bay area cycling news

Police Detective Sal Madrigal said the unidentified driver of a white Volvo was traveling southwest on Oregon Expressway and made a right-hand turn onto Cowper Street when he or she collided with the victim and sped away. Read a bit more on the Palo Alto Online website. If you have information about the hit-and-run, please call the Palo Alto Police Department at 650-329-2413.

Lists are abuzz today with some firsthand reports of cyclists witnessing an elderly gentlemen in a Mercedes drift into the southbound bike lane on Foothill Boulevard just south of Arastradero Road in Palo Alto, hitting a female cyclist. The driver had stopped but the woman was transported to the hospital for severe back pain. At the moment there seem to be no official news articles or police statements. Foothill Boulevard is a very common thoroughfare for cyclist either commuting north and south, or out on lunchtime rides from around the prolific companies in Silicon Valley. The bike lanes are sometimes unmarked but very wide shoulders that usually provide comfort to cyclists who can stay away from the 45mph (and often faster) traffic.

Palo Alto Online is reporting that a cyclist was hit by a car and injured on El Camino Way in Palo Alto: The adult male was transported to a local hospital after the collision, which occurred in front of Palo Alto Commons senior housing in the 4000 block of El Camino Way , Battalion Chief Geo Blackshire said. Read (not much) more on their website .

A 13-year-old boy suffered a broken nose when he apparently ran a stop sign and hit a school bus this morning, thankfully avoiding being in front of the school bus as it was passing. The boy, who was not wearing a helmet, was coming through a passageway from Oregon Expressway to Oregon Avenue, according to Montiel. "He basically ran the stop sign and hit the right front of a school bus that was traveling east on Oregon Avenue," Montiel said. Read more at the Palo Alto Online .

Rumors are that Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto is closed between Whiskey Hill and Portola Road because of a gas main leak. Whiskey Hill Road is open to traffic heading east on Sand Hill Road to Interstate 280 and Menlo Park, and Portola Road is open to traffic heading west to Portola Valley, a firefighter from the Woodside Fire Protection District said. Read more at Palo Alto Online .

If your bike was stolen from Palo Alto Caltrain recently, file a police report and follow up with it. Palo Alto Online reports that bike thieves were caught with a couple of stolen bikes from the caltrain station.

SFStreetsBlog (again) mentions that a social engineering project for a Stanford Master's student is gathering momentum again. Closing about six blocks (gradually) of University Ave in Palo Alto could draw large numbers of consumer-happy crowds. Read up on the SFStreetsBlog site or head directly to Palo Alto Pedestrian Mall website. This reminds me of the week after Walgreen's burned down on University Ave, which closed one block in front of the scene of the fire. Local restaurants spilled onto the streets, and a good time was had by all. There was a Palo Alto Online town square post about it.