MOUNT DIABLO — The steep, narrow and scenic roads of Mount Diablo State Park attract growing legions of bicyclists, but they ride in danger of colliding with cars — especially on the many blind curves.
Now, in the first major road-safety improvement project in decades at the park, officials are rolling out $366,000 in new road signs, stop signs and no-passing striping in center lanes in hopes of reducing collisions involving cars and cyclists at the recreation area visited by more than a million people a year.
“We think this project will make a difference in making the mountain safer for cyclists and motorists,” said Al Kalin, a Danville resident and president of Mount Diablo Cyclists, a safety group that pushed for the changes. “Little was being done, but our group has worked with the state legislators and state parks, and now things have happened.”
The project includes adding more than 200 signs to slow down, share the road, not pass on curves and observe the speed limit. Crews also re-striped most of the 17.5 miles of roads in the park to classify them as no-passing zones.
In a first for California state parks, three paved passing lanes for cyclists will be added so cars can pass them while they can continue to pedal uphill off the main road. But some worry that the lack of passing opportunities for motorists along the majority of roads will frustrate drivers, who may still try to pass on blind curves.
Cyclists say the improvements are long overdue, and they happened only after a big push from Mount Diablo Cyclists, this news organization’s editorial page and two state lawmakers — Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, and Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon, to prod the state parks department into funding the improvements out of general funds.
“The safety improvements make me feel a little more comfortable,” said Shannon Stepper, who was struck and injured last year by a car that crossed into her lane. “Obviously, you can’t prevent all accidents, but I think it will dissuade many motorists from crossing the double yellow line to pass unsafely, and hopefully it will remind cyclists they need to slow down.”
Ryen Goering, the Mt. Diablo State Park Park superintendent, said speeding by cars and or bikes is the most frequent case of accidents on the 3,849-foot-tall mountain, and 59 percent of bike accidents between 2010 and 2014 involved solo bicycles.
But during the same period, there were 24 car-versus-bike collisions, and the vast majority involved a motorist crossing over the center line, said Kalin, who did public records requests to get accident figures.
Kalin and Goering agreed that drivers’ unfamiliarity with the state park contributes to some of their unsafe behavior, such as trying to pass on blind curves.
Many who drive to Mount Diablo Park are first-time or infrequent visitors not familiar with the old, narrow, winding roads with more than 300 curves. Some road sections are along routes from old cattle ranch roads or stagecoach routes from the 1880s when stagecoaches would haul passengers up to a hotel three miles from the top.
“We think the new signs will be effective in getting across the message that cars and cyclists need to share the road safely,” Goering said.
Some cyclists, however, said they think the state park went overboard in adding double lines to bar passing along the vast majority of the 17.5 miles of park roads.
“Their plan is good in theory, but I think it will be ineffective,” said Joe Downes, an Orinda resident who was cycling up the mountain earlier this week. “Why can’t they just focus on the blind curves?”
Downes said at least four cars passed him on blind curves earlier this week on the lower half of the mountain, despite the new signs and striping.
Goering said Caltrans rules for striping roads gave the state park little leeway except to designate nearly all the park roads as no-passing areas. “We have to follow the rules,” he said. .
Motorists will have five designated sections of park road where they can legally pass bicyclists or other slower-moving vehicles.
“We’re going to tell motorists that they need to slow down and pass safe areas,” Goering said. “Our message is to slow down; you may have to wait behind someone, so enjoy the scenery.”
A public dedication ceremony for state park road safety improvements is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Oct 7. at Curry Point on South Gate Road in Mt. Diablo State Park. To learn about Mt. Diablo State Park, go here. To learn about the safety improvements, go here.
