We've got lots of great information for you this month, both from near and far! We talk about the closures of the Regnart Trail, learn about safety issues on Rodrigues near the Cupertino Library, find out which street have speed studies planned in Cupertino, discuss how we can prepare for the coming rapid increase in cars, read a great local trail review of Sanborn Park, and learn how other cities plan for great biking. Read on!

Residents and city staff have seen how the Regnart Creek Trail is in high use by many people for exercise, recreation, school commuting, and transportation to the city center to visit the library or attend events. As we predicted, it’s a wonderful amenity for our community and enjoyed by many whether walking or biking.

The Regnart Trail keeps closing

This high usage and the rains of the past two months have unfortunately highlighted a troubling issue with the decomposed granite trail surface, mainly in the portion between E. Estates and Blaney Avenue. The trail now has sections of deep ruts that can be tripped over, areas that don’t dry and are “mushy” even after three days without rain, and a general slipperiness that can make it less comfortable for some residents to walk and for many bikes to use the trail. This has led to intermittent closures, including a three week complete trail closure over the holiday break and the current closure of the Blaney/E. Estates trail portion. Most of the closures are clearly due to the heavy rains saturating the trail, but it would be helpful to know how long the trail will be closed.

Dips and hills appear to contribute to the issue

Upon recent inspection of the trail, one issue seems to stand out in particular with the Blaney/E. Estates segment. The surface (see picture, at left) rises and falls in elevation in short spans which encourages water to pool. The lower areas stay wet, mushy and take on ruts, drying very slowly over many days. The segment west of Blaney is very flat and does not have these high and low spots, and the rutting/mushy issues are less prevalent there.

It’s also worth noting that the high/low spots cannot have been caused by truck traffic, as Valley Water already used the trail (then just a dirt road) as maintenance access for their trucks.

A quick video test:

When do you spot the family trying to cross Rodrigues Avenue to enter the Regnart Creek trail to walk to school?

Many families make this unmarked crossing every day with cars passing at speeds in excess of 30 mph.



It’s clear that the Regnart Creek Trail is a huge success story for the City of Cupertino. Since its opening on March 18th, 2023, hundreds of students and parents have been using it daily to travel to school at Eaton Elementary or Cupertino High School, go to the Cupertino Library, or for leisure walks, runs or bike rides. The initial fears some residents had prior to the project around the safety on the trail have never materialized. 

Along with the Regnart Creek Trail entrance on Rodrigues (yellow oval on map below), the Lozano Lane walking path from Rodrigues Avenue to the trail is open to the public (yellow line on map below). This path allows hundreds of families living in the Biltmore or Waterfall residences to use the trail easily. There are several ways to make crossing Rodrigues to the trail for all these families easier, and more importantly, more safe.

3 Big Safety Issues



1. No safe crossings
2. Drivers have poor visibility to see pedestrians crossing.
3. Speeding drivers increase the danger

Read about these in more detail

Most motorists are not driving at the speed limit in this area. On a busy Monday and Tuesday morning, when parents hurry to drop kids off and go to work, the recorded average speed was 36 mph (with some cars going as fast as 46 mph!).

The City of Cupertino has identified several city streets that could benefit from speed reduction based on collision data and sections of AB43. The City will be conducting engineering and speed studies on these streets to gather data on whether this is needed. read more...

City Streets That Will be Studied for Possible Speed Reduction

The State of California has allocated to Cupertino a Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) target of 4,588 new homes to be built by Jan 31, 2031. Santa Clara County cities combined have a RHNA target of building about 130,000 new homes by 2031. 

Car ownership in Santa Clara County, CA is 2 cars per household on average.

That means 260,000 more cars will be added to our county in the next seven years. To help you visualize that, 260,000 cars bumper to bumper would cover a distance from Los Angeles, California, to Portland, Oregon. Are we ready for 260,000 more cars?

Bikes – especially e-bikes – are a particularly excellent solution because they provide the fastest, most seamless Point A to Point B connectivity after cars. They allow for flexible, fast commuting with multiple stops like home → childcare → school → office → grocery store → home which transit cannot match. They can carry children, pets, and groceries. Ebikes allow office workers to arrive fresh and professional – without needing a shower. Any transportation solution to replace some of those 260,000 cars will need to include a comprehensive bike network.

We need to create a fully connected end-to-end network of sidewalks and protected bike lanes - north to south and east to west.

For the 50 percent of trips that are longer than 3 miles, ebikes can have a huge impact.

Read more...

The Bay Area’s rainy season is quite long and strong this time, but it doesn’t stop us from hiking in nature. In addition to paved trails like Stevens Creek Trail in Blackberry Farm and Mora Trail in Rancho San Antonio Preserve, we also hiked on “organic” trails like Sanborn Trail, Madrone Trail, and Peterson Trail located in Sanborn County Park. Seeing the light shining through the foggy forest was one of the most memorable moments during our winter hikes. All year around, Sanborn offers nature lovers many fun activities.

For those who love mountain biking, John Nicholas Trail is a great choice, as we shared in our 2020 article. In spring and summer, many come to enjoy camping and picnicking, outdoor Shakespeare, and YSI (Youth Science Institute) science and nature center and hands-on programs. 

During our recent hike at Sanborn, we had fun hiking around fallen trees, climbing above or under fallen trees depending on their dimensions, and balancing on rocks to cross a small creek overflowing on the trail. Of course, we followed the ““Hike Smart”” safety tips and stayed alert with all our senses during the entire hike. 

read more...

Different countries around the world have varying levels of support for biking infrastructure. While in most countries, gas-powered vehicles such as cars form the majority of transportation, a few countries in particular have been particularly forward in implementing support for bikers on the road. From these countries, we can draw inspiration in incorporating similar infrastructure in our own communities.

Amsterdam: Make biking the default for transportation

One of the most bike-friendly cities in the world is Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. With over 35,000 kilometers of cycling paths, the Dutch encourage individuals to adopt biking as their default mode of transportation, so as to combat the effects of climate change that are causing the city to slowly sink. To incentivize this transition, the government has prioritized biker safety and convenience in the form of infrastructural elements such as wide bike lanes, ample bike parking, and biking priority signals.

Read more about Amsterdam...

Denmark: Focus on bike lane connectivity

Another nation that fosters advanced biking infrastructure is Denmark. Its capital, Copenhagen, is an especially apt example. Focusing on connectivity of bike lanes, the city boasts over 390 kilometers of designated bike lanes. It also features Cycle Super Highways that facilitate quick and direct travel between key points in the city. This approach has helped contribute to the 40% of all commutes in Copenhagen being made by bikes every day (Schepers et al., 2017).

Read more about Denmark...

We'd love to hear YOUR voice!

Do you know a great walk, ride, run or hike? Want to share an issue about walking, biking, city planning, or interesting idea?



Walk-Bike Cupertino would love to spotlight it in our newsletter and on our website! Articles should be 400 words or less, and should include a picture. All submissions are subject to approval and editing, and can be used by Walk-Bike Cupertino in future publications. Contact us here.