$1.5M turnout lanes may boost cycling safety
Funding was set aside in the recently approved state budget
The exhilarating but dangerous experience of riding a bicycle up and down Mount Diablo soon may get considerably safer after 70 turnouts are built along the route’s shoulder, thanks to an infusion of state money.
The $1.5 million set aside in the recently approved state budget will enable the long-sought turnouts to join 17 existing ones on the 11-mile mountain path, where two bicycle-vehicle accidents occurred in recent months.
State Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, says he pushed for the money after many discussions with longtime cyclists in Contra Costa County over the years.
Though he acknowledged in an interview Thursday that he’s not much of a cyclist, Glazer said two people on his staff biked up Mount Diablo to see the conditions firsthand and attested to the dangers.
Numerous signs along the road warn of potential traffic hazards, and although turnouts are far more expensive to build than erecting signs, Glazer said his staffers concluded the investment was necessary.
“You have to say, ‘Do the conditions justify the additional costs?’ And the answer is a resounding yes,” he said.
Danville resident and lifetime cyclist Alan Kalin is among those who have tried to get the ear of legislators for more than a decade, saying turnout lanes are the natural fix for the winding, narrow roads that cars and bicycles otherwise must share.
The turnouts are carved out along the outside shoulders of winding sections of roads and marked by lanes, allowing cyclists to slip away from traffic and motorists’ blind spots. They’re usually 80 to 100 feet long.
“I didn’t realize that bike turnouts were unique until I got calls from cyclists around the state asking about these things,” Kalin said. “They didn’t have them anywhere in California” a decade or so ago.
In some of his discussions with Glazer about the need for turnouts, Kalin was accompanied by fellow advocate Joe Shami, a prolific cyclist who was killed in a bicycle-vehicle crash earlier this year while riding through a roundabout in Lafayette.
Kalin and other advocates obtained traffic records that show there were 16 bicycle-vehicle collisions from 2008 to July 3, 2021, on a portion of South Gate Road, which leads motorists and cyclists up a spiraling path to Mount Diablo’s summit.
All of those crashes occurred on blind curves, Kalin said.
In late May, Danville resident Gary Spinella was forced to crash his bicycle to avoid a head-on collision with a Honda van that had turned into his lane while traveling uphill on South Gate Road. Spinella wound up with six broken ribs, as well as an injured hand and shoulder.
Though it was not a blind curve collision, it illustrated what Spinella calls a widespread problem of motorists being unaware that they share the road with bicycles.
“There are always cars trying to pass cyclists,” Spinella said in an interview. “Hopefully, these turnouts should put us in a better position.”
Advocates say the Contra Costa County cycling community steadily has grown over the past couple years, especially as the coronavirus pandemic prompted residents to seek outdoor activities. And despite its dangers, Mount Diablo remains a widely popular spot to ride.
In October, the Dublinbased Valley Spokesmen Bicycle Club will stage the Mount Diablo Challenge — a free event daring the public to endure the 11-mile cycling trek up to the summit.
“It’s really one of my fav places to ride,” said Mark Dedon, the club’s co-president and another local cycling advocate. “It’s very peaceful and beautiful, and it’s exhilarating just to look out over everything and get the exercise of going to the top of the mountain.”
Dedon and Kalin, along with the late Shami, all joined efforts to secure three turnouts on the mountain in 2016, part of a program funded by California State Parks. Over the next four years, the group secured State Parks funding for 14 more turnouts — including four on South Gate Road — which cost about $84,000 to implement.
In that context, the latest contribution of $1.5 million by the state is an unprecedented boost. Kalin and others said it’s a fitting way to honor the legacy of the late Shami, who was dubbed by colleagues as The Legend of Mount Diablo in 2018 after he rode up to the summit for a 500th consecutive week.
“Joe worked so hard to get these turnouts,” Kalin said, his voice cracking with emotion. “These are for him.”