To discourage speeding, pavement work crews this summer are narrowing some of the vehicle lanes on several streets in San Jose, including Kooser Road and Curtner and Union avenues, and adding bike lanes.

Kooser Road has been particularly problematic, transportation department deputy director Jessica Zenks said in an interview last week. At the behest of neighbors, she said, the wide four-lane street will be reconfigured to one lane in each direction plus a center turn lane between Camden Avenue and Blossom Hill Road.

“People are speeding even more than they are on Union and Curtner,” Zenks said. “This is a residential street and people are going 43 mph. The community is overwhelmingly in favor of a road diet.”

While the street’s generous width has attracted some speed demons, Zenks said it also works in residents’ favor because no parking spaces will need to be eliminated to accommodate buffered bike lanes in each direction.

Zenks added that Curtner will be repaved “all the way from Booksin (Avenue) and going westward to the city limits.” And the bike lanes on Curtner will extend all the way down to Tully Road to create a continuous route for riders.

“That (road) already has some improved bikeways as well, so that’s a really strong crossing corridor once we finish it,” Zenks added.

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February 1, 2017 Palo Alto road diet: Rush hour route gets squeezed Both Union and Curtner will have their lanes narrowed and some parking spaces removed to make room for more bike lanes as well–about 55 spaces on Curtner and up to 70 on Union.

“Each of the lanes that remain will be a bit narrower because we’re hearing that people speed,” Zenks said. “It will also give the impression to drivers that they should be going a little bit more slowly. When you have 10-foot lanes on average, it’s a clear signal that this is not a freeway, this is people’s houses, and that’s very important.”

Although residents adjacent to Union were reportedly not happy about losing any parking spots near their homes for left turns, Zenks said staff “tried to be very judicious” about removing as few as possible and which ones. Staff noted that “people who use the parking that may be removed can find another space to park within one block.” Staff also noted it’s still reviewing parking impacts and how to minimize them.

“We’ve done design plans and really tried to minimize where that parking would need to be removed,” she said. “We try to design to minimize any hardship for people because we understand some people have mobility challenges.”

The transportation department is also proposing to either enhance or add bike lanes down the corridor between Booksin and Bascom avenues to intersect with existing bike lanes on Curtner. Meanwhile, a plan to widen part of Branham Lane received a $2 million infusion from the city council last week.