‘They don’t look for bikes’: San Jose cyclists unhappy with new traffic safety barriers

Traffic safety improvements meant to protect San Jose and Los Gatos may have actually made cycling on a busy road more dangerous, bicycle riders said.

San Jose transportation department workers recently added plastic barriers known as “bollards” along Los Gatos Almaden Road to protect cyclists in the bike lane from reckless drivers. City leaders made the decision to add them after approving the City Better Bike Plan 2025, which activated the road as a protected bike lane. But after cyclist Alayne Yellum said a vehicle struck her husband, Don Yellum, in July, she questions whether the plastic barriers are partly to blame.