|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Menlo Park installed speed humps and tables as part of the Middle Avenue Complete Streets project to improve pedestrian and biking safety. Now some cyclists are frustrated that the traffic-calming measures extend into the bike lanes making their route less safe.
“I understand the need to slow down cars, but I’m surprised that the bumps extend to the bike lanes… Please consider removing the speed bumps in the bike lanes on Middle Avenue, as my daughters ride their bikes to get to school and I worry it’s unsafe for them,” Menlo Park resident Thuy Nguyen wrote in an email to the City Council.
The city installed three speed tables and two speed humps. Speed tables are raised crosswalks, and speed humps are gentler than speed bumps, which typically force drivers to slow nearly to a stop.
The city extended the speed humps into the bike lanes to prevent drivers from swerving into them to avoid the hump, said Menlo Park spokesperson Kendra Calvert. Vehicle lanes are 10 feet wide in each direction. In addition, the bike lanes are 5 feet wide and there is a 4.5 feet buffer between vehicles and bikes.
For the speed tables, city staff said raised crosswalks must extend to the sidewalk to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Speed bumps in bike lanes pose a serious risk to all cyclists, but especially to children on bikes and scooters, who are less aware of road dangers and more vulnerable to accidents. These bumps could easily cause falls and serious injuries,” Las Lomitas parent Christine Arnould wrote in an email to the City Council.
She suggested the city should instead install a barrier between the bike and vehicle lanes.
The humps and tables have tapered edges to allow for a smoother ride and avoid discomfort, according to Calvert. So far, the city says it has observed slower and safer use of the avenue.
Although the speed humps and tables are already in place, work on the complete streets project will continue. New striping and flashing beacons at some crosswalks are scheduled for installation in October.
The city budgeted the project, which includes resurfacing the street and improvements to drainage and utility infrastructure, at $1,857,400, with $1.1 million funded by a grant from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority.
I would like to add a couple of clarifying comments to this. The speed humps are tapered much lower in the bike lanes to the extent that they are almost unnoticeable. The speed tables/crosswalks are noticeable, but wide and therefore not knocking anyone off their bike. Since I commute along Middle Ave., I’ve been watching to see how it goes for the kids and to date, I’ve not seen anyone fall because of a speed reducing measure, nor has the Oak Knoll school nurse reported any bike fall related injuries coming her way. Some speed bumps (like the ones in the parking lot of Big 5, etc., are jarring. The middle ave speed bumps are not like those speed bumps. In short, the speed bumps that could be changed aren’t really a problem and the speed tables can’t be changed.
Agree the speed humps and tables are not an issue with bike safety. Bike lanes all over the city, like on Bay, Willow and Laurel have similar designs and work just fine.
As a cyclist who often rides roads with these traffic calming devices, I would MUCH rather have these in the bike lane than worry about drivers swerving into the bike lane to avoid them.
I noticed many vehicles struggling with these new speed humps. Speed bumps’ or humps’ goal is to make the traffic stay under the speed limit, hovewer these speed humps are badly designed and can only be passed over at 15mph. The speed limit at middle is 25mph. I see many vehicles lower to 25 just to see their vehicles jumping over the hump. I understand we want to make our streets safer for bikes, but speed humps and the stop sign at San Mateo intersection created a big traffic problem in Middle Ave. Going to Oak Knoll from downtown takes 15-20mins now. It took 5 mins 2 years ago.
because they were speeding. The roads are much safer now that cars have to travel at lower speeds. As a travel corridor heavily used by bikes, pedestrians and cars, slower speeds for giant steel boxes capable of killing people are the price of sharing resources.
The speed humps are easily overcome as they have a cut out in the middle. If you line up you car so that one side’s tires go through the cut out and the other go on the hump you can traverse them at higher speed. In that way they are not very effective. The tables at the crosswalks don’t have these and are much more effective.