The Ohlone Greenway is a fantastic resource for Albany residents. When the closed sections re-open, they will have a newly repaved, widened path for all to enjoy. To enhance safety for all users of the new pathway, Albany Strollers & Rollers is advocating for the newly widened Ohlone Greenway path to be striped for three lanes, instead of two. We support striping two bicycle lanes (one in each direction) and one pedestrian lane which will also border a decomposed granite shoulder, providing extra width. This setup is seen locally on shared use paths such as the Bay Trail through much of Berkeley, on the newly refinished path leading to Golden Gate Bridge, and on the path along Crissy Field in San Francisco. These paths all have one lane for each direction of bicycle traffic, separated by a dashed line, and a third lane for walkers and runners, separated from the bike lanes by a solid line. All three of these examples also have markings indicating the purpose of each lane.
Petition for a Better Ohlone Greenway
We are interested in this striping arrangement for several reasons, with more detailed explanations after the list:
1) Many walkers and joggers use the current bike path, the new shared path will mean even more user mixing
2) Two lanes, such as on the current bike path, leads to many wrong-direction users; giving direction helps increase predictability, and therefore safety, for all users
3) Counts along the Bay Trail indicate high levels of lane compliance (~ 90%)
If you agree that striping for three lanes would help to increase predictability and safety of the new Ohlone Greenway path by giving each group of users their own space, please sign this petition so we can demonstrate support for this issue to Albany City Staff and City Council. Thank you!
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Further explanations:
1) People walking have historically chosen the bike path instead of the walking path through the Ohlone Greenway. This is understandable because the walking path is less direct and its surface is in significantly worse condition. The condition of the walking path will remain after the seismic retrofit while the new multi-use path will be in even better condition, likely further increasing the mix of people walking, running, and cycling on this path.
2) On the current Greenway two lane bike path, some users travel in the wrong direction (assuming standard stay-to-the-right rules) since there are currently no directions as to where users should travel. This unpredictability can lead to confusion and unsafe situations when multiple users are passing each other. If one user can better depend on another to follow a certain path, it will increase safety for all. This can be achieved by striping for three lanes with clear markings showing the use for each lane.
3) Two different counts were conducted of users along the Bay Trail in Berkeley. In each case, high compliance was observed by all user types – walkers, runners, and cyclists. In the first count, 88% (44 of 50) of users were in their lane. In the second count, 92% (55 of 60) of users were in their lane.
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