Better Ask Barry: Did the bike lane do its job?

The good news: No one was hurt.

The bad news: The new North Fremont Street bike trail has already seen its first accident.

It happened Tuesday evening when a car collided with the trail’s concrete barrier. The trail had only been open a few days at the time.

The most noticeable element to the project is a paved two-lane bike path that runs down the median of North Fremont Street. Other changes include expanded sidewalks at intersections, new bicycle only signal lights, and plenty of bright green paint.

Higher curbs and a system of rails are designed to keep cars and bicycles separate. It seems to have worked in the case of Tuesday’s accident.

The city of Monterey says the curb worked as expected, and the rail was damaged.

According to Andrea Renny, the city’s traffic engineer, the timing of traffic signals would have prevented any bicyclists from being in that spot when the accident happened.

Drivers who remember months of construction, lane closures and weather delays will be happy the project is done.

Now, learning how to navigate it will take some time.

KION 2019