Message-ID: <3CF13325.88EB706A@dougmoran.com>
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 12:10:29 -0700
From: Douglas Moran <dmoran@dougmoran.com>
To: BPA open list <bpa@bpaonline.org>
Subject: Bike Lanes on El Camino? Part of [bpa] El Camino comments -- Workshop 
 June 1!
References: <B91680CB.1B7%goatland1@earthlink.net>

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BPA:
This is the first of several notes from me about individual topics
mentioned in Ned Farquhar's summary.  I am splitting them up so that
people can pick and choose what they want to read.

There are people who are strongly advocating configuring El Camino to
provide bike lanes, and they are likely to be well represented at 
the June 1st workshop.

=========================================================

Bike Lanes on El Camino are very controversial:  The issue is would they
be used enough to warrant taking up space which it is already at a premium.
The basic problem is the safety of the bicyclist.  

For almost 10 years, I biked to work (in Menlo Park) via the various bike
paths and routes.  I stopped when my office moved and I would have to
navigate a stretch with problems similar to El Camino, but on a much
smaller scale.  Hence I would not bike along El Camino except for very
short distances during light traffic.

In a number of stretches of El Camino, there is a parallel bike path/route,
but in some stretches there need to be better choices.  In our segment of
El Camino, the Park Blvd bike route is two blocks east of El Camino.

Background (especially for non-bicyclists):
===========================================
Note: many of this problems were touched on in the City's Draft Bike Plan
        (mentioned in an earlier announcement to this list).
The problem starts with parked cars - people open car doors into the path
  of oncoming bicyclists because
  - many people aren't accustomed to looking for bicyclists
  - the bicyclist is often in one of the driver's blind spots.
  The bicyclist also has problems spotting drivers who are about to open
  doors: window tinting, high seat backs, ...
  When the City put the Bryant Street bike path through downtown, they
  changed parallel parking to diagonal parking in several blocks:
  It is much easier for a bicyclist to spot a car about to back up
  (backup lights) that one about to open a door.

  Extra-wide vehicles and poorly parked one can dramaticly reduce and
  even block the bike lane (this happens routinely on Palo Alto's
  existing bike lanes).

The problem is compounded by active driveways: because of the vehicles
parked along the curb (especially SUVs, vans, and other trucks), drivers
of obstructed views of traffic, both cars and bikes.  Hence, they nose
out into the road, blocking the bike lane, resulting in a collision with
an oncoming bicyclist who doesn't have enough time to stop.

The problem is further compounded by the high volume and speed of traffic
on El Camino.  On lightly travelled streets, drivers can adjust when they 
pass a bicyclist, for example, slowing down so that they pass at a wide
spot rather than a narrow spot.  Also, drivers can often move left to 
provide a larger safety cushion.  However, on El Camino, drivers often
do not have this flexibility.

-- Doug Moran