C.V. planning safer Broadway for bikes
A street with the most requested bicycle improvements in Chula Vista may get a facelift after a local bicycle group asked the city to improve the heavily trafficked road to make it less dangerous.
Some motorists neglect to share the road with cyclists, which forces them onto sidewalks-sometimes in the wrong direction.
“Bicyclists ride on sidewalks instead on roadway because they don’t feel safe,” said Elizabeth Chopp, civil engineer and project manager for the city. “It’s caused problems and been the cause of accidents as well.”
City staff members hosted public workshops in September and October on a proposal for Broadway to learn from pedestrians, businesses and bicyclists what they wanted.
“There’s a lot of pent up demand for bikeways but not enough facilities,” said Sherry Ryan, principal planner with Chen-Ryan. “The issue is you just can’t keep cyclists off Broadway.”
At the workshops, attendees gave consultants and city staff their preferred design alternatives.
Bicyclist Randy Van Vleck is a member of Bike/Walk Chula Vista, the organization that asked the city to improve city roads for cycling and walking in the city.
He said businesses, motorists and bicyclists should be able to develop a compromise that suits everyone’s needs.
“To me it’s important that we maximize safety for all people,” he said.
The city contracted with Chen-Ryan & Associates to do a study and create multiple options for improved cycling along Broadway.
Each alternative along Broadway between C and Main streets is meant to protect cyclists, pedestrians and drivers, with the least amount of disruption to businesses and residents, according to city staff.
Existing conditions including curb-to-curb widths, on-street parking, the number of cyclists and collisions were considered.
The city developed its first bikeway master plan in 1996. The last Bikeway Master Plan update was in 2011.
C to E Street draft alternatives include bike lanes with or without a buffer, two or four travel lanes with a center median or double left-turn lane and zero to two parking lanes.
E to F Street options include either two or four travel lanes, no median or one double left turn lanes with two 8-foot parking lanes.
F to L Street alternatives include two bike lanes with or without a buffer, two or four travel lanes, one double left-turn lane and two 8-foot parking lanes.
L Street to Main Street options include two buffered bike lanes, two or four travel lanes, raised medians with left-turn pockets and either no parking or two 8-foot parking lanes.
The preferred alternative varies depending on whom you ask. Pedestrians would be virtually unaffected by any alternative.
Bicyclists tended to prefer bike lanes with an adjacent striped buffer area that provides a few extra feet between the bike and travel lane. They also prefer not having on-street parking to avoid getting hit by by the door of a motorist getting out of their car.
Zaida Botello, a bicyclist who lives in La Jolla but works in Chula Vista, said she’s excited about the proposal.
“I feel like it’s a really progressive step that Chula Vista is taking,” she said.
The majority of business owners felt that with no on-street parking, the convenience for patrons would be eliminated. However, at the same time, visibility for cars leaving on-site parking lots would be improved because parked cars or trucks on Broadway would no longer block views from the driveways.
“Broadway is a bike route and that is a destination,” said City Engineer Frank Rivera. “Everybody has certain rules that they have to follow.”
Rivera said the consultant’s final report is expected by the end of this month and would include the reasons behind its recommendations.
It would then go to the city’s Safety Commission in early December, which would recommend a proposed alternative to the City Council for consideration sometime in January.
If approved by the City Council, the report will help city staff members budget for the capital improvement project for next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
