The streets of WG were the topic of safety and maintenance discussions in two different publications last week. WGx thought you’d want to know …

The SJ Mercury News Mr. Roadshow column provided some perspective on the Hamilton Avenue commute into and out of WG. At the end of a column on wasting gas, Gary Richards tells us not to hold out too much hope any any signal timing improvements:

Q Why aren’t the lights on Hamilton Avenue in Campbell timed better? It seems as though every night I stop at five or six of the six lights between Highway 17 and my house heading east toward Willow Glen …

A Campbell and San Jose will be working together to see what changes can be made, but for now the news is not good. The Hamilton signals are generally timed to favor eastbound traffic during the afternoon commute. However, city engineers say that because of heavy traffic and closely spaced signals, they cannot always avoid having motorists stopped at some intersections. … In addition, they can’t time the lights at Meridian and Leigh avenues, two busy intersections, because they are too far apart.

In other news, an overzealous police officer was faulted in a Metro Letter to Editor. Eseentially, a bicyclist got a ticket for riding a few blocks against traffic — on the sweltering Ride Your Bike to Work Day, no less.

Gas prices go up, traffic increases — and biking isn’t always the answer. Transit anyone? … wait a minute, the news isn’t very good there, either …

Thursday is a “Free Transit” day across the Bay Area. Actually it’s a retooled Spare the Air concept, with officials offering predictable free transit without concerning themselves with actual weather patterns. But commuters of all stripes are complaining about the chaos one day could bring. Good luck, everyone!