Q As a frequent cyclist, I am very happy to see more green painted bike lanes appearing in the Bay Area. It seems like a good idea to clearly delineate where bikes should operate and create a safe zone.
On south Warm Springs Boulevard at Mission Boulevard in Fremont, the new green bike lane is to the left of the right-turn lane, as it should be. Unfortunately, the lane to the left of the green bike lane is marked for vehicles to either go straight or turn right. Thus a car turning right from that second lane is crossing the path of bikes going straight.
This is worse than having no bike lane. Either the lane needs to be removed, or the signs, or eliminate the right turn. What say you?
Ken Goldman
Fremont
A It’s not my preferred situation, but there are other lane configurations like this (eastbound Stevens Creek Boulevard to south Highway 17 near Valley Fair) in the region.
Drivers need to ensure that it is safe to make a right turn when bicyclists wanting to go straight are around. City engineers believe that is an improvement over having no bike lanes.
Q I use the Hilltop Drive ramp to west Interstate 80 frequently between 10:30 a.m. and noon. Traffic is relatively light and traveling at 50 mph or more — but the metering light is on. The merge is very short and it’s very hard to get up to speed even though it is downhill. Cars coming on at that point cause disruption in the flow of traffic.
What’s up with that?
Laurie Corl
El Sobrante
A When Caltrans turned 43 meters on last month on I-80 from the Carquinez Bridge to the Bay Bridge, officials said the metering lights could be operating from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. — if traffic conditions warranted that drastic move. The issue isn’t what the freeway looks like at your onramp, but farther west as you get closer to the Bay Bridge.
They are tied into the I-80 Smart Corridor project, which is an attempt to keep cars moving toward San Francisco.
Gradually, metering lights will be running longer at many other ramps. They already are in use until 11 a.m. on the I-280 to Highway 85 ramp and until 10 a.m. at I-880 to Highway 237.
Q Why are the metering lights not in use on westbound Highway 4? I travel there between 5 and 6 a.m. Traffic seems to come to a screeching halt just before the Railroad exit in Pittsburg.
There have been several accidents along that stretch and I was rear-ended a few weeks ago. Wouldn’t metering lights help the flow of traffic?
Darla Slagowski
Brentwood
A Yes, and these meters will be working between Sand Creek Road and Alhambra Boulevard — but not until March. Caltrans is now preparing the equipment and developing timing plans along this stretch.
Q You said: “The St. Elizabeth project cost $4,000 and money came from a state grant to install the shared-lane markings with arrows, also known as sharrows.”
I wonder how much litter and debris that $4,000 would have removed from the freeways.
Jim Wissick
A Maybe a couple of interchanges, which a few days later would have been trashed again.
Contact Gary Richards at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com or 408-920-5335.
