Tucson Bike Lawyer

Kolb Access Road closure — is it a “Bicycle” problem or an “Unsafe Driver” problem?

Update: Above is a photo of the signs Matt Zoll, Pima County Bike/Pedestrian Program Manager, says are the appropriate solution to construction sites.

I’ve been getting a lot of emails about the decision to close the Kolb Access road to bicycles during construction, even though the speed limit there is now 15 mph, a speed almost any cyclist can sustain for the 1/2 mile-long closure, and a speed that is actually slower than most of the commuting cyclists who use that road generally travel.

The result is that bike commuters have to now make a truly dangerous detour.

Here’s the latest email exchange with the U of A over the matter, which I found quite illuminating. As usual with such exchanges, read from the bottom:

To “Ken Marcus”

Subject RE: Kolb access road closure to cyclists
Ken – thanks for the response. The word ‘almost’ is key regarding the
alternate route. I completely agree that up to the point of crossing the
RR tracks it is just fine. From there to the entry gate it is terrible.
I’m sure in car it seems like nothing, but 2 lanes of cars and trucks
are passing at 60 MPH on a curve with zero shoulder. All of us (the
cyclists) would take our chances with a little wet dirt any day.
Everyone likes to talk about going green, but when things get squeezed a
bit the knee jerk reaction is almost always to ban the bicycles. It’s
telling of course that you refer to the ‘bicycle issue’ instead of the
‘unsafe driver issue’.
Ironically in this case, we’d actually be a bit safer in the
construction zone because everyone would be going the same speed. The
large construction vehicle argument is nonsensical, if they are a threat
to bicycles they surely are a threat to motorcycles and other vehicles
as well.

>From *”Ken Marcus” *
> To Steve
> RE: Kolb access road closure to cyclists
Steve,
Thank you for your concern of cyclists on the Kolb Access Road. We have
looked at the safety concerns regarding bicyclist using the Kolb Access
Road and at best when there is no construction we believe there is a
bicycle issue because there is no bike lane. With the beginning of
construction the dangers for bicycles is even more acute since there is
small area with large construction vehicles, dust and wet dirt and
pavement. The road is governed by the Project Operation Agreement and we
concur with the Managing and Contract Operator’s decision to not allow
bicycles on the Kolb Access Road.
I did travel the Valencia , Old Vail Road to Rita Road route and found
it to have a bike lane and level shoulders for almost the entire route.
This appears to be a very safe alternative with very little added distance.
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns.
Ken

Ken Marcus
Director / CFO
University of Arizona Science and Technology Park
9070 S. Rita Road Suite 1750
Tucson, AZ 85747
Phone (520) 382-2482, Cell (520) 401-8636, Fax (520) 382-2499

> *From:* Steve
> To:* kmarcus@uatechpark.org*
> Subject:* Kolb access road closure to cyclists
Ken – I wanted to ask for your help with an issue we’re having with
Grubb & Ellis here at the Tech Park. I’m part of a group of cyclists
that regularly commute to IBM at the site. Many of us regularly use the
Kolb Rd entrance as it’s our most direct and safest route. With the
recent construction for the new Vail High School, G&E has taken the
rather draconian measure of banning cyclists from the access road for 3
months.
This is difficult for us to accept as the detour is quite lengthy and
more dangerous than the construction zone with there being high speed
traffic on Rita Rd combined with zero shoulder. Ironically the
construction zone is actually safer for us as it slows down the cars and
we can maintain the speed limit of 15 MPH through the construction zone,
which is less than 1/2 a mile.
The bottom line is that there is no rational reason to ban bicyclists
from the area. It’s no more dangerous for us than a motorcycle. I know
you are interested in making the site more green, and it would seem that
banning bicycles is a step in the wrong direction. Any help you can give
us in this area would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Steve

As usual, someone who doesn’t really know anything about bicycles or bicycling has decided to make a decision ostensibly to improve their “safety” and has offered (in my opinion) patronizing reasons for why his decision has done that, over the objections of many very experienced cyclists.

Of course, I suspect the real issue has nothing at all to do with the stated concerns for safety. The real issue is that the U of A wants to limit its liability wherever possible. (Cue up the anti-lawyer arguments now everyone.)

–Erik Ryberg

8 Responses to “Kolb Access Road closure — is it a “Bicycle” problem or an “Unsafe Driver” problem?”

1. Your environmentally friendly, low-carbon footprint Earth Day links « BikingInLA Says:
   April 22nd, 2010 at 4:51 pm

   [...] University of Arizona puts cyclists at risk in the name of bicycle safety during a construction project, while DC detours bikes and [...]

2. Ed Says:
   April 23rd, 2010 at 3:43 pm

   Erik,
   I’m confused about the picture; it shows a temporary orange “share the road” sign. This seems perfectly appropriate, or maybe i’m missing something?

3. Tucson Velo Says:
   April 23rd, 2010 at 4:09 pm

   I think the sign is just an example of what should be used in this case, not that it is actually being used. That is the way I read it anyhow.

4. Erik Says:
   April 23rd, 2010 at 8:30 pm

   Yes, sorry that was not more clear. The road in question is under U of A jurisdiction and they have chosen to close it to bicycles. If it were Pima County, it would be open to bicycles and sporting that sign.

   EBR

5. New and (hopefully) improved link roundup: April 24 | Tucson Velo Says:
   April 24th, 2010 at 5:02 am

   [...] main stretch into the UA’s tech park in a letter to the Wildcat. TucsonBikeLawyer.com also has a post about the [...]

6. Scott Says:
   April 25th, 2010 at 7:08 am

   The letter to the Wildcat found at http://wildcat.arizona.edu/opinions/mailbag-april-15-1.1344148 makes it look like a *whiny* bicyclist problem. It would appear that the Kolb construction detour *was* originally open to bicycles until they started complaining about having to ride in the dirt and dust through the construction area. I’ll bet that one or more of them concocted some nonsense about how “dangerous” it is to try to operate a bicycle off-pavement simply because it was less embarrassing than whining about getting dirty. The squeaky wheel might get the grease – but it also tends to be the first one to get replaced.

7. Steve Says:
   May 27th, 2010 at 7:47 pm

   [...] main stretch into the UA’s tech park in a letter to the Wildcat. TucsonBikeLawyer.com also has a post about the [...]

8. Rupert Says:
   July 6th, 2010 at 2:02 pm

   They appear to have extended the bicycle ban indefinitely, even though road construction is over.

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