Hot Spot: MacArthur at Coast Hwy

This is the first of a series exploring Hot Spots in the Newport Beach community, where cyclists are in the most danger because of road configuration or other issues.

Today’s hot spot, MacArthur Boulevard at Coast Hwy, has been called out as the worst intersection in Newport Beach by Bike Religion’s John Tzinberg, who previously served on the City’s Cycling Safety Task Force.

The proposal? Paint a bike lane.

The free right turn on northbound Coast Highway onto MacArthur Boulevard presents a challenge for both pedestrians and cyclists. Northbound cyclists wishing to continue traveling along Coast Highway must move left as traffic accelerates onto MacArthur.

Likewise, MacArthur traffic merging onto northbound Coast Hwy complicates cyclists moving to the right lane.

Proposed solution? signage that says: yield to bikes; bike for cyclists continuing northbound; and add green-colored lane where MacArthur traffic merges with Coast Hwy.

Although colored bicycle lanes are not an official standard in California at this time, they continue to be successfully used around the country. Portland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cambridge, Mammoth Lakes and Tempe use colored bicycle lanes in select locations. This treatment typically includes accompanying signage alerting motorists of vehicle/bicycle conflict points. Portland’s “Blue Bicycle Lane” report found that significantly more motorists yielded to bicyclists and slowed or stopped before entering the conflict area after the application of
the colored pavement.

See the PDF with more graphics and maps here.