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.