CV Link and the Environment, part 2 traffictransportation

Traffic and transportation

CV Link construction could conflict with traffic circulation. Six requirements must be met during construction:

• Construction activities shall meet or exceed federal, state, and local laws for public safety.
• Location and design of access points to CV Link and traffic improvements will comply with city standards, under review and approval by the respective City Engineers before construction permits are issued.
• All necessary permits, approvals, and traffic control plans shall be secured prior to the start of construction, including grading, paving, and other construction at public streets. CVAG will collaborate with the public works departments of each city before site development, to ensure that construction causes minimal disruption to traffic on adjoining city streets.
• The construction manager will identify and repair any damage to existing public roads at the end of construction. Accidental load spills will be cleaned up immediately.
• Area lighting will be provided along the CV Link route and associated streets, roadways, and access areas. The lighting will follow proper design for the safe movement of vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic and to ensure good visibility under both daylight and nighttime conditions.
• Construction management and traffic control will maximize the efficiency of construction and minimize the disruption of traffic flow through CV Link construction areas. Special attention will be given to minimize or avoid accessibility issues for nearby residences, businesses, and schools. At least one lane will remain open in each direction, and signage will be installed for road work and/or detours. Emergency vehicle access will not be affected.

Bike-commute day 50—to work

Monday, 11 July 2011.

Last Friday was a drive day. You'd think it was a loss. But no, I drove across all the intersections with my commute over the bikeway. I had an amazing revelation: not one of the crossings was well-enough marked to make the crossing safe.

I had started my posting for the Thursday commute home as a well-modulated rant about the obstructions to viewing traffic from the bikeway or viewing cyclists from the approaching roadways. That was appropriate but also—at least now with the drive on Friday—off-target. So expect something more for the Thursday posting, still on its way.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 70 to 75°F at 07:15
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time:  00:43:43 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 121 bpm HRave, 140 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 2 cyclists, 7 pedestrians, 2 dogs
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 33—to gym and home

I got a reminder this afternoon on the unreliability of drivers. As I approached the bikeway crossing of Linden Avenue, a driver from the west graciously stopped for me. I slowed for the crossing, saluted a thanks to the driver, and then looked to the right. A driver was approaching from the east, obviously slowing. But not stopping, just slowing.

As she crossed in front of me, I saw inside the auto. The driver was busily fitting a supersize cup into the cup holder, oblivious of the marked crosswalk and the stopped vehicle in the approaching lane. Unaware that her slowing might have been understood as an invitation to cross in front of her.

The distracted driver is the greatest hazard presented to a cyclist who uses the roadways. And the cyclist who aims to use only the bikeways, since the bikeways intersect with roads, often at distances of less than a mile from one intersection to the next. The cellphone and texting are only the two more recent sources of distraction, joining many other sources that have been present almost as long as the automobile itself: lighting a cigarette, tuning the radio, opening and closing windows, conversing with a rider, eating and drinking at the wheel, responding to a nuisance insect, squinting from sun glare, daydreaming.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 77 to 81°F at 17:10
Precipitation: none, then a lot
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the northeast
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed-gear
Time: 00:58:03 for 15.82 miles
Heart rate: 123 bpm average, 142 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 31 cyclists, 14 pedestrians, 3 dogs
Here is a playback of the ride.