MINUTES Oceanside Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee Plaza Community Room 300 North Coast Highway Oceanside, CA 92054 Monday, March 17, 2014 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. 1) Present at the meeting were: i) Committee Co-chairs Howard LaGrange and Pete Penseyres, Secretary Brenda Miller, Committee members Mark Castro from Omega Bikes, Oceanside Planning Commissioner Bob Neal, Oceanside Bicycle Coordinator Steve Tisdale, North County Transit District Deputy Chief of Operations Mike Wygant, Jim Curl from Bike the Coast/Taste the Coast, Kathryn Fox, Art Bierle, Jerry Edwards, Todd Quinn, Dolores Wells, and Andrew Zachary from Main Street Bike Parking. 2) Minutes of previous meeting approval and correction a) Howard LaGrange asked that any corrections be emailed to him directly. 3) Items for Discussions a) Oceanside Police Comments: i) No police officers were available. b) CALTRANS Issues: Seth Cutter i) Seth was not able to attend, but will be present April 21. Prior to the meeting, he emailed some photos of Harbor Drive at Camp Pendleton, specifically west on Harbor Drive, depicting recently installed BMUFL and Share the Road signs. (1) Committee comments were as follows: (a) Bicycle-triggered warning lights would be a good idea. (b) Pete Penseyres said green bike boxes might also help the area if sharrows don t solve the problem of right hooks onto I-5 from the #2 right/straight choice lane. (c) Howard LaGrange said that Seth Cutter advised sharrows are due to be installed, though the date is unknown at this time. Howard LaGrange said that it s difficult to add roadway markings in daytime because of car traffic. Moreover, Howard said, there is only one CalTrans roadway striping crew for District 11, which includes all of Imperial and San Diego Counties. (2) In re: Pete also advised that southbound North Santa Fe Ave at the SR-76 crossing, the signal detectors don t work for bicyclists. Another similar problem is located at SR-76 and Southbound Benet. That intersection has only one pedestrian crossing, which is located on the east side of Benet. Pete specifically cautioned that use of the pedestrian signal at Benet requires the Page 1 of 6
bicyclist to be in a dangerous position and on the wrong side of the roadway, facing vehicular traffic. c) Traffic Skills 101: Pete Penseyres i) This month s class filled up two weeks ago, with a 25-person class size. Most attendees, Pete said, are coming from the city of San Diego, particularly since Oceanside Dept. of Parks and Recreation has been advertising on Facebook, television, and through the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. ii) Jerry Edwards said word of mouth has been very good advertising for the class. So many people have taken Pete s Traffic Skills 101 class and shared their positive experiences that more people are taking an interest in signing up. iii) Howard LaGrange said the Saturday roadway section is now held at the Oceanside City Hall Plaza with the drills conducted in the parking garage. There are often no parked cars in the structure because class is held during the weekend, so there s no vehicle traffic to avoid. d) Elementary School Education: Howard LaGrange i) Completed Rodeos & Assemblies: Howard mentioned this list of schools at which the Committee has conducted bicycle education assemblies and rodeos in 2014: (1) Mission Elementary: January 15/18: 96 students participated (2) Nichols Elementary: February 13/15: 67 students participated (3) Palmquist Elementary: March 6/8: 61 students participated (a) Howard said the success was largely due to the large number of volunteers who helped conduct the rodeos. Two Oceanside bike patrol officers also participated, specifically with the snail race, an exercise in bicycle control at very low speeds. (b) Very few helmets were distributed at Palmquist, since kids already had them. Helmets distributed were often merely replacing ones that the children had outgrown. ii) Upcoming education events: (1) South Oceanside Elementary: March 20 assembly from 1:30-2:30 pm, followed by an on-bike skills rodeo to be held Saturday, March 22. (a) Howard requested a significant number of volunteers for this event. The school s Principal is a serious bicyclist, so he s anticipating a large group of kids participating. (b) Committee is hopeful that a bike-train-to-school program can be developed. Todd Quinn emphasized the importance of such an event and networking with parents. (c) Todd also mentioned that he saw a local television coverage of a pro bmx rider and his team demonstrating bike handling skills. He asked if the Committee can do something like that or at least look for TV coverage of the rodeos. Page 2 of 6
(i) Brenda Miller said that such publicity could trigger greater demand with the potential to replicate rodeos at other schools. (ii) Jim Curl suggested the Committee invite other communities bike/walk activists to attend and learn how to do rodeos of their own. (d) Art Bierle suggested we need to have a safety volunteer to calm the kids and keep them focused during the rodeos. (e) Oceanside Bicycle Coordinator, Steve Tisdale, added that the location of Mission Meadows Elementary lies within the city of Oceanside but it s part of Vista School District. That might increase awareness of the bicycle education program. (2) Mission Meadows Elementary on April 17/19, Libby Elementary on May 15/17, and Foussat Elementary on May 22/24 e) Current Projects: Howard LaGrange i) Coast Hwy Bike Ride (1) Howard showed several photos from the Committee s February bike ride that included a deteriorated asphalt surface covering the concrete roadbed between Oceanside Blvd. and Morse. He explained that the surface condition is made more hazardous by a bad gutter/asphalt seam, which can trap a bicyclist s tire and cause a fall. (2) Dolores Wells said she lives nearby and finds it that section of roadway dangerous and dicey. She prefers there be sharrows if the Class 2 cannot be improved. (3) NOTE: The City performed repairs to the Bike Lane with asphalt the week following this meeting. ii) Inductive Loop Bike Counters (1) Howard said the City of San Diego wanted a $10,000 accommodation fee to install the counters within their City. As a result, Oceanside was able to obtain 3 more counters. (2) Counters within Oceanside are now located as follows: (a) San Luis Rey River Trail at the Y-junction that diverts under the railroad tracks toward Pacific Street. It counts both pedestrians and bicyclists. (New) (b) Eastbound Oceanside Blvd West of Rancho Del Oro Drive. (New) (c) Westbound Oceanside Blvd West of Rancho Del Oro Drive. (New) (d) Pacific Street South of Oceanside Blvd. (Existing) (3) Jerry Edwards asked that existing count data be provided for next meeting. He said we need to compare those numbers with previous counts. Howard agreed and will request the data. Howard also said that the counters divide data collection into 15-minute intervals while constantly counting peds/bikes. Page 3 of 6
iii) Bicycle Violation Diversion Plan (1) Howard said his efforts are not making progress because the California Vehicle Code does not allow cities to reduce fines. So, the diversion plan cannot be promoted by reducing fines. He said that Marin County is doing it but may be doing so illegally. (2) NCTD s Mike Wygant advised that traffic school is limited to particular types of drivers licenses and that holders of commercial licenses aren t eligible for those programs. (3) Jim Curl suggested we find an alternative funding source to pay the violator s fine if the person takes the class. (4) Howard said Traffic Commissioner Donald Armento is supportive but is unsure of the procedure required for implementation. (5) Pete Penseyres said that the Traffic Skills 101 classes are becoming so popular that additional demand created by a traffic school diversion class may make the Traffic Skills 101 program unsustainable. However, he said one of the Traffic Skills students received a stop-sign-violation ticket, but intends to take the completion certificate to court and ask for forgiveness. NOTE: Since the meeting, the student s fine was reduced from $198 to $115. Mr. Armento commented that he was impressed with the proactive action to take the class and was interested in evaluating the curriculum. Howard knows Mr. Armento personally and will provide course information to him. f) San Luis Rey Recreational Trail Closure: Howard LaGrange i) Howard said the SLRRT will be closed every other week for an entire week at a time to replace vegetation in favor of plants that will allow better river flow. ii) Jerry Edwards cautioned that forcing bicyclists to cross SR-76 as a bypass is extremely dangerous and difficult, especially with tourists who aren t vehicular cyclists and don t know the area. (1) Todd Quinn said some cyclists go around the fence on the trail. iii) Pete Penseyres suggested that residents write to the Army Corps of Engineers Public Relations Officer, Gregory Fuderer, Mayor Wood and the City Council, Representative Darrell Issa, and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to protest the closure policies. iv) NCTD s Mike Wygant said that while Committee members will always be accommodating, the trail is closed because one cyclist angrily protested to workers on the trail. v) Howard LaGrange asked if anyone was physically hit during the confrontation by the bicyclist. Mark Castro said he d heard that a road-biker physically fought with Army Corps workers. Pete Penseyres advised that such incidents should be dealt with on an individual basis and not be leveraged to risk lives of all trail users. Howard mentioned that bicyclists often become angry and bigger problems are created when police are onsite to manage the closure. He observed that the detour requires bicyclists to ride Page 4 of 6
against the flow of vehicle traffic on SR-76. g) 2014 Bike/Ped Projects: Howard LaGrange i) Capital Improvement Projects funding will likely include a bridge from the San Luis Rey River Trail to Foussat Elementary. City Engineers, Scott Smith and David DiPierro, have been very supportive of bike projects, generally. The likely value of projects on the City s list is about $500,000, Howard said. h) Coastal Rail Trail Ribbon Cutting April 7 th 1:30 PM: Howard LaGrange i) Howard encouraged people to attend and participate in the opening ceremony. One of the key features of the CRT is lighting like the City of Carlsbad has on its section of the trail. (1) Nevertheless, Jerry Edwards has significant concern about the project s atgrade roadway crossings situated at blind intersections, which have not yet been addressed. ii) Todd Quinn said he rides Oceanside s section of the Trail frequently and has noticed a significant problem with bar patrons blocking the trail with parked bicycles. He said bar patrons need to be told they cannot park on the bike path. iii) Howard also mentioned the Saber Springs Bikestation proposed to be located at Interstate 15 and SR-56. It s a beautiful facility within the city of San Diego. Oceanside s Bikestation will be sited at the north end of the Coastal Rail Trail at Tyson Street and have storage capacity of 30 bicycles. Its windows will be polycarbonate, which can display advertising. 4) After Meeting Bike Ride: Oceanside Blvd (Coast Hwy to Melrose) a) Note: A power point presentation will be made to the committee at the next meeting. 5) Un-agendized items: a) Kathryn Fox mentioned she s concerned about North County Transit District s lack of accommodation of electric bicycles and recumbent/tandem bikes, which are much longer than normal bicycles. She asked what can be done to include them as part of the public transit option? i) NCTD s Deputy Chief of Operations, Mike Wygant, said the Federal Railroad Admnistration won t allow batteries on board, so those prohibitive policies need to be further examined. However, he emphasized that some policies have been changed to accommodate specific types of e-bikes and promised to investigate the matter and report back to the Committee. ii) Kathryn said she s observed larger transportation devices, such as baby strollers, are allowed despite their size. iii) Expanding on the subject of bicycles on public transit, Mike Wygant also mentioned the following: (1) NCTD has been collaborating with CalTrans to accommodate bus-bike racks that carry 3 bicycles (rather than just 2), but vehicle code regulations limit the length a rack can protrude beyond the body of the bus. The agencies are Page 5 of 6
working to change the law to increase capacity for bicycles. (2) NCTD is also looking at modifying railcars to accommodate more bikes, like Metrolink s bike cars. b) Howard LaGrange said the City of San Diego has created a formal, appointed Bike Advisory Committee with representatives from all districts. c) The Coast Hwy. Steering Committee includes Bob Neal, Jim Schroder, Pete Penseyres, and John Daley from the Oceanside Bike/Ped Committee. 6) Adjournment to next meeting: April 21, 2014 Page 6 of 6