REPORT TO BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
SUBJECT
Title
Class III Bike Routes and Class IV Protected Bikeways (Garcia)
Report
BACKGROUND
At the August 28, 2023, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting former member Granvold requested to have the BPAC discuss the use of Class III Bike Routes and Sharrows (Attachment 1). Specifically, the topic includes discussing the usefulness of Class III bicycle facilities and potentially removing them from recommendations in the current Bicycle Master Plan.
At the August 22, 2022, BPAC meeting, member Megas requested BPAC discuss Class IV Protected Bike Lanes (Attachment 2). Specifically, the topic includes discussing the best practices and designs for construction of Class IV bicycle facilities.
DISCUSSION
Currently, the California Streets and Highways Code (SHC) 890.4 includes the following bikeway categories and definitions:
a) Class I Bikeways - Bike paths or shared use paths which provide a completely separated right-of-way designated for the exclusive use of bicycles and pedestrians with crossflows by motorists minimized.
b) Class II Bikeways - Bike lanes which provide a restricted right-of-way designated for the exclusive or semi-exclusive use of bicycles with through travel by motor vehicles or pedestrians prohibited, but with vehicle parking and crossflows by pedestrians and motorists permitted.
c) Class III Bikeways - Bike routes which provide a right-of-way on-street or off-street, designated by signs or permanent markings and shared with pedestrians and motorists.
d) Class IV Bikeways - Cycle tracks or separated bikeways which promote active transportation and provide a right-of-way designated exclusively for bicycle travel adjacent to a roadway and which are separated from vehicular traffic. Types of separation include, but are not limited to, grade separation, flexible posts, inflexible physical barriers, or on-street parking.
The Santa Clara Bicycle Plan Update, 2018 (“Bike Plan”) includes all four of these bicycle categories as existing or planned facilities (Attachment 3). In developing the Bike Plan, the goal was to provide a more comprehensive and complete citywide bicycle network based on the latest designs and standards. Based on the existing bicycle network, the Bike Plan identified roadways that can accommodate bikeway facilities and the appropriate bicycle facility type based on existing roadway characteristics. The characteristics that are considered are roadway dimensions (i.e. widths), number of travel lanes, on-street parking, speed limits, and adjacent land uses.
The following information pertains to the inclusion of Class III and Class IV bikeways included in the Bike Plan.
Class III Bikeways
The Bike Plan shows 15.6 miles of future Class III or Class IIIB (bike boulevard) roadways. This includes 14.1 miles of Class IIIB Bike Boulevards that are further enhanced with traffic calming features or other treatments to prioritize bicyclist comfort. The strategy to recommend Class IIIB facilities is described in the plan:
Identify a Class III bicycle boulevard network on neighborhood streets where sharing the road may be comfortable due to the low volume and speeds of motor vehicles. Where volumes or speeds are high, traffic calming may be required.
Based on the strategy, a majority of the future Class III/IIIB facilities in the Bike Plan will be located on residential low speed roads that connect to local destinations or other bikeway corridors. Typically, these roadways are 40-feet wide or less and have one travel lane in each direction with on-street parking adjacent to residential housing and no space for a striped bike lane.
The Class III/IIIB roadways identified in the plan include:
• Agate Drive - City Limit to Bowers Ave
• Amethyst Drive - Glade Dr to Bowers Ave
• Bassett Street - Kingsbury Circle to Chestnut St
• Benton Street - Maryann Dr to Lincoln St
• Camino Drive - Washington St to Park Ave
• Chromite Drive - Monroe St to Bowers Ave
• Cronin Drive - Pruneridge Ave to Stevens Creek Bl
• Cypress Avenue - Saratoga Ave to Stevens Creek Bl
• Dolores Avenue - Los Padres Bl to Winchester Bl
• East River Parkway - Garrity Wy to Lick Mill Bl
• Flora Vista Avenue - Benton St to Granada Ave
• Forbes Avenue - Harvard Ave to Los Padres Bl
• Forest Avenue - Parkway Park to City Limit
• Garrity Way - Agnew Rd to Lick Mill Bl
• Granada Avenue - Flora Vista Ave to Pomeroy Ave
• Harvard Avenue/Bing Drive/Princeton Way - Homestead Rd to Pruneridge Ave
• Jefferson Street - Homestead Rd to Bellomy St
• Lehigh Drive - Lawrence Expwy to Harvard Ave
• Lincoln Street - El Camino Real to Homestead Rd
• Manchester Drive - Monroe St to Washington St
• Market Street - Monroe St to Park Ave
• Mauricia Avenue/Keystone Avenue/Buckingham Drive - Cronin Dr to Saratoga Ave
• Poinciana Drive - City Limit to White Oak Ln/Klamath Ave
• Santa Clara Street - Winchester Bl to Lafayette St
• The Alameda - Benton St to Franklin St
• Warburton Avenue - Lawrence Rd to Laine Ave
• Warburton Avenue - Graham Ln to Scott Bl
• Warburton Avenue - 130 ft west of Fillmore St to Warburton Ave
When completed, the Class III/IIIB bikeway facilities will help bicyclists navigate to their destination through a preferred route. For example, the Agate Drive Class IIIB route connects the Lawrence Station Caltrain Station to the Bowers Avenue overcrossing and Bracher Park. The Class IIIB route on The Alameda connects the Benton Street bike lanes to Santa Clara University. The Garrity Way Class IIIB route connects the bike lanes on Agnew Road to the future bicycle facilities on Lick Mill Boulevard. The Class III/IIIB bikeway facilities are a vital element of the City’s bicycle network and should not be removed from the Bike Plan.
Class IV Bikeways
The intent of Class IV Bikeways is to increase comfort and enhance safety of bicyclists on roadways that have higher vehicle speeds and volume by incorporating a vertical separation between vehicle traffic and the bicycle facility.
Locations of Class IV Bikeways
Currently, the City does not have any Class IV Bikeways, and the Bike Plan recommends 22.2 miles of Class IV Bikeways on specific roadways. The recommendations were selected based on traffic volume, speeds, right-of-way space, safety, community input, and bicycle network needs. The Bike Plan recommends consideration of a Class IV Bikeway if a roadway has an Average Daily Traffic (ADT) volume between 9,000 and 30,000 and a speed greater than 30 mph. Other factors that may be considered are the presence of heavy vehicle traffic, high parking turnover rates, and safety.
Per the Bike Plan, the following roadways were recommended for future Class IV Bikeways:
• El Camino Real
• Lafayette Street
• Walsh Avenue/Kifer Road
• Martin Avenue
• Great America Parkway/Bowers Avenue
• De La Cruz Boulevard
• Lick Mill Boulevard
• Mission College Boulevard
• Hope Drive
• Patrick Henry Drive
• Old Ironsides Drive
Class IV Bikeway Design
Implementation of Class IV Bikeways on most of the roadways requires further analysis to reallocate roadway space and install protection. There are several sources that provide regulations, standards, and guidance for the design of Class IV Bikeways: The California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Caltrans Design Information Bulletin (DIB) No. 89-01 “Class IV Bikeway Guidance,” and the Federal Highway Administration “Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide.” Design guidance is also provided in publications from various transportation groups including the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO).
Based on design publications and review of existing Class IV Bikeways in other cities, there are three important design features to consider for Class IV Bikeways:
• Bikeway Width - A Class IV Bikeway places the bike lane adjacent to the curb (on-street) or behind the curb and adjacent to the sidewalk (off-street). The width of the bikeway is an important factor. If an on-street bikeway is too wide, drivers may mistake it as a travel lane and if is too narrow then street sweeping equipment may not be able to fit. San Jose and Fremont have provided information to the City and stated that seven feet is the minimum width that would allow for a small street sweeper to maintain the bikeway. Another consideration is to provide a bikeway that is wide enough to allow bicyclists to pass other bicyclists.
• Buffer Area Width - A Class IV Bikeway has a buffer area to provide separation between a parking lane or a travel lane. Caltrans DIB 89-01 states the width of the buffer area must be a minimum of three feet when adjacent to a parking lane or a minimum of two feet when adjacent to a travel lane. A wider buffer is typically preferred and must allow passengers to open vehicle doors when adjacent to a parking lane.
• Protection - A Class IV Bikeway has protection within the buffer area. This design element is discussed in greater detail below.
Bikeway Protection Types
Bikeway protection is one of the most critical design features of a Class IV bicycle facility. Typical types of vertical separation for Class IV Bikeways (Attachment 4) include:
• Flexible Post
o Tubular plastic posts (delineators) are four-feet tall, six-inch diameter posts. These have been used on Homestead Road in Cupertino.
o Plastic bollards (K71) are wider than tubular plastic posts. These have been used on San Fernando Street and 4th Street in San Jose and Paseo Padre Parkway in Fremont.
• Inflexible Physical Barriers
o Bollards are permanent metal or concrete posts. These have been used in Indianapolis.
o Concrete Barriers are permanent concrete dividers similar to barriers in the center of freeways. These have been used in San Francisco.
o Planter Boxes/Pots are permanent structures containing landscaping. These have been used on Pike Street and Pine Street in Seattle.
o Raised Median Islands are concrete extruded curbs. These have been used on McClellan Road in Cupertino.
o Parking/Wheel Stops are concrete structures used throughout parking lots. These have been used in Encinitas.
o Railing includes metal rails and concrete curbs. This has been used on The Embarcadero in San Francisco.
o Zebra Lane Blocker “Armadillos” are eight-inch-tall plastic barriers that are dome shaped. These have been used in San Jose and Houston.
• Parking Protection
o Parking protection places on-street parked vehicles between the travel lane and bikeway. This has been used on Mary Avenue in Sunnyvale and Lean Avenue in San Jose.
• Grade Separation
o On-street grade separation raises the bikeway three-inches above the travel lane. A typical curb is six inches and therefore the bikeway is above the vehicle lane and below the sidewalk. This has been used on BART Way in Fremont.
o Off-street grade separation places the bikeway adjacent to the sidewalk and behind the curb. This has been used on Walnut Avenue in Fremont.
Some of the factors that influence the type of protection chosen are:
• Street Width - The amount of right-of-way space or the street width between curbs and median islands available for travel lanes, bicycle facilities, buffer space, parking lanes, and shoulder.
• Costs of Vertical Elements (i.e. protection)
o Construction - The upfront cost to construct the Class IV Bikeway, including installation of devices and other construction activities.
o Maintenance - The ongoing cost to replace or repair the vertical protection that is damaged by vehicles.
• Other Maintenance Activities
o Drainage - Existing curbs have storm drains that collect rain runoff. Protection must not obstruct the flow of water and may necessitate the installation of drainage improvements.
o Street Sweeping -Protection must take into consideration the ability to sweep the bikeway and curb lines to comply with stormwater program requirements and ensure the bikeway is clear of obstructions.
o Tree Trimming - If a bikeway is adjacent to large trees, protection must allow vehicles and equipment to temporarily occupy the bikeway to trim trees and perform landscaping.
• Emergency Vehicle Access - Protection must not prohibit access to buildings or fire connections by emergency vehicles.
• Trash Pick-up - Trash collection services including residential bin pick-up and Annual Cleanup Campaign activities should be considered in choosing the bicycle facility protection type.
• Bicycle Access - Protection should consider gaps to allow bicyclists to enter or exit the bikeway in advance of intersections or driveways.
• Speeds and Collisions - Higher traffic speeds or collision rates may justify a continuous divider and/or not choosing a flexible post.
• Parking - A Class IV Bikeway must use wider buffers and protection to account for passengers exiting vehicles and crossing the bikeway if adjacent to parking.
• Visibility and User Perception - Protection must be visible and easily identifiable by motorists and bicyclists. Depending on placement (i.e. roadway curves or proximity to driveways or intersections), the protection must not be crossed by motorists and bicyclists to minimize inadvertent damage or injury.
• Aesthetics - The protection permanently changes the appearance of the street. Aesthetics should be considered prior to implementation.
Upcoming Projects
Currently, the City has two in-progress projects to add Class IV bicycle facilities on Lafayette Steet (Laurelwood Road to Reed Street) and Mission College Boulevard (Great America Parkway to Montague Expressway). Additionally, in the City’s current Capital Improvement Plan, is the design and installation of Class IV bicycle facilities on El Camino Real. Based on the characteristics of both roadways and available construction funding, the preferred vertical separation will be flexible posts as this feature can be easily installed, is sturdy, and can be easily replaced if damaged. The intent is to have one flexible post type that is used for all Class IV bikeways.
Staff
Written by: Ralph Garcia, Senior Civil Engineer, Public Works
Reviewed by: Carol Shariat, Principal Transportation Planner, Public Works
Reviewed by: Steve Chan, Transportation Manager, Public Works
Approved by: Michael Liw, Assistant Director/City Engineer, Public Works
ATTACHMENTS
1. Annual Work Plan Topic Request Form-Class III Bike Routes (Granvold)
2. Annual Work Plan Topic Request Form-Class IV Protected Bike Lanes (Megas)
3. Recommended & Existing Bikeways Map, Santa Clara Bicycle Plan Update, 2018
4. Separated Bikeway Protection Types