Saturday, November 10, 2018

L.A. "road diet" program comes to Encinitas

On Wednesday's agenda:
Vision Zero starts with the ethical belief that everyone has the right to move safely in their communities, and that system designers and policy makers share the responsibility to ensure safe systems for travel.

Vision Zero is a significant departure from the status quo in two major ways:

1. Vision Zero recognizes that people will sometimes make mistakes, so the road system and related policies should be designed to insure those inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities. This means that system designers and policymakers are expected to improve the roadway environment, policies (such as speed management), and other related systems to lessen the severity of crashes.

2. Vision Zero is a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together diverse and necessary stakeholders to address this complex problem. In the past, meaningful, cross-disciplinary collaboration among local traffic planners and engineers, policymakers, and public health professionals has not been the norm. Vision Zero acknowledges that many factors contribute to safe mobility -- including roadway design, speeds, behaviors, technology, and policies -- and sets clear goals to achieve the shared goal of zero fatalities and severe injuries.
Here's how that's implemented in practice:
In July of 2017, Los Angeles imposed a "road diet" in the quiet beach community of Playa del Rey, replacing car lanes with bike lanes and parking spaces. The roads were suddenly jammed with traffic. The community was livid.

"Most of Playa Del Rey didn't know this was happening," says John Russo, a local resident and co-founder of Keep L.A. Moving, a community group formed to fight back against the city's unilateral decision to reconfigure the streets. "It really created havoc for us because we have no other roads to take."

Road diets are part of a strategy known as Vision Zero, in which Los Angeles aims to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities by 2025. It's an idea borrowed from Sweden, which in the '90s started experimenting with reconfiguring the roads to encourage more commuters to bike or take mass transit to work.

"In order to achieve zero deaths, public officials have been doing some odd things," says Baruch Feigenbaum, the assistant director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation, the 501(c)(3) that publishes this website. Road diets aren't "based on science" or any "empirical findings."

"After the road diets were put in, we actually saw traffic accidents go through the roof," says Russo. "We had an average of 11.6 accidents per year on these roads in Playa Del Rey. We've had 52 accidents in the last four months."




In October, Pasadena residents successfully fought the city's attempt to put a "road diet" on Orange Grove Boulevard.

65 comments:

  1. My first thought was that I was reading something from the satirical Encinitas Guerilla, but not so.

    Shocking that lane diets increased traffic accidents and drove the locals mad as hell and they were not going to take it any longer.

    Guess what folks. This is coming to our town. Warnings went unheeded.

    A few very small minds prevailed.

    Just like in Playa Del Rey, public opinion was never taken before implementing what turned out to be an absolute disaster.

    We have little choice but to see for ourselves the folly that has been perpetrated
    upon us here in our names.

    We do know who to blame when the sheet hits the fan with not only the lane diet, but the too small roundabouts on what is a major arterial.

    This coming sheet show will be just as disastrous as it was in Playa Del Rey, and why Pasadena rejected the idea before it could get off the ground. How wise of Pasadena to see clearly.

    Encinitas? Not so much.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lots of concrete contracts already promised, no doubt. Watch how hard Tony K. fights for it. Too hard.

      Delete
  2. Social engineering at it's worst.

    "...local traffic planners and engineers, policymakers, and public health professionals..."

    What about the local citizens who drive the roads every day? Don't they have a say?

    "...stakeholders..."

    And every time I see this term, I know I'm about to get screwed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 7:59, I love your comment about stakeholders:


      "And every time I see this term, I know I'm about to get screwed."

      I am tempted to put it on a T-shirt and wear it to City Council meetings.... :-)

      Delete
    2. During Measure T when the council was running their weird "At Home in Encinitas" dog and pony show, city staff showed a list of "stakeholders."

      It had to be pointed out that residents were missing from the list. This IS how disregarded we are - we don't even occur to the city that something was missing.

      Delete
  3. This is a microcosm of 2018 America. Some people are willing to make a series of small sacrifices to limit the suffering of others, while others are such die hard individualists (once known as "narcissists") that the slightest inconvenience is raised to the level of a civil rights violation.

    The HOV lane is like a cultural Rorschach test. Some people slide over to the left when a lane-splitting motorcycle comes through because, yeah, they're only supposed to split lanes under specific conditions, but realize it's not worth accidentally killing or maiming someone over that principle.

    The other day I saw a pickup with a MAGA sticker (natch) slide to the RIGHT to prevent a bike from passing.

    America in a nutshell

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 7:49 you are right, you're about to get screwed. Those code words tell us everything we need to know that.

      I move over for motorcycles, but I also don't hold some dream-state belief that we can all afford electric bikes (Hubbard's "vision") and we're all going to jump on them or walk miles to work/the store/take the kids to soccer/haul groceries/you name it.

      It's an absurd reality that the new council is going to try to force on us, so get ready to open your yaps and oppose it.

      Delete
    2. You are right you idiot. I just saw a white Prius with a "Hillary" sticker on it hit a motorcycle on I-5. Who would have thought a car with a "Hillary" sticker would do anything dangerous enough to cause an accident. After all they must be brain dead to start with.

      Delete
    3. That was useful, 7:01. Grab a cup of coffee, get some fresh air, and try again. Or don't.

      Delete
  4. Successive City Councils and staff have shown their immovable will to impose Leucadia Streetscape on a community where the majority doesn't want it.

    The city claims the community has vetted the project. That's false. The city has falsified study results to justify the project.

    What's been approved by the council and Coastal Commission is the dumbest plan imaginable. Get ready to pay tens of millions of dollars for a project that will gridlock traffic, prevent beach access and kill businesses in Leucadia.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Simply listen to and read the John and Ken show in L.A to get an idea how utterly STUPID this idea is.
    The clowns in the Encinitas City Hall are brain dead fools.
    From believing in man made global warming to this road diet. Morons

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!

      I was going to read case studies, reports from qualified traffic engineers, and safety experts.

      But that would take time and effort.

      I like your idea of listening to a couple of right-wing radio shock jocks much better. It takes less time, and I don’t have to think for myself.

      Delete
    2. Spoken like a true Kranz.

      Delete
    3. 12:47 Your last paragraph was well crafted and on the mark. Thank you.

      Delete
    4. 2:06 talking to himself (Kranz).

      Delete
  6. Transitions always suck, but give it 5 years or so and it will become the norm and everything will be all right. Besides, that's all you can count on.....change....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, perfectly mimicked Tony/Jody/Catherine.

      Delete
  7. Vision zero sounds like an unnecessary thing to decree unless you do one/two things. Shut down the bars and fence the track. There won't be any more deaths. No more illegal crossings and no more drunk drivers.

    Focus on what is really causing casualties. Stay off the "road planning" fixation.

    Winning.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Widening the freeway will relieve traffic congestion there, but narrowing 101 won't increase traffic congestion there. Just how does that work?

    ReplyDelete
  9. The "lane diets" came from smart growth. It is still around.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Is Vision Zero just a vision, or will there be action? | Smart Growth ...
    https://smartgrowthamerica.org/is-vision-zero-just-a-vision-or-will-there-be-action/

    Jul 20, 2018 - Three years ago, Washington, DC adopted a Vision Zero policy, pledging to eliminate the scourge of traffic deaths on DC's streets.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Google "smart growth is dumb growth" to see why all the buzz-terms and "visions" pushed by true believers simply don't work. From The Atlantic ("https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/stupid-cities/553052/) - Stop Saying 'Smart Cities'- Digital stardust won’t magically make future cities more affordable or resilient.

    Here's a nice quote from the article:

    "However, the cities of the future won’t be “smart,” or well-engineered, cleverly designed, just, clean, fair, green, sustainable, safe, healthy, affordable, or resilient. They won’t have any particularly higher ethical values of liberty, equality, or fraternity, either. The future smart city will be the internet, the mobile cloud, and a lot of weird paste-on gadgetry, deployed by City Hall, mostly for the sake of making towns more attractive to capital."

    Bingo.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Vision Zero. How perfectly named this disaster in the making was for Playa del Rey.

    When we have the same begin to happen here, lets all rise up and put this poorly planned and instituted program where it belongs.

    We may have lost the battle, thanks to a compromised CCC, but we have not lost the war to come. Ever hopeful.

    ReplyDelete
  13. OMG- Such dumb asses. Its not comparable. Pull your head out of your ass and learn facts. KLCC members appear to be entering into the dark stages of dementia.

    Bird rock was a huge success, Carlsbad roundabout on PCH at State street a huge success, the roundabout on Leucadia blvd. a huge success, the roundabouts in the L101 streetscape will be huge success.

    The clueless will schawck the clueless!! Let them schawck!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Uhhh, I beg to differ, since I have to drive through the Leucadia roundabouts every day.

      The roundabout in Carlsbad works because of it's large size.

      The roundabouts on Leucadia Blvd are not a huge success. Sure they work great for those cars barrelling up and down Leucadia Blvd. But for those of us who have to enter from Hymettus or Hygia, good luck getting the cross traffic to yield. People don't even look!

      These roundabouts are too small.

      So for my own safety, when entering Leucadia Blvd
      I treat the roundabout as a stop sign, just like it used to be.

      It's the only safe way to get onto the Blvd and of course, defeats the purpose of having the roundabout in the first place.

      Delete
    2. 9:08, I wonder what the alternative at Hymettus/Leucadia would be be? You certainly don't want to go back to the previous layout of stop signs on Hymettus and straight thru high speed traffic on Leucadia? All way stop? Signal Lights? All much worse. I agree that bad drivers are the real problem here.

      Delete
    3. Speaking as someone who has been walking through the Hymettus intersection for decades I can tell you that the roundabout has made it MUCH safer for pedestrians. The main problem now is drivers on Leucadia playing with their phones while ignoring the right of way rules.

      Delete
    4. Really? You evidently love a good game of chicken, then. I use the same roundabout intersections and end up waiting for the cars more than getting to cross and those are the folks not on their phones.

      Delete
  14. So, you expect traffic to yield to you when you are entering the circle?

    I think I found your problem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Um, it works like a 4-way stop, 10:38. Drivers should all be ready to yield since no one is actually coming to a full stop.

      In England the basic rule is whoever has their wheels in the circle first has right of way. Of course here that would be "let's all speed like hellions to get there first because it's a competition" and they'd end up driving over the top of the damned thing instead. Wait, they already do that.

      It would really, really help if the city put up signage telling people how to civilly negotiate the things, but that would def be asking too much. "It's not in the budget" or "staff is overworked" or whatever blakespear's excuse of the month is.

      Delete
  15. The Leuc B roundabouts are too small. For N-S drivers, they're little different from the stop signs that used to be there. For E-W drivers, they're a fast, extremely annoying wiggle.

    There are already signs at those roundabouts that say something like Yield to Drivers in Roundabout.

    Saying that roundabouts at Sea Bluff condos, Grandview and Jupiter (all three within 1/2 mile at N end) and another one at El Portal more than a mile S will benefit the whole corridor in nonsense.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not nonsense..... good design. If anything, they need more roundabouts at other intersections. Bring it.

      Delete
  16. 10:46 above is the pot calling the kettle black. Rampant ignorance. Bird Rock is no way comparable to Leucadia 101. That the ignorant buffoon 10:46 keeps bringing Bird Rock up shows how clueless he is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Like Charlie Marvin, aka Marvy Charles. It's his standard spew.

      Delete
  17. There was an anti-Streetscape candidate on the ballot. He got 15%. If he got five times more votes, then he still would have lost.

    The voters have spoken.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dumb beyond belief, 12:46. The mayoral election was not a referendum on Streetscape.

    If the city had the honesty and balls to put Streetscape to a vote, it would lose bigger than U lost.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 12:46's greatest nightmare!

      Delete
    2. The Leucadia Blvd. roundabouts work great and are much better than the signals on that road. I guess facts and statistics don't matter much when your a fiction writer.

      Reality- Over 15,000 vehicles safely travel through the Leucadia Blvd and Sante Fe roundabouts daily without incident. I enter from the sidestreet on Hymettus several times a day without issue. Why do you say they are too small.


      The roundabouts proposed on N. Coast Highway 101 will work great too.

      To help other drivers know your intentions at the intersection, use your blinkers like you would at any intersection. They will tend to yield more when you are making a "left" (3rd right) through the roundabout.

      Also the drunks seem to be the only ones crashing in the roundabouts, so it will be great to get as many on N. Coast Highway 101 to help address all the DUI drivers.

      When are they going to start the construction on the roundabouts? its long overdue.

      Delete
    3. Really lame, 9:12.

      Delete
  19. The dumbest person in France has no problem figuring out roundabouts.

    I guess we have a few people admitting publicly that they are dumber than that.

    Bold choice. I would have kept that to myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL only if we revealed our names. You're pretty bright, 7:07. Bet you keep the wife laughing.

      Delete
    2. 7:07 You must be at the lowest rung on the moron ladder.

      The issue is not figuring out how to drive a roundabout.

      The issue is those we have and those proposed are too small and in the wrong places to work as big, properly engineered roundabouts are supposed to.

      We have impediments to traffic flow. They don't facilitate, they impede. Those proposed are much worse.

      WTFU and see the reality for what it is, not what you imagine.

      Delete
    3. Insults add so much to the discussion. Very persuasive - I bet you make lots of friends and influence people with your approach.

      Delete
  20. Requeza and Nardo:

    New development literally piling dirt 30 ft high to create ocean views. Who the fuck approved this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. City Manager, Karen Brust, is in charge of the city departments. Brenda Wisneski is her henchwoman in planning and engineering. Roy Sapau mainly carries out the orders. Think that is bad on the dirt? On Thursday planning commission agenda, the commissioners will be asked to interpret digging into the side of the straight up hill on Encinitas Blvd. at Delphinium Street so their developer friends can build a road to the developers' new assisted living facility of 200 new apartments in an R2 zone. Encinitas Blvd. is a major arterial NOT a prime arterial, but that isn't stopping Brust's henchwoman and her planners from repeating the lie that Encinitas Blvd. is a prime arterial so that the developer can build the 200 apartments. No, this development doesn't help with the RHNA numbers. But, it will sure make the developers some big money.

      Delete
  21. There is a roundabout on santa fe. There was also a motorist fatality there shortly after.

    Fixing roads isn't the fix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You mean the drunk driver who took out a light pole and himself, instead of an innocent family?

      Delete
    2. Yes, that one. Vision zero will never net zero. Bad drivers are going to still be drivers.

      Delete
    3. DUI drivers are beyond help. Need to build a system with no human drivers. Autonomous vehicles. Thats it.

      Delete
    4. So shouldn't we be focusing on that instead of roundabouts? If the goal is vision zero than do what it takes to get there.

      Forcing in roundabouts in street retrofits are costly. There is soo much more that can benefit from our taxpayer money.

      Delete
    5. Blakespear/Hubbard/Mosca's goal is vision zero. Is it ours? Cue expensive "workshops" where they tell us what to think. And when we don't agree, they claim we did.

      Delete
  22. CLOSED SESSION: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION; AUTHORITY: Government Code 54957; TITLE: City Manager

    Incompetent at every task for a well managed City- end result must be to terminate and start a recruitment for a competent City Manager

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is more than incompetency going. There is a calculated direction to destroy the environment and the General Plan under her directions. Karen Brust takes her marching orders from the council.

      Delete
  23. Then the City Council needs to fire this train wreck now!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. 9:46pm Since you keep blaming the train wreck of a city manager who serves at the discretion of and by direction of the council, surely the train wrecks responsibility resides with the train wreck councils actions who got us to where we are now.

    Council stepping up and firing itself?

    Voters ever having the confidence in the limited choices we have had to choose from?

    Maybe, just maybe, in 2020, we might have some new candidates that would instill that much needed confidence that has been so sorely needed for so long.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leucadia's "rep" will definitely be shown the door. Discussions are underway.

      Delete
    2. I can see the bumper stickers now: DUMP TONY

      Delete
    3. Or DUMP PHONY TONY.

      Delete
  25. Replies
    1. There would be room for that on a bumper sticker.

      Delete
    2. Maybe Jerome and Tony can form a dumped club.

      Delete
  26. Better yet, if anyone still has their magnetic dump stocks bumper signs, we can easily rebrand them to Dump T O N Y letters over the stocks letters. I have already heard this being discussed. A cheap, how appropriate, adhesive overlay will do the trick.

    I still have a couple of them in the garage waiting for such an opportunity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love the environmentally-friendly approach. I have two Stocks signs to repurpose.

      Delete
  27. DUMP KRANZ is probably better because a lot of people in District 1 won't connect his first name to his council seat.

    After all, it was DUMP STOCKS, not DUMP JEROME.

    ReplyDelete