Short link to this post: http://bit.ly/CynDelRey

For a Jan 31, 2019 update about what’s ahead for Canyon Del Rey  / Hwy 218,  see “Fort Ord Rec Trail and Greenway (FORTAG).”

* * *

Community workshop, Thursday, June 28, 2018, 6:00-7:30 p.m. at the Oldemeyer Center, 986 Hilby Avenue, Seaside, CA. For more information, contact the Transportation Agency for Monterey County. http://www.tamcmonterey.org/programs/highway-projects/218-study/

* * *

¡Únase a nosotros para una gira para identificar problemas y oportunidades para mejorar Canyon Del Rey Boulevard! Contáctala TAMC.  (For a variety of other Spanish resources, see “Información en español sobre las bicicletas: A compilation of bicycling resources in Spanish.)

Among Bicycling Monterey’s projects 2009-2018 is advocating for infrastructure improvements. One way the founder does that is by attending events such as the public tour of Canyon Del Rey Boulevard / CA SR-218 held 4/7/18, as announced on this site’s Bike Calendar and by @HERHelmetThurs and @bikemonterey on Twitter.

Missed the tour?

Your input is still welcome.

You can make a difference!

Heavy traffic and fast motor vehicles make Canyon Del Rey far from optimally safe and comfortable for the more vulnerable users of this road: people using active transportation (biking, walking, skating, or scooting).  Numerous improvements are being considered. The tour and related displays in Seaside City Hall provided a special opportunity for the public to weigh in on the decision making.

Take a look at the photos below, and consider ideas shared here about making Canyon Del Rey better for people who bike and walk.

Among many topics addressed: Protected Bike Lanes a.k.a. Class IV bikeways or Cycle Tracks. Bicycling Monterey advocates that Protected Bike Lanes be added to Canyon Del Rey / Hwy 218 with a physical barrier, not just pavement markings. (At the end of this post, see photos of some Monterey County Class IV lanes without physical barriers.)

Bicycling Monterey also advocates that bike boxes be considered for Canyon Del Rey. Locations where these would be especially helpful include where Cyn Del Rey intersects with General Jim Moore Boulevard, and also where Cyn Del Rey intersects with Monterey-Salinas Highway (CA SR-68), Del Monte Avenue, and Fremont Avenue.

If you’ve read Bicycling Monterey’s post “A Right to the Road: Understanding and addressing the safety of people who bike,” you’re aware of bike boxes—and that Bicycling Monterey also advocates for them on the Monterey-Salinas Highway, including at Canyon Del Rey, at Olmsted Road, and at Josselyn Canyon Road.

How to give your input about Canyon Del Rey

How would you like Canyon Del Rey improved?

If you’d like Protected Bike Lanes with a physical barrier, bicycle boxes, or other improvements on Canyon Del Rey Boulevard / Hwy 218, contact Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC). Check out TAMC’s webpage about this corridor study: http://www.tamcmonterey.org/programs/highway-projects/218-study/

(Note: As of 4/16/18, if for reasons of privacy, security, etc. you choose not have Flash enabled on your browser, you’ll see a blank space on TAMC’s web page where they refer to a Wikimap.)

Until the first week of May 2018, TAMC especially welcomes you to send photos of Canyon Del Rey / Hwy 218 showing conditions that concern you. Is it worth your effort? Yes, including because providing such photos is helpful when public agencies apply for grants to make infrastructure improvements. Send your photos or other input to TAMC. You may also submit photos to the consulting firm Kimley-Horn by going to the following web page: http://kimley-horn.securevdr.com/r-rc278b28a4e7441e8

All input about possible improvements to Canyon Del Rey / Hwy 218 are welcome. Some City of Del Rey Oaks residents attending the tour—including bike advocate and recently resigned member of the TAMC Bike-Ped Committee Susan Ragsdale-Cronin (pictured below with her daughters)—stressed that lowering the speed limit on this road is vital.

Photo above provided courtesy of Susan Ragsdale-Cronin. 

Bike boxes where Canyon Del Rey meets General Jim Moore Blvd would likely be appreciated by this Seaside couple—shown here on General Jim, where they bike regularly.

Canyon Del Rey tour poster provided by TAMC (click the following link to download PDF):  CanyonDelRey_PostCard_no_labels

http://twitter.com/BikeMonterey/status/982695052597014529

Take a look!

Consider these scenes.

On Canyon Del Rey at Fremont Avenue, a bike-to-work dad in rush-hour traffic.

Among other places it leads to—such as being a piece of the prime route for crowds heading to Sea Otter Classic and other events at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca—Canyon Del Rey is a main access to the City of Del Rey Oaks.

On Canyon Del Rey at Del Monte Avenue, this man felt safer on the sidewalk than biking in the street. (Caution is advised! See “Bicycling on Sidewalks: Misconceptions and Advisories. Also: Crosswalks, and ‘What Pedestrians and Bicyclists Want Each Other to Know.‘”)

Not everyone is biking or walking simply for recreation, and able to stay on miles of Class I bike/multi-use trail, where the group below was biking.

Just feet away, where Canyon Del Rey Blvd meets Del Monte Ave, many bike-to-work commuters (like the man above) exit the Class I bikeway to continue biking, or walking, to residential neighborhoods. For some of these, their most expeditious route home is via Canyon Del Rey.

The west end of Canyon Del Rey—near a HER Helmet Thursdays lodging provider, Monterey Tides—leads to a popular Class I section of what’s commonly referred to as the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail, part of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail network.

More Del Rey Oaks, Sand City, and Seaside residents would be inclined to bike to the coastal trail from their homes—instead of doing a bike-and-ride trip with their motor vehicle, then parking their car in a beach area parking lot—if Canyon Del Rey were safer for biking.

The Department of Motor Vehicles has an office along Canyon Del Rey Blvd in Seaside. Maybe its convenient front-door bicycle parking rack will get more use after improvements are made to Cyn Del Rey, making it safer for people who bike.

¡Si! Por favor, haga Canyon Del Rey más seguro para andar en bicicleta y caminar.

(Are you a language lover? Me too. For a variety of resources in other languages on this site, click here.)

There are many special events at Laguna Grande Park along Canyon Del Rey, as well as across the street at the Seaside City Hall lawn and the Monterey County Free Libraries Seaside branch. More people would bike or walk to those events if the bike-walk infrastructure on Canyon Del Rey was improved.

Photos above and below at the Seaside PAL Bike Fair on Canyon Del Rey.

On the Monterey-Salinas Highway / CA SR 68  at Canyon Del Rey.

What about Protected Bike Lanes

a.k.a. Class IV bikeways or Cycle Tracks?

There are some Class IV bicycle lanes in Monterey County. On East Market Street in Salinas (pictured below), those Class IV lanes are separated by pavement markings only, no physical barrier. While the East Market Street improvements are much appreciated, having a physical barrier is safer for youth biking to school and others.

Yes, thumbs-up for Class IV bike lanes—and for having a physical barrier instead of just pavement markings on future Class IV lanes in Monterey County.

http://twitter.com/BikeMonterey/status/982698570649190400

What about other parts of Monterey County?

The public is welcome to give input to the Transportation Agency for Monterey County about any local issues that affect active transportation (biking, walking, skating). Among numerous ways to give input is to report a bikeway maintenance need. You are especially welcome and encouraged to attend any or all of the monthly meetings of TAMC’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Advisory Committee.

Bicycling Monterey’s 10th year starts May 2018. If you value bikemonterey.org and other Bicycling Monterey projects, support this work by…

making a financial contribution

contributing project supplies

 contributing volunteer time

Thank you.

This post was first published on April 7, 2018, updated June 20 regarding the June 28 workshop.