IMMINENT CHANGES TO CUPERTINO'S DE ANZA BLVD

Cupertino residents and commuters are about to be impacted by a lane reduction on De Anza Blvd slated to occur in late August / early September. Our City has approved a buffered bike lane project along this major thoroughfare spanning from Homestead Rd in the north down to Bollinger Rd in the south. Plans call for:

• Reducing traffic lanes from 4 lanes down to 3 lanes going northbound between Stevens Creek and Lazaneo;
• Reducing traffic lanes from 4 lanes down to 3 lanes going southbound between Stevens Creek and Bollinger;
• Narrowing the existing lanes in 3-lane traffic areas on De Anza Blvd.

This petition asks that the City of Cupertino postpone the re-striping of De Anza Blvd until:

1. A traffic study is conducted to determine the impact the plan will have on traffic congestion and driver safety with reduced and narrowed lanes in Cupertino; and
2. The City receives additional input from residents regarding permanent changes to De Anza Blvd. 

PERMANENT CHANGES WITHOUT KNOWING ITS EFFECT

The plans for a buffered bike lane along De Anza Blvd originated from a 2016 Bicycle Transportation Plan. Unfortunately, the Project Manager and City Transportation Manager have confirmed that no traffic study has been conducted to actually calculate the effect of this project. In fact, a number of the City's councilmembers were unaware that the plan called for lane reductions when the budget for this project was approved earlier this year.

Creating means of safer bike transportation is certainly worthy of upgrades along De Anza Blvd. But the current project as designed may be permanently detrimental to congestion and safety in other ways that should be studied.

• What effect will reducing lanes have on congestion during peak traffic hours?
• Will narrowing of lanes affect driver safety? Commercial trucks use De Anza Blvd heavily travelling northbound toward 280/Sunnyvale and southbound toward 85/Saratoga.

Let the City know that lane reductions on De Anza Blvd should be postponed until some actual diligence is done on its impact to residents and commuters in Cupertino.