BikeWalkSolana Meeting, Mon August 5, 2019

The next meeting of BikeWalkSolana, the Solana Beach Active Transportation Committee,  be held on Monday, August 5,  2019, 5pm at Fletcher Cove Community Center. 

Fletcher Cove Community Center
133 Pacific Avenue
Solana Beach, CA 92075

Agenda:

  • Updates from the City
  • Community Bike Ride July 1,  1PM – La Colonia Park 
  • Discussion of COSB ordinance 10.44.010, Riding Bicycles on sidewalks
  • Suggestions for 101 Bike Lane Improvements
  • Get moving on the installation of “Solana Beach, a Bicycle Friendly Community” sign
  • Bicycle and pedestrian issues affecting schoolchildren that need to be addressed before the start of school later this month?
  • Debrief and discussion of the wildly successful Tour of Solana Beach
  • Plan events and community outreach for the rest of the year, with special consideration for how to turn out supporters of a bicycle and pedestrian friendly Lomas Santa Fe Corridor
  • Bike in Movie Night
  • Other Business
NOTES from meeting:
People attending: Douglas Alden, Kristine Schindler, Karl Rudnick, Shawna McGarry, Brian Seymour, Paul Dickstein, Jill Cooper, Dan Goldberg, Diana Aguirre, Paige Hargis, Luke Yarnall, Steven Keeton. We celebrated the Tour of Solana Beach’s success with a lovely cake (message: “We did it!”) from VG’s. 

 
Communication from the City
City of Solana Beach Engineer Dan Goldberg and the rest of our group discussed:
  • The City and the Solana Beach School District will continue to fund crossing guards at freeway off ramps during times when children are walking or riding their bikes and scooters to and from school
  • The roll out of the Gotcha Bikes ride share program has been delayed because the company is having trouble getting bicycle parts from China
  • In response to SB resident Peter House’s concerns and with the prospect of more ride share bikes on sidewalks, the City has ordered signs reading “No bikes on sidewalks. Please walk your bikes.”
  • There will be an outreach to bike shops who rent bikes, asking them to communicate with their rental customers about where bicyclists are required to ride in Solana Beach. 
  • Lomas Santa Fe Corridor Improvement Project citizen input includes some negative comments about narrower lane width. Narrowed lane width has been shown to slow traffic, improving safety for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists. 
  • Dan will follow up on reasons why the City did not win a Safe Routes to Schools grant. Paige mentioned that a possible avenue of funding could be a collaboration between Rady/Scripps and the City. 
  • The City is aware of the dangerous section of the 101 north where the bike lane narrows and roots have created an uneven roadway. As part of the annual paving contract, this section will be repaired by the end of the year. 
  • We would like the City to send out another e-blast educating the public about sharrows. Many people do not understand that a sharrow (green painted graphic on the roadway of a bike rider on a bike with arrows ^) alerts motorists that the lane is too narrow for a car and a bicycle to travel safely side by side; the bicyclist should be visible and ride in the middle of the lane away from parked cars, and the motorist should slow down behind the bicyclist, passing in the lane on the left when safe. 
  • We need to go the the League of American Bicyclists website to choose which “Bicycle Friendly Community” sign we’d prefer for future installation at entrances to our city. We hope that the City will provide funding for the signs which celebrate our silver level status. Go to https://bikeleague.secure.force.com/storepage and click on “BFC” to see the possible signs.
  • The Glencrest/Lomas Santa Fe intersection improvement project is proceeding on schedule.
Tour of Solana Beach Recap
Shortly after 1:00 on July 14 about 100 bike riders rolled out of La Colonia Park, embarking on a 10 mile tour of our fair city. Riders traveled from Eden Gardens, east under the freeway, past Baskin Robbins (which donated over 75 buy-one-get-one-free ice cream cone coupons), to the Marine View area, along Highland, through the Santa streets, west under the freeway again, across Dell, then up and down the hill, pausing for lemonade and cookies at Central School. From there, we crossed the bridge to the 101, where we rode the Rail Trail, and finally up and over the hill in the western part of the city back to La Colonia Park. Several riders reported that they had visited parts of the city that they’d never seen before! 
 
More:
  • Elected officials Solana Beach City Council members Kelly Harless, Kristi Becker, Jewel Edson and Mayor Dave Zito attended, as well as Solana Beach School Board member Julie Union 
  • Two dogs came along for the ride.
  • It was a diverse, energetic group! Our youngest rider was 4; oldest were a few in their 80’s. 
  • Four League Certified Instructors rode along, monitoring the ride and providing support.
  • Before the ride began, BikeWalkSolana members welcomed the riders and explained safe and courteous riding practices for the ride.
  • Some riders joined us as we rode through their neighborhoods.
  • We asked participants to stay involved in bicycle/pedestrian issues by visiting our website AND by sending their comments to the City about the Lomas Santa Fe Corridor Improvement Project – we have additional emails from the ride sign-in sheets to add to our mail list.

Why was the event successful?

  • We started planning months in advance. (City needs 60 days to approve an event permit!)
  • Publicity, publicity, publicity! We had 2 articles with maps of the route in the Solana Beach Sun, effective use of social media, 2 robo calls to all families in the Solana Beach School District (Thank you, Superintendent Brentlinger!), and 2 Traffic Advisory e-blasts from the City. We posted flyers around town. We talked to our friends and neighbors.
  • We plan to hold the Second Annual Tour of SB next year…on the second Sunday in July after the Fair and before the Races begin. 
  • Generous donation of 75 buy-one-get-one-free coupons by Chris McGilvary, owner of Baskin Robbins in the Vons shopping center.
 
How could we improve?
  • Find ways to increase participation of Eden Gardens residents
  • Have food trucks or vendors
  • Have a bicycle pre-check area 
  • Were there adverse effects for motorists in the area?
  • Have a brief evaluation page for participants ready at the end of the ride
  • Explore grant funding for very expensive event insurance required by the City

Other Discussion Items

  • How to find funding for safety vests, bike lights, insurance for events, Bicycle Friendly Community signs. Kristine will see if the Solana Beach Fund.is a good source.
  • Possible future events: bike to the Holiday Tree Lighting (“Light Up the Bike:), participate in the Encinitas Holiday Parade, co-sponsor with Surfrider a movie night in the Revolution Bike Shop parking lot
  • At September meeting, decide on future events, and set dates well in advance.
  • Next Lomas Santa Fe Corridor Improvement workshop date? Important to send Dan Goldberg an email with your feedback.

 

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