When any plan is developed, there can be some questionable ideas as it makes its way through the process and is eventually implemented; but sometimes groupthink can produce an idea that’s a hit.
Recreational bicycling has gained traction in the last couple of decades. In some countries, bicycles are used primarily for transportation, but that just isn’t practical locally since people travel long distances for work and shopping in this region.
Even though bicycles have the same right to use roadways as motor vehicles, this can cause problems when the cycles, weighing a couple hundred pounds at most including the rider, try to mix with vehicles weighing close to a ton. When a collision occurs, the cyclist is usually severely injured or killed.
In Lompoc, the Planning Commission recently considered a draft of the Lompoc Streetscape Multimodal Improvement Plan. In it the planning staff recognized the problem this way: “The lack of existing bicycling infrastructure on H Street or Ocean Avenue creates an opportunity to build safe and comfortable facilities that connect to the existing bicycle network. There are also opportunities to improve crossing conditions of these two roadways from side streets that may be more comfortable for walking and bicycling.”
When I first read this, it sounded like the idea might be to use part of the existing traffic lanes, already crowded with motor vehicle traffic, for new bicycle lanes. But the public who participated in workshops, city staff, and their consultants had a better idea.
In Lompoc, most of the sidewalks are wide. At the time they were built, urban planners envisioned large crowds of pedestrians using them as they did in the 1950s when I was a kid in downtown Los Angeles. But Lompoc isn’t a crowded city; instead, commercial/retail businesses are widely spaced and aren’t conducive to a walkable shopping experience.
Thus the extra wide sidewalks, with few exceptions, are rarely used and have become wasted space.
The staff explains it this way, “Existing and wide curb-to-curb widths (i.e., approximately 72 feet) on H Street and Ocean Avenue makes walking and bicycling uncomfortable. However, geometric constraints and existing traffic conditions along both study corridors that make it difficult for people to travel comfortably today also pose as challenges in designing and implementing improvements.”
Their plan is that “pedestrians and bikes could share a path if existing sidewalks along Ocean Avenue and H Street were modified (widened) to accommodate both pedestrians and bicycles.”
Of course, in some parts of the right of way where sidewalks are currently too narrow, they would have to be designed and rebuilt to accommodate the shared path, but that is a far better solution than trying to convert traffic lanes for bicycle traffic.
The value to the community, both motorists and cyclists, is a much safer and less stressful ride through our town.
This plan also includes many other aesthetic and traffic flow improvements; it will cost several million dollars and take several years to design and implement the entire plan. I am told that this plan could take up to 25 years to complete.
The roadways under consideration belong to Caltrans so the state would have to approve and at least partially fund any improvements. Competition for funding is always a challenge when so many other projects, specifically long-needed but delayed safety improvements, are being considered.
Before you get too excited about this idea, I recall that back in 2001 the architectural guidelines for the Old Town area of Lompoc were revised after several public workshops and Planning Commission hearings. The City Council adopted these changes, and except for a few hundred feet of brick sidewalks, nothing has happened to change the look of Old Town in more than 20 years.
The shared-use bicycle/pedestrian plan is without a doubt the best solution I have seen to accommodate both motor vehicles and bicycles in the same space. The city of Lompoc should work closely with Caltrans to implement this portion of the plan promptly.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 2-9, 2022.