mwandaw

The bike/pedestrian path along Hoover Street in Westminster has some real problems. However, I think it is much better than Beach Boulevard or Goldenwest.

Since I use that route, I was interested in some signs announcing a new bike/pedestrian project there. I called the City of Westminster to describe problems with the existing path in the hope that they would be fixed by the new path. I talked to Jake Ngo, who told me he is the project manager.

Before I could describe all of my concerns he wanted to describe the new project, so I listened. Mr Ngo started by telling me that the city is constrained by the fact that the existing path is on railroad property, and they cannot widen the path. The existing path paving will be replaced, and the old Oleander bushes, whose roots tore up the existing path, will be replaced with less intrusive, drought-tolerant landscaping. So far, so good.

The new path will be marked for pedestrians only, and the right-hand lanes in both directions of the street will be marked as "sharrows". The "sharrows" solve the problems with the existing path, but create a new and big problem.

I think sharrows have some merit on congested streets with slow speed limits in areas where there are a lot of bikes, and drivers are accustomed to accommodating them. None of these factors apply to Hoover Street. The speed limit is 40 mph, so many drive 50 mph. Vehicle and bike traffic is generally light, and drivers are not accustomed to watch out for bikes.

I told Mr Ngo that despite the signs and markings, sharrows in that area would be an invitation for car drivers to harass riders or worse. I told him that most bike riders would ignore the sharrows and use the pedestrian path just to get off the street. He said that he hoped that stepped-up law enforcement would educate drivers and riders. I told him that the police were too busy with other business to provide any meaningful enforcement along that route. He said that this was the best the city could do given the circumstances.

My wife put words to my feelings when she said, "I'll be damned if I'm going to ride along sharrows on a 40 mph street!"

TrojanHorse

Amen! I generally dislike sharrows, they seem like a copout. I don't even need a bike lane, just enough room to the right so cars don't have to run me over to get to the next red light.

Are you talking about riding on that sidewalk looking thing, or riding to the right of the fog line? If that's a pedestrian path, would pedestrians even use it? Neither one of those options looks terribly desirable.

jimincalif

I agree, that's not going to work well at all. Sharrows work well in some places, like PCH in Corona del Mar where congestion and on-street parking keep the speeds down. Maybe you should contact the Orange County Bicycle Coalition? PM me if you want contact info.

mwandaw

The link to Google Street View in my original post leads to a south-facing image of the existing bike/pedestrian path. The Oleander bushes to the right have since been removed. (That must have been a lot of work!)

The solid white line designates a bike lane. South-bound riders are supposed to ride between that line and the curb. North-bound riders are supposed to ride on the asphalt sidewalk to the right of the curb. In other words, for bicyclists opposing traffic is on the right, instead of the left. There are signs and arrows, but not enough of them, and it's confusing. That's just one of the problems that the existing path has. I could go on and on, about the existing path, but that's not the point.

For me the key point is that Hoover Street is a vital north/south route for bicyclists, and painting sharrows on the right-hand lane will make the situation worse, not better.

mwandaw

I'll do that. Thanks for the tip.

marquhar

It sounds like they will remove the existing bike lanes (marked shoulder) and go with sharrows. Will they write sharrows on both sides?
Man, even Anaheim figured out how to paint bike lanes outside the door lines on Ball Road.

The Orange County way of doing things like this is: hire an expert consultant to tell you the best, safest way to do it, spend big bucks (minimum of $50k), then ignore all of their advice.