Encinitas tackles cycle track concerns on Coast Highway

City officials debate bike lane safety on Coast Highway as crash rates appear to have increased since the installation of a cycle track

The Encinitas Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission discussed the cycle track in Cardiff to Solana Beach on Monday amid safety concerns. Steve Puterski photo

ENCINITAS — Traffic has been a spicy topic in the city for years and one stretch of road was under the microscope during the Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission meeting on Monday.

Commissioner Ron Medak brought forward an item regarding the safety of the bicycle lanes, or cycle track, on Coast Highway between Chesterfield Drive in Cardiff to Solana Beach. The city installed protected bike lanes in April 2020 in what Medak said was already one of the safest stretches of road in the city.

In the end, the commission directed staff to gather more data on the cycle track and collisions.

Since their installation, serious crash rates have increased 400% with 42 total incidents including 19 deemed serious and one fatality, according to data compiled by Medak. By comparison, Medak tallied data from Jan. 1, 2006, through April 20, 2020, which showed 32 total incidents, including 14 serious and no fatalities, per Medak’s report.

He said the ask is simple, remove the barriers, bollards and re-stripe the road to create a wider, buffered Class II bike lane in the north and southbound lanes. But a challenge with Medak’s proposal is the city’s budget. The commission and staff said the proposal could cost between up to $900,000 to $1 million.

Also, the City Council has been focused on the construction of a new road design on Santa Fe Drive, which has been a source of contention with nearby residents and the U.S. Post Office, which stopped delivery to 24 homes several weeks ago. Any changes to the design on Santa Fe Drive could cost the city millions.

“I think we need to eliminate our Class IV cycle track and replace it with a Class II,” Medak said. “If we use all the space we have and we take the cars and put them next to the pedestrian path, we have enough space for a 5.5-foot-wide bicycle lane, a 4-foot door zone buffer and a 3-foot traffic buffer. It’ll be much safer and more efficient than what we have.”

At the center of the passionate debate is the cycle track configuration. It includes wheel stops and bollards, along with a narrow sandy pedestrian walkway, which is about three feet wide in the southbound direction.

Critics said this has led to more pedestrians and runners using the dedicated bike lane while pushing cyclists to the road in the southbound sharrow lane. However, the northbound lane from Solana Beach has no parking space or sidewalk for most of the road but has a sharrow lane.