[SDCBC] warning on Carmel Valley Road

[Kathy Keehan]

Hi Serge,
We did have this debate at the Coalition regarding the appropriate
accommodation on Carmel Valley Road.
Normally we wouldn't recommend bike lanes on a low volumen 25 mph collector
street. In this case, we decided differently for the following reasons -
    - We did consider simply making wide outside lanes rather than bike
lanes. This option did not generate any support outside the bicycle
community, and generated opposition from traffic calming and environmental
groups.
    - There was, and is, a lack of conviction that traffic on the road will
actually be going 25 mph at the end of the project. Speeds before the road
improvement project were considerably higher than 25 mph. The road, even
when improved, will have very little side friction on the south side since
the only thing over there is the lagoon and parking. The striping was
considered to provide some traffic calming effect while still preserving
space for side-by-side roadway sharing.
    - the traffic volumes on the roadway virtually ensure that if you are
going slower than 25 mph, you would be impeding traffic and be required to
pull over at the nearest safe location to allow people to pass (CVC 21656).
Providing space for side-by-side sharing was considered an important aspect
of the project to alleviate this problem. Especially since this roadway will
be part of the eventual Coastal Rail Trail alignment to connect Coast
Highway to Sorrento Valley Road.
    - the right side turns into the side streets are a concern. If I
remember the design correctly, the traffic volumes are such that the
engineers included right turn pockets on Carmel Valley Road for some of
these intersections. It's been a long time, though, so I couldn't swear to
it.
Most of the bicyclists I've talked to about the project are enthusiastic
about the inclusion of bike lanes on the road. While technically bicyclists
were legally able to use the full lane on Carmel Valley Road before the
project, the traffic speeds and volumes made it a pretty uncomfortable
proposition for many cyclists. I believe many cyclists will be more
comfortable and feel safer with the bike lanes. Whether they will actually
BE safer or less safe has yet to be determined. Of course, if they put
obstructions in the bike lanes, then we can probably all agree that they
will be less safe. :-( Which was the original point of my email.
Kathy



  -----Original Message-----
  From: serge.issakov at gmail.com [mailto:serge.issakov at gmail.com]On Behalf Of
Serge Issakov
  Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 3:59 PM
  To: Kathy Keehan
  Cc: Sdcbc
  Subject: Re: [SDCBC] warning on Carmel Valley Road



  I haven't ridden it yet, but I have to say that bike lanes on 25 mph
traffic-calmed roads seem counter-productive to me, especially with the
frequent right-side intersections in the westbound direction.

  Serge




  On 2/13/07, Kathy Keehan <execdir at sdcbc.org> wrote:


    Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but apparently at least one of
these is
    currently in the bike lane. The offending pop-out is on eastbound Carmel
    Valley Road, before the entrance to the Torrey Pines Preserve parking
area.


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