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Home My WebLink About9/19/2017 Item 15, Bennett (2) Christian, Kevin From:Mike Bennett <mike@bikeslocounty.org> Sent:Tuesday, September To:E-mail Council Website Subject:Avila Ranch Project Cyclist Safety Concerns Attachments:Avila RanchSouth Higuera Recommendations for Cyclist Safety .docx Good afternoon, Please accept the attached comments on the proposed Avila Ranch Project. They are submitted on behalf of the Bike SLO County Advocacy Team. Thank you, Mike Mike Bennett LtCol USMC, Retired Executive Director | Bike SLO County Managing Director | CCDDAP mike@bikeslocounty.org W:805.547.2055 | C:760.815.4069 www.bikeslocounty.org www.CCDDAP.org 1 860 Pacific St, Suite 105 | San Luis Obispo, CA | 93401 Madam Mayor and City Council Members, Last night the Bike SLO County Advocacy Team met. Much of the meeting was spent discussing ways to make the South Higuera/Tank Farm Rd./Los Osos Valley Rd area safer and more appealing to cyclists who will transit through the area now and in the coming years. The San Luis and Avila Ranch housing projects are important and will bring much needed housing to the area, but they will also, by necessity, bring more traffic. One way to reduce the impact of the added transportation requirements is as you know to encourage multi-modal transportation and specifically to encourage bicycling for transportation. To accomplish this, we need to make our City roads safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. To start with, Protected Bike Lanes along South Higuera as in other parts of the City need to be made a reality. Drunk and Distracted Drivers are not going away any time soon and as we have too recently seen, cyclists and pedestrians are the road users most vulnerable to these irresponsible people. The increased amount of vehicle traffic forecast for the South Higuera area has led City planners to recommend double left turn lanes and longer right turn pockets at many of the key intersections. These changes will make cycling in this area more hazardous and less appealing just at the time that the opposite is needed. The following recommendations will help to mitigate the effects of the increased traffic and the changes to the flow of traffic particularly at critical intersections. Many of the recommendations are very low cost when compared to other options, but will have a significant impact on the safety and convenience of all road users. One of the leading problems that the proposed plan for these intersections aggravates, is that cyclists will need to cross multiple lanes of traffic to make left turns. This is already unsafe; but the added turn lanes and increased traffic volumes will make this action very dangerous for cyclists and aggravating for drivers. In many major cities, cycling facilities are designed so that cyclists do not attempt left turns. Instead facilities direct cyclists to cross straight through an intersection BIKE SLO COUNTY bikeslocounty.org and then accomplish their left 90-degree change in travel direction by stopping at the opposite side of the intersection and then proceeding in the new desired direction of travel with the flow of traffic. We endorse this approach as well as the additional suggestions below: Mitigating measures are required at the following intersections: South Higuera and Tank Farm Rd. South Higuera and Prado Rd. South Higuera and Suburban Rd. South Higuera and Los Osos Valley Rd. South Higuera and Vachel Lane South Higuera and Buckley Rd. (once completed) In order to highlight and protect cyclists at these intersections, the significant use of Green Lanes and Green Bike Boxes is necessary. Green lanes leading up to the intersections that highlight cyclists who are turning right or proceeding straight through the intersection are necessary. It is recommended that these Green Lanes continue through the intersection and to Green Bike Boxes which position cyclists safely in front of vehicles in the right lane at all intersections. The link below goes to a video which explains features which can be incorporated into an intersection to make cyclists and pedestrians safer. Fully protected bike lanes and intersections are the goal along the South Higuera corridor, but at a minimum Green Lanes and signal sequencing that protects pedestrians and cyclists is very achievable even with current resource constraints. https://vimeo.com/86721046 Green Lanes make the cyclist much more visible to drivers. They also direct cyclists where to ride, and make them more comfortable. They ensure that Drivers know that there is a place on the road designated for bicycles. The more Green Lanes that we can have in the City and County, the safer commuting and recreational cyclists will be. Vehicles need to be restricted from making right turns on red lights at the intersections listed above. Vehicles rushing to make right turns on red lights are hazardous to cyclists and to pedestrians. Along the same lines, signal timing can be adjusted as already is being done in down town SLO. Dedicated signal cycles for pedestrians and cyclists are also a very low cost way to make crossing safer. A final requirement is to place a HAWK beacon across Los Osos Valley Road at Los Palos and Los Verdes. This is a critical Safe Routes to School element which 860 Pacific St, Suite 105 | San Luis Obispo, CA | 93401 will allow children and adults from these large neighborhoods to safely cross Los Osos Valley Road. Bike SLO County recommends that you condition acceptance of the Avila Ranch Proposal on the inclusion of the facilities described above. Cycling mode share in at least this area of the City will decrease rather than increase if a significant effort is not made by the City and the County to address the safety concerns that will be aggravated by this and other similar projects. Respectfully, Mike Bennett LtCol USMC, Retired Executive Director Bike SLO County