Encinitas cyclists, officials reignite debate over protected bike lanes

ENCINITAS — Dozens of bicycle crashes along a stretch of Coast Highway 101 in Cardiff have triggered renewed calls from residents, public officials and cycling safety advocates for the city to overhaul a controversial barrier-protected cycle track.

Since April 2020, at least 42 crashes — including 19 serious injuries and one fatality — have occurred along the 1.3-mile section between Chesterfield Drive and the Solana Beach border, according to combined crash data from state and local sources.

That represents a more than 400% increase in serious crashes compared to the 14 years before the installation of protected bike lanes along both sides of the highway, according to Ron Medak, a member of the city’s Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission, who presented the data during an April 14 meeting.

“We didn’t make it safer — we made it significantly more dangerous,” Medak told The Coast News.

Medak, a retired anesthesiologist and longtime cyclist who frequently rides along Coast Highway 101, said his goal is to improve safety for as many people as possible, stressing the importance of objective data over anecdotal emotional appeals when evaluating traffic safety measures.

“I don’t like seeing unnecessary injuries or death,” Medak said. “That’s why I got on the commission. I want to make Encinitas a great place for bicyclists.”

Based on the number of incidents over the last five years, Medak suggested replacing the existing barriered bike lanes between Chesterfield Drive and Solana Beach with wider, buffered Class II lanes. He noted the current road design now allows enough space to install broader bike lanes in both directions.

The proposal would require restriping and barrier removal, which Medak described as “relatively inexpensive” compared to the human and financial costs of injuries and fatalities. If implemented, the traffic commissioner also recommends that the city begin collecting usage data as soon as possible to determine whether the changes have impacted the number of riders and pedestrians using the lanes.

Protected lanes

The concept of a protected bike lane, physically separated from vehicles by plastic bollards and concrete berms, is relatively new to California. For decades, bike riders have been accustomed to Class II lanes, the standard type of bike lane.

The Class IV lane was created under the state’s Protected Bikeways Act of 2014, which established the design and guidelines for barriered cycle tracks.

In September 2019, state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, then serving as mayor of Encinitas, heralded a proposal to install a protected cycle track in Cardiff.

“It’s abundantly clear to many of us who are recreational cyclists that we’d like to feel safe riding kids to school, the beach, dinner, or work,” Blakespear wrote. “And the typical road infrastructure of painted bike lanes next to speeding traffic doesn’t make us feel safe enough to choose to ride a bike, especially with a child on board.”

The current configuration of protected lanes along Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas, installed in 2020 for $954,000, included vehicle lane reductions, painted bike lanes lined with green flex posts (or bollards) and wheel stops, and revised striping. Before the changes, the roadway consisted of two vehicle lanes and one standard bike lane in each direction.

In the lead-up to the installation of the barriered cycle track, several public officials and cyclists spoke out against the proposal, highlighting concerns over the addition of bollards and curb stops. During a City Council meeting on Sept. 5, 2019, then-Solana Beach Mayor David Zito urged Encinitas officials in a letter to reject the proposed Class IV protected bike lanes, warning it would create new safety hazards while degrading one of the region’s most scenic corridors.

Zito, an avid cyclist for over 40 years, said the design would primarily benefit recreational riders at the expense of safety and usability for pedestrians, runners and experienced cyclists. Additionally, Zito pointed to the visual impacts of “ugly” plastic bollards along “one of the most beautiful” corridors in the county.”

“Given all of the above points, and many raised by others, I would encourage you to not approve the proposed design, but rather continue to work toward a better solution for all users of the corridor,” Zito wrote.

Karl Rudnick, a Solana Beach resident and ride leader with the North County Cycle Club, also submitted a letter in September 2019, warning that the city’s plan “falls short in design” and urged the council to continue “working together to design an improved, safer Coast Highway 101.”

Speaking to The Coast News, Rudnick said before the addition of Class IV lanes, the stretch of highway used to be the “most widely used and safest corridor in the county.”

“It’s no longer the safest, nor is it the most pleasant,” said Rudnick, who has been cycling along this stretch of coastline for 30 years. “Now, (cyclists) just put their heads down and time trial through there in the rightmost lane with sharrows. It’s not fun anymore. It’s too bad. There are people who say they feel comfortable riding it (with bollards and curb stops). I don’t use Cardiff 101 anymore when riding the coast, preferring the alternate North Coast Trail route. And I know a lot of people who won’t ride Cardiff 101.”

‘We’re going to fight you tooth and nail’

Earlier this month, however, several residents voiced their support for the current setup, emphasizing the ability for riders of all ages to utilize the lanes and feel safe from traffic along the bustling scenic highway.

Local attorney Marco Gonzalez argued that the protected lanes have improved safety along the section of road and encouraged more pedestrians and cyclists to utilize the space. For Gonzalez, the problems are not related to infrastructure but rather the result of “rider error.”

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, the problems we have are people going too fast, not paying attention, perhaps coming home from a bar late at night without a helmet or a light,” Gonzalez said. “It’s offensive to the public’s right to cycle safely in this city to say that it’s the fault of the infrastructure, because it’s the fault of the rider. We’re going to fight you tooth and nail if you try to change it.”

Another resident and regular cyclist, Chris Giles, said he appreciates having bollards and wheel stops to protect cyclists from vehicles and suggested the cost of removing the system would be too expensive.

“The city made a sizeable investment putting in these bike lanes,” Giles said, estimating that removing the bollards and wheel stops along 6,500 feet of roadway could cost nearly $1 million. “You’re going to be looking at a really big expenditure to make this happen. And the way the City Council is approaching things right now, they may not really be on board.”

Judy Berlfein, chair of BikeWalk Encinitas, also spoke in favor of the cycle track, noting there are no figures to show how many lives have been saved by the traffic barriers.

“What crashes have we prevented that we don’t know about? How many people have tapped those wheel stops and woken up or looked up from their phones without hitting me or other families riding there? Really hard to tell,” Berlfein said. “My motto is improve, don’t remove. If we pull this out, I probably won’t be riding to Solana Beach, Ki’s restaurant, Seaside Beach or Claire’s anymore.”

But critics of the Class IV lanes argue that the move to create protected lanes was driven more by emotion and fear than by logic, data or reason.

“People are deeply afraid of being hit from behind by a car traveling in the same direction. That fear is powerful — it’s the main reason they want to keep the physical barriers,” said Encinitas resident and longtime cyclist Serge Issakov. “But the fear of being hit from behind is disproportionate to the actual risk. There’s only been one such incident (along Coast Highway 101 in South Cardiff) that we’ve found in the past 40 years.”

Medak agreed, noting that most collisions occur at intersections and driveways, and that the recent decline in crash rates is likely due to avoidance, rather than safety improvements.

“The people in support of the bollards didn’t address the data,” Medak said. “They were content to rely on emotional appeals. I don’t have anything against personal experiences, but I don’t think traffic changes should be based on that.”

Issakov pointed out that after Seaside Beach, cyclists who supposedly require physical separation along Coast Highway seem fine to continue ascending the hill into Solana Beach, where the roadway returns to a standard bike lane without barriers.

“Why is no one dying there? All we’re saying is this stretch could be even better than that and wouldn’t cause crashes,” Issakov said.

‘Data is garbage in, garbage out’

Cycling and safety advocates argue the current configuration is hazardous, particularly when attempting to avoid pedestrians or debris. Local riders have referred to the area as the “Cardiff Meat Grinder” due to the number of cyclists who have reportedly been injured within the partitioned corridor.

Issakov, a cycling safety advocate, said that while the city intended to make the roadway safer, it “took the bikeway [idea from Europe] and implemented it half-assed,” failing to apply critical design elements that make similar systems successful in Europe.

“It’s not the right design for this space,” Issakov said, pointing to missing pedestrian paths along the northbound side, inadequate buffer zones, and a complete lack of bikeway elevation across driveways and intersections.

Issakov noted that the northbound protected lane begins halfway down a large hill, introducing physical obstacles in the roadway just as riders are gaining speed.

“This is not only where Ryan Currie’s life was taken, but at least two other crashes occurred at this location in broad daylight,” Issakov said.

The design has pushed most riders out into traffic, according to cyclists who are now reluctantly sharing a lane with vehicles along a fast, downhill stretch of Coast Highway.

Issakov, who has cataloged 36 crashes along this stretch, said many solo crashes in protected lanes are often not reported to the state crash database, SWITRS, maintained by the California Highway Patrol.

“The data is garbage in, garbage out,” Issakov said. “We’re not getting an accurate picture. If a cyclist crashes on a berm, breaks an arm, calls a spouse and goes to the hospital, that incident likely never gets recorded.”

However, Ian Hembree, advocacy and community manager with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, criticized the crash data being cited by commissioners and residents, particularly the inclusion of unverified incidents posted to Issakov’s Facebook group.

“It is concerning that a list from Facebook is utilized and counted in the cited statistic,” Hembree wrote in a letter to the city’s Traffic and Mobility Commission on behalf of the Bicycle Coalition, Circulate San Diego and Families for Safe Streets. “As a result, the claimed 400% increase in severe crashes is inaccurate at best and dishonestly calculated at worst.”

Hembree urged the city to pause any plans to remove the Class IV bikeway until a more thorough evaluation is conducted.

“We request that the City of Encinitas properly evaluate the Class IV bikeway before considering its removal,” Hembree wrote. “This should include a high-quality ridership count, a proper accounting of serious collisions, a consideration of potentially confounding factors, a community engagement campaign to gain the perspective of all road users and cyclists, and a strategic planning study.”

Crash reports

Issakov’s group, Encinitas: PLEASE Restore Safety In Cardiff, comprising over 1,300 members, has compiled dozens of firsthand crash reports since the cycle track was installed.

Among them is longtime cyclist Ken, a North County Cycle Club ride leader, who suffered five broken ribs, a concussion and a fractured clavicle last October after striking a curb stop near The Kraken restaurant.

“Ken is an experienced rider who has ridden this corridor dozens of times,” wrote Rudnick, who shared the incident online. “So, this is not a case of ‘learning curve.’”

In another case, Annie Brightman, a regular commuter from Encinitas to La Jolla, said she lost control of her bike trying to avoid a car while re-entering the bike lane.

“I hit one of those curbs near Seaside so hard it bent my pedal and knocked out my back tire,” Brightman wrote in a public Facebook post. “I was lucky I didn’t end up in traffic.”

Parents have also reported crashes involving children. One boy was thrown into the traffic lane after hitting a curb in May 2020, and others have been injured while trying to dodge pedestrians.

The crash that claimed a cyclist’s life in March 2024 remains under investigation. The 48-year-old man was found near Seaside Beach with no vehicle involved, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.

State and fire department records confirm numerous ambulance dispatches to the area, especially near tight curves and areas with construction fencing or sand accumulation — common hazards cited by cyclists.

Some, like resident Bob Coles, say they have given up on the designated bike path altogether.

“I’ll take my chances with disgruntled drivers, but the bike lane is more dangerous, even now that the berms have been painted,” Coles wrote on social media. “It’s apparent that whoever designed this has never ridden a bike.”

In a recent Facebook post, Issakov reported a solo crash on April 29 involving Herb Chin, an experienced cyclist, just south of Ki’s Restaurant in Cardiff. Chin was reportedly momentarily distracted near a gap in the bikeway barrier, glanced off it, and fell. Witnesses said Chin claimed he was uninjured but was unable to identify the current president or year.

‘Almost unrideable’

Fallbrook resident Keri Caffrey, co-founder of Cycling Savvy, noted in her article, “How to Ruin a Buffered Bike Lane,” that the barriers similar to those lining the Cardiff cycle track consume vital space in the roadway, which, if removed, could help create a wider bike lane.

“Barriers decrease operating space and utility,” Caffrey wrote. “A bike lane with a painted buffer allows for operating space to pass a slower user, avoid a hazard, improve sight lines when approaching an obscured intersection, and change lanes to prepare for a left turn. All those movements are restricted or prevented by a barrier. A barrier in the middle of the buffer reduces the buffered area by more than half, because the barrier itself requires shy clearance.”

Two-time Olympic cyclist Shaun Wallace said the protected bikeway has had the opposite of its intended effect based on a misunderstanding — or a lack of understanding — of the potential outcome. 

The result has pushed cyclists back into traffic to share the No. 2 lane with vehicles — an outcome that nobody wants, serving only to inflame existing tensions between cars and riders further, Wallace said. 

“It’s wrong that cyclists should be forced into the car lane so others can feel safer behind plastic posts,” said Wallace, whose wife is a recreational cyclist who no longer rides along that stretch due to the current configuration. “This cycle path has become almost unrideable at anything more than pedestrian speed. It’s all sorts of riders — from kids to pros — crashing. It’s not just a racer issue.”

Wallace said there is a misperception that crashes are caused by interactions between bikes and cars, cyclists weaving in and out of the bike lane, or a lack of roadside signage or education.

“That’s simply not true,” Wallace said, noting there are more than 100 signs along that stretch.

Despite his opposition to the Class IV lanes, Wallace noted that one of the benefits of the current structure was that the city had narrowed the vehicle lanes, adding four feet of additional space as a potential buffer for cyclists.

If the city were to remove the barriers, cyclists would have a more comfortable, buffered lane — albeit unprotected by bollards or wheel stops — than the original Class II lanes, according to Wallace, Issakov and Medak.

“If that had been the final configuration (without the eventual addition of bollards and berms), I can confidently say all cyclists would be using the buffered bike lane, not riding in the No. 2 traffic lane,” Wallace said. “That’s where cyclists prefer to be — and where drivers prefer us to be, too. Despite the current road markings, both sides want the same thing: separation.”

City staff are expected to review Medak’s recommendation in an upcoming council session.