Going down a hill effortlessly along a motorcycle trail in Rancho Palos Verdes earlier this month was liberating for me, especially after pedaling for several miles, until I saw a crack in the asphalt below.
In a panic, I braked and crossed the marked sidewalk, graceless but fortunately injured.
Now, thanks to such dangers, the city is temporarily closed to a segment of Palos Verdes Drive South for two-wheelers, bringing up the ongoing landslide on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council voted Tuesday to ban bicycles and scooters on about 3 kilometers of the road for at least six months.
Like me, many cyclists are passionate about the route. Some of them expressed their dissatisfaction with the meeting.
Todd Bernhardt, a Rancho Palos Verdes resident and board member of a South Bay cycling club, warned that the city could keep the domain open to two-wheelers if it implemented other protective measures.
“As long as the city takes other measures, such as restricting the speed of all vehicles, expanding the number of traffic signals, instituting more traffic measures for all vehicles, and educating the network about the threats on this stretch of road,” Bernhardt said. “So I know from my own experience that it is safe to use and will not pose any threat to bicyclists or the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. “
Cyclist Geoffrey Loui said bikes can move around the domain as well or better than cars, some of which skid and move sideways.
Loui said he saw a truck “loosen up in the air for a while and a part of a car before it touched the pavement again. “It is the “Streets of San Francisco” style.
The town repaired Palos Verdes Drive South for years as it moved due to the peninsula’s landslide complex. Part of the road has such a significant difference in altitude that the population calls it “the ski jump”.
The council’s resolution comes about a month after the announcement of the dismantling of the historic Walker Chapel due to accelerating earthworks.
Earlier this year, the chapel and houses in the area were damaged by a slow landslide, which worsened after two harsh winters in a row that brought heavy rains.
The newly implemented traffic ban extends from the Lloyd Wright-designed chapel to Schooner Drive in an effort to “prevent injuries due to poor pavement conditions,” city officials said in a news release.
Depending on the city, the ground moves at a rate of 7 to 12 inches per week.
In six months, the council will review the ban on bicycles and motorcycles and determine whether to lift or extend it.
The Chapel of the Walkers closed in February for protection reasons.
The hope is that the landmark National Historic Landmark, religious shrine and beloved wedding venue can be rebuilt on stronger ground.
Earth movement is a new phenomenon in the Palos Verdes peninsula. But earlier this year, the shift only accelerated, but it also opened up new areas.
“This is unprecedented,” Mike Phipps, a contract geologist at Rancho Palos Verdes, told the Times in February. “We have not noticed this type of movement in the upper spaces of the landslide in the entire history of monitoring this landslide. “
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