Review raises safety concerns about El Camino bike lanes

As the state Department of Transportation pushes ahead with its plan to remove parking spaces and install bike lanes along El Camino Real, project proponents insist that the project intends to minimize collisions and improve road safety.

But a new review of the Caltrans commissioned by the City of Palo Alto reaches a starkly different conclusion. Conducted by Fehr & Peers, the review concluded that the Caltrans proposal fails to address the high-speed conditions that would continue to exist on El Camino and which would continue to pose “significant risks to vulnerable road users.”

The review, which the firm released on March 11, suggests that the Caltrans plan would not be consistent with the “safe system” approach, which the agency has adopted and which the city is preparing to integrate into its new bike plan. The approach, the consultants write, “recognizes the role of kinetic energy (speed and vehicle mass) and exposure as the root causes of severe injuries and fatalities, and requires a redundant, holistic, and proactive approach to address systemic risk.

“The core principles of the approach are to first reduce speed, and then to separate users in space and time consistent with the contextually appropriate speed,” Steve David and Meghan Mitman of Fehr & Peers wrote in the new report.

The bike lane plan, they argue, fails to do that. It does not address the high-speed conditions for vulnerable users in the corridor, which pose the greatest risk of injuries and fatalities. In particular, it retains the present number of lanes and the existing lane widths while removing the “friction” that is currently created by on-street parking, the review states.

The Caltrans plan also does not address turning movement speed at intersections where, according to Caltrans’ data, the vast majority of El Camino collisions occur. The review also noted that the design includes some areas where bicycle lanes drop altogether, leaving no protected treatments for cyclists. High-stress conditions, the review found, “persist for bicyclists traveling the corridor and these weakest links lead to an overall high stress condition that is likely to limit mode shift potential.”

The proposed alignment will also create new conflict points between bicyclists and buses, particularly once bicyclists who currently used the sidewalk shift to on-street riding, the review states.

The review was performed just weeks before the Palo Alto City Council is slated to consider on April 1 a resolution to remove all parking spaces from both sides of El Camino Real to accommodate Caltrans plans. If things go as planned, Caltrans would complete the project next year.

Fehr & Peers didn’t recommend scrapping the project. Instead, its consultants proposed a slate of near- and long-term improvements for Caltrans to consider as part of the bike lane project. These include creating a design that allows buses to stop in the right lane and provide bicyclists with a designated lane to the right of the bus stops; adding “paint and plastic” protections at intersections, narrowing lane width for cars to accommodate wider bike lanes or buffer zones for cyclists; and reconfiguring intersections to shorten the distance pedestrians have to cross the street.

In the long term, the consultants say Caltrans should consider removing one travel lane in each direction and restoring on-street parking to slow traffic. Caltrans should also consider adding new midblock crossings “to serve desire lines for pedestrians and bicyclists traveling to key destinations in the corridor, including bus stops,” they say.

To date, Caltrans’ plan has generated a mixed reaction from the community, with some bicyclists praising the state effort as a much-needed improvement to a dangerous stretch and others arguing that the plan needs significant changes. Dozens of bicyclists and community members attended recent community meetings to thank Caltrans for advancing its plans. One speaker, Emil Abraham, said it would be an “absolute shame” if Palo Alto missed out on new bike lanes.

“I’m glad to have Caltrans on the side of a brighter and greener future and I hope Palo Alto is also on board,” Abraham said at a March 13 hearing.

Others suggested that the current plans fall short and urged revisions. Alan Wachtel, who serves on the Palo Alto Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee, requested additional improvements at crosswalks and suggested at the March 13 meeting that bikeways could become “high-stress areas” if they involve conflicts with drivers at intersections.

Penny Ellson, community volunteer for Bike Palo Alto, requested Caltrans to integrate pedestrian refuge islands and other improvements at intersections to make conditions safer for people looking to cross El Camino. She called the proposal currently on the table an “incomplete complete streets plan.”

“I am overall dismayed by Caltrans’ overall failures to use this paving opportunity to improve crossing on El Camino Real in every city on the corridor, not just PA, especially on school commute routes and transit crossings,” Ellson said. “Paint, which is really all we’re getting at the intersections — and plastic — is a prayer. It’s not a safety plan for people of all ages and ability to have to cross this six or seven lane highway.”

Sergio Ruiz, Caltrans’ complete streets coordinator, said at a March 13 public hearing that the agency’s decisions on El Camino were informed both the Caltrans policy on “complete streets” and existing regional plans such as the Grand Boulevard Initiative and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Bike Plan, which underscore the important role of El Camino in connecting communities.

“One of the key findings that came about in reviewing all the planning documents is the desire and need for continuous bike facilities along El Camino Real, not just in Palo Alto, but in adjoining jurisdictions as well since it does provide the most direct connections and there is an need to have improved access to destinations on El Camino and not just parallel bike boulevards and bike routes that could be somewhat circuitous,” Ruiz said.

The city’s board and commissions have not taken any positions on the Caltrans proposal, though at a recent hearing, some Planning and Transportation Commission members voiced concerns about the design elements of the new proposals. Commissioner Keith Reckdahl said during the March 13 discussion that Park Boulevard will remain a superior pathway for bicyclists, even if the new El Camino lanes are installed, and suggested that the city and Caltrans may be “rushing things” when it comes to the bike project.

“I love bike lanes — they are an asset to the community, but we have issues to solve and some of them we can perhaps mitigate, others we won’t,” Reckdahl said. “I think there’s a lot of hope going on here that everything is going to work out, and I hope it does, because it has the potential for really helping out the community. But also there could be a lot of unintended consequences here.”

Human Relations Commission member Mary Kate Stimmler was more sanguine about the El Camino project. While she concurred with Reckdahl that Park will remain a better north-south route, El Camino remains a critical thoroughfare with many destinations that will continue to attract riders.

“I think we have an opportunity to make it a cleaner, neater, safer street right now, which is pretty incredible,” Stimmler said.