Santa Clara recently laid out its plan for developing the city’s main commercial corridor, but safety improvements along the thoroughfare are part of a long-term vision that do little to make the treacherous stretch of road safer in the near term.
As part of the El Camino Real Specific Plan, approved by the council earlier this year, the city aims to create activity centers that focus on pedestrian and commercial activity. The plan details the intent to work with the Valley Transit Authority (VTA) and Caltrans to make the road a “multimodal complete street,” i.e., one that accommodates a variety of travel modes and makes the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Toward that end, according to the plan, the city will “[d]esign streets and pathways to be safe, comfortable, inviting, and include additional/well-marked crossings, corner design features, bulbouts, wide sidewalks, street furnishings, street trees, and pedestrian-scale lighting.”…