CMABS News: June 18th, 2024
Hey everyone! As always there is a lot happening to make our streets better in Costa Mesa. Let’s dive in ⤵️
We got great news out of the Active Transportation Committee — the Santa Ana Avenue bike lane project in front of Kaiser Elementary is moving forward! Completing an obvious gap in an otherwise continuous bike lane in front of an elementary school is such a no brainer that it is remarkable the gap is there in the first place, and it is even more unbelievable how difficult it has been to get us to the point where we are even talking about fixing this. But we are finally here! Want to help move this project along? Join us for the community meeting with city staff at Kaiser Elementary on Tuesday, June 25 at 6:00pm. We are hoping to bring as many people to this event as possible so that the staff can see how passionate we are about completing our bike network, especially where there is heavy traffic from kids.
We also have some less exciting (but still important) news from ATC — Public Works will be restriping W. 19th Street heading West past Placentia Avenue to re-add the center turn lane. The buffers for the bicycle lanes will be narrowed (but not eliminated) in order to accommodate the change. Ultimately this isn’t all that big a deal; the new bicycle lanes are really nice, but we’ve seen impatient drivers invade them when they can’t stand to wait a single second to accommodate a car trying to turn left. West 19th Street is a very tricky street, and we appreciate that city staff is working iteratively and nimbly to figure out how to make it better for everyone.
As mentioned above, the City of Costa Mesa will be hosting a community meeting at Kaiser Elementary School, 2130 Santa Ana Avenue, Costa Mesa on June 25, 2024 at 6:00pm, to discuss the upcoming plan to potentially add Class II bike lanes on the southbound side of Santa Ana Avenue across from Kaiser Elementary, between E. 21st Street and E. 22nd Street. This is a significant “gap” in the otherwise continuous bike lane down Santa Ana Avenue, which gets heavy bicycle use. Let’s get this done!
The Annual Lions Club Fish Fry is coming up. Parking will be limited, so consider walking or riding! We’ll have a booth. Come say hi!
Join Costa Mesa’s weekly social bike ride.
Casual/party pace, 10-15 mile rides around the area.
We meet by the restrooms on 18th street at Lions Park in Costa Mesa every Wednesday Night:
6:15pm: meet up
6:30pm: ride begins
🚨Bring lights! 🚨
City Council Meeting, June 18, 2024 (TODAY) at 6:00pm, City Hall (City Council Chambers). There are a lot of big items on this agenda but the one that we’ve been watching very closely is the proposed “e-bike ordinance”, which includes updates to the City’s bicycle codes to permit the CMPD to cite bicyclists for riding in an “unsafe manner”. While this isn’t as tight of a definition as we would like, we were relieved to see that the ban of e-bikes from sidewalks didn’t make it out of the Active Transportation Committee.
Anyone who lives in northwest part of the city has likely seen the work continuing to repave Adams Avenue. In addition to smoothing out the roadway, the new restriping will also include bicycle lanes on either side. While these will still be gutter Class II bike lanes (not our favorite, if you couldn’t tell), hang in there: We’ve been told this striping is setting the stage for the larger, more impressive overhaul of the street to install Class I multiuse paths teased by the recent grant award. We’ll get there eventually!
Finally, our intrepid board member, David Martinez, has been taking it on himself to photograph every bus stop in Costa Mesa (😱!). While we certainly have our favorites we thought it would be good motivation to show you some of the bleakest. C’mon Costa Mesa! We can do better! Which of the ones below are the worst?!?
Got any more photos you want to share? Send them to info@cmabs.org and we’ll feature them here in the Newsletter!
