The Transportation Division has just started collecting additional traffic data along the Matadero, Margarita Bicyle Boulvard route. This is in response to comments from the Planning and Transportation Commission when Jaime Rodriguez, the Chief Transportation Official, presented the proposal in mid-November. Several commissioners expressed concerns about the safety of bicyclists who would use the route and others raised questions about the lack of data about the number of bicyclists who now use the route and the projected future volumes.
The data will include both bicycle and vehicle data. The bicycle counts will be collected using video cameras for 7-days with someone subsequently reviewing the video in an office. Roadway tube counters at the same time will collect vehicle counts/speed data. The following image shows the locations where the data will be acquired.
The proposal for the bicycle boulevard followed two Barron Park community meetings, in May and September of 2013. Photos of the design concept were previously posted on the Barron Park Association website, /2013/08/25/initial-concept-plan-for-matadero-margarita-bike-boulevard/
The proposal includes:
- Laguna/Matadero Intersection : crosswalk and bike markings to aid pedestrians and alert drivers to presence of bicyclists
- Along Matadero from Laguna to El Camino : speed humps to calm traffic and sharrows painted on the roadway to position cyclists
- Tippawingo/Josina/Matadero intersection: 3 new crosswalks, including one raised (speed table) across Matadero, and pedestrian refuge areas at the Josina corners
No bicycle lanes were contemplated and none were included because Matadero itself is too narrow to accommodate them.
According to the Transportation Division, it is unlikely that the proposal will come back to the PTC before early February. If the project does moves forward, the speed humps/tables on Matadero could be installed in late-summer.