Camino Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano

Before the  Interstate Freeway 5 came through Orange County, Highway 101 was a 2 lane concrete ribbon.
Camino Capistrano is the old Highway 101 and has concrete pavement north of Junipero Serra Rd that dates from the 1930's & 40's.


Hwy 101 along RR Tracks in San Juan Capistrano in the 1940's

The route is a favorite for active transportation and recreational cycling, as it connects down town San Juan Capistrano to the Laguna Niguel / Mission Viejo station.
Unfortunately, not much has been done to maintain the road since the 1960's when the Freeway was constructed along it's east side. 

The old asphalt shoulders along the edges of the two lane concrete highway are much as they were -
the speed limit has been lowered to 45 MPH, and the shoulders have been painted as Class II Bike Lanes, but are substandard and pavement conditions make the ride very rough.
The edge stripe between the travel lanes and shoulder have been widened and the standard Bike Lane stencil has been painted,
but as the speed limit is over 40 MPH, the minimum mandatory width under California Highway Design standards is 6 feet.



The Bike Lane does not have any "Bike Lane" signs, just the standard stencils and wider white lane line to designate it as a mandatory use Bike Lane.


All of it is over due for a pavement improvement. The asphalt patch work and cracks of the Bike Lanes and Travel Lanes are significant all the way to the City Limit.
The south bound edge is scattered with gravel, the north bound skirts a fence line with over grown weeds right at face height of cyclists:



At at least 2 major points the Bike Lane is much to narrow.

ONE is on the South Bound side - where the drop off on the curve required a guard rail be installed along the edge to reduce the chance of a motorist  swerving off the cliff and landing on the rail road tracks below.
Since their was no attempt to provide a retaining wall on the cliff,  the wooden posts for the rail were planted IN the paved shoulder, and with the steel rail on the highway side, had narrowed the shoulder at this curve.
Now that this shoulder is being "called" a Bike Lane, it is way less than 6 feet wide on a curve where cyclists are most vulnerable to a passing motorist drifting into the bike lane.
The fix would be expensive, the embankment would need to be stabilized and supported with a verticle wall, to put the rail farther from the  travel lane - allowing 6 feet or more for teh Bike Lane.
The curve could be even safer for cyclists if the Class II Bike Lane became - briefly - a one way Class IV Protected Bikeway, with a concrete barricade between the travel lane and cyclists.
Of course that would require a 3 foot shoulder between teh travel lane and barrier - a couple of feet for the concrete rail, at least 3 feet of asphalt for bikes + 2' gutter pan & curb, then a shoulder or side walk for pedestrians to walk along, and a fence to keep them from falling off the edge.


Looking south bound: I-5 Freeway above  - Camino Capistrano center - Rail Road below.
At some time the south bound concrete lane must have been sliding off the cliff and it was patched with asphalt lane & new rail on narrow shoulder. 

 
Looking north bound: Railing on curve narrows cyclists even closer to south bound travel lane. 
Notice posted speed limit and condition of north bound shoulder right along fence  of I-5 Freeway.


SECOND is where the City approved development on the NE corner of Camino Capistrano and Junipero Serra Rd, but did not do anything to expand the road on the NW corner.
As a result, the very nice Class II Bike Lanes on NB Camino Capistrano just disappear with double right turn lanes to Junipero Serra Rd, and after teh intersections, there are a series of right turn only lanes with no Bike Lane at all until the old shoulder resumes north of the new development.

This north bound stretch has no BIKE ROUTE signs, Has NO BMUFL signs, no sharrows, and has no facilitated Bike Lane treatment to the left of the two right turn lanes. This leaves cyclists to merge across to the trough lane and be followed by motorist expecting to go 45 MPH or more, or to illegally proceed straight on the edge of double right turn lanes, risking being overtaken and right hooked by motorists legally turning right on the green signal, or to get off their bicycle & use the side walk & cross walk for the entire stretch.

On the south bound side, since the center line was placed with room fro 2 lanes of NB traffic and turn lanes, the Bike LAne is wedged down to a  narrowing width way less than 6 feet wide,  into a pinch point where the City actually placed a rounded asphalt curb into the Bike Lane. Being the same color as teh bike lane, this hazard is so obvious, that local cyclists have painted diagonal stripes on that curb just to make it visible to cyclists who should be paying attention to street signals and vehicles that may be using the bike lane to turn right at Junipero Serra Rd. 


The Temporary & immediate "Fix" here is to widen the road on the west side of Camino Capistrano to provide a 6' Bike Lane all the way to Junipero Serra Rd.
That probably should have been conditioned on the developer who profited on building the NE corner and should not be delayed until a developer profits on building out the NW corner.



The long term "Fix" here - is to complete the widening of Camino Capistrano on the NW corner and to extend the Class II Bike Lanes on Camino Capistrano:
That includes guiding the bike lane users left of the double right turn lanes at Junipero Serra Rd to the left of teh right turn only lanes.


Compared to current conditions: No NB Bike Lane, Pinched SB Bike Lane.
NB Bike Lane vanishes before intersection and traps edge riders on right of two right turn only lanes.