San Mateo Creating Friendly Atmosphere For Bicyclists

San Mateo residents are trading in their four wheels for two, with the help of their county and city governments.

Over the past few years, both the county and city of San Mateo have adopted new pedestrian and bicycle master plans. And by doing so, San Mateo is leaning away from transportation by cars and improving its infrastructure to accommodate a bicycle-friendly atmosphere — in an effort to benefit the city in more ways than one.

“If we could just increase the percentage of people riding by just one or two percentage points, we should be able to see a drastic difference in traffic congestion and vehicle trips on the roadway,” San Mateo Project Manager Ken Chin said. “Overall, besides the traffic congestion itself, it’s just better for the environment.”

That’s one of the reasons San Mateo, specifically, has taken the steps it has to benefit cyclists. A laundry list of developments is in the works, Chin said, and a lot of that has to do with improving infrastructure.

“That includes more routes, more signage, more lane striping, more bicycle parking,” Chin said, “and the infrastructure amenities, like bicycle lockers, bicycle parking and bicycle racks.”

Chin also said the city is trying to work with the school district to promote safe routes for children to ride to class. That along with plans to have a bicycle facility from the Hayward Park Caltrain station to Delaware Street and a new pedestrian bicycle bridge over U.S. Highway 101 at Hillsdale Boulevard are some of the plans currently being mapped out.

Most of the improvements stem from the city’s master plan and the San Mateo County Comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. The 90-page document was created to make the county’s transportation system “more balanced, equitable and sustainable,” according to the plan.

And upon completing the plan, its goal is to reduce “automobile dependence, traffic congestion, pollution and the county’s carbon footprint while increasing mobility options, promoting healthy lifestyles, saving residents money and fostering social interaction.”

Even events within city limits have followed suit, encouraging residents to use bikes as well. The San Mateo Maker Faire encouraged riders to come to the event on bicycles. In turn, a reported 1,000 or so bikes pulled in throughout the day.

San Mateo, though, isn’t the only city in the county that has put in an effort to improve bike culture. In March, the Atherton City Council voted to release $39,980 to improve main bike routes throughout the town. Later that month, Pacifica engineers requested $688,000 in grant money for improvements to the city’s coastal trails.

But for the second-largest city in the county, its master plan has — and still is — creating an environment where bicycling is encouraged. And with the developments in the works, and more to come, San Mateo is setting out to be one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the county.

“We do have a recently adopted bicycle master plan and pedestrian master plan, therefore a lot of the infrastructure and programs that will be implemented over the next 5-10 years come from these plans,” Chin said. “That will not set us apart from the rest of the cities, but will put us in the lead pack.”

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