Project Description

The McLaughlin Avenue Complete Streets Project will improve safety for people who walk, roll, and bike along McLaughlin Avenue from Story Road to William Street. McLaughlin Avenue is a key north-south corridor. The street connects communities to restaurants, markets, schools, and other essential services. It is also one of the only ways to cross the I-280/680 interchange in this part of the City. The goal of this project is to make McLaughlin Avenue a more complete street. Whether walking, bicycling, riding transit, or driving, you can feel safe and welcome.

In 2019, as part of San José’s Better Bike Plan 2025 and En Movimiento: A Transportation Plan for East San José, community members shared concerns over speeding, limited crossings, and limited placement of transit stops. In turn, this has impacted the safety of people who walk, roll, and bike on McLaughlin Avenue. In the near-term, this project aims to address those community concerns and further City goals. This project calls for the following improvements:

• Protected and buffered bike lanes
• Enhanced safety features for people who walk and roll
• Upgraded and relocated transit stops to better serve community needs
• The McLaughlin Avenue Complete Streets Project will use a phased approach to reach the corridor’s complete street vision.

Phase One: Quick-Build

In spring 2022, the City of San José resurfaced McLaughlin Avenue from William Street to Story Road as part of its annual pavement maintenance program. When a roadway is resurfaced, it must be restriped as well. Using this opportunity, San José DOT worked with community members to design upgraded bicycle facilities, upgrade and add pedestrian crossings, and install transit boarding islands.

The quick-build approach allows us to realize the benefits of a project sooner. Quick-build projects usually only need paint and plastic materials. This helps to keep costs down and timelines shorter. However, these materials are not made to last. They are temporary and the City should replace them within a few years.

Phase One Timeline:

Planning:

• Spring 2019: Existing Conditions
• Summer 2019: Project Identification
• Winter to fall 2021: Conceptual Designs and Cost Estimates

Phase One Implementation:

• Fall 2021 to spring 2022: Project design
• Summer 2022: Resurfacing
• Summer to fall 2022: Striping
• Fall 2022: Flex post installation
• Fall 2023: Transit boarding island installation
• TBD: Pedestrian crossings at Sunny Court and Appian Lane construction

Protected bike lanes are one of the best ways to make a safe and inviting route for riders of all ages and abilities.

Transit boarding islands improve transit service, keep sidewalks clear, and make walking and biking safer.

Phase Two: Long-term Improvements

Phase two of the project will build from lessons learned from the quick-build treatments in phase one. During phase two, the City will design and construct long-term treatments using more robust materials. For example, protected bike lines could be raised, constructed out of asphalt and concrete, and include planters as seen in the below image.

As with phase one, the phase two design process will include opportunities for community input. DOT is already exploring funding opportunities for phase two.

Phase Two Timeline

Phase Two Implementation:

• TBD: Funding
• TBD: Design
• TBD: Construction

On Hold: New Pedestrian Crossings

The community wants new crossings at Sunny Court and Appian Lane. City engineers evaluated these locations. They determined that new crossings would not meet safety standards under current conditions. However, if the treatments highlighted above can sufficiently reduce average speeds, the City will construct the new crossings.

City Goals

This project supports several City and DOT goals and plans:

• En Movimiento: A Transportation Plan for East San José
  • Local Economy: Provide an inviting setting for people who walk, bike, and take transit on streets with businesses, in an effort to support local retail and provide connections to the needs of daily life for all residents.
  • Community Serving: Provide transportation improvements that the community has asked for to meet the needs of all people who walk, bike, and take transit in the neighborhood.
  • Safety and Health: Eliminate traffic-related crashes, particularly near schools, transit stops, retail, and community centers.
  • Climate: Reduce emissions, meet the City’s Climate Smart San José goals, and make it easier to get around without driving a car.
  • Cost Effectiveness: Provide a high public return on investment and low operations and maintenance costs.
  • Deliverability: Streamline the street improvement implementation process.
• Envision San José 2040 Plan
  • Goal CD 1.9: Give the greatest priority to developing high-quality pedestrian facilities in areas that will most promote transit use and bicycle and pedestrian activity
  • Goal CD 2.1: Promote the Circulation Goals and Policies in this Plan
• Better Bike Plan 2025
  • Safety
  • Mode shift
  • Equity
• Vision Zero San José
  • Reduce and eliminate severe injuries and deaths
• Climate Smart San José
  • Strategy 2: Reduce the miles we travel in our vehicles by at least 20%
  • Carbon Neutrality: Communitywide carbon neutrality by 2030
• Move San José Plan
  • Strategy 1: Safer streets
  • Strategy 6: Low-stress bike facilities and slow streets
  • Strategy 9: Enhance bike connectivity

Project Updates

• Spring 2022: Phase one repaving complete
• Summer 2022: Phase one initial striping complete
• Summer 2022: Phase one secondary striping complete

Community Engagement

• Phase one quick-build outreach summary
• En Movimiento Community Advisory Group meetings
• Phase one quick-build community mailer

Resources

• Phase one quick-build final plan

Funding

• This project is funded in part though San José’s annual pavement program. The pavement program is made possible by recent voter-approved tax and bond measures, including Measure B, Measure T, and Senate Bill 1.
• This project is also funded by the California State Transportation Development Act. This law provides funding to be allocated to transit and non-transit related purposes that comply with regional transportation plans.