Prepare for a maddening two years on Highway 9

Q As noted in a recent column, Highway 9 is a mess starting below Skyline Boulevard. A stoplight has been installed and adds 10 minutes to commutes. But the maddening thing is that Caltrans put up the stoplight and then disappeared. No workers, no machinery, just lines of cars held hostage by a self-serving state agency. No wonder it is going to take two years. Nobody is working!

John Heineke

A Waits of 10 minutes will continue through the one-way traffic control, especially during peak hours or special events at wineries, but now that the K-rails have been installed, you’ll see workers out there. The signal time has to take into account bicyclists that drive through here seven days a week and on weekends to allow them enough time to navigate through the 1,000-plus feet of K-rail at two locations. One signal is close to Highway 35, the other near Pierce Road.

The project will add shoulders, wider lanes and barriers on this narrow highway.

It may take two years, since there are environmental requirements that will keep crews from working past early fall through

spring.

Bicyclists can slide in behind vehicles and ride through the single lane or they can hit the manual button that will allow them to pass through safely and before the light changes on the other side.

Q Thanks to Karen Armstrong for asking about the Highway 9 work. From your answer I learned that impatient drivers should NOT hop out of their cars and press the bicycle button. It does not make the light change any sooner and actually lengthens the time for cars coming the other way!

Donna Hobbs

Boulder Creek

A How do you know that? Q The light stayed red so long (over 3 minutes) that I thought it was broken, so I did it!

Donna Hobbs

A Oh.

Q Last Thursday while driving back from Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center on 101 north of Blossom Hill Road, I saw what appeared to be the entire San Jose police fleet of cars and only one private car creating a traffic jam. Do you know what was going on? … I saw a bunch of

policemen on The Alameda last week. Was there some kind of crackdown?

Hector Flores and more

A Police and reserve officers were escorting runners participating in the Special Olympics Torch Run. Some of the runners participate in the Special Olympics, but most of the runners are law enforcement workers who raised funds for the cause. Q On the BART ride back from an A’s game, I pondered why doesn’t BART have solar panels? They’re an all-electric system, so they have plenty of need.

They have tens of acres of parking, much of which, like in Fremont, is already tree-free. The shade of a solar panel forest would be welcome there. Is it in the works?

Scott Lewis

Sunnyvale

A Solar panels have been used on a limited basis for about five years at maintenance yards in Richmond and Hayward. BART has also added solar panels over 350 parking spaces at the Lafayette station and is exploring panels at other stations, too.