Bicyclists Sue Transportation Department for Ramp Access

Irate Orange County bicyclists have filed suit against the state Department of Transportation, charging that backpedaling bureaucrats at Caltrans have unlawfully barred them from zipping along a popular stretch of Pacific Coast Highway.

At issue is an almost mile-long access ramp connecting Doheny Park Road to the northbound lane of Pacific Coast Highway--a popular biking spot near the beach in Dana Point. Although state laws allows bicyclists to ride along Pacific Coast Highway and Doheny Park Road, Caltrans has labeled the connector ramp a “freeway,” which by law excludes bicyclists and pedestrians.

The Orange County Bicycle Coalition filed papers in Superior Court this week demanding that Caltrans re-designate the connection and tear down signs prohibiting bicycles.

Otherwise, they said, traffic officials were keeping bike riders from taking Doheny Park Road onto Pacific Coast Highway. Coalition leaders say they turned to the courts because Caltrans had promised to resolve the matter a year ago and has yet to remove the signs.

“Caltrans just ignores bicyclists. . . . They’re out to lunch,” said Don Harvey, executive director of the Orange County Bicycle Coalition.

On Friday, Caltrans spokeswoman Beth Beeman refused to comment on the lawsuit, saying Caltrans had yet to receive a copy. Beeman said, however, that Caltrans had not abandoned its pledge to one day open the ramps to bicyclists. She said it was impossible to determine when that would happen.

“We are working toward the day when cyclists can use the ramp,” Beeman said. “But we can’t allow them into an unsafe situation. We have to add some new safety features.” New features include a chain-link fence and guardrails, according to Caltrans.

The Orange County Bicycle Coalition consists of about 200 members and represents two Orange County bicycle groups--the Orange County Wheelmen and the Bicycle Club of Irvine.

Over the last decade, members of the group have developed a reputation among transportation officials as being fierce advocates for the rights of bicycle riders.

Harvey has fought against the addition of traffic lanes on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, among other causes.

The suit charges specifically that Caltrans has “exceeded its police powers,” by posting signs that bar bicycles. It charges that bike riders have suffered injury as a result, because they have lost their “rightful bicycle access.”

“It’s all a matter of access,” said the group’s pro bono lawyer, Rock Kendall. “If they can call an access ramp a freeway, they can call anything a freeway.”

Highways are roads that intersect with surface streets at frequent intervals and can border commercial properties.

Freeways, however, are routes whose access is much more strictly controlled and are separated from business properties and surface streets. Speed limits are also higher on freeways than highways.

Although Caltrans has declined to comment on the lawsuit, documents included in this week’s filing reveal that Caltrans has a very different view of the matter.

Last October, Caltrans traffic operations chief Raouf Moussa wrote that the southernmost portion of Pacific Coast Highway--a roughly one-mile stretch between the San Diego Freeway and San Juan Creek, which includes the disputed ramp--is designated as a freeway.

However, Moussa wrote that he would recommend to his superiors that bicyclists be permitted to use the ramp.

Harvey said he and his group were encouraged by that letter, but the glow faded when the signs remained.

“Whenever we’d call to ask why the signs haven’t been taken down yet, we get somebody who says, ‘What signs?’ ” he said.