Alameda Bicycle Boulevard

Alameda Bicycle Boulevard, San Jose, California (Illustration: Chiaki Koyama)
illustration: Chiaki Koyama

I am truly excited about San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s vision and his backing of healthy transportation alternates such as cycling. But while the current bicycle plan calls for about 250 new miles of bicycle routes, they mainly consist of painted lines on shared roads. Other cities throughout the U.S. and world are building true, dedicated bicycle infrastructure.

This presentation was created on behalf of all of those who would like to cycle around town, yet find it difficult to ride in tiny painted lanes through debris, on roads where traffic is passing within inches at 5x the speed.

This theoretical design presents the Alameda as a true bicycle boulevard, as seen in Netherlands, Spain, France, Korea and Japan among others.

These slides are not meant as concrete plans, but rather to help facilitate new discussions. Special thanks to San Jose State University Design student, Chiaki Koyama for the beautifully painted site illustration which you will see on the final slide.

Press the play button below to move through the slides.

Patrick Lydon

Author:Patrick Lydon

Lydon combines aesthetics, written word, and social interaction to help re-think the world we live in. Before starting sociecity, he did a decade of designing, coding, and writing books for Silicon Valley technology firms while studying Art at San Jose State University. Since then, he has traveled throughout East Asia, Europe, and the U.S. both as a student and teacher, interacting with people, art, nature, and the places we live. He is currently conducting postgraduate work at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

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2 Responses to “Alameda Bicycle Boulevard”

  1. September 26, 2011 at 7:30 pm #

    A far better plan. Has it gotten any traction?

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Transforming Suburbia into Eco-Utopia (part 3) | Sociecity - May 24, 2012

    [...] next photo we look at is a mockup that sociecity produced in 2011 for an article on the Alameda Bicycle Boulevard. I take the opportunity to ask Hans about the feasibility of a center lane that is physically [...]

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