Safe crossings key to Midcoast mobility

A wide-reaching study on Highway 1 traffic safety that was released for public review this fall extensively outlines Midcoast mobility from Half Moon Bay Airport north to Devil's Slide tunnel. It is the second phase of a study that also looked at points south of the airport.

But any Coastsider who's been stuck in traffic in the early evening or dodged cars to cross at Surfer's Beach knows the issue. Providing safe crossings poses challenges for planners. While a safe crossing would seem better for pedestrians, it can offer a false sense of security for both pedestrians and drivers.

An introduction to the study explains a similarly challenging aspect planners face in providing for commuters and weekend traffic while also maintaining safety and comfort for residents and the pedestrians and bicyclists needing to cross.

"The highway lacks sidewalks or consistent, well-defined shoulder space in areas where pedestrians need to walk along the roadway and for bicyclists who use the roadway," the report says. It goes on to mention the "formal, informal and illegal parking along the highway, especially near beach and trail attractions," which generate additional crossing issues.

Pedestrians are allowed to cross Highway 1 at intersections throughout the Midcoast study area, unless there are signs expressly prohibiting crossing. The report proposes measures at these crossings, such as marked crosswalks, rapid flash beacon signs and pedestrian warning signs.

One sure way to create safer crossings is to reduce speed in areas with more pedestrians and bicyclists, according to Josh Meyer, director of community planning programs for the Local Government Commission, the group hired to prepare the study.

"We recommended various tools that would help with pedestrian crossing and speed moderation in certain areas," he said. Reducing traffic speeds along Highway 1 is a controversial proposal and will be the subject of a later article in this series. Speeds currently range from 45 to 55 mph along the Midcoast corridor.

There are some pedestrian-crossing tools that the Local Government Commission recommends installing to help with crossing and reduce speeds, but Meyer is quick to point out the infrastructure envisioned won't work with current speed limits. Caltrans would be hesitant to OK any such additions along a corridor with speeds limits of 40 mph or what's considered a high-speed facility, he explained.

One option would be to create medians between the highway lanes in Moss Beach and other Midcoast locations.

In study sessions on the coast, many community members said medians were a good idea because, even if a designated crossing can't be put in, a median allows pedestrians to cross one lane at a time.

Medians can also help bring down traffic speeds, Meyer added. Regardless, installing medians is a challenge because Caltrans is careful to not put in medians on roads with fast speeds.

MCC member Laura Stein said the crossings to get to Surfer's Beach and throughout Moss Beach are a key issue. She wasn't comfortable talking much beyond that since traffic has become a loaded topic on the Midcoast.

"Remedies for safe crossings are such a contentious issue right now because there's different solutions but there are no hard and fast facts to back up your position," said Stein, who sits on a newly formed MCC committee that tackles traffic issues. "So, then it gets into subjective answers and people arguing about their own opinions."

Meyers pointed to several hot spots along the Midcoast highway segment that raise particular safety concerns.

Surfer's Beach, the subject of a 2010 study on Half Moon Bay Airport south to Frenchmans Creek Road, has posted speeds of 50 mph. Some worry that any attempt to add traffic-calming tools would lead pedestrians to believe it is safe to cross Highway 1 at the beach.

Most of the Moss Beach corridor has posted speeds of 50 mph, making it very difficult for pedestrians to cross safely. However, there are a lot of cross streets, meaning there are lots of vehicles and pedestrians crossing the highway.

"This adds some complexity for everybody in terms of making judgments of when it's safe to make a cross," Meyer said.

Heading from Devil's Slide south to Montara, at around First and Second streets, drivers are transitioning from a less-developed areas into a coastal community. Even though the posted speed is 45 mph, cars tend to travel faster than that. This transition from rural to developed community makes the area a traffic hot spot.

Potential pedestrian connections, where roadside trails shift from the east to the west side of Highway 1, could eventually trigger more crossing demands. Meyers notes that, as thte transportation system on the Midcoast evolves, these eventual trail connections will need attention.