I happened to be out towards Point Molate today, and on the way back, I was dismayed to see a lone bicyclist towing a little trailer with a child in it at exactly the location where Dan Weinstein was killed last month and Dan Doellstedt was badly injured while riding bicycles on the shoulder of I-580 on a designated bicycle route.

It appears that neither Caltrans nor any other public agency has taken even the tiniest steps to mitigate this dangerous situation that is simply another deadly accident waiting to happen. On October 11, 2006, Michael K. Jones from Caltrans and Doug Johnson from MTC committed to at least post warning signs alerting motorists to the imminent presence of bicyclists in the area, as well as additional signage for bicyclists. None of these signs has been placed.

We have also learned that there are fifteen miles of freeway shoulders in Caltrans District 4, and one thousand miles state-wide, that are designated bike routes.  

You have an opportunity to do something about this and urge your elected officials to take action by clicking on http://www.pointrichmond.com/baytrail/bikepath.htm, which will allow you to automatically send an email to a number of elected officials, asking them to take action before another tragedy occurs.