Despite the clang of construction crews on Veterans Boulevard and the sloshing of paint for new bike lanes on East Bayshore Road, you can still hear bicyclists' complaints about motorists’ ability to share the road, and simultaneously, drivers' rants about how oblivious cyclists are.
“I am tired of [cyclists] cruising through stop signs and red lights like they don't exist!” said Redwood City resident Renee Rodriguez. “Drivers have to adhere to stop signs, pedestrians and follow all rules, so should those on bikes.”
Billy James, a cyclist and crossing guard at , said that cars all over the city are constantly speeding, but particularly parents who are taking their children to school, one of the most dangerous places to be speeding.
“It drives me crazy!” James said.
Back in June, a riding his bike at Farm Hill Boulevard and McGarvey Avenue, but Redwood City police say the cyclist was at fault for making a sudden left turn from the second right lane, cutting in front of the car.
Another scuffle happened in April due to . Three men and the cyclist pulled into a 7-Eleven parking lot to settle their road rage, where the suspects severely beat the 35-year-old Redwood City cyclist.
But if the bickering can cease for just a moment, one look around the city would note the numerous improvements occurring right as they speak.
The city’s current projects
In Redwood City, the most widely used form of transportation is by car, according to city engineer Christian Hammack. The freedom to drive whenever and wherever in a car, especially in more sprawling neighborhoods like Emerald Hills or the Farm Hill neighborhood, is a luxury that many residents won’t relinquish.
But concerns of increasing carbon emissions have urged drivers to log more miles on their bicycles rather than their cars, increasing the number of cyclists on the road.
Traffic engineering in the Bay Area, and even the country, is undergoing a shift in how roads are viewed. Roads are no longer just for cars, but for cyclists as well.
City engineer Kevin Fehr added that rising gas prices have caused drivers to turn toward their bikes for transportation.
Public transportation agencies like Caltrain have worked to accommodate this increase. Caltrain recently completed a $300,00 project in June that will ensure that .
For those not transporting their bikes on the Caltrain, they can check out bikes to ride to their final destination if that location is too far to walk to, according to Redwood City spokesperson Malcolm Smith. This pilot Bike Share program will launch in early 2012, while city staff are still identifying heavily trafficked areas for the bike pods.
The city has also begun implementing new bike lanes in high-traffic areas. As part of a $1.4 million , the city is painting new bike lanes on Veterans Boulevard and East Bayshore Road, a $14,000 project. The city received $950,000 in grants from the Federal Surface Transportation Program and will use “Measure A” transportation funds to finance the rest of the road improvements.
“The general intent was initially to re-surface the roads,” said project engineer Kevin Fehr. “But neither street had bike facilities so we took this opportunity.”
In other areas, the city has acknowledged the need for biking and pedestrian improvements, but did not immediately decide on bike lanes. Redwood City received grants from The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the City/County Association of Government (C/CAG) of San Mateo County for three future projects:
- The 2.5 mile stretch on Hudson Street between Woodside Road and Whipple Avenue. Designs haven’t been finalized, and the project is still in conceptual form, according to Fehr.
- The 1.1 mile stretch on Brewster Avenue from El Camino Real to Alameda de las Pulgas around
- An improved pathway between Whipple Avenue and Bair Island behind the old cinema
However, widening roads for bike lanes, James said, can actually be detrimental to all commuters. What cities should do, instead, is put their streets on “road diets,” or narrow roads in order to reduce cars’ speeds.
“All it takes is paint,” James said. These road diets lead to “complete streets,” where all types of commuters: drivers, cyclists and pedestrians can share the road, he said.
Missing: Education
But coats of paint might not be the panacea to this pervasive problem around the city. It may have to begin with education to create a mutual understanding between cyclists and motorists.
The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) has created the program “Share the Road” to promote an awareness of one group toward the other. The group created a 20-30 minute Share the Road Powerpoint presentation that covers safety issues to spur dialogue between the two groups.
The Peninsula Traffic Congestion Alliance also provides pamphlets on the rules of the road for cyclists.
“I’ve seen cyclists riding on the wrong side of the road because they think they’re safer if they can see oncoming cars,” James said. “People need to be educated.”
California Vehicle Code says that bicyclists have a right to ride in the traffic lane unless they’re going slower than the speed of traffic.
“We’re not blocking traffic, we are traffic,” James said.
Far from Perfect
Residents like Nick Kibre, a transportation blogger for Redwood City Patch, said that the city is bike-friendly, but could stand some further improvements.
He pointed to Middlefield Road near the North Fair Oaks area as a particularly difficult road to bike on, and a street whose pavement could use some resurfacing. He added that cars pull in and out of parking to head to businesses.
Peninsula cyclist Andrew Boone wrote an opinion piece about in this particular North Fair Oaks neighborhood.
Two years ago, the city council approved a Complete Streets commission that would formalize the work that active city cyclists like James and others do on a more casual basis every few months. But when cities were slammed with budget cuts, this commission was tabled. Instead, the SVBC formed a working group to provide input on bicycle-related projects to Redwood City staff.
Though these commissions comprise purely of volunteers, they still require a city staff liaison. This eats into city staff time that still translate to costs. Last month, the city even to save a total of $150,000.
Fehr said the city is constantly looking at different locations where to implement improvements. The city selects projects based on feedback from residents, the council and various organizations.
“We’re overloaded with projects we’re doing at the moment,” Fehr said.
To manage these projects, the city is currently in the hiring process for a Senior Transportation Coordinator, who will receive a handsome six-figure salary (see attached pdf for job description.)
While cities continue their infrastructure upgrades, it’s up to residents to ultimately create more harmony on the road. Sharing the road and being mindful of other commuters is a simple way for the community to help reduce the number of accidents.
While cyclists generally take to the right - even riding on the shoulder (which is not part of the road) - out of self-preservation and courtesy, they are not obliged to do so when it is not practicable. Once in the lane, a cyclist has the same obligation to "pull over for faster traffic" as any slow-moving vehicle does under CVC 21656 which provides: "On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow-moving vehicle, including a passenger vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in line, shall turn off the roadway at the nearest place designated as a turnout by signs erected by the authority having jurisdiction over the highway, or wherever sufficient area for a safe turnout exists, in order to permit the vehicles following it to proceed. As used in this section a slow-moving vehicle is one which is proceeding at a rate of speed less than the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place." (Note the language 'traffic at the particular time and space' which sheds some light on what is meant by 'normal speed of traffic' in CVC 21202. What I mean is, I think 'traffic' includes bikes when there are bikes on the road.)
Since they're generally viewed as figures of authority when it comes to such matters, it's disappointing how often police are wrong/mistaken when they dispense free advice to bicyclists. Like many lay/civilian motorists and bicyclists, I think it stems from viewing the world with a motorist-oriented bias.
Some cities have their own municipal code violation for riding on a sidewalk so they can cite people with the muni code and most or all of the fines paid go to the city, not the state like a CVC code violation. The city probably has to have additional signs posted, etc, but I've only seen it enforced in a downtown business type district.
Stacie: I've seen lots of hair-splitting re CVC 21202, "practicable" and practical, which D. Huntsman differentiates above.
-> According to a July 27th British Medical Journal blog entry, "Last week the bmj.com poll asked 'Should it be compulsory for adult cyclists to wear helmets?' 68% of respondents voted no, out of a total 1,439 votes cast. The question triggered an interesting debate..." Source: http://bit.ly/r22cnD
Getting These Cyclists to Use Helmets Is Like Tilting at Windmills http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304248704575574250616160146.html
The lane (Not including door zones, gutters, shoulder, etc.) is at leas 14' wide, and the road is only two lanes wide with a double yellow line.
"bikers rarely stop at stop signs" Jack - Can you provide data to back up ANY of your claims here? "take a bike path" I doubt there are any bike paths in the bay area. There are MUPs (Multi-use paths) which are statistically more dangerous per mile than roads. There certainly aren't any bike trails in the Sacramento valley, but if any exist in the bay are, please let us know where they are, I'm sure we'd like to ride them. BTW - It's difficult to ride MUPs to where you want to go, as generally, only roads go where you want to go. How about you only drive on the freeway? Think. "They ride abreast in groups on roads causing drivers to slow behind them" Again, riding 3 abreast is perfectly legal in almost all situations. "they ride on the sidewalks and crosswalks instead of walking their bikes." This is not against the CVC. It's perfectly legal, unless a local ordinance prohibits it. "roads made for cars" No, road are public rights of way. Although all people have a RIGHT top use them, only automobile drivers have a privileged to use them if they meet certain criteria. You may wish to try communicating with less vitriol some time.
However, riding with headphones does not appear to effect accident rates one way r the other by any of the data I have seen. If you think about it, you can hear traffic far better when riding with headphones on than when sitting in an insulated car with the radio going. This seems to actually be a non-issue, although it is illegal in CA. Helmets are statistically ineffective at preventing injuries in cyclist who ride at normal speeds, so they really are only effective at preventing contusions and so forth on younger / slower cyclists. I mean, I drink beer in front of my son and he doesn't get to. I drive my car and he doesn't get to. He has to go to school and I don't. What's the difference? Regardless, it's not really something to be concerned with from a safety perspective. It makes a very marginal difference in the outcome of accidents.
21202. (a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations: (1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction. (2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway. (3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a "substandard width lane" is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane. (4) When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized. (b) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway of a highway, which highway carries traffic in one direction only and has two or more marked traffic lanes, may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of that roadway as practicable. Keep in mind that NONE of this applies if the lane in question is less than 14' wide. In that situation, cyclist may (And are encouraged to by most cycling safety organizations) to take the whole lane.
Obviously wearing a helmet doesn't reduce the possibility of a crash, but it CAN reduce the affects of a crash.
However, here's a peice of anecdotal evidence / a thought experiment for you. If the evidence supported cycle helmets making cycling significantly safer, it seems doubtful that so many cycling enthusiasts, who are very aware of the dangers of cycling, and who would LIKE to believe that helmets made then statistically safer, would have looked at the data and changed their mind as has happened over the past 5 years or so. We have entire countries (Australia for one) that have made helmet use mandatory now, and the data (Years of it actually) is in. Their cyclists are not faring better than before.
http://pacifica.patch.com/articles/cyclist-64-critically-injured