One Contra Costa County city has found itself at the center of the debate over bike safety and traffic congestion - and attitudes are changing

"WALNUT CREEK - Cara De Jong woke up, splayed out and covered in blood, on the corner of Treat Boulevard at the end of September. She had landed there after a four-door sedan collided into the side of her Urban Arrow cargo bike during her Monday morning commute to the office, while she was turning left onto Buskirk Avenue shortly before sunrise."

"Now she's forced to drive through that same intersection almost daily, relegated to knee scooters and crutches while she heals from a collision that she said sent her to John Muir's trauma center for a broken nose and a laceration where her foot got tangled up in her bike's chain. Dizzy spells and nausea tied to inner ear trauma have prevented her from mounting her bike in the weeks since, she said."

""I felt shame when I got hit," De Jong said. "It was like it was sadness and regret and shame. Like, why was I even biking? Even though I'm allowed to, and it wasn't my fault that this happened." Eight days after the accident, the city of Walnut Creek signed off on their share of a $6.2 million project to transform a quarter-mile of De Jong's commute - hoping to attract safer roads for non-drivers with concrete, pylons and paint."

"Treat Boulevard's redesign will feature zebra crossings, neon green lane markings, bicycle traffic signals, vehicle yield signs, turn queue boxes and "tuff" curbs that provide a 2-foot road buffer along the four hectic intersections. Plans for the project - a joint effort between transportation officials with the city of Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County and Caltrans - also include installation of a Class IV bike lane that physically separates cyclists and pedestrians from oncoming motor traffic,"

Cara De Jong was struck by a four-door sedan while turning left onto Buskirk Avenue during a pre-dawn commute, suffering a broken nose, a foot laceration and inner ear trauma. She now travels through the intersection on knee scooters and crutches and cannot ride due to dizziness and nausea. Eight days after the crash, Walnut Creek approved its portion of a $6.2 million project to redesign a quarter-mile of Treat Boulevard. The redesign will add zebra crossings, neon green lane markings, bicycle signals, yield signs, turn queue boxes, tuff curbs and a physically separated Class IV bike lane with 4-foot cyclist lanes.

Read at The Mercury News