[SDCBC] Gilman/I-5 area challenges for cyclists.

[Robert Leone]

Dear Mr. Rizzo:
	Hello! Here's the list of problems with the Gilman Drive/I-5 connection 
from a cyclist's perspective you'd asked for. I'm taking the liberty of 
carbon copying this to the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition  listserv 
-- some of the posters there have much more traffic control device 
experience than I, and may be able to suggest better solutions.

Robert Leone

Gilman/I-5 Cycling Issues.

Dear Mr. Rizzo:
	Hello! You'd asked for a comprehensive list of issues and problems with 
the Gilman Drive/I-5 intersection from a cyclists' perspective.
	First off, although I am a member of the San Diego County Bicycle 
Coalition, I am not writing here on behalf of the coalition or of any of 
its club or individual members. While this list is as complete as I can 
make it at this time, it is not meant to represent all issues that have 
arisen or may arise in the future. Further, where possible I have tried 
to devise schemes to remediate some of these problems, but I am not a 
professional engineer or urban planner. I may have missed an obvious or 
known solution to any number of specific problems.
	I will try to mention problem areas and concerns in geographic order, 
from North to South, as if I were heading southbound on Gilman Drive 
heading for I-5 and the Rose Canyon Bike Path.
	1. The dirt embankment above the west curb of Gilman Drive between 
Villa La Jolla Drive and the apartment complex just north of the Gilman 
Drive Park & Ride lot is subject to land slips during rains. It's 
disconcerting, and can be dangerous to cyclists at night who have little 
warning to merge left to avoid six inch (diameter) sand clods, or during 
rush hours where therre's precious little space between southbound 
traffic to effect an easy merge. A solution would be slope stabilization 
with coir matting or other naturally-based fiberous material, or a real 
retaining wall.
	2. Gilman Drive's shoulder area going past the apartment complex just 
north of the Park and Ride lot narrows about fifty or so feet before the 
bike line recommences. I'm going by memory here, so the distances I cite 
may be off a bit. Ad to that a tendency among those who use street 
parking to park all the way to the restart of the bike lane, and you 
have a situation where cyclists must decide whether they'd rather ride 
in the right tire track or center of the rightmost travel lane, or ride 
in the "door zone" of the parked cars. A solution would be to widen this 
shoulder area all the way to the recommencement of the bike lane. 
Another solution would be a section of red curbing before the 
recommencement of the bike lane.
	3. I have observed much comment in the past month about the transition 
from riding in the bike lane to the right of all the motorized traffic 
lanes to riding in the bike lane to the left of the designated right 
turn lane onto I-5. I personally start looking back to see if there's 
space for me to move to the left of the rightmost lane at about the time 
I see the entrance to the Park and Ride lot. A solution to this may be 
more obvious directions to cyclists to merge left and designation of the 
rightmost lane as a right turn lane onto I-5 a bit further to the north. 
By "obvious" I mean obvious to both cyclists and other road users. 
Perhaps in addition to the lane assignmnt sign on the side of the road 
south of the Park and Ride lot entrance a lane assignment sign could be 
placed about where the lit-up "Prepare to Stop" sign is -- above the 
road itself.
	4. The proposed solution to problem 3, a more obvious (and earlier) 
lane assignment sign could also be of help with problem 4 -- folks in 
the through traffic lane turning right to get to the freeway onramp, 
cutting off cyclists in the through bike lane to their right. In part 
this is due to a discontinuity between the freeway onramp and the 
approach to same. A few years ago, the freeway onramp was turned into 
two lanes, one of them for high occupancy vehicles. Metering was added 
at the same time. However, the turn lane (and "storage," I believe 
that's the term) into the I-5 southbound onramp is still one lane. It 
does seem a bit odd to have a setup where folks in HOvs sit with the 
regular flow of traffic for a bit before separating out into a more 
priviledged lane. A more engineering-intensive solution might be two 
turn lanes, one for HOVs -- but this "solution" would complicate the 
merge to the left for through-traffic cyclists.
5. Motorists coming off I-5 northbound and turning onto La Jolla Colony 
Road often cut off the curb cut and entrance to the Rose Canyon Bike 
Path. This sometimes causes cyclists to have to stop in the middle of 
the street and "negotiate" with motorists to make sure the motorists 
stay stationary as the cyclists try to clear the intersection before the 
light changes. A possible solution would be improving signage. There is 
already a yellow biycle graphic trapezoid sign and a "stop Here on Red" 
sign right there. I would suggest adding a "crossing" sign to the bike 
trapezoid sign, changing the "stop Here on Red" to "wait Here on Red" 
and adding a sign indicating the entrance to the Rose Canyon Bike Path.
	6. I've spoken to both motorists and an occasional cyclist who didn't 
believe there was a bike path from the UCSD area to Pacific Beach with 
connections on south. A fair majority of my coworkers think my 
two-or-three-times-a-week bicycle commute is through downtown La jolla 
and up La Jolla Scenic or La Jolla Shores and somehow onto Miramar Road. 
A nice big sign (matching the one at the northern end of Santa Fe Street 
at the southern end of the Rose Canyon Bike Path) would be helpful, 
especially with newcomers to San Diego such as UCsD campus residents.
	7. I can't think of any real solution, but it's a tough transition from 
being a cyclist on La jolla Colony to being a cyclist on the Rose Canyon 
bike path! This might be galling to some cyclists because if I-5 had 
cycling access between Gilman and Garnet/Balboa, they'd simply ride up 
to the left turn onto the I-5 southbound onramp.
	8. There is some damaged pavement in the bike lane on La Jolla Colony 
about thirty or forty feet before it intersects with the I-5 offramp. A 
little patching would be fine.
	9. I will e-mail you separately, with a picture, about the persistant 
puddle problem on the Rose Canyon Bike Path itself.
	I hope this helps. I emphasize again this is a personal list, and 
neither it nor the solutions I suggest are policy statements from any 
cycling organization.
	Yours,
Robert Leone