https://n2v.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/print/2024/04/01/new-bike-lanes-on-middle-avenue-is-a-fine-idea-but-the-pilot-design-is-poor
Local Blogs
By Dana Hendrickson
Adding Bike Lanes On Middle Avenue Is A Good Idea; But The Designs For The Pilot Are Poor
Uploaded: Apr 1, 2024.
First, I do support the City's decision to add buffered bike lanes along the entire length of Middle Avenue ("Middle"). Buffered bike lanes reduce the level of stress for bicyclists riding on streets with moderate levels of faster traffic. And some bicyclists - especially less experienced ones - feel they cannot safely pass close to vehicles parked along streets; a situation that had existed on Middle. While I have not seen any accident data that indicated it was actually dangerous to ride in the parking strips, I do expect new bike lanes will increase bike usage on Middle and that's a good outcome.
However, I do not support the current pilot designs for either the bike lanes on Middle or the separated bikeway at Nealon Park ("Nealon"). In this post, I will explain my reasons and recommend alternative pilot designs I believe more fairly balance the interests of bicyclists and non-bicyclists. I will also describe my concerns about how the City has planned and is now conducting the pilot bike lane project.
Controversial Bike Lane Design
The City removed the eleven-foot-wide, parking strips that lined Middle, claiming bicyclists were subjected to a high risk of potential collisions with opening driver-side doors ("dooring"). It replaced the parking strips with nine-foot-wide, buffered bike lanes ("bike lanes"). Standards-compliant, seven-foot-wide, bike lanes are safe enough and would enable the preservation of street parking on one side of Middle. However, three councilmembers rejected this alternative, claiming this design was still too unsafe. So, now street parking is always banned.
My Assessment of the Pilot Bike Lane Design
1. The actual risk of parked vehicles "dooring" bicyclists is EXTREMELY low with seven-foot-wide bike lanes.
2. Neither the City Council nor a transportation consultant provided evidence that nine-foot-wide bike lanes were significantly safer than seven-foot-wide ones.
3. The loss of street parking for one hundred households and their visitors is clearly an unwarranted and unfair trade-off.
4. While only about four to six vehicles were typically using the parking strips between Fremont and Olive during the day, this number does not truly reflect the value of this parking for Middle households, as they frequently have visitors who park for short time periods. The small number also means bicyclists did not need to pass a lot of parked vehicles.
Figures 2 and 3 show examples of actual seven-foot-wide, bike lanes in Menlo Park.
My Recommendations
1. Use standard 7-foot-wide buffered bike lanes everywhere on Middle.
2. Preserve street parking on one side.
3. Collect feedback directly from most households on Middle to ensure their views and
interests are fairly considered.
Figure 4 - The Nealon Park playground and courts can attracts hundreds of visitors on warm weekends
Controversial Nealon Bikeway
The history and justification for the separated bikeway ("bikeway") at the front of Nealon remains murky. The City Council ("Council") initially reviewed three alternatives designs for bike lanes on Middle, and a bikeway was included in all of them. However, the trade-off associated with this new bike facility were not evaluated, and I cannot find any Council documentation that explained the rationale for either eliminating the head-in parking area or adding a bikeway in this space. It appears three councilmembers who support the bikeway believe bicyclists (a) cannot safely pass behind vehicles that are backing out of head-in parking spaces and (b) cannot safely pass by vehicles parked on Middle.
Unfortunately, the large reduction in parking near Middle - from 45 regular parking spaces to only 14 - significantly inconveniences users of both the playground and playing courts. "Displaced" motorists will now compete for the parking spaces on the driveway-side of Nealon and many motorists will be forced to use the back parking lot. These problems will peak on weekends and evenings when good weather attracts the most park users.
Figure 5 - The pilot bikeway eliminated all head-in parking spaces near the playground
Figure 6 - The distribution of Nealon parking spaces prior to the pilot bike lane project.
My Assessment of the Nealon Pilot Bikeway
The City has not provided compelling reasons for either eliminating head-in parking or building the bikeway.
1. The alleged bike safety benefits have not been confirmed by a bike network design professional.
2. The potential negative impacts of lost convenient parking have not been properly evaluated.
3. I am surprised the City Park And Recreation Commission did not participate in this planning as it is responsible for representing the interests of park users.
4. IF a Nealon bikeway were justified, it could be located within the park a short distance from existing street sidewalks. This would preserve most pre-pilot parking spaces.
Figure 7 - There is adequate open space within the park to add a bikeway.
Some additional considerations:
1. Some bicyclists will continue to ride along the driver-side of vehicles that are parked on Middle as they consider this direct path safe.
2. Motorists planning to park at the front of Nealon and approaching from the west must make an inconvenient U-turn using either Morey or Kenwood Drives as Blake Street, the closest to Nealon, is now blocked at Middle.
Recommendations for the Design of the Bike Lane Bypass
1. Restore the original head-in parking area at Nealon.
2. Either eliminate the bikeway or relocate it slightly farther from Middle.
3. If any bikeway remains at Nealon, a bike lane should still be provided along Middle.
4. If the head-in parking area is restored, the City should add signage that reminds motorists and bicyclists to watch out for each other.
Recommendations for Improving the Bikeway Pilot
Figure 8 - Example of a survey notice about changes to Nealon parking.
1. The City should collect feedback from many current park users.
• Conduct a 30-day survey when there is good weather
• Collect feedback online and in person
• Post highly visible notices at the park (Figure 8)
• Announce the survey via The Almanac
• Communicate results online, at a council meeting and in The Almanac
Final Comments
The Council does not sufficiently educate itself about TRADE-OFFS before making controversial decisions. Nor does it sufficiently educate residents BEFORE soliciting their feedback via surveys.
This historical shortcoming means City decisions are largely opinion-driven rather than supported by facts and sound reasoning, and Council biases too often BOTH unduly influence outcomes and weakens community confidence in Council decisions. It is not too late to correct this problem with the bike lane pilot; I hope the Council will do it now.
Earlier Posts
Does replacing All Parking With Bike Lanes On Middle Make Sense?
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Thank you
Dana Hendrickson
Menlo Park Community Activist
Co-Founder, Elevate Art Menlo Park
