Traffic Engineer

City Hall

Monterey, CA 93940 October 22, 1998

Dear [Traffic Engineer]:

We are writing to express our concern with the way in which some of the traffic signals in Monterey do not respond when a bicycle is waiting at an intersection. For example:

· When making a left turn from Mark Thomas Drive onto Aguajito, the traffic signal sensor does not seem to be sensitive enough when a only a bicycle is in the turn lane. My wife and I were riding our tandem which has a steel frame that weighs 30 pounds, and we sat through 4 cycles of lights at this intersection several weekends ago without having the signal change. In the several minutes that we patiently waited in the turn lane, we hoped that a car might come along to trigger the signal change, but this did not happen. Unfortunately, cross traffic on Aguajito, and traffic from the opposite direction (Hiway 1 exit ramp) made it impossible and extremely dangerous to proceed through the red light;

· The new signal at Monroe and Franklin does not change for a bicycle attempting to cross Franklin from either side of Monroe. We have placed our bicycle directly over the sensor, and the light does not change. If we dismount, press the button on the signal, and remount, we barely have time to cross;

· When making a left turn from Sloat onto Mark Thomas Drive, there is very little time to get through the intersection on a bicycle after the light has turned green;

· We have talked with other cyclists, and they have mentioned that there are similar problems with other lights in Monterey. We asked if they had ever brought this to the attention of any City official, and none of them had. Therefore, we felt that it would be a good idea to write you this letter.

We should also note that Sloat, Mark Thomas, and Aguajito are designated bicycle routes. Therefore, it would make sense for the traffic signals to be set up so that bicycle traffic could move through intersections safely.

We think that the City of Monterey is in general very bicycle friendly. We say this as bicyclists who ride recreationally and commute over at least 2000 miles on an annual basis. But we are concerned that there are some problems for cyclists that need attention.

We would appreciate your response to our concerns. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

(name deleted by request)