Encinitas divided over Highway 101 protected cycle track; commissioners request more data

Commissioner Ron Medick presented a packet of collision reports, photographs and video testimony to the Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission and urged removal of the class‑4 protected cycle track on Coast Highway 101 between Chesterfield Drive and the Solana Beach border, replacing it with a wider class‑2 buffered bike lane.

Medick summarized several data sources he reviewed — TIMSS/SWITRS crash records, fire/EMT dispatches and a community‑compiled list — and said a substantial share of reported bicycle incidents in the corridor involved the flexi‑posts and wheel stops that separate the cycle track from parked cars and the pedestrian path. He told commissioners that, in his view, the bollards and curb elements create “an illusion of protection” and that some of the most serious incidents had occurred when riders struck a wheel stop or were forced into a hazard by a vehicle conflict.

What people said: The commission heard from 14 public speakers with sharply divided perspectives. - Support for removing or redesigning the…