Make Sharrows Happen in NPB

Your voice is needed at the Newport Beach City Council meeting July 10th at 7pm in the COUNCIL CHAMBERS  at 3300 NEWPORT BLVD.

Sharrows from Mac Arthur Blvd. through Corona Del Mar to Poppy are on the Council agenda as item #16. Pleased attend the meeting and voice your support for the project.

The Project Staff report is here, and the Council agenda is here.

The staff report indicates that the project  funding is available within the current budget, but this is not a “done deal”.

This is the chance to make your case before the people who will decide its fate.

Let them know why they should spend the City’s money on this project, and how the City will benefit.

For those unfamiliar with public speaking, the following from the NPB agenda may help:

The City provides a yellow sign-in card to assist in the preparation of the minutes. The completion of the card is not required in order to address the Council. Speakers must limit comments to five (5) minutes on agenda items. The Council has the discretion to extend or shorten the time limit on agenda or non-agenda items. As a courtesy, please turn cell phones off or set them in the silent mode.

Thanks in advance for your support on this issue.

SB Traffic Lanes to be Squeezed in Corona del Mar

UPDATE: 6/27/12

This afternoon we received a response from Traffic Engineer Tony Brine of the City of  Newport Beach who informs us of the following:

“The trial project includes a new striped bike lane between Avocado and Begonia. This striped bike lane does not exist today. During the trial, south of Begonia there will be no on-street striped bike lane. This is the condition that exists today. As part of the proposed CAP project, there would not be a designated bike lane adjacent to the widened sidewalk area. After the trial is complete, the proposed project could be discussed further with the Corona del Mar Entry CAP.”

Thank you Mr. Brine, we looked but must have missed the mention of the new striped bike lane in the documents on the CDM Entry CAP ( Citizens Advisory Panel) page. Thank you again for the clarification.

End Update

The Corona del Mar Business Improvement District, calls for eliminating a traffic lane and nine street parking spaces on Coast Highway to create space for more landscaping and widened sidewalks, and to that end are paying for a feasibility study beginning this week.

The study will run sometime (unknown as yet) into the early fall, so all cyclists take note.

According to Tara Finnigan, city spokeswoman,  details include eliminating one southbound traffic lane on Coast Highway through the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and studying how the traffic flow is affected.

“There will be a transition in the southbound direction from three lanes at Avocado Avenue to two lanes at Begonia Avenue,” Finnigan said in a released statement.

The description of the project and additional details are here.

Our email to the city seeking clarification for cyclists traveling through the area  has not been returned.

Our advice is to bypass the area using our suggested bypass route until things settle down, or we get clarification from the city.

Hopefully you won’t wind up like this by riding Bayside, but you never know. With one southbound lane removed, more motorists might divert to Bayside and not be as kind as the motorists that are aware of the sharrows painted on the roadway.

Results of a Left Hook in CDM  (Click picture to read article)

If you are a southbound cyclist up for a challenge, turn left at Bayside, run the back bay to San Joaquin, and take that to Newport Coast, right back to PCH.

You’ll get a tough workout and avoid all the madness below.

Northbound riders may also follow our bypass route here.

Thanks for a “heads up” from the NPB/CDM patch.

NBC Update

Since May 1st, 23,400 riders have pedaled 1,717,258 miles in the National Bike Challenge.
California has slipped to 28th place, although riders grew to 1,273 registered riders pedaling 102,113 miles. Are you one of them? Chances are good that you are!
Here’s the top 10 standings as of 5/19:
Top 10 States / Points Top 10 Companies / Points
1 – Vermont   / 210.84
2 – Wisconsin / 149.64
3 – Nebraska /  123.85
4 – WashDC   /   54.90
5 – Iowa        /   41.74
6 – Colorado  /   38.10
7 – Penn.       /   20.42
8 – Ohio        /   19.03
9 – Minn.       /   15.24
10 -Montana  /   14.74
1 Trek Bicycle Corp,       / 219526
2
Kimberly-Clark Corp.  / 103214
3 Retired                       /   44217
4 Specialized Bike Components/ 43471
5 American Electric Power / 33907
6 Ingersoll Rand               / 32523
7 Texas Instruments         / 26300
8 Oshkosh Corporation     / 25687
9 U of W – Madison           / 21002
10 NW Mutual                  / 19584

Since the NBC will run through August, there’s still time to register for this months’ prize and get the wheels rolling, or watch in amazement as the the leaders pull away from the pack.

According to Wes Parsel of the OCTA, 900 of you have signed up for Bike Month with the OCTA’s Bike Month Program.

Here’s the breakdown:
53% commute to work,
22% will connect with public transportation,
16% are 1st time “cyclo-commuters”,
and 132,000 (!) miles are committed during May.

Remember, riders are allowed to be enrolled in both the OCTA program and the NBC at the same time, so if you are enrolled in only one, register for the other and get even more mileage from your good deeds.  If you are commuting but aren’t registered with either, register for both!

At the conclusion of the OCTA program, keep on riding; there’s no reason to stop, and your mileage could help California break into the top 20 or better!

We look forward to sharing the results with you when they come in.