Bicycle Safety: Top 4 Ways to be hit by Cars in Orange, CA

Number 1: The T-Bone
- As you are riding down the street you are stuck on the right side by a clueless driver. Trust me, this is a terrbile way to start your day on the way to school.



Number 2: Door in the Face
- Want to get a good look at my new West Coast Customs interior?



Number 3: The Crosswalk Slam
- Old Towne Orange is filled with pedestrians and cyclists moving through crosswalks that line the streets. This is also the scene of my own near death experience.



Number 4: The Rear End
- Sharing lanes with cars in the streets of Orange is extremely frightening. You never know what is coming up in the lane behind you.



The solution: BIKE LANES!
Bike lanes create a location for awareness of cyclists in the streets. By keeping a divider, drivers and cyclists can maneuver through the streets of Orange in a safe and efficient way.

The Pima County Bicycle & Pedestrian Program

Pima County in Tucson, AZ, is a community that took the safety of walkers and cyclists on the city’s streets in their own hands. The county faced the city’s issue of crowded streets and developed a program that has since become a template for other community bicycle programs.

Pima County categorizes their goals for their program in sections known as the “five E’s”. These categories can also serve as a template for a proposed bicycle and pedestrian plan in Orange, CA.

The five E’s are as follow,

Engineering: Construction for new bike lanes are as part of new re-constructed roadways.

Education: Develop an informative website and creating bicycle road and safety manuals with tips for cyclists, motorists and police.

Enforcement: The program encourages specialized training for law enforcement working with cyclists. It also strengthens legislation, providing improved rights and protection of cyclists and pedestrians.

Encouragement: Provides the community with incentives to walk or bike, creating a healthier community. It also supports community sponsored events such as runs and walks.

Evaluation: Create a 20 year plan to work with the Pima community to keep the streets up to date with the safest and most efficient streets.

Valencia College

College campuses are always filled with cyclists. Out of concern for the safety of its students and surrounding community, many college campuses have found ways to improve its roads. In-fact, one campus in East Orange County, not far from Chapman University, has its own college lane that serves to “help address the increasing traffic demand” in and around the campus. Specialized improvements to Valencia College’s Lane (VCL), includes,

- Addition of lanes to the existing two-lane sections of VCL.
- Signalization and intersection improvements.
- Special treatment and/or additional lanes at major intersections.
- Addition of sidewalks, bike lanes, and other safety enhancements.
- Landscaping upgrades, roadway lighting, and drainage enhancements.

Valencia prides themselves on this project and even includes a page about it on their website. This is yet another fine example of how bike lanes can better Chapman University and the community surrounding the campus.

The Long Beach Approach

By looking at what other cities have done to enhance cycling safety, it is apparent that Southern California is filled with cycling enthusiasts wanting more bike lanes. This weekend I took a trip to Long Beach, CA to see what their local city cyclists have done in order to add bike lanes. After arriving on Broadway Ave., it was apparent the work that had gone into creating a city that is bike-friendly. These lanes were added in 2001 as a city “Bicycle Master Plan”. Studying the master plan is helpful in understanding how a city can focus on creating a bicycle safe environment and how it can be applied to the city of Orange.

The Master Plan states:

"The master plan seeks to focus on creating east-west and north-south connections, links to the river and beach trails and encourages residents to ride for fun and for work.
The city is also launching a pilot program to install bike lanes in some areas. Part of the plan involves a two-way bike lane on Third Street between Alamitos and Junipero avenues and protected bicycle lanes - landscaped medians that separate bicycle and car lanes - on Third Street and Broadway between Golden and Alamitos avenues. Bicycle lanes would also be placed in neighborhoods, such as on Vista Street between Temple and Nieto avenues.
And sharrows - prominent indicators painted on roads that would provide a larger space for bicyclists sharing the lane with motorists - would be installed on Second Street between Livingston Drive and Bay Shore Avenue."

Here is a short video of some people enjoying an evening ride thorugh downtown Long Beach:


Although the city has succeeded in creating the bike lanes proposed in the master plan, efforts to enhance bicycle safety have not vanished. Resident Josh Joseph talked about establishing a Bicycle Advisory Committee and improvements toward the 2001 Bicycle Master Plan.

Chapman C Park Policy Encourages Cycling

This year’s new parking policy at Chapman University, whether seen as good or bad, has caused growth in the amount of cyclers commuting to the University. The policy restricts students from parking in areas in and around the campus that had previously been open to all students. All parking spots that are now of limits to students, have been auctioned off at large prices starting at $500. Chapman’s stated reasoning behind the policy is to encourage students to carpool, causing a more efficient way of commuting to school. However, many students disagree with the policy saying that it is simply another way for Chapman to make easy cash.



One sure thing that the policy brings is more cyclists. Student Henry Allen said, “This year I have seen more bikes riding around campus than ever. It’s gotten to the point where almost every bike rack is constantly full.” Concerning the safety of riders and the traffic in and around the campus, Allen said, “Riding to class has now become a task in itself. The combination of student drivers, pedestrian walkers and the large amount of cyclists makes riding in the street and the sidewalks extremely dangerous.”

To read about Chapman's C-park policy visit http://www.chapman.edu/parking/

It's All About Timing.

In order to create bike lanes the cheapest and most efficient way it is important to know when to install bike lanes. Also, knowing the best candidate streets can help significantly lower the cost of such a project. The sections of Chapman Ave. and Glassell St. that I had selected for construction are perfect examples of roads that can easily add bike lanes.

The cost of installing a bike lane is approximately $5,000 to $50,000 per mile. This depends on the condition of the pavement, the need to remove and repaint the lane lines, the need to adjust signalization, and other factors. It is most cost efficient to create bicycle lanes during street reconstruction, street resurfacing, or at the time of original construction.

Although the bike lanes proposed to run Chapman Ave. stretch an approximate eight miles, the project could fit in with some of the other plans that the city of Orange currently have in progress. After viewing the committed recovery act project for Orange, CA 2009 I found that there are plans for road rehabilitation that sit in a large portion of the proposed bike route. With a federal funding of $1,620,734 bike lanes could easily be fit into the budget of this city project.

The proposed plans to connect the bike lanes from Chapman Ave., through the Orange circle and onto Glassell St. measures a mere half mile. This tiny strip of road although small, is extremely important in providing safe transportation for cyclists traveling to the city’s schools. This section of Glassell St. is well paved and could easily house bike lanes at an affordable price.

What is a Bike Lane?

Bike lanes indicate a preferential or exclusive space for bicycle travel along an arterial street. Bike lanes have been found to provide more consistent separation between bicyclists and passing motorists. Marking bicycle lanes can also benefit pedestrians—as turning motorist slow and yield more to bicyclists, they will also be doing so for pedestrians.

The addition of bike lanes on Glassell St. would result in fewer motor vehicle lanes. However, this can enhance safety for pedestrians crossing the street. Bicycle lanes also provide a buffer between motor vehicle traffic and pedestrians when sidewalks are immediately adjacent to the curb. On high-speed, high-volume roads, such as Chapman Ave., it may be more appropriate to provide a multi-use path to physically separate both bicyclists and pedestrians from motor vehicle traffic.

Safety Summation:
Create on-street travel facilities for bicyclists.
Narrow the roadway or travel lane widths to encourage lower motor vehicle speeds.
Provide additional separation between pedestrians and motor vehicles. Reduce the distance pedestrians must travel to cross automobile lanes.