Remaining Slurry Seal for Santa Fe Street Postponed
Earlier this month, a rider named Phillip Young spoke with a Valley Slurry Seal Company equipment operator on why the company was not resealing the bicycle lanes on Santa Fe Street to make them smoother. The employee responded that a City Street Division Supervisor instructed the Valley Slurry Seal Company crew to only reseal the roadway for cars. The Valley Slurry Seal Company crew was specifically told by the City Street Division Supervisor to not reseal the bicycle lanes. Valley Slurry Seal Company was originally planning to do the whole roadway including the bicycle paths until the City Street Division Supervisor stepped in.
After numerous complaints the City Bike Coordinator, Tom Landre, rode over to check out the work and sent word that the remaining slurry seal for Santa Fe would be completed by month end.
This morning Landre stated that the work has been postponed to August 4th and 5th as the contractor re-scheduled the work.
A reader who goes by Old Knotty Buoy sent in numerous photos (thank you!) showing the current sorry state of Santa Fe Street. So for another week this busy commuter and recreational corridor is going to look and feel extremely unpleasant to ride on alongside vehicles of all sizes moving at least at 40 mph. The photos that were sent in have been uploaded to Flickr and are also viewable in the map below by clicking on the yellow pins on the map, or the photos. The photo locations are approximate locations.
How are you dealing with the poor quality road surface?
Remaining Slurry Seal for Santa Fe Street will be Completed by Month-End
Councilmember Sherri Lightner in District 1 had asked for Santa Fe Street to be repaved back in November 2010.
The street was repaved recently but very poorly done which was immediately noticed by everyone riding the street. I received a series of emails and complaints about the poor quality of repaving that was recently completed on Santa Fe Street - the street that is a major thoroughfare for those heading up to UCSD and Torrey Pines. Here is one (of many) emails I received about this problem, this one from Forrest Roberts:
Santa Fe North of Balboa has recently been paved. It looked great, but when riding a bicycle on it, it was more like a total rumble strip. What happened? Bicyclers usually are delighted to ride on a newly paved road because it is smooth. Last week the City (or contractor) placed more material on the roadway to help with the roughness. It helped a lot. BUT they did not cover the bike lanes and they are still like a rumble strip all the way. What happened? Watching bicyclers now, they do not ride in the bike lane, but ride in the traffic lanes because it is rideable. This takes away the safety for the riders and detracts from the auto drivers when they see cyclers in the roadway. Would you pleas pass this on to the City Bicycle coordinator to find our what happened and can a fix be made.??? Or should we contact our City Councilperson in that area, Lori Zapf, or maybe even the Turko File. This is a heavy traveled Bicycle route, used by UCSD students, commuters, and recreational riders.
The City Bike Coordinator, Tom Landre, rode over to check out Santa Fe Street earlier this week and responded that the remaining slurry seal for the entire stretch of Santa Fe Street will be completed by 28th and 29th of July.
I haven't had the time to check out Santa Fe, but if you'd like to send in photos, please send them to sam@bikesd.org
Edit: I neglected to thank Alex Bell from Councilmember Lorie Zapf's office who was also responsive to some of the questions I had on Santa Fe. Santa Fe Street is part of District 6 represented by Councilmember Zapf' until December after which it will become part of District 2 represented by Councilmember Kevin Faulconer.
Caltrans Dislikes Ghost Bike Memorials that Honor Bicyclist's Lives
Last May, Nick Venuto was killed when riding on the bike path that parallels State Route 56 when a driver lost control of her SUV while speeding and flipped over and onto the bike path instantly killing Venuto who was riding by at that moment. As is the custom around the country, riders wishing to honor a dead rider's life and memorialize it placed a ghost bike on the flimsy chainlink fence that separates the bike path from SR-56 - the fence that did nothing to save Venuto's life.
Now, I just learned that Caltrans is forbidding any memorials being placed on the flimsy fence separating the bike path from State Route 56.
The note states:
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) sympathizes with your loss and understands your efforts to remember your loved one with this roadside memorial, but the state law prohibits such monuments to be placed alongside the roadway for the safety of other motorists and pedestrians. Please contact the Caltrans Public Information Office at 619-688-6670 as soon as possible to make arrangements for the removal of this memorial. If no contact is made with the office by 7-20-12, we will remove the items and store them for up to 30 days at one of our maintenance offices for your pick up.
I have contacted Seth Cutter, our bike/ped coordinator to ask for some clarification on this notice and will post an update when I hear back from him.
UPDATE (7/10): Cutter responded as follows,
Being a member of the bicycling community, I understand that there is a significant meaning behind the ghost bike that memorializes any fallen cyclist. It is however Caltrans policy to look out for the safety of all users of the State Highway System.
Please understand that Caltrans is sensitive to the efforts made by family members and friends to memorialize the loss of a loved one, but state law prohibits monuments to be placed on any State Right-of-Way for the safety of other motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists. The memorial on the bike path fence falls within the state Right-of-Way and so is treated the same way as a highway roadside memorial.
In consideration of family members, the memorial is tagged to give them an opportunity to remove sentimental items beforehand. Memorial items left in place after the due date will be respectfully removed and stored for 30 days for pick up. It is important to note that Caltrans treats memorials on state Right-of-Way the same regardless of specific location.
If you have any further questions about removal of memorials, please contact our District's Public Information Officer Cathryne Bruce-Johnson at (619) 688-6670.
Another Serious Injury from Bike/Auto Collision
Reader, Marvin, wrote in three days ago about another serious injury involving a bicyclist. I have been unable to find any additional details about this incident. I checked with the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System earlier this morning and didn't see any details. No local media organization appears to be covering this new collision.
From the SDPD log:
Incident Number: Date: Time: Beat: Watch Commander:
34528 04/22/12 0753 935 Sgt JR LeonLocation: EL CAMINO REAL / SEA COUNTRY LN Neighborhood: NORTH CITY
Type: SERIOUS INJURY ACCIDENT
Synopsis:
Bicyclist was travelling [sic] S/B on right shoulder of El Camino Real approaching Sea Country Lane. The bicyclist began changing lanes and move to his left as he prepared to make a left turn onto Sea Country Lane. The bicyclist rode into the path of a vehicle which was also S/B on El Camino Real in the S-1 lane. The bicyclist struck the right side of the vehicle and fell off his bicycle and onto the roadway. The bicyclist suffered several factures [sic] and was transported to a local hospital. His injuries are not life threatening. Traffic Officers responded to the scene and are investigating the accident.
If you know of any more details, please leave a comment or email me at admin@bikesd.org.
Upcoming San Diego Rides
With the long weekend ahead of us, the Sunday Down Townies rides are back in full swing. Anyone is welcome. The group will head to Ocean Beach this week for brunch. The destination is To the Point which promotes locally sourced, seasonal and sustainable menu that is worth trying. For those who don't want to make the whole ride (maybe 20 miles round trip with some climbing) the group plans to meet at the flag pole in Old Town around 10:00. The ride starts at 9AM at Velo Cult bike shop located at 2220 Fern Street.
In late May this year, a San Diego biotech executive who was also a father of two was killed when an SUV driver lost control of her vehicle while speeding and flipped over and onto a Class I bike path along SR 56. As sadness descended upon the bicycle community in San Diego, Nick Venuto's family and friends have decided to organize a memorial ride in honor of his memory and his passion for riding. The ride will be held on July 9th.
Critical Manners Ride for the Law Abiding Cyclists - The first Critical Manners ride will be held on August 12. With San Diego's critical mass gaining both size and notoriety, it is certainly doing quite a bit to garner attention in the form of praise and blame. Praise, because the city and its governing body still refuse to take a lead in determining a transportation policy that is not solely based on the automobile. Thus, over a thousand cyclists descend every month to ride the streets that are the sole domain of the automobile. The cyclists who ride critical mass also get to be blamed because a some of the rowdier cyclists have attracted enough attention to place all critical mass riders in the same morass that Southern California has placed bicyclists for decades. Thus some cyclists disillusioned with critical mass in San Diego have rallied to create another group ride that would alleviate the bad name that critical mass has purportedly brought to San Diegan cyclists.
Below is a video taken by a rider during the April Critical Mass ride that begins every last Friday at the Big Fountain in Balboa Park:
I encourage any and all group rides and wish the Courteous Mass group much success. Hope to see you there! (h/t Travis)