgotten how much you miss when you're sealed up in a car, and I enjoyed hearing the trees rustling and the wind whispering in my ears.

Pope Street was so peaceful that it was surprising to reach the Palo Alto border at the Chaucer Street bridge over San Francisquito Creek and to see the traffic ahead on University Avenue. It wouldn't take much time at all to get to downtown Palo Alto.

There would be fewer surprises for cyclists if one of the recommendations in the plan came to pass. On this route, as on some others, the bike plan advises adding "wayfinding signs" that would direct cyclists to bike facilities, such as the bridges crossing the creek into Palo Alto and the bike path along the Bayfront.
Route 2: Belle Haven

For the next ride, I brought in an expert.

My father, Don, commuted by bike for years from Menlo Park to his office in Palo Alto off Embarcadero Road. He still bicycles many places, including to downtown Menlo Park and Palo Alto and to various local libraries.

We set as our destination the Onetta Harris Community Center in the Belle Haven neighborhood on the east side of U.S. 101. I had been there many times by car, but had never seen the Ringwood Avenue bike/pedestrian bridge over the freeway.

It was a joy to avoid the traffic on Willow Road. But I agreed with the bike plan that safety could be improved with better lighting, emergency call boxes and better police presence. I wouldn't want to cross the gloomy concrete and metal bridge by myself at night.

My father, though, said he thought the overcrossing was fine. With its open top, it felt less like a cramped cage than some others he's been through, he said.

I wouldn't have minded a few wayfinding signs in Belle Haven. I was used to following the green signs that point cars to Onetta Harris from Willow Road. But there weren't any for bikes where the overcrossing dumped us out, so it took us a little time to find our destination.

Still, the residential streets of Belle Haven provided a pleasant ride. A hammock swung lazily in a yard, and we were serenaded by ice cream trucks.
Route 3: Downtown

While assembling the bike plan, the consultants asked residents why they don't cycle more often. The most common reason was safety.

I could sympathize. In Davis there are so many separate bike paths that I easily avoided mingling with cars. So the idea of having the hot breath of SUVs at my back was novel and not particularly pleasant. Nonetheless, for my third Menlo Park ride, I headed downtown on my own.

I pedaled up Ravenswood Avenue's clearly painted bike lane. But as I approached the railroad tracks, suddenly there were two car lanes and the bike lane disappeared. I fled onto the sidewalk.

Then I figured I wasn't supposed to be riding on the sidewalk, and I know entirely too many people in the Menlo Park Police Department to embarrass myself by getting a ticket. So I got off and walked.

I just didn't feel safe shoehorning myself into the flow of traffic across the tracks and El Camino Real. To cross El Camino I would have traffic to my left and right in the turn lanes. There were cars everywhere, honking and groaning. When you're on a bike, you remember just how loud a car is.

I dropped all journalistic bravado. I wasn't crossing at Ravenswood for love or money.

I walked to the train station and rode across El Camino at Santa Cruz Avenue, an intersection that is still busy but doesn't have a dedicated right-turn lane. I felt much better not having cars on all sides.

Also, I followed another cyclist, who seemed remarkably calm about the whole thing. In fact, he chatted on his cell phone the whole way.
To tunnel or not to tunnel?

Apparently, I am not alone in balking. Bicycle Commission chair John Fox says the tracks and El Camino are "a big barrier" for many cyclists, especially at Ravenswood.

San Mateo Drive resident Catherine McMillan said she would never let her children ride across El Camino alone. The family enjoys riding in west Menlo Park and the Willows, but she said she'd bicycle a lot more if she felt safer getting over the tracks and the royal road.

"Crossing that great divide between the two sections of the city is really important, even psychologically important," she said.

Because of this concern, the bike plan recommends looking into creating a bicycle/pedestrian tunnel under the tracks, between Ravenswood and Middle avenues.

Cyclists would still cross El Camino, but they would have an alternative to Ravenswood, said Brett Hondorp, project manager at Alta Planning + Design.

For example, the intersection at Middle has many fewer vehicles because Middle dead-ends on the east side of El Camino into a car dealership. Cyclists could cross at the signal and ride under the tracks, assuming that the city could get access through the dealership site.

The tunnel project could cost $3 million, but the cost could be reduced if a tunnel were built as part of projects to separate the tracks and roads at Menlo Park's railway crossings, city staff say.

An undercrossing could also reopen a debate that raged in 2002 about a tunnel proposed near Cambridge Avenue and Willow Road. Neighbors said it could harbor homeless people and vandals, and the idea was dropped.

All the projects in this year's bike plan would need to be budgeted for separately before becoming reality. But Santa Cruz Avenue resident Pat White already opposes the undercrossing.

"Adding bicycles to the already gridlocked El Camino Real or downtown of Menlo Park would be a recipe for many accidents and injuries," he wrote to the Almanac last week. "Bicycles should be walked through downtown and not allowed on El Camino."
INFORMATION

To see Menlo Park's new bicycle plan, go to www.menlopark.org, go to "City Project Pages," and click on "Transportation Projects." Or call 330-6770.

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