The City of Ojai, in collaboration with Street Plans, created an on-street protected bikeway in the city for the first time.

The street design paradigm is changing, and more and more cities and agencies are opting for short-term interventions. Thus, they can accommodate all road users in a fast, safe, economical, and simple way, giving each one of them the space that belongs to them, while permanent solutions arrive.

In this way it is possible to have feedback “in situ” and to accumulate experience to guarantee the success of the final design.

Need and project objectives.

Before this intervention, the Maricopa Highway was fully dedicated to motorized vehicles. The possibility of constructing a protected bike lane along this highway with a temporary character was taken into account.

The proposed solution.

The City of Ojai, in collaboration with Street Plans, decided to an on-street protected bikeway in the city for the first time. The protected bike lane was installed along 3/4 of a mile of the Maricopa Highway. It connects at one end with the Ojai Valley Bike Trail; serves the local high school and the Ojai Meadows Preserve.

This new protected bike lane has a temporary character. It will serve as a demonstration project helping the city and Caltrans gain more experience in permitting, designing, and evaluating the effectiveness. Its main objective is to test the concept of street redesign using economical, sustainable, durable, and safe materials that could be easily installed, moved, or removed if necessary. And collect relevant information to help with future permanent construction.

Street Plans is a well-known consultancy firm with extensive experience doing “quick-build” demonstrations in cities. These interventions could have different life scopes. In Ojai’s case, this protected bike lane will be in place for six months. The City and Street Plans decided to use ZICLA’s Zebra® | Planter and Zebra® cycle lane separators to protect the bikeway.