HUNTINGTON BEACH : PCH Bike Path on Hold for Now

Striping for bike lanes on the stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach has been put on hold, but bicyclists will eventually get their own path, city officials said.

Parking spaces on the highway must be removed to accommodate two bike lanes and to re-stripe the newly widened highway to six lanes, City Engineer Bob Eichblatt said.

The highway currently has two traffic lanes in each direction and the extra room for cyclists.

Bicycle riders had complained that the highway widening did not leave room to add bike lanes.

But Eichblatt said the city and the California Department of Transportation have worked out a plan that includes narrowing the median along Pacific Coast Highway to accommodate the six traffic lanes and bike lanes in both directions.

Eichblatt said that before the bike lanes can be striped on the highway between Beach Boulevard and Golden West Street, the city must first decide where to build a parking lot to replace the 526 parking spaces lost on Pacific Coast Highway.

Eichblatt said the Community Services Department’s proposed master plan for the north beach area includes a parking lot on an old oil field access road below the bluffs, between 11th and Golden West streets.

“It’s on hold until community services takes the master plan to the City Council,” he said.

Ron Hagan, community services director, said the plan will go to the council before the end of the year.

“We’d rather leave the Pacific Coast Highway parking. We need all the parking we can get to give people access to the beach,” Hagan said.

Eichblatt said the city is expecting to get $750,000 in state money later this month to pay for the median work and to stripe the traffic and bike lanes.

Caltrans is on schedule in completing the widening between Brookhurst Street and Beach Boulevard.

The highway is being widened from two lanes to three lanes in each direction at a cost of $3.5 million.

Completion is planned for early October, Caltrans officials said.