To Sili Valley by transit + bike [Re: ANNOUNCEMENT - October 2002 B.A.D. Meeting in Walnut Creek]

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Tony Godshall (togo@of.net):

> 1. Is 237 OK?  SF Bay Trail map ...
> 
>   http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/baytrail/maps/bt_map3.html
> 
> ... indicates a segment of it is bike route.

One problem is ongoing(?) construction work in and around the 237/880 
interchange.  (I'm not sure it's still ongoing.)  At several points in
the past, California Dept. of Transportation workers have purported to 
bar bicyclists from crossing I-880, leading to an inconclusive war of
words with South Bay bicycling organisations, who claimed (with some
justification) that CalTrans lacked the legal authority to ban cyclists.
During one such stretch, I found signs on Calaveras Blvd. / 237 that
claimed it was illegal for me to proceed across the overpass.  I elected
to ignore it on numerous occasions, and had no problems.

Once past that barrier, things aren't too bad, except that you have to 
cross over CA-237 a couple of times to pick up the Bayside Trail again.
The signage isn't good.

> 2.  This seems to indicate that there's a way to cut the
> corner along 880 and hitting 237.  Well, perhaps not a
> shortcut but the only non-freeway takes you a ways East.

I assume that, by the latter, you're referring to Fremont Blvd. / Warm 
Springs Blvd. / Milpitas Blvd.  

Yes, there's a rather nasty frontage road for portions of the distance
along I-880.  I honestly don't recommend it.  The aforementioned road
isn't that far east, and is much, much more pleasant.

> This favors the SJ route, I guess.

It's kind of a wash.  If you cross the Dumbarton and swashbuckle your
way through East Palo Alto (honestly, no longer threatening, as it was
in some prior decades), you can if nothing else proceed along US-101's 
frontage roads on one side or the other.  (You can't go all of that 
distance on the Bay side, but you can go part of the way.)  It's just
not a pleasant ride -- but then, neither is the Milpitas / Alviso /
Mountain View route along the south end of the Bay.