COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Department of Public Works

 

DATE:

June 2, 2006

BOARD MEETING DATE:

June 20, 2006

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Neil R. Cullen, Director of Public Works

SUBJECT:

Revisions to the Chapter 7.89 (Bicycles) of Title 7, Vehicles and Traffic, of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code

 

Recommendation

 

Adopt:

1.

an ordinance:

 
 

a.

amending Section 7.80.010 of the Ordinance Code to define bicycle lanes and provide that said bicycle lanes will be established by resolution of your Board; and

 
 

b.

repealing Sections 7.80.020 through 7.80.240.

 

2.

a resolution:

 
 

a.

redesignating existing bicycle lanes that were previously approved by ordinance.

 

Vision Alignment

Commitment: Responsive, effective and collaborative government.

Goal 20: Government decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact, rather than temporary relief or immediate gain.

 

Your Board’s adoption of the proposed resolution and ordinance will allow us to:

 

a.

streamline Chapter 7.80 of the Ordinance Code; and

 

b.

maintain alphabetic listings of approved bicycle lanes that can be easily updated.

 

Background

 

Previous Board Action

Adopted similar ordinances, which streamlined the Prima Facie Speed Limits; Time Limited Parking; No Parking and No Parking During Specified Hours; and Disabled Parking Zones in the Ordinance Code.

 

History

 

Section 21207 of the California Vehicle Code(CVC) provides that local authorities may establish bicycle lanes by resolution or ordinance.

 

The required signing and striping, and the required bicyclist or vehicular movements in a bicycle lane as currently provided in Sections 7.080.020 et. seq. of the County Ordinance Code, are also no longer necessary as similar requirements have been incorporated into recent changes in the CVC.

 

Discussion

We are recommending that streets, and portions of streets within the unincorporated area where bicycle lanes are established, be approved by resolution and no longer be listed in the Ordinance Code.

 

New bike lanes along Sand Hill Road between Santa Cruz Avenue and the Menlo Park City Limits have been included in the resolution. These lanes will provide a connection for cyclists using bike lanes along Sand Hill Road through the newly completed Santa Cruz Avenue/Sand Hill Road intersection.

 

The location of bicycle lanes on County maintained streets will be made available in list form on the Department’s web site.

 

An ordinance and resolution have been approved as to form by County Counsel.

 

Fiscal Impact

The cost of the staff time involved in evaluating and processing requests for bicycle lanes is part of the administrative costs associated with evaluating traffic-related requests involving the County maintained road system, and is financed with Road Funds. The cost of signing and marking bicycle lanes varies, but averages out to approximately $400 per sign and $1 per foot of striping. This cost is also financed with Road Funds.

 

Ordinance Code revisions are compiled and published by County Counsel and the cost of this work is financed with General Funds. We believe that there will be a savings of approximately $150 per year to the General Fund as updates to this section of the Ordinance Code will no longer have to be published each time a bicycle lane is approved or eliminated. This revision will eliminate two (2) pages from the Ordinance Code. The $150 saving is based on eliminating approximately one (1) page of Ordinance Code revisions annually, and the estimate provided by County Counsel that it costs approximate $150 per page to publish and distribute Ordinance Code supplements each year.

 

There is no impact to the General Fund.