When all that separates a bicyclist from tractor-trailers is a white stripe, it might not make much difference whether that stripe is four inches or six inches wide.
Cyclists spoke up in 2011 in defense of a bike lane on well-traveled Davis Road on the outskirts of Salinas, and the County Board of Supervisors approved the project over the objections of the adjacent property owners and growers. Now, there’s a wider stripe and signage.
But in the years since, bikers have snapped dozens of photos of mud and debris from the surrounding farmland.
“Cyclists are in the perilous situation of dodging large chunks of mud, irrigation sprinklers or having to ride in the vehicle travel lane because of the thick windrows of soil,” Velo Club Monterey President Matthew Sundt wrote in a letter late last year to neighboring property owners and the Monterey County Farm Bureau.
Nothing appears to have changed in the six months since, and Sundt, along with fellow cyclists, are now shopping for an attorney. They’re considering a possible class-action suit, based on the premise Monterey County Public Works shouldn’t have to pay to clean up private landowners’ mess, and that the road is habitually unsafe.
“It’s fundamentally a matter that the mud denies us safe passage,” Sundt says. “We’re really representing anybody who rides a bicycle, or drives a truck, or rides a bus or car on this highway.”
“IT’S FUNDAMENTALLY A MATTER THAT THE MUD DENIES US SAFE PASSAGE.”
Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, says during the bike lane deliberations in 2011, he tried to clarify that the county would be on the hook for keeping the area passable.
“The mud can’t always be avoided,” he says. “It is an agricultural zone; [growers] have been pretty good about taking care of the issue. That said, the county has the responsibility for sweeping the roadway.”
Grower Ken Higashi of Higashi Farms responded to Sundt’s letter. “I understand your issues. We have taken measures to try to keep dirt and water off Blanco Road,” he wrote.
Higashi laid gravel between the farm roads and the paved road, drawing off clods of mud from ag vehicle tires. Sundt sees that as a possible solution that could be applied more widely.
And any solutions likely will need to be applied more widely as bike lanes become more popular.
On June 17, the Board of Supervisors approved a $714,000 contract to create a new bike lane on Davis Road, stretching from Blanco Road to Rossi Street.