Honk wouldn’t bicycle on a freeway, however generally you legally can – Orange County Register
Q. A small group of us yearly trip our bikes from Rancho Mission Viejo to Oceanside, going via Camp Pendleton. We have now lunch after which take the Amtrak prepare again – a enjoyable day. A number of the guys don’t like driving via the Marine base, as a result of there are not any designated bike lanes, and many others., so that they need to trip alongside the I-5 Freeway. Please touch upon the foundations related to driving bikes alongside this stretch of the I-5, an choice that appears scary to me. My bike-riding associates and I are wanting ahead to studying your reply!
– Joe Macko, Rancho Mission Viejo
A. Honk typically makes that trek to see household in San Diego County – at all times in a automotive.
His outdated bones shiver when he sees the occasional bicyclist in that stretch cruising alongside the shoulder. Appears to be like extraordinarily scary to him.
A spokesman for the California Freeway Patrol out of the Oceanside station home, Officer Mark Latulippe, stated he doesn’t like bikes on the freeway there in any respect, with autos zipping simply toes away at 65 mph to 90 mph.
“Bicyclists – I don’t need them on the market, truthfully,” he stated. “It’s not a protected place.”
Bicycling is authorized throughout Camp Pendleton through freeway at occasions. Right here is how the legislation works:
From Las Pulgas Highway on the bottom to the Harbor Drive/Vandegrift Boulevard ramps within the Oceanside space, the legislation permits bicyclists on the shoulder for that stretch if there is no such thing as a various. In different phrases, when the bottom is closed to them, Latulippe stated.
When the bottom is open to bicyclists, they have to take that route or may face a attainable ticket, he added.
To study extra about when the bottom is open to bicyclists and how you can get a allow to make use of the Marines’ bike path, see Camp Pendleton’s website.
Q. Hello Honk: There may be a lot trash on the freeways. What occurred to cleanup crews? Are they not cleansing due to the coronavirus? And possibly folks ought to STOP throwing their trash out of their vehicles!
– Doris Maes, Lengthy Seaside
A. Actually, Caltrans did pull again cleanup crews all through the state for some time.
For the primary a number of months of the pandemic, the company held again its upkeep crews from combing freeway shoulders, however they did return to that chore in June with social distancing, masks and different security measures in place, stated Jim Medina, a Caltrans spokesman for Los Angeles County. At the very least a few of the others who usually assist collect up trash had been halted for a bit as effectively.
Numerous teams of trash collectors usually hit the state’s freeways: Caltrans workers, volunteers and veterans, and paroles, too.
Generally, it appears, these tasked with cleansing up after others on the market are overwhelmed.
“Individuals litter,” Medina stated. “It’s a relentless battle.
“Efforts to scale back litter can’t be borne by Caltrans alone,” he added. “The division continues to tell the touring public of the impacts of litter to state highways, waterways, seashores, (the) ocean and different environmentally delicate areas. The discount of litter is the accountability of each Californian.”
To be truthful, in Los Angeles County, the place some freeways are literally older than Honk, the shoulders might be actual slim making it harmful to ship crews out. Medina stated generally a lane must be blocked off to guard the upkeep staff, who at occasions are additionally despatched out in off-peak hours to scale back the prospect of hassle.
The general public can lodge complaints about any trashy freeway stretch at csr.dot.ca.gov.
Honkin’ truth: Orange County’s public-bus system averaged 127,000 weekday boardings method again in early March, earlier than the pandemic hit. Nowadays, Mondays via Fridays common 60,000, or the equal of 30,000 spherical journeys.
In Could 2004, the heyday of the Orange County Transportation Authority’s bus system, ridership hit 225,000 boardings.
“It’s necessary to notice that total these ridership tendencies and (the) decline through the years typically monitor with Southern California and the nation as an entire,” Joel Zlotnik, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, instructed Honk in an e-mail.
To ask Honk questions, attain him at honk@ocregister.com. He solely solutions these which might be revealed. To see Honk on-line: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk