The Orinda City Council has given the green light to a revised striping plan that will add green conflict zone striping to the northbound Camino Pablo bike lane near the Highway 24 on- and off-ramps. However, the council declined to authorize the performance of a traffic study for recommendations and potential impacts of modifications to the westbound Highway 24 on- and off-ramp to improve bicycle safety, concluding that the study would "not be helpful."
The plan to add the green striping relates back to the city's 2014 efforts to coordinate with CalTrans on the restriping of new pavement between Brookwood Road and Santa Maria Way to improve bicycle circulation and safety. Retaining walls and abutments to Highway 24 and the BART tracks limit the ability to incorporate bike lanes in the area, and the final design placed the lane between the right turn only lane and the combination through-right turn lane onto Highway 24.
The bike lane striping was installed in June, but comments from the general public and Bike Orinda, a local bicyclists' group, suggested that further safety improvements should be considered. At the July 20 meeting of Orinda's Traffic Safety Advisory Committee, city staff proposed additional safety enhancements to the bike lane by adding green conflict zone striping, an increasingly common measure used in many other communities. The committee favored the idea, and recommended addition of the green striping to the council. The cost of doing the upgrade is expected to be about $23,000.
Although the council enthusiastically supported the green striping, it unanimously turned down a proposal to conduct an associated study of traffic at the site. The council members were aware of the northbound commute-hour backup from Brookwood to the Highway 24 on-ramp, but did not feel that an additional study would be helpful to their understanding of the situation.
The plan to add the green striping relates back to the city's 2014 efforts to coordinate with CalTrans on the restriping of new pavement between Brookwood Road and Santa Maria Way to improve bicycle circulation and safety. Retaining walls and abutments to Highway 24 and the BART tracks limit the ability to incorporate bike lanes in the area, and the final design placed the lane between the right turn only lane and the combination through-right turn lane onto Highway 24.
The bike lane striping was installed in June, but comments from the general public and Bike Orinda, a local bicyclists' group, suggested that further safety improvements should be considered. At the July 20 meeting of Orinda's Traffic Safety Advisory Committee, city staff proposed additional safety enhancements to the bike lane by adding green conflict zone striping, an increasingly common measure used in many other communities. The committee favored the idea, and recommended addition of the green striping to the council. The cost of doing the upgrade is expected to be about $23,000.
Although the council enthusiastically supported the green striping, it unanimously turned down a proposal to conduct an associated study of traffic at the site. The council members were aware of the northbound commute-hour backup from Brookwood to the Highway 24 on-ramp, but did not feel that an additional study would be helpful to their understanding of the situation.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA