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In this post: stroad analysis; a disappointing burger; flocks of turkeys.
Having earlier today said of San Pablo that it wanted to be a stroad when it grew up, I decided to pay more attention to it, rather than going on my impression of "wide and fast", which you may recall did not capture everything about Marin Avenue. I also decided to splurge (more in bad food than in money) on a fast burger from a place on San Pablo, so that was convenient.
Coming off Dartmouth (Google Street View link), it looked fairly decent. Parking, two lanes of traffic, but then a wide traffic island; two more lanes, then a protected bike path. Not bad! Almost certainly there had been parking but it got converted. There's a beg button, which works, and which prioritizes pedestrians.
Looking to the north, this state of affairs continues for a while. To the south though... the bike path quickly dumps back out into the street, with an insulting sharrow, and west-side parking resumes, though interspersed with bulb-outs. On the plus side, a wide planted median is common, so you can jaywalk in some safety -- possibly more safety than the yield-sign intersection crosswalks. At one point, even the turn lane has a narrow planted median alongside it.
Is it a stroad? Certainly more of one than Solano. Wide, fast, bunch of driveways -- more on the west side than east, at least around here. But it could be worse. There are sidewalks; the sidewalks are somewhat shielded from traffic by parking, trees, or at least a bit of concrete; you can cross easily in many places; there aren't that many driveways; there's at least progress toward bike safety, though woefully incomplete. Vs. the prototypical stroad of 3 lanes in each direction, no parking, sidewalk (if any) right by the traffic, crosswalks half a mile or more apart, lots of commercial driveways...
That said, it really depends where you look. Using Street View to go south, the wide planted median continues for several blocks. Using View north... the bike path quickly disappears again, and so do the medians. Google even caught someone standing in a turn lane, hoping to cross. At that point the main difference from a stroad are the parking and trees, and the relative paucity of driveways.
As for the burger, meh. When you call your star product a 'Charburger', I expect some charring. Or searing. Or some evidence of having been cooked by a means other than steaming. I did not get this. As for the crispy chicken pieces... they were definitely chunks of chicken that had been deep-fried to crispiness. Honestly, a school cafeteria chicken nugget or McNugget has more zest to it.
I think I've mentioned wild turkeys around here. But the numbers I encounter keep increasing. 1. 2. 4 or 5, crossing the street. And today... I dunno, 16? Upward of a dozen. Strung out along Dartmouth, but all moving in the same direction. It was impressive.
Having earlier today said of San Pablo that it wanted to be a stroad when it grew up, I decided to pay more attention to it, rather than going on my impression of "wide and fast", which you may recall did not capture everything about Marin Avenue. I also decided to splurge (more in bad food than in money) on a fast burger from a place on San Pablo, so that was convenient.
Coming off Dartmouth (Google Street View link), it looked fairly decent. Parking, two lanes of traffic, but then a wide traffic island; two more lanes, then a protected bike path. Not bad! Almost certainly there had been parking but it got converted. There's a beg button, which works, and which prioritizes pedestrians.
Looking to the north, this state of affairs continues for a while. To the south though... the bike path quickly dumps back out into the street, with an insulting sharrow, and west-side parking resumes, though interspersed with bulb-outs. On the plus side, a wide planted median is common, so you can jaywalk in some safety -- possibly more safety than the yield-sign intersection crosswalks. At one point, even the turn lane has a narrow planted median alongside it.
Is it a stroad? Certainly more of one than Solano. Wide, fast, bunch of driveways -- more on the west side than east, at least around here. But it could be worse. There are sidewalks; the sidewalks are somewhat shielded from traffic by parking, trees, or at least a bit of concrete; you can cross easily in many places; there aren't that many driveways; there's at least progress toward bike safety, though woefully incomplete. Vs. the prototypical stroad of 3 lanes in each direction, no parking, sidewalk (if any) right by the traffic, crosswalks half a mile or more apart, lots of commercial driveways...
That said, it really depends where you look. Using Street View to go south, the wide planted median continues for several blocks. Using View north... the bike path quickly disappears again, and so do the medians. Google even caught someone standing in a turn lane, hoping to cross. At that point the main difference from a stroad are the parking and trees, and the relative paucity of driveways.
As for the burger, meh. When you call your star product a 'Charburger', I expect some charring. Or searing. Or some evidence of having been cooked by a means other than steaming. I did not get this. As for the crispy chicken pieces... they were definitely chunks of chicken that had been deep-fried to crispiness. Honestly, a school cafeteria chicken nugget or McNugget has more zest to it.
I think I've mentioned wild turkeys around here. But the numbers I encounter keep increasing. 1. 2. 4 or 5, crossing the street. And today... I dunno, 16? Upward of a dozen. Strung out along Dartmouth, but all moving in the same direction. It was impressive.