Council approves North Laguna bike route

New path will be identified with bike route signs and utilize shared-lane markings, or "sharrows."

September 29, 2011|By Barbara Diamond

Drivers might be seeing more bicyclists on some North Laguna streets, which were designated Sept. 20 by the City Council as a bike route.

The route will run northerly from Broadway and Cliff Drive, following generally along Monterey and Hillcrest drives to Ledroit Street. A southerly route begins at North Coast Highway and Ledroit and runs generally along Hillcrest and Cypress drives.

"I am delighted," said Les Miklosy, chairman of the Complete Streets Task Force. "Everyone should be. My mantra is: For every person you see on a bicycle, or walking, or riding public transit means one less car on the road and a free parking space."

The council voted 4-0-1 for the bike path.

"I am abstaining for lack of information," Mayor Toni Iseman said.

Staff was unable to document at the meeting the number of traffic lanes required for shared roadway markings, popularly called "sharrows."

The newly designated bike route, which includes one-way streets, will be identified by 25 sharrows and bike route signs.

"Sharrows will be used where legal," said Steve May, director of the Public Works Department.

Caltrans standards for sharrows do not allow them to be used on streets with delineated bike lanes or on roads where speeds exceed 60 miles an hour. They can only be used on streets where there is parallel parking, according to May.

Portions of the new bike route will not be marked by sharrows, but as many as 10, 24-inch bicycle route signs may be installed at intersections where the direction of the route changes.

The sharrows and the signs will cost an estimated $6,000 to install, and ongoing maintenance costs will be about $500 a year. Installation costs will be funded by money budgeted for Pedestrian Pathways and Complete Streets.

Maintenance funds will be included in future budgets.

coastlinepilot@latimes.com

Twitter: @CoastlinePilot

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