Castro Valley Boulevard was repaved recently, and in accordance with the Castro Valley Bike/Pedestrian Master Plan approved by the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) and Board of Supervisors (BOS), bicycle lanes were implemented on the Boulevard between Redwood and Five Canyons Rd. However, in a meeting last week, the CV MAC held a vote (an illegal vote, according to the Brown Act) insisting on the removal of these just-installed bicycle lanes. They alleged with no evidence that loss of parking hurt local businesses by removing parking spots along the Boulevard.

The businesses affected are:
MeiMei/HL Peninsula -- 9 spots were removed but their parking lot accommodates 300+ vehicles. MAC member Ray Davis said he personally worked with the owners to identify a more efficient parking lot that would have added a significant number of spaces, but the owners chose not to pursue this. Apparently parking is not their primary concern.
KB Homes -- 6 spots were removed near the new apartments, but many more were added around the corner on Norbridge. No businesses were affected.
Nobody's Perfekt Dogs and Cat Rescue -- 3 spots were removed, but they have onsite parking that is not used in the front and side.
Burrito Shop -- One parking spot was removed in front. Customers have multiple alternatives on adjoining Norbridge and Aspen Streets which are underutilized.
Many MAC members expressed desire for a "compromise", but the present design IS the compromise. Much more parking was retained than removed. All of the parking on the north side of the Boulevard from Redwood to Forest was preserved, and all parking east of Marshall on both sides was retained. Public Works explicitly installed sharrows instead of bike lanes between Marshall and Center in order to preserve parking. In total, there were 23 spots removed from the south side (where demand was sporadic) and 12 on the north side, where RVs and cars for sale were parked for long periods of time.

On the other hand, bicycle lanes are needed along CV Blvd for the following reasons:
The BOS have approved many policies that call for bike lanes along CV Blvd, including the Complete Streets Policy, The Castro Valley Bike/Pedestrian Master Plan, CV General Plan, CV Business Specific Plan and the Climate Action Plan. These should guide any decisions made by a CV MAC that blatantly disregards the overwhelming number of public commenters who largely spoke in favor of keeping the bicycle lanes.
The CV Blvd bike lanes connect residents to the east with bike lanes on Norbridge and Redwood that lead right into BART, making public transit more usable. The bike/BART combination is powerful, allowing people to transport themselves all over the Bay Area without a car.
Removing bicycle lanes that have been freshly installed is a complete waste of taxpayer money. Rather than wasting money removing the bicycle lanes, Public Works should be spending that on additional projects to improve public safety. Handing out public space to businesses that already have their own parking instead of using the space to transport people -- 80+ cyclists per day, according to Public Works' count. It is highly doubtful that more than 80 people use any of those parking spots in a day.
CV Blvd is used as a major East-West thoroughfare by a variety of students, seniors on e-bikes, and others in CV. Bike lanes help keep these vulnerable road users safe. Multiple studies have repeatedly shown that streets with bike lanes reduce the frequency of crashes. SafeTrec has reported 8 injury accidents involving bicycles along this part of CV Blvd in the past 5 years, which is widely thought to be an undercount of near misses and unreported incidents.
Given the continued popularity of e-bikes, building more bicycle lanes is a necessary step to reduce pollution, drawing more people out of their cars in favor of making trips by bicycle.
The speed limit on CV Blvd is 35 mph there, while a typical cyclist is riding about 12 mph. Bike lanes promote the flow of traffic so that drivers are not stuck behind slow bicycles travelling in car lanes.
Since they were installed, bicycle lanes have done what law enforcement has been unable or unwilling to accomplish over the years: clean up the delinquent RVs and cars for sale on the north side of CV Blvd near the former Rite Aid store. Improving CV's image is another good reason to keep the bicycle lanes.

For these reasons, we, the undersigned, petition the Board Of Supervisors to REJECT the removal of bicycle lanes on Castro Valley Boulevard.