[DB!-Announce] !! Contact Yolo County Supervisors to support safety improvements to county roads!!

[Davis Bicycles Announcements]

Davis Bicyclists--

As many of you know, a UCD employee was killed last month when he was bicycling in to work from Woodland.  He was on County Road 99 about 2 miles south of Woodland, on a stretch of road that has bike lanes.  While the CHP report is not complete, it evidence suggests that the poor condition of the bike lanes may have contributed to his death.  

Several of us went to the County Supervisors' meeting on Tuesday Nov 6th and asked that the county 
* prioritize maintenance of existing bike lanes, 
* ensure all existing bike lanes are at least 4' wide, and 
* add safety mitigation to bicycle corridors that lack bike lanes.  
We received positive comments from supervisors Thomson, Rexroad and Yamada, and mixed comments from Chamberlain.  They said that they had received many emails expressing dismay at Lopez's tragic death, but, apparently, our suggestions were the first they'd received about improving safety on a tight budget.  See the Enterprise coverage at www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2007/11/07/news/054new2.txt

We think that significant improvements can be made quickly, with relatively little money.  If we keep the pressure up, and meet with them to discuss the solutions, we will see a difference within a few months.  

It's time to step up to the plate and give the supervisors a good reason to follow through with their supportive comments.  Send a note to your supervisors, let them know you care, let them know you want them to act quickly to make county roads safer for bicycling.  
Mariko.Yamada at yolocounty.org (Davis East)  666-8623
duane.chamberlain at yolocounty.org (Winters and Esparto)  666-8627
matt at rexroad.com (Woodland)  666-8621
helen.thomson at yolocounty.org  (Davis West) 757-5557
mike.mcgowan at yolocounty.org  (West Sac)  (916) 375-6441
(Write to the one representing your district at a minimum, best to write to all of them)

This issue is very much on their minds now, and will be on their minds for another week or two.  Write/call now, or soon, to keep the heat on.  Remember--the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Ted Buehler
President, Davis Bicycles!

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More info: 
1) link to our 11 page photoessay of bicycle safety problems and solutions on county roads
2) our written comments to the supervisors, and 
3) suggested talking points for your letters to the supervisors.  

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1) 
http://daviswiki.org/Davis_Bicycles%21?action=Files&do=view&target=YoloCountyRequest.pdf

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2) 
Davis Bicycles!
PO Box 74204
Davis, CA 95617
info at davisbicycles.org

5 November 2007

Request to Yolo County Board of Supervisors
Re: Bike lanes and bike safety on Yolo County Roads

The county has done well adding bike lanes to many county roads, such as Road 102, some of Road 99, and now some of Road 98.  Bicycling is a good alternative to driving from Woodland to Davis and Davis to Sacramento.  Lots of people do this, the 10-15 mile trip makes people healthy, cuts car traffic off county roads, and will only become more popular as gas prices rise.  Yolo County would benefit from facilitating safer transit of bicycles between cities. 

Today we'd like to call attention to the need to maintain existing bike lanes and to prioritize interim safety mitigation in bicycle corridors without bike lanes. 

We encourage you to consider the following proposals.  Some of these are probably legal requirements, others just make good sense.  They are inexpensive relative to the construction costs of bike lanes, and will contribute to more safe and pleasant bicycling conditions. 

1. Maintain all bike lanes to an acceptable standard. Currently, bike lanes have
- debris buildup (leaf, brush, gravel, carcasses)
- weed growth
- vegetation encroachment (ground-level and bushy)
- crumbling pavement
- drop-offs onto adjacent gravel shoulder

These are huge safety problems, but they're also easily solvable.  The county should evaluate existing bike lanes for specific types of problems, then determine how to solve them.  Have crews routinely patch pavement, clean pavement, and remove encroaching vegetation.  Determine which areas are "chronic offenders" (Oleander hedges, poor drainage, gravel driveways, etc.) and check these spots more frequently. 

2. Improve all bike lanes to a minimum 4' width.  For instance, Road 99 is supposed to have bike lanes from the Woodland City Limits to Willow Slough, but in many places they are only 1-3 feet wide and thus not large enough to provide a safe passage for bicyclists, according to Caltrans standards.  Identify these narrow spots and determine how to fix them. 

3. Designate Roads 99, 102, 32A, East Chiles Rd as "Intercity Bicycle Corridors" - add more signs to alert motorists of the roads' status and the likelihood of encountering bicycles, such as blue highway-type signs that say "Welcome to the Woodland-Davis Bicycle Corridor, please drive carefully!" 

4. Fix some key problems:
* 4-way stop needed at Hutchison and Road 98
* Some bike lanes shown on the county map are "missing" for certain sections on the road.  Send out a crew to correct these short (~1000' each) sections
- Road 102, east side, south of Road 29 (Solar Farm)
- Road 32A on portions east of Road 105, south side
- Road 99, west side, just south of Road 25A

5. Enforce speed limits.  55 mph is better for bikes, and when everyone is driving 55 you don't get cars going 70 coming at bicyclists head-on as they pass slower cars.  

6. Start a "bicycle safety hotline" for the county where cyclists can report (by phone or email) road hazards, debris, or needed repairs. 

We think these are reasonable safety requests.  They won't sink the county's budget, but they will greatly improve the safety if intercity bicycle commuting in the county by ensuring high quality bike lanes and improved motorist awareness. 

Thank you, 
Davis Bicycles! Handlebar group

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3)
Here are some additional talking points for your letters to the supervisors: 

* Bike improvements have focused on building bike lanes.  While this is admirable, the county has neglected maintaining their bike lanes!  Bike lanes are impassible in many areas because of road debris, poor pavement and vegetation.  This is an easy fix.  It won't cost much, and it is very important.  

* Good urban riding is to not "duck in and out of parked cars", but rather to hold your position on the roads.  If county roads' bike paths are frequently obstructed, bicyclists have no choice but to either hold a position in the driving lane or weave in and out of the bike lane.  Neither of these is desirable.  

* Some bike lanes are less than 4' wide--this is simply too narrow for safe operation of a bike, as you can get caught in the wash of a fast vehicle, and there is no margin of error if a vehicle drifts even a few inches into the bike lane.  

* Helen Thomson's comment in the Enterprise is “It takes a tragedy to get people organized,”   While this may be true, do we expect more of our county officials?  How would you suggest she rephrase this to instill more confidence in her constituents?  How about "This time it took a tragedy to get us organized, but we're going to be proactive from now on!"  

* Helen Thomson suggested using tobacco funding to buy signs designating roads as bicycle corridors--I think this is a good idea, and this is the kind of thinking we want to see more of.  

* Public Works Director John Bencomo is quoted as “Only some sections have bike lanes,” he said. Actually, he added, his department provides expanded shoulders on the road, not real bike lanes."  This is a bit cryptic, since the lanes on Road 99 have bicycle stick figures stencilled in them.  Whatever he meant by this, we should encourage the county to build "real bike lanes"--accept to inferior substitutes!  

* Have you ridden on county roads and come across any types of hazards that you think are most critical?  Tell them exactly what the type of hazard is, and ask them to fix it -- and specify countywide or to prioritize certain corridors.  

* Davis invented bike lanes in 1967.  It's a travesty that they still usually end at the city limits, but the travesty in Lopez's death is that the county had built bike lanes but did not maintain them.  Lopez had to swerve into the driving lane to avoid oak/oleander shrubbery at the place he was hit.  Davis may not maintain its bike lanes "perfectly", but Davis errs on having wide bike lanes, and generally keeps them up.  This is a practice the county should follow.  

* We really need ideas for what can be done to narrow county roads that are bike thoroughfares.  I think big signs welcoming cars to the "Woodland-Davis Bicycle Corridor" would raise awareness.  Other things would be slower speed limits on some stretches, maintainance of a 2' gravel shoulder as a recovery zone for when you get run off the road, 

* You don't really need to say anything much, don't be shy, just send them an email saying you'd like to see county roads made safer for bicyclists!