Details are sparse, but TMS is reporting a bicyclist was injured on Tuesday on the corner of Rye Canyon and Beale Court.
A bicyclist was injured in a collision with a car just before 1 p.m. today near Rye Canyon Road and Beale Court in the Valencia Industrial Center, authorities said.
The bicyclist was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial hospital. The driver of the car remained at the scene, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Stanley.
No further information was immediately available, he said.
We don’t know enough details to draw meaningful conclusions about this incident, other than the obvious: traffic-related injuries and deaths are horrible, senseless and tragic. But we can at least look at the area in which the incident took place and scrutinize the City’s choices for traffic engineering.
The last incident on Rye Canyon was just days ago: an overturned big rig that injured the driver, who lost control due to speeding. That was preceded by the patrol car crash on May 6 that sent four people to the hospital. These three incidents come just days after we suffered the loss of Deputy Cameron Glover on McBean, then Jeff Laird, 41 year old father of three, on Plum Canyon.
Horrible. Senseless. Tragic.
The cyclist accident today could have well-occured in a parking lot, but it’s also likely it took place on Rye Canyon. If you’re not familiar with that section of Rye Canyon, the area around Beale Court has no shoulder, much less a striped bike lane. Hell, there’s not even a sidewalk. Just six lanes, a center divider between them and hundreds of eager commuters zooming from light to light. There’s an occassional motorcycle cop with a radar gun, but like most SCV thoroughfares, Rye Canyon would put some freeways to shame.
Eastbound on Rye at Beale
Westbound on Rye at Beale. Question: Where should the cyclist ride?
The timing for this incident couldn’t be worse: Bike to Work Week, just two days before the City-sponsored Bike to Work Day. The place couldn’t be worse: there’s a sign on Rye that is the classic “Welcome to Santa Clarita” just past Beale, in the heart of the industrial center. Was this cyclist riding to work in support of Bike to Work Week? It would make the incident even more unfortunate–and it calls out the City and its spotty, inconsistent striping of bike lanes that Jeff has lamented for years.
Perhaps it’s time Santa Clarita invest more resources in making our area more bicycling friendly. Striping lanes would be a great start.
Regardless, please just slow down, put your phone away and drive safely. Do we need another reminder?
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The VIC was built at the height of the car-centered planning era. No sidewalks even! Amazing the City hasn’t put them in under the ADA.
To get to a bus stop on Ave Stanford, you have to walk in the streets. There are no sidewalks, there are no crosswalks, there are no lights.
I’m all for bike lanes but I think this posting is a bit trigger happy at blaming the City, especially since no details have been released regarding the incident.
This area was built in the 1970′s, way before the City existed and unfortunately like the previous poster said is car-centric and lacks even sidewalks.
However, just changing striping to accomodate bicycles could have an adverse affect on traffic. Is this street best suited for bicycle lanes? I’m not sure. But I do know there are numerous driveways for all the businesses along the street so there would be a high number of cars turning in and out of driveways, causing bicyclists to encounter numerous conflict pooints.
Looking at statistics from the CA Office of Traffic Safety, Santa Clarita ranks 51st/55th (cities between 100K to 250K in pop) in bicycle accidents by population and miles traveling. This means Santa Clarita has one of the lowest accident rates compared to similar size cities. So I think jumping to conclusions that Santa Clarita is dangerous is not correct.
Of course there is always room for improvement.
Great piece John.
Yes, VIC is an awful place to be in without a car. I’ve never seen development that discourages walking/biking more. Built as promised!
Adding bike lanes throughout the city is a cheap and effective way to encourage cycling.
But the city looks at cycling as recreation, not transportation. Hopefully that mindset is changing.
I hope this cyclist is ok.
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I always thought it very ironic that Santa Clarita touted itself as a city into physical fitness, but there were no sidewalks, safe places to walk – or ride – in an area where so many people work.
I guess informed people would not ride a bike on a road like Rye Canyon. It is not cheap to add bike lanes in the economy, and we can’t afford to spend money to satisfy a few within the masses.
The problem SCV has made for itself in trying to get pedestrians off the main drag, is that they haven’t made any kind of allowance for bicycle commuters. The lanes that go right to the edge of the street are insane. McBean should be back to 2 lanes with a generous bike lane. SCV has got to get real!
I work in the industrial center on Avenue Hopkins. The speed limit is 35, but most cars are 50+mph. My car was hit on this street by a speeder trying to pass someone. I’ve asked the Sheriff dept, many times to enforce the speed limit. I see them down the street for SC Studios filming, but never any speed enforcement. I guess someone has to get killed before the speeding becomes an issue.
Wow. I bike to work twice a week and this section of Rye Canyon is part of my route. I absolutely agree it’s dangerous and have told the city, but they said funding is limited.
They did say if someone complained under ADA it would significantly increase the priority. Anyone??