Cyclists traveling along South Higuera, the future alignment of the Bob Jones bike path near the Octagon Barn in San Luis Obispo.

During Bike Fest 2002, Roalman Rollout riders headed down the future bicycle boulevard, Morro Street, in San Luis Obispo.

The last leg of the Bob Jones Trail picks up off of Ontario Rd. and winds through oaks on its way to Avila Beach.

The Coalition is actively involved the following projects in cooperation with the following agencies:

Highway 227 Corridor - South Street to Los Ranchos Drive.SLO City/SLO/ County/ SLOCOG/ Caltrans

Highway 1 Corridor - HWY 101 to Monterey County line. SLO City/City of Morro Bay/SLO County/Caltrans/SLOCOG

Price Canyon Widening - HWY 227 to Ormonde Road.

SLO County/SLOCOG Atascadero to Templeton Connector - SLO County/ SLOCOG

Cuesta Grade North Connection - SLO County/SLOCOG/Caltrans

Morro Bay to Cayucos Connector - City of Morro Bay/SLOCOG/State Parks

Nipomo Community Bike Path - SLO County Parks/Nipomo Trails Committee/ California Conservation Corps

Bikes on Grand - Grand Avenue from HWY 101 to HWY 1. City of Arroyo Grande/City of Grover Beach/SLOCOG

El Morro Linear Park Los Osos - SLO County/USFW

Railroad Safety Trail - SLO City/Union Pacific Railroad/Cal Poly

Bob Jones City-to-Sea Trail - SLO City/SLO County Parks/SLO Land Conservancy

Morro Street Bicycle Boulevard - SLO City

California Coast Millennium Trail - Oregon border to Mexico. State Parks/SLOCOG/SLO County Trails/City of Morro Bay/City of Pismo Beach/City of Grover Beach

Mapping of Countywide Bicycling Corridors and Targeted Improvements along These Routes - SLO Bike Club

Sinsheimer Elementary Bike Club Pilot Program - San Luis Obispo.

If any of these projects interest you, get informed, and then get involved. Do you know of a dangerous condition for cyclists or pedestrians in your community? Do you have a clever idea for a program? We are the clearinghouse for everything bike in SLO County. Drop us a line.

Coexist Campaign Rides Again
We are proud to unveil a new installment of the Coexist Campaign. Sponsored by the SLO County Bicycle Coalition and the City of San Luis Obispo, two new public safety messages promoting safe road behavior will appear on the silver screens of SLO City's movie theaters over the next few months. The first message encourages bicyclists to ride outside of the dangerous door zone, where car doors can suddenly fly open and hit bicyclists. The second message reminds pedestrians and bicyclists to be visible at night by wearing bright clothing and using bike lights. The new messages come on the heels of an earlier installment of the Coexist Campaign, which encouraged motorists to check for bicyclists before opening car doors. "Coexist" is adapted from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and strives for respectful and safer behavior by all road users. To learn more about our Coexist Campaign click here.

Coalition Triumphs

Coalition Cleans up Bob Jones Trail!
On Tuesday July 20th, 2004, bicyclists took care of one of their own facilities and cleaned up the Bob Jones Trail. The section of the existing Bob Jones Trail between San Luis Bay Drive and the Avila Beach Resort Golf Course has become extremely overgrown in recent months. In some sections of the path there was little more than 3 feet of passable area with trees and bushes intruding upon the path. This section was originally built privately and will eventually become owned and maintained by the County. Negotiations are underway to bring the section of Bob Jones Trail under County jurisdiction, however they are moving slowly. The trail had become so overgrown that there was discussion of closing the trail until a maintenance agreement could be reached. The San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition had been getting numerous complaints about the vegetation on the trail and decided to do something about it. Bicycle Coalitions aren’t typically thought of as maintenance organizations, that’s the trail owner’s responsibility, however in this time of transition and when facing a temporary closure, the organization feels great about being able to help out and improve bicycling conditions in SLO County.

Approximately 20 volunteers met at 6pm Tuesday night and began several hours of work that restored the trail to it’s full width and filled an entire truck sized container with plant cuttings. The Bicycle Coalition coordinated with SLO County Parks and Recreation, the development that built the trail to set up the clean-up. “The great thing about the work we’ve done is that everyone benefits from it.” Said former Bicycle Coalition Executive Director, Joe Gilpin, “Bicyclists, joggers, families with small children and visitors to the county now have a safer trail to enjoy.”

New Stripes in Pismo Beach
If anyone has ridden Price St in Pismo Beach since June 2004 you may have noticed a very nice change! For many years now, Price St has been so deteriorated that its shoulder, and even parts of the lane were unridable to anything but a mountain bike. Many cyclists were forced to ride in the lane with vehicles next to a freeway onramp. The Bicycle Coalition had this location listed with the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) under their registry of unmet bicycle needs since 2002. Additionally, the Coalition and the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club had sent numerous letters to Caltrans and the city of Pismo Beach putting them under notice of a dangerous condition. California law states that a property owner can be held liable if a condition on their property creates a substantial risk of injury when it is used with due care in a manner which it was reasonably foreseeable that it will be used. Caltrans responded to our letters about this section of roadway and we now have a beautifully smooth five to eight foot shoulder to enjoy. The new paving stretches the exact length of roadway that we requested be fixed, from Dolliver St. north to Mattie Road. This stretch is on the Pacific Coast Bike route and is heavily used by local and touring cyclists alike.

O’Connor Way – Reopened!
Some of you may have noticed the January 24, 2004, front page story in the Tribune about the Reopening of O’Connor Way leading to Cuesta College from Foothill Blvd. The closed section traversed Camp San Luis Obispo and has been closed since September 11, 2001 blocking Cuesta College students and area cyclists from using this scenic, and safer alternative to Highway 1. We here at the Coalition believe it is no coincidence that O’Connor Way was officially reopened just weeks following a letter writing campaign headed by SLOCBC and the SLO Bicycle Club to the California National Guard, the County Board of Supervisors and the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments.

The hours of operation of the roadway are as follows: It will be open from 7 until 5 or 6 M-F for through traffic and Sat-Sun for bicyclists (because we're special.)

Cambria Cross-Town Trail
This Class I trail in Cambria has been in the works since 1992 and has never been a stranger to opposition. Thanks in part, to the efforts of SLOCBC, work will begin on the trail soon. Opposition centered around a 140 foot long bridge to be built over Santa Rosa Creek, for environmental reasons and because the bridge would link the trail with a future area under consideration to be developed as a community park. The Coalition presented signatures collected from concerned local cyclists, and spoke at the board of supervisors hearing regarding this topic. The Board of Supervisors denied the appeal in a unanimous vote. When the issue was brought before the Coastal Commission in an attempt to delay the project to death, the Coalition kept stayed informed. A construction contract for the trail was awarded, and work began in October 2003. Contruction is almost complete as of July 2006. This is a huge victory for the residents of Cambria and for SLO County Cyclists as a whole!

AG City Council Approves New Bike Path

At the November 25, 2003 Arroyo Grande City Council meeting the Bicycle Coalition and South County representative Ted Aclan spoke on potential alignments of a new path through the Soto Sports Complex. Three alignments were considered by council, including a new alignment proposed jointly by Planning Commission member Jim Guthrie and the Bicycle Coalition. Council adopted the alignment with the fewest potential conflicts, which was also the least direct path. Ted Aclan made a good speech about bicycle provision on the path, and immediately the council requested that the path have a minimum width of ten feet to accommodate both bikes and pedestrians. The strong show of support from the bicycling community resulted in a new connection being approved, even after the council had been unsupportive of the path in the past

Bob Jones Staging Area Triumph

The derelict schoolhouse built in 1907 that sits adjacent to the Bob Jones staging area off Ontario road has been renovated to a wine tasting facility. The project, known as the Avila Valley Winery, sought to access its property through the current Bob Jones Bike Path Staging Area, which is owned by County Parks. SLOCBC and County Parks saw this access as a bad idea since patrons of the wine tasting facility would be driving through a parking area where families and children mount their bicycles to ride down the bike path towards Avila.

At a May 22, 2003 County Planning Commission hearing SLOCBC spoke out against any access to the wine tasting facility through the county staging area primarily voicing safety concerns with children and parking issues. The Commission voted to restrict any vehicular access to the site through the staging area, instead a separate driveway will be installed from Ontario road. Access to the schoolhouse will be allowed for bicyclists and pedestrians using the Bob Jones trail through a special gate in a new white picket fence built to replicate the original fence from generations past. By preventing vehicular access to the winery this decision has preserved the current level of safety and protected staging area parking and access for current and future Bob Jones Trail users.

Cuesta Grade Bicycle Detour
In January of 2002, the Coalition surveyed the existing bicycle detour in the HWY 101 Cuesta Grade construction area. Caltrans had signage up for the detour that was neither clear and nor visible. The detour crossing at the north end of the project had no informational sign to direct the cyclists back on the northbound shoulder. The Coalition called a meeting with Caltrans project engineer, David Beard, and requested that the detour be better signed and information be available on the Cuesta Grade project website for touring cyclists. The new signs are now up and the Coalition will be submitting new photos to Caltrans for their website.