Traffic proposal would maintain bike lanes on Warm Springs stretch

Dan Kulin

Monday, Oct. 20, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.

Henderson residents hoping to keep dedicated bicycle lanes on a busy piece of Warm Springs Road now have another reason to hope their pleas will be granted.

After two public meetings with residents, the city Traffic Division withdrew its recommendation to replace dedicated bicycle lanes on a two-mile stretch of Warm Springs with shared bicycle-automobile lanes.

Instead city staff are now recommending that piece of Warm Springs between Pecos Road and Arroyo Grande Boulevard stay a four-lane road with dedicated bicycle lanes.

The proposal is part of an update to the city's Master Bicycle Plan. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the update Tuesday.

The original proposal met stiff opposition from neighbors, who said the change would make the street less safe for bicyclists and pedestrians. Neighbors said losing the dedicated bike lane would take away the buffer space now between the traffic and the sidewalk.

They also said they didn't want the extra traffic that was expected to come with the change. The additional lane for traffic would have made Warm Springs more inviting to drivers so more of them would have used the road, neighbors said.

A month ago most of the City Council members, when asked, said they agreed with neighbors and wouldn't support taking away the dedicated bike lane if the neighbors were so opposed to it.

"We were only doing this for the residents to make it easier for those who use the road," Councilman Jack Clark said. "But if the folks most affected don't want it, I don't see any reason to do it."

Gale Husney, who lives just off Warm Springs and organized much of the opposition to the originally proposed change, said she was pleased with the new recommendation and hopeful the City Council will go along with it.

"I'm extremely optimistic and very much encouraged by the new recommendation," Husney said. "But until they vote I still have trepidations about it."