yellow vertical delineators – Getting Around Sacramento

In response to a comment from a reader, I went to look at the area around Sutter Health Park, primarily the intersections of 5th Street and Cabaldon Parkway, and 3rd Street and Cabaldon Parkway. Note that Google Maps and Google Earth photos from July 2024 do not show the current configuration of these intersections with various traffic calming features, and vertical delineators often do not show up. If you want to see or experience it, you’ll need to go out there for yourself.

The city has kept adding vertical delineators to this entire area in an effort to regulate driver behavior around the ballpark. Things have improved but are still not safe. It is a comment on the drivers that pass though this area, and attend games, that so much has needed to be added, but is still insufficient. I can imagine the city saying “Well that didn’t work, lets add more of that”.

The photo below shows 5th Street southbound approaching Cabaldon Parkway. It is the only one that shows both lane delineators (white) and centerline hardening (yellow). The traffic lane adjacent to the bike lane is very narrow, and the bike lane is not protected in any way from this traffic lane. Much of the lane is in the gutter with a linear seam between the two. Which means it is not actually a legal bike lane, despite the message of green paint. This roadway need to be reconfigured to create a safe bikeway with at least a buffered separation, or ‘protected’ by vertical delineators, or best of all, a hard concrete curb. While riding this bike lane, I was passed by a large truck that drifted into the bike lane, forcing me to the curb.

This roadway design is completely UNSAFE for bicyclists, and must be corrected immediately by the City of West Sacramento.

photo of 5th St at Cabaldon Pkwy lane delineators & centerline hardening — *5th St at Cabaldon Pkwy lane delineators & centerline hardening*

The next set shows lane channelization delineators (white). Note that they are no longer white and unbent, they have been run over by drivers multiple times. But they do have a traffic calming effect by discouraging drivers from changing lanes in unsafe locations or at intersections.

The reader commented that motor vehicles in lanes to the right of the delineators, westbound and eastbound on Cabaldon Parkway, drift to the right and into the bike lane. I did not observe this in my time there, and I did not feel unsafe, but I am not discounting the reader’s concern. I may have felt OK because these bike lanes are wider, not the barely legal lanes found many places, including the one above.

The longer stretches of bike lanes, particularly on Cabaldon Pkwy eastbound under the bridge, should be curb protected. Except for the bus stop at West Gateway Apartments, there are no driveways in this section.

A side note: the car in the left hand turn lane in Cabaldon at 3rd photo below sat through two signal cycles because it was not detected, and finally went on the red.

photo of 3rd St NB at Cabalon Pkwy lane channelization — *3rd St NB at Cabalon Pkwy lane channelization*

photo of Cabaldon Pkwy EB lane channelization — *3rd St NB at Cabalon Pkwy lane channelization*

The next set shows centerline hardening (yellow). Most of these are more recent installations, so are mostly still yellow. These appear to be installed to keep drivers from turning into and out of the parking lot areas where they are not supposed to.

photo of 5th St SB centerline hardening — *5th St SB centerline hardening*

And lastly, the transition point on 5th Street southbound from the right-side traditional bike lane to the left-side two-way separated bikeway, often called a cycletrack. Note the very narrow bike lane between two lanes of motor vehicle traffic, ‘protected’ (not protected) by a line of lane channelizers on the left side of the bike lane. This is a horrible design. The bike lane should have been continued to the intersection, two-stage turn box, and an exclusive bicycle phase light.

photo of 5th St SB transition to cycletrack — *5th St SB transition to cycletrack*

Vertical delineators have been used to calm traffic at many locations in the City of Sacramento and elsewhere. There are four primary settings: temporary curb extensions (SacCity curb extensions + daylighting, or not, and many others), separated bikeway markers (Separated bikeway demo on P St, and many others), lane channelization (Strong SacTown: Things that work: traffic posts, and others), and centerline hardening.

Lane channelization and centerline hardening are often confused with each other, but serve somewhat different purposes. There are good explanations of centerline hardening and benefits at: Centerline hardening” protects pedestrian from left-turning vehicles, State Smart Transportation Initiative, 2020-07, Simple infrastructure changes make left turns safer for pedestrians, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety/Highway Loss Data Institute, 2020-04, and the street design standards of many cities (but not Sacramento).

Both use vertical delineators, which are often called bollards but are not. Bollards are vertical concrete or steel barriers.
Both serve to calm traffic.

However

lane channelization delineators are white, and often have gaps in between
centerline hardening delineators are yellow, often have bases, and often are continuous

The photo below is a location on 5th Street in West Sacramento approaching Cabaldon Parkway, showing lane channelization delineators (white) and centerline hardening delineators (yellow). This is actually a very unsafe location, which I’ll get to in a future post, but it is the only one I have showing both types.

photo of West Sacramento, 5th St at Cabaldon Pkwy, lane channelization and centerline hardening — *West Sacramento, 5th St at Cabaldon Pkwy, lane channelization and centerline hardening*

Lane channelization delineators prevent (or at least strongly discourage) lane changes approaching uncontrolled intersections. Uncontrolled means that at least one of the cross-streets does not have any traffic control such as a signal or stop sign. A significant portion of walker fatalities occur in crosswalks when one vehicle stops for the person crossing, and others do not. This is called the ‘multi-lane threat’, and is the main reason arterial streets (stroads) are so much more dangerous than other streets.

Centerline hardening delineators prevent (or at least strongly discourage) drivers from cutting the corner on left hand turns. This is another major source of walker fatalities. Centerline hardening is sometimes used to prevent turns to or from driveways or minor side streets.

The two diagrams below show why centerline hardening works. Not sure of the original source, but both of the posts linked above use the same diagrams.

In response to a reader comment, I went and looked at vertical delineators in the area of Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. That will be the next post.

Getting Around Sacramento

by foot, bicycle, and public transit (car-free!)

Tag: yellow vertical delineators

WestSac: traffic calming around Sutter Health Park

lane channelization and centerline hardening