northbound Pacific Avenue at Cathcart Street with dooring bonus
Bike Santa Cruz County, a local bicycle advocacy organization, has endorsed a plan to put a door-zone contraflow bike lane on the street. See www.bikesantacruzcounty.org/action-alerts/2016/3/15/i7uxi....
I wrote a letter that is a little different than the one they suggested.
Dear Transportation and Public Works Commissioners,
Item 3 on your 3/21/2016 meeting agenda
describes a pilot project for southbound one-way traffic on Pacific Avenue (between
Church St and Cathcart St) with the addition of a contraflow bike lane next to a line of parked
cars. Pacific Avenue is a retail
area with a high degree of parking turn over.
Please oppose placing a contraflow
bike lane next to parked cars.
The parked cars pose hazards to cyclists using the contraflow bike
lane. Car passengers leaving their
vehicles will open car doors into the contraflow bike lane knocking cyclists
into the opposing traffic lane.
Motorists will pull into the bike lane to enter and leave parking spaces
against the flow of traffic in the bike lane.
When leaving a parking space, motorists will not be able to see around
the parked cars ahead of them to see approaching cyclists in the bike lane.
This increases the likelihood of head-on collisions between cars and bikes in
the contraflow lane.