Gorgeous Park.
Dangerous Access.
There is a public safety emergency at
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
Visitors to the extremely popular Point Lobos State Natural Reserve often are forced to park on a busy highway and risk their lives to access the Reserve.
We can greatly improve safety at Point Lobos! And we must make those changes before someone dies a preventable death on Highway 1.
Many Visitors must Walk directly on a Busy highway
The imminent danger is obvious and horrifying. Point Lobos faces a public safety emergency. But government officials are not treating it as such.
Local public safety officials are well aware of the clear and present danger. They want to improve conditions. But solutions move slowly in the bureaucratic morass of coordinating multiple agencies (state, county, local) and working through the numerous, complex permit requirements for potential solutions.
There is hope! Effective, implementable solutions are doable, and immediately implementable.
High Demand with
Insufficient Parking Leads to
Multiple Problems
A chaotic entrance to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve leads to numerous challenges for both drivers and pedestrians trying to enter the Reserve from Highway 1.
Hikers must weave between cars haphazardly parked along the roadway. Cars jockey for position near the entry — often half on the highway and half on the shoulder. Cars lining up to gain entry to the Reserve simultaneously block other vehicles — in both lanes — while also impeding the pedestrians walking on the shoulder.
A very narrow shoulder along Highway 1, especially south of the Reserve entrance, barely leaves space for a vehicle to park without infringing on the highway. This tight fit leaves no room for pedestrians to squeeze past a vehicle parked at one of these choke points. Visitors are forced to walk directly on the active highway as they make their way to the Point Lobos entrance.
Cars attempt to shoehorn into very cramped, narrow parking spaces along Highway 1. This forces other vehicles to either stop entirely, backing up the highway, or to cross over the double yellow center line. Such illegal—but largely unavoidable behavior—endangers other drivers and hikers.
Long backups on Highway 1 not only inconvenience travelers but impede emergency vehicles. The highway is filled with cars and the narrow shoulder is jam-packed with parked cars. So there often is nowhere for an ambulance, police car, or fire crew to go. They must sit at a bumper-to bumper dead stop like everybody else.
Cars jockeying for position to grab a parking spot along the highway south of the Point Lobos entrance send vehicles in all directions and obstruct both lanes of Highway 1.
Photo by Chris Gordon
Hikers walking into the Reserve get squeezed on a narrowing shoulder and cars queuing to also enter Point Lobos. Drivers lined up waiting for the backed up line to move may not see the pedestrians in their mirrors. It is foreseeable that someone coming to Point Lobos on foot could be struck by a vehicle. Let’s prevent that!
Cars backing into tight parking spaces on the narrow shoulder of Highway 1 endangers pedestrians who are forced to walk in a lane of active traffic and dodge vehicles coming and going. This is dangerous, unacceptable, and fixable.