Narrow Bike Lane Raises Safety Fears

According to Pat Delaney, a Pierpont resident and cyclist who rides his bike about 150 miles each week, a mere 10 inches separates riders on Harbor Boulevard from cars speeding by at 55 mph.

To compound the problem, he said, on some sections of the road, there is so little space between parked cars and the edge of the traffic lane that a bike can’t even squeeze through.

“You’ve got to design stuff like this for the occasional user,” said Delaney, who has taken his concerns to top Ventura city officials.

The narrow bike lane was not a concern until the city repaved Peninsula Street, Delaney said. Now cyclists are diverted to Harbor Boulevard, at a busy intersection, rather than to Seahorse Avenue.

The speed limit on Seahorse is 25 mph, he said, while it is 55 mph on Harbor.

The road work will be finished in about two weeks, said Tim Bochum, an associate city traffic engineer.

Bochum said he would put in a request for a sign directing cyclists onto Seahorse Avenue. Beyond that, there is little that can be done, Bochum said, because the bike lane on Harbor Boulevard is about as wide as it can get.