Hollenbeck Avenue is a major north-south corridor cutting through the south half of Sunnyvale. Currently, Hollenbeck does not have bike lanes, preventing many people from biking on it. Those who do bike on Hollenbeck do so with a heightened risk of collision. Bike lanes on Hollenbeck would greatly improve the safety and convenience of biking in Sunnyvale. Proposed by Sunnyvale's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) in 2021 and funded in 2023, a study to explore the potential of bike lanes on Hollenbeck is currently underway.
Many destinations on and around Hollenbeck
The segment of Hollenbeck being considered for bike lanes is 1.6 miles long, stretching from just south of El Camino Real at Danforth Drive to just north of Homestead Road at Alberta Avenue. There are already bike lanes north and south of this segment. Hollenbeck serves many destinations on and around it, including 3 private schools, 6 public schools whose attendance areas include Hollenbeck, 3 parks, Civic Center, main library, downtown, Caltrain, Fairbrae Swim & Racquet Club, 4 churches, Cupertino, and many residential neighborhoods. The parallel roads, Sunnyvale-Saratoga Avenue and Mary Avenue, cannot replace Hollenbeck as bikeways because they are 1 mile roundtrip out of the way and Sunnyvale-Saratoga is treacherous, being a 6-lane arterial with cars traveling up to 50 mph. Hollenbeck, which changes names to Stelling Road in Cupertino, is an important gateway into Cupertino because it allows cyclists to cross Hwy 280 without the dangers of freeway on-ramps and off-ramps. In contrast, crossings at Sunnyvale-Saratoga and Wolfe Road are unsafe because of the freeway on-ramps and off-ramps. Eastward, the next safe crossing is Blaney, which is 1 mile away.
Bike-Car collisions on Hollenbeck
Hollenbeck has seen more than its share of collisions. In a recent 5-year period (2019-2023), Hollenbeck experienced 2.35 crashes per million vehicle miles (MVM) traveled, more than the 1.68 crashes/MVM statewide average for similar class roadways. In this 5 year period, there were 5 collisions between a cyclist and a vehicle along the segment of Hollenbeck under consideration. [Ref: Sunnyvale BPAC presentation, Sep 19, 2024].
BPAC and community want bike lanes
At the recent BPAC and community meetings in September to discuss Hollenbeck bike lanes, commissioners and community members weighed in on the need for bike lanes on Hollenbeck. One mother pleaded with the city to put in bike lanes soon because she worries about the safety of her son who bikes to Challenger School. Another mother biked with her children on the sidewalk in order to reach the library and Caltrain, noting that no parent would allow their children to ride on the roadway. An experienced cyclist said she avoids riding on Hollenbeck because it's dangerous. Cupertino residents need to bike on Hollenbeck to get to Caltrain and other Sunnyvale destinations. Whenever cyclists come upon a parked car, they have to swerve into car traffic and hold it up as they cycle past the parked car, sometimes experiencing harrassment from drivers. One father called Hollenbeck the "black diamond of bikeways".
Bike lanes should override street parking
A few community members were concerned about possibly losing street parking in front of their house if bike lanes were installed. Retaining street parking on even one side of Hollenbeck, however, would not leave enough room for sufficient bike facilities, compromising safety for all.
Hollenbeck today has 2 drive lanes and 2 parking lanes, but no bike lanes. In this study, Hollenbeck could be re-designed to have bike lanes. The design could have 11' drive lanes, typical of city streets, 4' bike lanes, as recommended in the VTA Bicycle Technical Guidelines, 3' buffers, and 2' gutters. The drive lanes could be further narrowed to 10' each on sections where buses don't travel. Narrowing drive lanes will reclaim space for other uses and slow down car traffic, making the road safer for all users. With 10' drive lanes, an 8' parking lane would still not fit unless we compromise safety by eliminating the bike lane buffers. However, with school children biking on the road and with the city goal of building bike infrastructure for all ages and abilities, bike lane buffers are essential.
Parking space costs money to create and maintain. The City currently bears this cost for the benefit of relatively few people who park on Hollenbeck. Instead, the City needs to spend public money for public good, which in this case is bike lanes.
Without street parking, residences on Hollenbeck still have other parking options. Hollenbeck residences typically have a 2-car garage and a 2-car driveway, totaling 4 parking spaces on each property. If these 4 parking spaces are not enough, one can park on side streets, which generally occur at a cadence of every 500' on Hollenbeck, so the farthest one would have to walk on average is 250'.
Street parking usage is low, around 10% based on several samples. Stelling Road, the extension of Hollenbeck in Cupertino, has houses on both sides, and it already has buffered bike lanes with no street parking. Hollenbeck can follow suit.
City policy prioritizes bike lanes over parking
City policy unambiguously prioritizes bike lanes over street parking. City policy also says to eliminate direct and hidden subsidies of car parking. [Ref: Sunnyvale Land Use and Transportation Element, LT 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.13].
Sunnyvale's Vision Zero Plan aims to eliminate all traffic deaths and severe injuries by 2039. One of its guiding principles states, "Safety is a primary consideration in the development of transportation projects for all users." Bike lanes on Hollenbeck is one requisite step toward our Vision Zero goal.
Give your input now
The Hollenbeck study will have further opportunities for public input. The first set of BPAC and community input meetings occured in September 2024. The second set will happen in Q1 2025, when alternatives will be presented. In Q2 2025, alternatives will be further refined with Council and BPAC input. Finally, Council will make a decision on the preferred alternative in Q3 2025.
Now is a good time to provide your input to the project manager, Erik Trujillo, etrujillo@sunnyvale.ca.gov. Ask for bike lanes on Hollenbeck. Say why bike lanes are necessary. Give your personal testimony biking on Hollenbeck, or not biking on Hollenbeck as the case may be.
About the Author
Sharlene Liu is Founder and Chair of Sunnyvale Safe Streets. She is a former Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commissioner and a mom of daughters who biked and walked to school.