Hello,
As a bike commuter living in Menlo Park I'm frustrated by how often designated bike lanes are made impassable by debris, temporary traffic signs, waste bins, and uneven road surfaces. A month or so ago a friend of mine hit a patch of uneven road in the bike lane on Oak Grove while riding at night (with lights) and crashed their bike. I'm particularly frustrated by the large, intentionally placed metal plates in the bike lane on University, between Santa Cruz and Middle. There are about ten of these plates, all of which are uneven and sharp around the edges and dangerous to ride over on a bicycle, so everyone ends up veering around them into the car lane (which is also dangerous, of course). Last week there were also a bunch of temporary traffic signs placed in this same stretch of bike lane.
I've encountered traffic cops recently in downtown Menlo Park, stopping cyclists for not coming to a complete stop at stop signs. It's kind of insulting to have city officials enforcing laws that don't actually make us safer, while seemingly ignoring (or actively exacerbating, as with those metal plates) bigger threats to cyclists' safety.
One more thing--the traffic light sensor at Oak Grove and El Camino doesn't actually notice if there's a bike waiting in the bike lane. You have to either go over and press the crosswalk button or wait for a car to turn up. This isn't a big thing, but it sure is annoying.
Thanks,
Emma
