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Daily
News
Nov. 14, 1999
Coalition forms to promote cyclists'
interests
By Cecilia Chan Staff Writer
THOUSAND OAKS -
Most days, Lance Christensen makes his 11-mile commute to work
pedaling his bicycle alongside motorists without much
trouble.
But when a roadway redesign allowed cars to
merge into what had been a portion of the bike lane on Lindero
Canyon Boulevard, it was time to put the brakes on the
situation.
"We have a few (bicycle) facilities,
and losing any of them is difficult to deal with," said
Christensen, who said he keeps his asthma in check with the
biking. "We want to start working on improving the bicycling
atmosphere in Ventura County."
Not willing to let the
matter fall by the wayside, Christensen formed the Ventura County
Bicycle Coalition to stop what he says is the continuing
disappearance and deterioration of bike lanes throughout the
county.
The group, which held its first meeting attended by
40 people earlier this month, has come up with three
projects.
The group plans to petition the county to form a
bike advisory committee to give input on how to safely design a
bike lane; organize group members to inform cities about the
coalition and its interests; and try to improve the Pacific Coast
bike route, which passes through Ventura County as it stretches
from Canada to Mexico.
"It's hard sometimes to connect
from one area to another," said Christensen, chairman of the
group's steering committee. "So we want to make sure Ventura
County remembers we bicyclists use the road too, and we need to
have the roads designed to support us."
Routes for
bicyclists range across the county, but at least one city,
Thousand Oaks, has been diligent about seeing to the needs of
cyclists in its community, said John Helliwell, city traffic
division manager.
"I think we add more bike lanes,"
Helliwell said. "We widened Rancho Conejo Boulevard two years
ago and went to the additional expense to make sure we have bike
lanes. When possible, we add them."
Helliwell, who has
biked most of the city's routes to test the engineering, said that
six years ago, the city's Traffic and Transportation Advisory
Commission reviewed bicyclists' needs in the city and devised a
plan to provide bike lanes and routes where possible.
The
city's street system includes three connected loops totaling
nearly 50 miles - one in the center core of the city, one in
Newbury Park and one in the city's portion of Westlake
Village.
The city is midway through bringing the project to
fruition, having completed painting the strips and putting up
directional signs for the loop in the city's core, and now working
on the one in Newbury Park, he said.
But in highly
congested intersections, the city also has changed some bike lanes
into shared routes with cars to balance the needs of motorists and
bicyclists, he said.
Thousand Oaks recently received a
$300,000 grant, which requires a 20 percent city match in funds,
to develop a master plan to improve the city's bicycle
transportation system.
The bicycle coalition's goals - to
make way for bikes amid the sea of cars - is a common challenge
for cities up and down the state.
"Ventura County
faces many of the same problems other suburban communities have -
high-speed traffic and too many narrow lanes make conditions
uncomfortable for bicyclists," said Chris Morfas, executive
director of the California Bicycle Coalition in Sacramento. "The
primary concern of bicyclists is for roads to accommodate us. We
need to share the road with motorists, so we need enough space so
motorists can safely pass us.
"We need to be
accommodated on arterial roads because they are the most
convenient road to travel to work, school or shopping," said
Morfas, who attended the group's meeting. "Some cities in
California are removing bike lanes to install motor vehicle lanes,
and that must be stopped."
Morfas said the
Federal Highway Administration estimated that the number of
commuter and recreational bicyclists nationwide nearly doubled
this decade. Nationwide, 1 percent of personal trips are by bike,
he said.
"More and more people are starting to use
their bikes for commuting," he said. "There's increased
environmental awareness (and) recognition that a bicycle is a
healthy, fun way to get around. It's a great way to get daily
exercise in without having to run for the gym."
Still,
with bicyclists in the minority on city streets used by commuters
in cars, the coalition and others are left to lobby for room to
ride.
"I'm sure the new Ventura County Bicycle
Coalition will take steps to ensure that these high-speed roads
have wider lanes so bicyclists can share them with motorists,"
Morfas said. "And we also need to remind motorists that
bicyclists have every right to use the roads. Bicyclists pay for
these roads through their property and sales taxes."
The
state lobbying group, which represents more than 10,000 bicyclists
statewide, recently co-sponsored AB1475, which would provide up to
$20 million annually for bike lanes and trails, sidewalks and
traffic calming devices near schools.
In the neighboring
Los Angeles County cities of Agoura Hills and Calabasas, bike
routes will be improved thanks to a $1 million state grant
announced in September.
The money will be used to fill in
the gaps in the regional bike lane route that stretches from the
Calabasas boundary with Los Angeles to the edge of Ventura County
and into Thousand Oaks.
Christensen said the newly
formed group also has educational goals, including teaching
bicyclists how to ride safely and encouraging them to get out and
ride a bike.
"It's an efficient way to get around and
it's healthy, whether for recreation or transportation; it's just
a good way to get around," Christensen said.
"For
me, I've been commuting to work for well over 20 years. I've put
on 100,000 miles on my bicycles."
The group plans to
hold its second meeting at the beginning of December.
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