Before = extra wide lanes: After normal lanes w-bike
One of the major safety issues on this northern segment of Santa Cruz are the extra wide lanes that greatly add to the speeding problem. These lanes are actually wider than lanes on Hwy 101.
By reducing these lanes widths to be similar as the widths on SCA further north (towards downtown) and moving the shoulder line a foot or less, a bike lane can be added. Additionally, instead of the SB traffic lane, the up hill direction, having a shared lane with cyclists, cyclists will now have a dedicated bike lane and the sharrow will be removed from this lane.
As pointed out in other sections the cost of this imporvement is less than the cost of a non-injury accident, and obvouslly much less than an injury accident. The result will have a major impact on speed as the lanes will be narrower, at least as narrow as further north on Santa Cruz and no longer be freeway wide lanes. Narrower lanes are a major factor in reducing speed and having safer-calmer traffic flow.
Please add to the discussion by using the Comments section at the bottom of that Pro & Con page.
Why so inexpensive? The cost of this is simply the cost associated with the paint of the lanes -- relatively a very low cost. First, the current roadway is already in need of striping as the current lines are extremely faded and in dis-repair. So the normal maintence dollars can be spent to re-align the lanes to yield narrower lanes and the new bike lane. Second, the costs of restriping are one of the lower cost actions for traffic calming. The choice to paint the bike lane green would add to the cost but also add extra visiblity and safety.
