By the end of October, the City of Burlingame plans to finish installing new bike lanes on a 0.8 mile stretch of California Drive between Broadway and Oak Grove Avenue, extending bike routes that run north of Broadway toward Millbrae. 

Burlingame resident and biker Leslie Beatty is strongly in favor of the project. Beatty said that California Drive was only safe for more advanced bikers and the lane would make it more accessible for all. 

“I feel very strongly that kids should be able to bike to school. Especially for BHS, where half of the student population isn’t old enough to drive themselves, they should be able to go independently to school safely, without risking their lives,” Beatty said. 

While safer bike routes in the city is a popular idea, the decision has also caused significant controversy. Building bike lanes will take away parking spots used to visit local businesses along California and prevent cars from turning into the Maverick Jacks parking lot. 

“​​It has already had an effect on our business which is detrimental. Not a lot of planning went into the consideration of what happens to our business by city planners,” said Micheál Mallie, the owner of Maverick Jacks.

Mallie has also been frustrated with the city’s lack of communication regarding the addition of the bike lanes. 

“We did not find out about this until May of this year. Our local business district representative appealed to the city to hear our concerns, because every business along here had comments, but the planning process had already gone through,” Mallie said. 

The city has attempted to mitigate this problem by creating 22 parking spots south of Carmelita Avenue. The city and Brownrigg admit the project is not perfect, and it may need to be tweaked over time. He also acknowledged the city’s failures on the communication front. 

“I feel like we could have done a better job with communication.  What I think we’ve learned from that experience is it’s not enough just to mail somebody a blue card. And say, ‘hey, this thing is happening.’ And so I have been pretty forceful as have my colleagues to make sure this doesn’t happen next time,” Brownrigg said.  

Athan Rebelos, Vice Chair of the Burlingame Traffic and Safety Commission, recognized the potential threat of less parking, but doesn’t think businesses will be greatly impacted..

“This is Burlingame,” Rebelos said. “It’s not like if they can’t park right in front of the shop, that they won’t be able to find a parking space within a block or so. These are the types of businesses that people are making it a destination. They have a reason to go there, they’re not just coming in to just browse and see what’s on the shelves so to speak.” 

Mallie and other business owners continue to have mixed feelings about the new bike lanes, pointing out that there are already bike lanes on Carolan Avenue, which runs parallel to California on the opposite side of the train tracks. 

But as Mayor Micheal Brownrigg pointed out, the new lanes in California are not only important for bikers, but also to slow down cars, referencing a previous incident where a pedestrian was killed in a hit and run on California.

“This gets described as a bike lane project, but it’s really a road diet project, and that slows traffic down. It should reduce pedestrian fatalities. It should make it easier to cross California drive as well,” Brownrigg said.

The bike lanes are projected to be finished around Halloween, but concerns around the project may not be resolved as quickly. Rebelos argues that even if the project poses some challenges, everyone should understand that the city has only good intentions. 

“I really hope that people will just try to be positive and respectful of each other . . . everyone is trying to do what’s best for Burlingame and for the residents of Burlingame,” Rebelos said.