A multi-year project to improve Bascom Ave. has completed its environmental clearance and is currently in its design and engineering phase. The project, officially known as Bascom Complete Streets, seeks to overhaul three miles of the thoroughfare between interstate 880 and Hamilton Ave.
Bascom Complete Streets is a partnership between the Valley Transportation Authority, the cities of San Jose and Campbell and the County of Santa Clara. The project aims to address major safety concerns regarding cyclist and pedestrian safety on the thoroughfare.
Since San Jose City College sits next to Bascom Ave., many students share those worries. One is Yoset Diaz, a 24-year-old sociology major, bikes to and from San Jose City College.
“It’s pretty bad, especially when it gets darker, because I have a class at six and it ends at seven,” Diaz said. “So usually when I get out around that time, there tends to be a lot of reckless driving, and not people really looking out for bikers, so that usually forces me to stick to sidewalks.”
Other students believe that pedestrian safety is a massive issue on the thoroughfare. Becky Kim, a 19-year-old cosmetology major, drives past an apartment construction project on Bascom Ave., and is concerned for the safety of its workers who walk along the street.
“…I think it’s kind of dangerous for them. They tend to walk along the road to get to where they have to work,” said Kim. “So I think that’s kind of dangerous and something could improve, but I don’t really know what could be done about it.”
While the project is slated to begin construction in summer 2027, and is anticipated to be complete by fall 2029, it promises to improve safety by creating protected bike lanes, more crosswalks, upgraded bus stops and bulb-out curbs. The latter of these are designed to reduce drivers’ speeds as they make right turns.
Hassan Basma, a transportation engineer manager at VTA and the project manager, said it’s too soon to tell how construction will impact people who use the road.
“It’s not going to be easy, it’s going to impact people, they’re going to be taking at least a lane during construction, but we’ll try to minimize it as much as we can,” Basma said. “As we get into construction, the contractor has to give us a plan on how he plans on detouring people or taking lanes, they have to tell us how they’re going to impact the community and how they’re going to remedy that.”
People who wish to keep up with project progress can stay up to date on VTA’s website.
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