Letter to the editor: by Jeffrey Weinstein
Today (10/23/23), vehicle traffic was backed up, a continuous line of cars, from the ‘Y’ north to NHS main entrance, more than 1/2 mile, due to the temporary elimination of the 2nd left-hand turn lane onto Ojai Ave due to ongoing Caltrans construction. Vehicles were unable to turn left from Maricopa Hwy into NHS, and trying to exit side streets was very difficult. Traffic on Maricopa Hwy blocked vehicles from entering and exiting the Vons shopping center. Some drivers made U-turns to seek alternative routes.
In the future, Maricopa Hwy will look like this much of the time with a continuous line of cars, now that the City Council has voted unanimously to eliminate vehicle lanes on both sides of Maricopa Hwy to be replaced with bike lanes. Please allow me to describe what will happen with permanent Lane Reduction on Maricopa Hwy, because the City Council to date has mislead the public.
The renderings produced by Alta Planning + Design are inspirational only (they show a few cars, but lots of bikes), they do not reflect the reality of a road diet. As a comparison, on the existing Ojai bike trail between the ‘Y’ and downtown, a bike rider passes just 5 streets/driveways where cars intersect with bikes (safe). Between the ‘Y’ and the El Roblar ‘5-STOP’ on Maricopa Hwy (about the same distance to downtown) there are 18 such intersections between vehicles and bikes (unsafe).
Because of the close proximity between vehicles and bikes due to the raised concrete bike lane extending up to 15 feet into Maricopa Hwy, vehicles will slow down to 20-25mph (some residents are advocating for a 25-mile speed limit throughout Ojai), resulting in a continuous line of cars. Inspirational thinking devines that increased traffic congestion and time wasted (please see article below from NY Times), will force residents out of their cars, but with 30% of Ojai residents now over 65, picking up groceries at Vons by bike is unlikely. Likewise, as any parent knows, kids nowadays do not ride their bikes to school.
The New York Times October 19, 2023
The speed at which people can get from one place to another is one of the most basic measures of a society’s sophistication. It affects economic productivity and human happiness; academic research has found that commuting makes people more unhappy than almost any other daily activity. Yet in one area of U.S. travel after another, progress has largely stopped over the past half-century.
Now lets take a realistic look at the challenges faced by this project as currently designed, keeping in mind, the City Council has not closely reviewed the 78 sheets of civil engineering plans, so does not understand the potential impacts and unintended consequences. One such impact and unintended consequence is now the City Council is considering relocation of the existing evacuation center at NHS to Sarzotti Park. Please see photo attached below of what were 100’s of fire trucks lined up along Maricopa Hwy during the Thomas Fire (see photo below), that will not be possible on Park Road.
Another unintended consequence is now eminent domain (legal) proceedings must be brought against those commercial landowners along Maricopa Hwy to take their property for the raised concrete bike lane. The City’s consultant estimates this may cost an additional $509,429 (not currently budgeted for), and will most likely delay the construction start date. To date, the City has spent $485,215 on pre-construction services per their 3/14/2023 Administrative Report, at that time the proposed project was estimated to be $2 million over budget.
Another costly impact and unintended consequence of the current design is all parking along the west (NHS) side of Maricopa Hwy has been eliminated to make room for the raised concrete bike lane extending 15 up to feet into Maricopa Hwy. Unfortunately, a deal to provide parking could not be reached with Ojai Valley Land Conservancy estimated to cost the City $400,000 (not in current budget), so at this time, there is no replacement parking at all!
A dangerous impact and unintended consequence is the elimination of vehicle lanes (needed infrastructure) for evacuation purposes during wildfire. Meiners Oaks, the Arbolada, unincorporated County residents will all converge on the 5-STOP, with a single vehicle lane on Maricopa Hwy those residents will never reach the ‘Y’. The overwhelming majority of tragic deaths in Paradise and Lahaina occur in vehicles occupied by those over 65.
The raised concrete bike lane will prevent a 2nd escape lane, and during wildfire there are insufficient numbers of public safety personnel to direct traffic, as those persons are fighting the fire (please read Camp Fire in Paradise, CA official report).  Having served as expert witness in court on 60+ cases relating to design, construction, and infrastructure, I do not believe a judge or jury will decide that eliminating vehicle lanes in a fire-prone region is a smart idea.
Throughout City Council meetings, participants use the word “sustainability” repeatedly to describe why they support Lane Reduction on Maricopa Hwy. Given the very large amount of asphalt and concrete to be demolished, debris transported (hopefully much of it recycled), new concrete to be poured (over 4,000 linear feet by 16 feet wide), rerouting of traffic thru residential areas during construction, etc., and the subsequent idling by a continuous line of vehicles, I honestly don’t believe this project will be “sustainable”.
My fear is there will be no funds nor appetite to correct the negative impacts and unintended consequences of this project following completion. Admittedly, the new bike lane on Maricopa Hwy will see increased use by residents on July 4th and Ojai Day, but except for the first 3 months following installation of the Demonstration Project, use of the bike lanes remained unchanged.
Ojai Valley is not well served allowing ideology and politics to determine the design of needed roads, pedestrian walkways and bike lanes. Given widespread non-permitted use of electric bikes in bike lanes (often going 20-25mph), will they now be permitted in vehicle lanes only?, and future use of self-driving cars, the current plan is obsolete, needless to say alot has changed since 2013. A more collaborative approach (not one devised privately among bicycle advocates nearly 10 year ago and revised multiple times) will result in a much improved design for all.
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