Bioluminescent red tide is back

The ocean still looks muddy during the day, as if the silt from mid-April flooding is still floating around. That may be part of it, but there's also a bioluminescent red tide happening again. Check it out at night!

Moonlight Beach opens despite deadly Surfing Coronavirus

Yet another serious bicycle crash at Blakespear's Cardiff bike obstacles

From the Inbox:

Mayor Blakespear,

I understand another cyclist was injured on the new Cardiff bikeway this morning, this time northbound, and taken away by ambulance.

I’m sorry but this facility, though well-intentioned, is far more dangerous than even those of us who recognized the inherent dangers anticipated. It’s the wheel stops. And this has nothing to do with the project being incomplete. The wheel stops need to be removed immediately. Before someone is killed. Seriously.

That's the second serious injury this week.

UPDATE (in response to the first comment below): The original issue was that the new path is far too narrow and full of pedestrians for cyclists to use, so cyclists have to go out into the 45-mph car lane.

The new issue is that the asphalt barriers are far more dangerous than even the bike people imagined.

"Wheel stops" is probably not the term preferred by city traffic engineers, but it accurately describes both the appearance and the function.

I don't think a solid barrier would alleviate the problem. You'd still have bicyclists crashing into the solid barrier as they dodged pedestrians.

It's much like the pedestrian zone at Swami's, except there's a bike lane at Swami's so cyclists aren't forced to choose between the pedestrian zone and the car lane. Blakespear took away the bike lane in Cardiff.

Blakespear celebrates dangerous new bike obstacles

This seems a little tone-deaf, two days after a serious bike accident caused directly by the mayor's new bike obstacles :

Blakespear's new bike obstacles already cause serious accident

Last year, over the vehement and near-unanimous objections of cycling advocates, Mayor Blakespear rammed through a plan to put asphalt obstacles on Cardiff's 101 to create a separate "multi-use" area while taking away the bike lane. Blakespear's husband, a vocal advocate for the obstacles, was subsequently rejected while trying to get on the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition board of directors.

Maybe the bike people knew what they were talking about.

The obstacles were installed earlier this month, and have already caused a serious bicycle accident.

Wednesday:

About those beaches...

New: Study of 318 outbreaks in China found transmission occurred out-of-doors in only one, involving just 2 cases. Most occurred in home or public transport. Raises key chance for states to move services outdoors (religious, gym classes, restaurants, etc). https://t.co/Isg5DGxRWa pic.twitter.com/Z5n1b52h8V

— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) April 23, 2020

4/22/20 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Apparently we missed some action at last week's meeting when council watchers believe the council was caught trying to commit a Brown Act violation regarding the homeless parking lot.