Martinez parents push city council to restore Alhambra Ave. bike lane before Wednesday vote

By Walk ‘n Roll John Muir Elementary

MARTINEZ, Calif. — A group of John Muir Elementary families is calling on the Martinez City Council to reverse a decision that quietly downgraded a planned bike lane on Alhambra Avenue to a painted “sharrow” during recent repaving — a change parents say was made without public notice and contradicts the city’s own Safe Routes to School plan.

The issue comes before the City Council at its Wednesday, November 4 meeting, 7:00 PM, at Martinez City Hall, 525 Henrietta Street.

Alhambra Avenue was slated for a protected bike lane as part of a repaving project earlier this year. Instead, the city installed a sharrow — a shared-lane marking with no physical separation from traffic — a change advocates say was never brought to the community for input and leaves families with no safe way to bike or walk to John Muir Elementary

“We were told this street would have a real bike lane, and instead we got paint,” said Tom Gray, Co-Coordinator of Walk ‘n Roll at John Muir Elementary. “Every Friday, our kids walk and bike to school together because we want them to grow up knowing their neighborhood is safe to move through on their own. A sharrow on a street like Alhambra doesn’t protect anyone — it just puts the responsibility on an 8-year-old to not get hit by a car. Martinez has a Safe Routes to School plan on paper. Wednesday night, the Council gets to decide whether that plan means anything.”

Walk ‘n Roll JME, a parent-led group that organizes weekly walk-and-bike-to-school events at John Muir Elementary, is asking Martinez residents to attend Wednesday’s hearing or submit written comment to the mayor and city manager before the vote. The group has set up a simple online tool for residents to do either in under two minutes, at https://www.google.com/url?q=http://walknroll-action.delicate-flower-76f8.workers.dev&source=gmail&ust=1793681589718000&sa=E.

See meeting agenda Item 13.

About Walk ‘N Roll JME

Walk ‘n Roll is a parent-run program at John Muir Elementary in Martinez, CA that organizes weekly Friday walk-and-bike-to-school events and advocates for safer streets around the school. Follow the campaign at @walknrolljme on Instagram.