San Jose cyclists unhappy with traffic safety barriers

Traffic safety improvements meant to protect San Jose and Los Gatos may have actually made cycling on a busy road more dangerous, bicycle riders said.

San Jose transportation department workers recently added plastic barriers known as “bollards” along Los Gatos Almaden Road to protect cyclists in the bike lane from reckless drivers. City leaders made the decision to add them after approving the City Better Bike Plan 2025, which activated the road as a protected bike lane. But after cyclist Alayne Yellum said a vehicle struck her husband, Don Yellum, in July, she questions whether the plastic barriers are partly to blame.

Her husband has made a full recovery, but Alayne said the bollards are too high and create a blind spot for distracted drivers.

“The idea behind the bollards is to get you to slow down, look over your shoulder and then make your right hand turn. Well, we all know some people just don’t slow down,” she told San José Spotlight. “They don’t look for bikes.”

A Dec. 6 email reviewed by San José Spotlight shows transportation officials responded to the concerns by installing a yield sign above Los Gatos Almaden Road’s busiest intersection on Union Avenue, along with doubling the amount of bollards.

Transportation department employees plan to connect with students at Union Middle and Leigh High schools to educate them on how to navigate the intersection. As part of outreach effort, transportation officials shared flyers promoting San Jose’s initiative aimed at achieving zero traffic fatalities.

“It’s not really a safe intersection for cyclists or pedestrians, especially kids when they’re going to and from school,” Don Yellum told San José Spotlight. “Shouldn’t the sign be 20 or 30 yards away to alert drivers?”

A field investigation determined the existing sign is adequate, transportation officials said.

“We received reports of vehicles driving between the delineators to make the right turn from eastbound Los Gatos Almaden to southbound Union to attempt to bypass cars lined up at the signal,” city transportation spokesperson Colin Heyne told San José Spotlight. “Based on this information, extra bollards were added approaching the intersection.”

The bollards along Los Gatos Almaden Road aim to slow down drivers and provide a barrier protecting the bike lane, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Deputy Director Deanna Chevas said.

Nevertheless, the city’s bicycle safety efforts haven’t been enough to mitigate the high levels of distracted driving and speeding in recent years, she added. San Jose saw its highest rate of traffic fatalities in recent history in 2022 with 65 reported deaths. That number dropped to 49 last year, according to the Vision Zero task force.

“San Jose’s (Department of Transportation) has also run a communication campaign to inform drivers of how easily they can influence street safety by slowing down and being watchful. Perhaps more driver education and enforcement are needed to change driver behavior,” Chevas told San José Spotlight.
Alayne Yellum said she’s thankful city transportation officials followed up with safety improvements. But she fears other cyclists might get injured the way her husband did if the 4-foot-tall bollards remain.

“I just don’t go that way anymore. I completely avoid the corner,” she told San José Spotlight.