Preventing bicycles from riding down a street because of construction

[David Whiteman]

I have a friend that goes out on very early bike rides. Today I had to rescue him because a road was shut down for construction, and there was no other way to get home. 

The road was Agoura Road. A bridge is being built over the road right now. So at times the road is closed during the day. Apparently he was able to ride over the road this morning. Then on the way back the road was closed, The only other reasonable way back would be to take the adjacent parallel freeway. The freeway is not signed for bicycles, and in fact there is no safe shoulder. 

There is suppose to be a shuttle for bicyclist, but after waiting an hour one never showed up. He tried asking the construction people whether he could just walk his bike through, and they said no. The Caltran workers said that since this bridge is being built by "private" funds and not state funds they don't have to provide passage for pedestrians or bicyclists. And it is not their fault that the shuttle is not running today. He eventually called me, and I rescued him and his bike..

[Richard M]

IANAL, and my experience with advocacy is mostly in the SF Bay Area, not LA. My quick observations:

• Yes, this is a sucky situation.
• Google tells me this is likely the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing project in LA County?
• The "private funds" is BS -- they've closed a public road, and this is a Caltrans project.
  
• The EIR for this project was completed in 2017, and I can't find an online copy right now, but I imagine the pedestrian and cyclist shuttle is likely a required mitigation for this project. 
• Next step is to complain directly to Caltrans District 7 to let them know their bike shuttles aren't running. I think Nick Carmona  @ Caltrans District 7 might be a good first contact.
• If this is a required mitigation, there are legal remedies, but they are expensive, take time, and, in my experience, often don't get far when bike facilities are involved.

Good luck.

Richard

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[David Whiteman]

Yes it is. And he is getting negative comments from various wildlife groups when asking questions on other boards. He is basically told that he should be contacting public transit as they are supposedly providing the service, which would also mean that he has to pay a fare. And he keeps being told about the greater good of the project.