Bikeways.

(1) Existing law defines "bikeway" for certain purposes to mean all facilities that provide primarily for bicycle travel. Existing law categorizes bikeways into 3 classes of facilities. This bill would additionally categorize cycle tracks or separated bikeways, as specified, as Class IV bikeways. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation, in cooperation with county and city governments, to establish and update minimum safety design criteria for the planning and construction of bikeways, and requires the department to establish uniform specifications and symbols regarding bicycle travel and bicycle traffic related matters. Existing law requires all city, county, regional, and other local agencies responsible for the development or operation of bikeways or roadways where bicycle travel is permitted to utilize all of those minimum safety design criteria and uniform specifications and symbols. This bill would revise these provisions to require the department, in cooperation with local agencies and in consultation with the existing advisory committee of the department dedicated to improve access for persons with disabilities, to establish minimum safety design criteria for each type of bikeway with consideration for the safety of vulnerable populations, as specified, and would require the department to publish the new criteria by January 1, 2016. The bill would authorize a local agency to utilize other minimum safety criteria that meet specified conditions if adopted by resolution at a public meeting, as specified. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to establish, by June 30, 2013, procedures for cities, counties, and local agencies to be granted exceptions from the requirement to use design criteria and uniform specifications for purposes of research, experimentation, testing, evaluation, or verification. Existing law requires the department, by November 1, 2014, to report to the transportation policy committees of both houses of the Legislature the steps that the department has taken to implement those requirements, including, but not limited to, information regarding requests received and granted by the department from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014, inclusive, for those exceptions, and the reasons the department rejected any requests for those exceptions. This bill would repeal those requirements.