Sunnyvale staff propose Class 2B buffered bike lane on Matilda Avenue to close network gap

City of Sunnyvale staff presented the Matilda Bike Lane Study at a community meeting, proposing to convert one vehicle lane on Matilda Avenue between the US-101 off-ramp and Maude Avenue into a Class 2B buffered bike lane to close an existing southbound gap and align with the northbound configuration.

The plan is intended to “improve the safety for bicyclists by installing the new Class 2B buffered bike lane,” Project Manager Vin Lee said during the presentation. Staff said the configuration would match the existing northbound lane treatment and would include green intersection markings at conflict points per city policy.

The study notes that the northbound direction already has a three-lane cross section with a buffered bike lane; the southbound direction in the study segment currently has four travel lanes and no bike lane. Models run for the project show small average increases in vehicle delay if one lane is removed: about three seconds in the morning peak, 12 seconds in the evening peak and six seconds on weekends, staff said. The proposed bike-lane cross-section would provide a six-foot bike lane and a roughly six- to seven-foot buffer.

The project is drawn from the City of Sunnyvale’s Active…