When a load of show cars wrecks on Lighthouse Ave.
A semi carrying specialty cars hit a power pole at Lighthouse Avenue and Eardley Avenue in Monterey Wednesday afternoon, according to the fire department.
Lighthouse Ave., which turns into Central Ave. in Pacific Grove, is closed from David Ave. to Eardley Ave.
When the tourists roll into town with their SUVs and rented Hyundais they are easy to spot on the roads and we can drive defensively. But these little yellow bug specks can jump out of nowhere.
There are several Sea Car options, depending on what you want to see and spend. The descriptions below are for a car loaded with a preset GPS route and that holds two people. A few larger cars are available, as are “Sea Car Scoot Trikes” ($30 per hour).
One hour tour ($60): Highlights include historical buildings around downtown Monterey, Fisherman’s Wharf, Cannery Row and Lovers Point.
Two hour tour ($110): This tour does all of the above, plus Pacific Grove’s downtown, and allows time for stops. Prefer to follow a guide? Sea Car offers guided two-hour tours ($130, reservations required), as well.
Three hour tour ($160): This is a good option if you know the area and just want to plug in your smartphone and listen to music while you cruise. (Note: No freeways allowed.)
Careful with that three hour tour ( a three hour tour…), if the weather gets rough you might be stranded in Sand City. Have plenty of coconuts and a professor along if you can.
Why not make all the tourists ride bikes. Put up a gate at the tunnel, resident cars only.
Construction on the Holman Highway Roundabout project is expected to begin in June. The project, up at the intersection of 17-Mile Drive and state Route 68, will likely push a lot more vehicle traffic onto Lighthouse Avenue, a Monterey artery that is already frequently clogged.
“Come 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m., it starts to back up, and from that point until about 7 p.m., it’s pretty slow here,” said Jason Costanza, who owns Monterey Seibuken Academy, on Lighthouse Avenue.
Monterey is hoping rather than getting frustrated with even more traffic this summer, people will take a new route to work.
“We want to get people to walk, and we want to get people to bike,” said Andrea Renny, with the city’s traffic and engineering department.
The idea that wont die. Thanks tourists.
Monterey plans to make changes on Lighthouse Avenue both in the long term and the short term, and it could result in the artery becoming a one-way street.
The Lighthouse Destination Plan shows Lighthouse Avenue becoming a one way street heading toward downtown Monterey, and expanding Foam Street to three lanes heading one way toward Pacific Grove.
The avenue has grown more congested with a growing hospitality industry and with the closures of roads on the Presidio to the public following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Deal said in addition to making Lighthouse a one-way street other options are being explored. The city is talking about keeping the lane changes likely to happen this spring, with three lanes heading into downtown Monterey and one lane headed into Pacific Grove, and it is looking at making Hawthorn a one-way to give people another way to travel.
Common sense solutions go by the wayside as planners think up more ways to win the war on cars.
Are there improvements we can look forward too? Yes there are, but the stakeholders have to come together and agree what’s best for the community of Monterey in this mecca of tourism.
Planners with the City of Monterey have been working on this issue for over 10 years. 9-11 was the beginning of the mega traffic issues after access across the Presidio was cut off. That left Lighthouse Avenue and the Holman Highway as the only funnel points off the peninsula.
Progress is slow on the Lighthouse avenue corridor. Since 2010, planners have been presenting ideas in workshops to make Lighthouse Avenue one way and Foam Street one way in the opposite direction. Planners have also proposed more plans for mass transit, bicycles and pedestrians and down played vehicles.
Traffic too. Now when a bus stops at one of those new jazzy stops it blocks the right lane.
Monterey-Salinas Transit began construction on the new Jazz line last June and for several months it closed lanes on Lighthouse Avenue. Carbone said it was a nightmare for his customers.
“There were a couple of days where I, personally, I cant speak for the other businesses, literally had two customers in my establishments,” he said. “Two people all day long.”
Carbone said he plans to fight to help all the businesses in the area. “They say it’s over and it’s not over. It’s over when I say it’s over,” he said.
Pine Cone reports it was a 55 year old woman driving.
Don Murphy said the tragic crash happened in front of his home. He didn’t hear the collision but said he saw the aftermath when he opened his door to determine why emergency lights were flashing outside.
“The victim, a woman, was lying motionless, face down, in the street,” he recounted. “The driver of the car — an SUV? — that hit her was quite upset while being interviewed by police.”
Substainable P.G. type idea to make travel by car less desirable. Look at the picture, there is enough room on Pine Ave for 4 traffic lanes, curbside parking and bike lanes to nowhere.
Earlier this year, the Pacific Grove Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Commission made efforts to carry out a 3-lane conversion on Pine Avenue, with one lane each way and a center turning lane, adding bike lanes on each side. Amid mixed public reaction to the proposed project, the idea has been postponed and Public Works has completed a re-paint of the street in its familiar, 4-lane configuration. No plans for a 3-lane conversion are in the works at this time.
No Traffic Solutions For Pine Ave. Not That It Was Needed Anyway
The preferred alternative remains a one-way, eastbound Lighthouse with two general traffic lanes and one lane dedicated to bicycles, buses and emergency vehicles.
City traffic engineer Rich Deal contends that controlling traffic speeds on city streets is easier with one-way traffic than with two-way, and cited Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey as an example.
But Alvarado street is not a main road into Pacific Grove. Reducing four lanes to two will not help ease traffic.
This is beginning to sound like a “Sustainable City” scheme, much like to stupid idea to reduce Pine Avenue to two traffic lanes in P.G. with exaggerated bicycle lanes no one needs. Until they take your freedoms away.
