Petition for Safer 4th & 5th Streets Delivered to Caltrans

Posted on June 5, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

June 5, 2026

Two people cross a wide three-lane, one-way street in a crosswalk in front of a row of cars, one on a bike and the other using a knee walker. Several buildings are visible in the background.

Petition for Safer 4th & 5th Streets Delivered to Caltrans

On Tuesday, CRTP delivered our petition signed by 738 concerned residents asking Caltrans to make immediate safety improvements for people walking, biking, rolling, riding the bus, and driving on 4^th and 5^th Streets (US-101) in Eureka, and to fund and build already planned safety improvements on Broadway.

In addition to CRTP, the petition is supported by the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Tri-County Independent Living, Area 1 Agency on Aging, California Nurses Association, Caltrans District 1 Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee, and Ink People Center for the Arts, as well as all current Eureka city councilmembers and Humboldt County Supervisor Natalie Arroyo.

Caltrans has already responded to the petition by announcing a “feasibility study” of safety improvements for all users of the 4^th and 5^th Street corridor. “This announcement amounts to an acknowledgement of the need for more safety improvements, which we appreciate,” said CRTP Executive Director Colin Fiske. “However, this ‘feasibility study’ must not result in just more study and delay. We already know that major safety upgrades are feasible. And every year we put off making those improvements, more people are injured and killed. We need change now.”

It’s Free Transit Summer!

Two people sit and talk to each other on a bench in a bus shelter on a sunny day, one wearing a pink jacket and hat, the other a sun hat.

Kids under 18 and adults over 61 ride transit free in Humboldt County all summer long, from June 1st to August 31st.

The Humboldt Transit Authority also recently announced that they have extended hours for the new Flex service until 10 pm on weekdays. If you live in the Humboldt Bay area but you’re too far from a regular bus stop, or your bus isn’t running at the right time, you can hail a Flex vehicle to pick you up and bring you across town, or to a bus stop to connect for a longer trip. And if it’s your first time trying Flex, you can use the code FLEXUP for 2 free rides!

With gas prices soaring and taxi companies closing, there were already a lot of good reasons to try riding transit this summer. Free trips and extended hours make it even easier. See you on the bus!

Arcata Council, Planning Commission to Discuss Zoning Reforms

A roofed structure with metal grate walls is seen from the outside. Bicycles can be seen stores inside.

Next Monday, the Arcata City Council and Planning Commission will meet in a special study session to discuss zoning code changes to implement the new General Plan adopted in 2024. These changes include important land use and transportation reforms to encourage walkable, safe, climate-friendly development, including vehicle and bike parking reforms, increases in allowable density, and more. Unfortunately, some of these improvements – including more robust long-term bike parking requirements – are now being questioned before they’ve even been implemented.

A new Reconnect Arcata survey shows that Arcatans want more protected bike lanes, paths, and connections across our highways. But to take advantage of safe places to ride, they’ve got to have safe places to store those bikes! CRTP will be working to ensure that bike parking requirements and other hard-won General Plan reforms are fully implemented in the zoning code. We encourage our supporters in Arcata to join us at Monday’s meeting.

Eureka Approves Funding for Climate Action Staff

The Eureka City Council on Tuesday approved the city’s contribution toward funding a Regional Climate Action Plan (RCAP) Administrator. We have also heard from Arcata and Humboldt County that they will be budgeting for their own contributions toward the staff position, despite earlier indications that they might be getting cold feet. And the Redwood Coast Energy Authority re-committed last week to create and staff a new department that includes the Administrator position.

The Eureka City Council’s approval of funding follows advocacy by CRTP and our allies to ensure that local governments fulfill their promises to fund the position. Eureka city staff had opposed the funding, but Councilmembers agreed with us that it was a necessary commitment to meaningful, coordinated climate action. The implementation of the plan relies on an Administrator to coordinate among agencies, seek resources to support climate action, and hold the region accountable to its climate goals.

Myrtle Avenue to Get Wider Bike Lanes

Construction starts soon on a paving project that will also bring improved bike lanes to Myrtle Avenue between Hall Avenue and Freshwater Road. The new bike lanes will still leave a lot to be desired. As we pointed out to the county, lanes in this kind of high-speed environment should have some kind of physical protection. Nevertheless, the new bike lanes will be substantially wider than the current lanes, which is an important improvement for this well-used but high-stress bike route.

Final Environmental Impact for Last Chance Grade Tunnel Project

The tunnel, which will surely be one of the most expensive infrastructure projects ever built on the North Coast, is mean to secure a reliable route for US-101 through the unstable coastal terrain south of Crescent City. It is scheduled for construction in the 2030s.

News from Beyond the North Coast

State Air Board Undermines Climate, Transit, and Housing Progress

Last week, the California Air Resources Board approved a new policy that will allow oil companies to pollute more, and likely eliminate funding for transit, housing, and clean air and water programs that rely on revenue from the state’s “Cap and Invest” climate program. This terrible policy undercuts a deal made just last fall by the governor and the legislature to reauthorize the “Cap and Invest” program, and advocates including CRTP are asking the legislature to intervene and overturn the rule. If you’d like to contact the legislature yourself, click here for more information.

Denser Development Is a Key Safety Strategy

Two new studies analyze data on traffic safety and find that land use development patterns are a key factor influencing injuries and fatalities. A study in Florida found that the placement of “household-supporting businesses” along major urban arterials (think Eureka’s Broadway or McKinleyville’s Central Avenue) instead of traditional main streets is significantly associated with higher rates of serious pedestrian and bicyclist crashes. And a study of communities across the country found that car-dominated development patterns are associated with increased traffic deaths (including for drivers) compared to more walkable communities, likely because the risk of a crash is directly correlated with the amount of time cars spend on the road.

“Right-Sizing Traffic Enforcement”

The Vision Zero Network, a national traffic safety organization, has a new report about the role of police enforcement in traffic safety. The report cautions against an over-reliance on enforcement, especially for “non-safety stops” (e.g., for minor violations like broken taillights), due to inequitable outcomes for low-income people and people of color and the potential for traffic stops to lead to violence.

The Collector is CRTP’s weekly transportation news roundup, published every Friday. We focus on North Coast news, but we also include relevant state, national and international transportation news – plus other items that we just find kind of interesting! To submit items for consideration, email colin@transportationpriorities.org.

A Moment of Truth for Local Climate Action

Posted on May 29, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

May 29, 2026

VOTE!

Next Tuesday is Election Day. If you’re an eligible voter and you haven’t voted already, don’t wait any longer! You can mail in your ballot, drop it at a drop box, or vote in person. More information about voting in Humboldt County can be found here. Del Norte election information is here.

In addition to the high-profile state and federal elections, there are also local races on the ballot. Our elected officials make decisions every day about whether or not our streets get safer, our buses get more funding, our communities get more walkable, and our climate crisis gets addressed. Your vote matters!

The Final Days of Bike Month Are Packed with Activities

This weekend includes an Arcata Kids Bike Rodeo, a McKinleyville ride, and a Bay Trail Ride & Dine. We also encourage you to come see us at the 2026 Humboldt Trails Summit on Saturday, where CRTP will be tabling and providing free bike valet. If you want to help us provide bike valet at this and many other local events, email crtpbikevalet@gmail.com to find out more and volunteer.

As always, wherever you ride, report any biking hazards, near-misses or even (we hope not) crashes on Street Story. Finally, don’t forget that the Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s e-bike voucher program has funding available! You can apply now for vouchers of $400 or more toward the purchase of an e-bike!

A Moment of Truth for Local Climate Action

CRTP has been advocating for nearly a decade to get a meaningful Regional Climate Action Plan (RCAP) adopted and implemented. Now that Humboldt County, Eureka, Arcata, and other local agencies have finally adopted the RCAP, it’s time to get down to work and start reducing carbon pollution.

The first step, according to the plan itself, is to form a Regional Climate Committee and hire an RCAP Administrator. After long negotiations, the county and cities agreed to each provide a share of the funding for the Administrator’s salary, and the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) agreed to actually hire the Administrator and form the committee. But this week, we found out all of that could be in jeopardy.

Lines of cars fill all 4 lanes of Eureka's Broadway at the intersection with 6th Street — *Cars and trucks are the source of most local climate pollution.*

RCEA and all local governments in our region are facing major financial pressures as they approach the new fiscal year, which starts July 1st. The RCEA Board of Directors met this week, and with a big budget deficit projected for next year, their agenda included a discussion of potentially cutting a new staff Director position meant to oversee the RCAP Administrator, as well as key climate programs like e-bike vouchers. In addition, a staff report indicated that local cities have been privately backing away from their promises to contribute to funding the Administrator position, casting doubt on the region’s commitment to any kind of coordinated climate action.

After learning of these threats, CRTP and our allies sprang into action. We are happy to report that, thanks to our advocacy, the RCEA Board directed their staff to develop a budget that includes the new Regional Climate Director position and makes only minimal changes to e-bike vouchers and other climate programs.

We have also received assurances from the City of Arcata that they plan to contribute their fair share of funding toward the RCAP Administrator position, as previously promised. However, as of this writing, it is still unclear whether Eureka and other local governments will step up as well. The Eureka City Council will be discussing their budget next Tuesday, and we’ll be advocating to make sure it includes the promised support.

It is often said that a budget is a statement of values. Local governments provide lots of important services, and there are always hard choices to make at budget time. But if local leaders are serious about their commitments to urgent climate action, they will have to make the climate a budget priority. In a very real sense, our future depends on it.

Indianola Undercrossing Project (Mostly) Done

After many years of planning and construction costing $46 million, Caltrans this week celebrated the completion of the Indianola undercrossing on the US-101 corridor between Arcata and Eureka. We’re glad to see what used to be a very dangerous intersection made safer. And we hope that Caltrans’ willingness to spend so much on one safety project is a sign that they’ll also be willing to spend what it takes to address the equally dangerous 4th Street, 5th Street, and Broadway, just a few miles down the road.

We also feel obliged to note that the Indianola project is not actually fully complete, because the connection to the Bay Trail isn’t done – although it looks like it’ll be finished soon. Speaking of the Bay Trail, if you’re planning on using it next week, take note that it will be closed on Thursday and Friday for some minor construction.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Bike & Pedestrian Project Streamlining Bill Passes Assembly

As we previously reported, AB 1976 would dramatically change how new bike and pedestrian safety projects are approved in California. The initial version of the bill would have prohibited local governments from holding separate community meetings on each project, as long as that project was already included in other adopted plans. The intent is to prevent the endless local fights that often delay or stop important safety projects.

However, advocates worried that the bill could also reduce opportunities to provide input that actually improves project design. In response, the bill was amended to allow community meetings to be held, so long as they are not for the purpose of delaying or stopping a project. It has now passed the Assembly and moves on for consideration in the Senate.

Walkable, Transit-Friendly Homes Save Local Governments Money

A new report adds to the evidence that infill development is much more cost-effective for communities to build than suburban sprawl, in part due to the lower costs of building and maintaining infrastructure. Infill development also results in higher property values, which increase local government revenues and allow them to provide important services.

Drivers Are More Likely to Speed & Use Their Phones at the Same Time

Speeding and distracted driving are two of the most dangerous driving behaviors. A new study has found that drivers are actually more likely to use their phones while speeding, making both behaviors even riskier.

How Can We Reconnect Arcata?

Posted on May 22, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

May 22, 2026

How Can We Reconnect Arcata?

Cars line up entering a roundabout. A highway sign indicates the crossing of US 101.

Reconnect Arcata is the city’s attempt to address the way Highways 101, 299, and 255 divide the community and create barriers to safe and convenient transportation. The project made headlines when it was introduced a couple of years ago with big dreams of a highway cap over US 101. But in reality there are many ways Arcata could be at least partially reconnected, from pedestrian bridges to land use changes to upgrades to existing overpasses and interchanges. In fact, planning for some of these projects is already underway.

Next week, the city and its consultants will be hosting public events to get input on how the decades-old damage done by these highways could be mitigated in the future. There are several opportunities to get involved:

A walking tour of Valley West on Thursday (5/28) from 4-6 pm. Meet at Valley West Park, 1243 Hallen Court.
A walking tour of Central Arcata on Friday (5/29) from 3-4 pm. Meet at the D Street Neighborhood Center.
A public open house on Friday (5/29) from 4-6 pm at the D Street Neighborhood Center.
A chance to chat with city officials and consultants at the Arcata Farmers Market on Saturday (5/30) from 10 am to 12 pm.

While the idea of a highway cap is exciting, it’s hard to imagine the city could securing enough funding for such a massive project. So CRTP is advocating to ensure that this planning process also includes smaller, near-term fixes to improve bike and pedestrian safety and connectivity.

Bike Month Continues with Bike Valet & More!

Bike Month continues this week with the famous pedal-powered Kinetic Grand Championship, more commuter rides, and the monthly Arcata Critical Mass ride next Friday. Check out the full event calendar here. And as always, wherever you ride, report any biking hazards, near-misses or even (we hope not) crashes on Street Story.

Of course, there are many other non-bike-themed events that you can pedal to as well. To give you a little extra encouragement, CRTP is providing free bike valet at Eureka’s Friday Night Markets and many other upcoming events. If you want to help us provide this great service, email crtpbikevalet@gmail.com to volunteer.

Finally, don’t forget that the Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s e-bike voucher program has funding available! You can apply now for vouchers of $400 or more toward the purchase of an e-bike!

Planning for Sea Level Rise

A bike trail with a yellow line down the middle parallels a shoreline, only a few feet away.

Humboldt Bay is experiencing the fastest sea level rise in California, and Caltrans has just released a draft plan for adapting the Arcata-Eureka US-101 corridor to the rising water levels. In short, the plan calls for “raised embankment with nature-based elements” along most of the corridor, with viaducts (i.e., raised bridges or causeways) in some places. Of course, this corridor also includes the beloved and regionally important Humboldt Bay Trail, which must also be protected. CRTP and our allies are currently reviewing the document, which is open for public comment until June 30th.

Incidentally, today marks 55 years since the Samoa Bridge was built connecting Eureka with the North Spit. Apparently that bridge was open only to pedestrians and bicyclists on its very first day – but ever since, it has been a terrifying, death-defying challenge to navigate the bridge without a vehicle. CRTP continues to advocate for low-cost bike and pedestrian accommodations on that bridge, but the situation is a reminder that future structures – such as those proposed for the Arcata-Eureka corridor – must be designed for people walking and biking from the start.

Assembly Bill Would Gut Local Transportation Protections

A bill which recently passed the California Assembly, AB 2059, would declare that any transportation project in a “nonmetropolitan” county can be assumed to have no impact on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) under the California Environmental Quality Act, more commonly known as CEQA. This might sound like a technical detail, but the impacts would be enormous for our local region. Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino, and Lake are all considered “nonmetropolitan” counties.

VMT has been the main metric for assessing transportation impacts for several years. It was chosen because reducing VMT is critical to meeting the state’s climate targets, and because VMT is a good proxy for other transportation impacts to human health and the environment. That means that projects that result in significantly more VMT – i.e., cause people to drive more – are required under state law to reduce or mitigate that impact.

In other words, projects are often redesigned to avoid inducing more driving, or are forced to fund better bike and pedestrian infrastructure. By exempting all future transportation projects in our region from this important process, AB 2059 would have the predictable effect of increasing climate emissions and health harming pollution, spurring the destruction of natural and working lands, and increasing deaths and injuries on our streets and roads. CRTP is advocating to keep it from passing the state Senate.

No LAFing Matter

The Humboldt County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) is an obscure but important agency that is required to approve changes in local government boundaries, among other duties. If McKinleyville decides to incorporate as its own city, for example, LAFCo will play a major role in determining how and if that happens. These changes can have long-term implications for transportation infrastructure and development patterns. If this sounds interesting to you, good news: there’s an opening on the Commission! Any member of the public can now apply to fill the vacant “Alternate Public Member” position.

Eureka’s Anti-Bike Crowd Is Making Some Noise

A view of a one-way street approaching an intersection. A single car lane has arrows pointed in both directions, indicating that drivers must turn. To the right is a green-painted bike lane. To the left is another bike lane going the opposite direction.

Eureka recently released the results of an online survey about the future G Street Bike Boulevard. A lot of people apparently took this as an opportunity to voice their discontent with bike infrastructure generally, and the recently opened C Street Bike Boulevard in particular. We have our own quibbles with the design of some of the city’s bike lanes, trails, and boulevards. But overall, recent changes represent major improvements in both safety and comfort for city residents and visitor.

We’ve got news for the anti-bike folks: lots of people bike in Eureka, and lots more people want to bike but don’t feel safe doing so. Bike improvements are crucial for community safety and well-being – and if we have anything to say about it, more of them are coming!

News from Beyond the North Coast

Bad Bipartisan Transportation Bill

The US House of Representatives unveiled a new multi-year transportation funding bill this week, and it’s not good news for safety, equity, or the environment – or even for people concerned about potholes. The bill includes massive cuts to transit and active transportation infrastructure funding and fails to provide any funding at all for transit operations, all while increasing highway spending. In addition, it fails to introduce any meaningful reforms to a decades-old funding system that has led to the steady deterioration of the country’s existing infrastructure, and even removes some of the few accountability mechanisms that currently exist. It’s also worth remembering that this bill is being introduced at a time when the Trump administration is blatantly ignoring spending directions from Congress in the existing, Biden-era transportation law.

More About That Proposed Amazon Distribution Center

Posted on May 15, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

May 15, 2026

Bike Celebration Tomorrow!

We’re halfway through Bike Month, and there are still lots of fun things to do. You can join CRTP and other bike enthusiasts on Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm for the annual Bike Celebration Fair at Jefferson Community Center in Eureka, and there are several other commuter and recreational rides throughout the week. Check out the full event calendar here.

You can also get special deals this month at local bike-friendly businesses! And as always, wherever you ride, report any biking hazards, near-misses or even (we hope not) crashes on Street Story.

Finally, don’t forget that the Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s e-bike voucher program has funding available! You can apply now for vouchers of $400 or more toward the purchase of an e-bike!

Two Deadlines Next Week

A person in a motorized wheelchair crosses a three-lane, one-way street in a marked crosswalk. A car is visible approaching in the far lane.

The deadline to sign our petition for safer 4th and 5th Streets is next Monday. The petition is already making an impact, before we’ve even submitted it: we recently found out that Caltrans is now planning a “feasibility study” for safety improvements on 4th and 5th Street. Let’s keep the pressure on! Make sure your name is on the petition before we deliver it to Caltrans.

The deadline for applications for our Outreach Specialist position is also next week. If you are passionate about transportation safety, equity, and sustainability, apply by next Tuesday to join our small but mighty team! Click here for the full job description and application instructions.

Arcata Zoning Code Updates on the Horizon

This week the Arcata Planning Commission held its first meeting on zoning code updates to implement new policies in the city’s General Plan, which was adopted in 2024. These updates include critical parking reform measures, walkable development standards, and new bike parking requirements, all of which CRTP and our members and supporters advocated for during the General Plan process. We hope to see them adopted into the zoning code soon!

In other Arcata news, the start of construction of the Sunset Avenue and US 101 interchange improvements has been delayed until next year. The plan to build new roundabouts will undoubtedly make these dangerous intersections much safer for motorists. CRTP continues to advocate to ensure that the design is safe and comfortable for people walking, biking, and rolling too.

More About That Proposed Amazon Distribution Center

A computer generated rendering imposed on a satellite image of the McKinleyville airport business park shows two new developed areas, one with a large warehouse and parking lot, the other with a parking lot.

Humboldt County has posted video of the contentious community meeting about the proposed Amazon distribution center in McKinleyville on its website, along with other materials presented at the meeting. If you couldn’t make it to the meeting, these materials will help catch you up.

McKinleyville residents, take note: the New York Times this week published a sobering report on the enormous toll that a boom in distribution centers in the Chicago suburbs has taken on transportation safety and infrastructure. Truck traffic deaths in that region have risen dramatically, and road conditions are deteriorating due to the heavy vehicles. While the proposed distribution center in McKinleyville is much more modest in scale, and therefore presumably more modest in impact, CRTP remains very concerned about the potential impact on street safety and infrastructure.

A presentation slide shows a graphic cross-section of Hiller Road with two vehicle lanes, a bike path, and wide sidewalks, all separated by tree-planted strips. Red text divides the street into areas of responsibility for development.

In other McKinleyville news, the Board of Supervisors this week rejected an appeal by Humboldt Commons, effectively requiring the nonprofit senior community developer to add an extra lane’s worth of asphalt to part of Hiller Road. While the Town Center plan calls for this new pavement to eventually by the travel lane, and the current lane to be a median, in the near term the paving will just result in a wider, more dangerous street. We are calling on the county to seek funding to build out the whole Hiller Road safety upgrade as soon as possible, rather than leaving an extra-wide expanse of pavement in front of Humboldt Commons and hoping that future developers will do the rest someday.

Infrastructure and development are also, of course, major issues in the District 5 supervisor race. Current Supervisor Steve Madrone has stated his opposition to the distribution center and has supported infrastructure improvements like the Town Center safety overhaul of Central Avenue. But he is not running for reelection. We will be watching closely to see what his successor – either local ecologist and McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee chair Mary Burke or local businessman Evan Schwartz – will do. Either way, if you live in McKinleyville or anywhere else in District 5, don’t forget to vote!

Eureka to Oppose Offshore Oil Drilling

The Eureka City Council recently discussed how the city could help stop oil drilling off Humboldt’s coastline by banning onshore support facilities. While officially banning these facilities will take a while, the city will take a first step at next week’s council meeting by passing a resolution opposing drilling. As CRTP Executive Director Colin Fiske told the council, while our usual focus is on the other end of the oil supply chain and the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel transportation, prohibiting offshore drilling is an important issue to us because the entire fossil fuel supply chain is dirty and harmful to health and the climate.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Stop the State from Giving Transit Money to Big Oil!

California’s “cap and invest” (formerly called cap and trade) program brings in state revenue that has been critical for local projects like the new EaRTH Center transit hub, the local transition to zero-emission buses, the Linc Housing and Sunset Heights affordable housing projects in Eureka, and many other transit, bike, and pedestrian investments.

Now the California Air Resources Board is proposing to divert billions of dollars from the program to subsidize oil and gas companies. Click here to send a message opposing this terrible idea.

Trump Administration’s Assault on Transit Continues

The Trump administration is withholding more funding from transit projects around the country, while proposing to eliminate the main source of transit funding entirely from next year’s budget. Some Democrats are pushing back, but the outcome is uncertain. A new report finds that if Trump’s transit funding proposals are enacted, massive reductions in service and layoffs of transit workers will result. Rural areas like Humboldt and Del Norte will be hit especially hard.

Car Ads Promote Unsafe Driving

A new analysis finds that the number of car ads that promote speeding and reckless driving is increasing, while the number emphasizing safety has plummeted.

The Economic Impact of Transit in Humboldt County

Posted on May 8, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

May 8, 2026

Exciting E-Bike News & More Bike Month Fun!

We kicked off bike month last week by picking the winner of our e-bike raffle. Congratulations to Katie Koscielak, who is now the owner of a Blix cargo e-bike, and thanks to everyone who bought a ticket to support CRTP!

If you didn’t win our raffle, but you still want an e-bike, you should check out the Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s e-bike voucher program. There is funding available right now for vouchers of $400 or more toward the purchase of an e-bike!

Whatever kind of bike you ride, there are lots of ways to celebrate Bike Month over the next week, including mural rides in Eureka and Manila, and National Bike to Work/Anywhere Week all week long. And you can get special deals at local bike-friendly businesses! Check out the full event calendar here. And as always, wherever you ride, don’t forget to report any biking hazards, near-misses or even (we hope not) crashes on Street Story.

The Economic Impact of Transit in Humboldt County

Last fiscal year, nearly 140,000 work shifts, 151,000 student class days, and 37,000 medical appointments were accessed by transit in Humboldt County. Transit riders spent more than $5 million at local businesses. And people who relied on transit instead of owning a car saved an average of $10,472 over the course of the year. These facts and more can be found in CRTP’s new 2025 Economic Fact Sheet, which demonstrates clearly that our local transit system supports thousands of jobs, along with access to education, medical care, groceries, government services, family, friends, and more.

Get Involved with CRTP!

A young woman in a gray CRTP t-shirt, a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses stands behind a table covered with piles of paper. Green grass and market stalls can be seen in the background, and the front of the table has a CRTP banner on it.

If you’re passionate about safe, sustainable, and equitable transportation, and you’re ready for a new chapter in your life, you’re invited to apply to be CRTP’s next Outreach Specialist. Click here for the full job description and application instructions.

If you want to be more involved with CRTP’s work, but you’re not looking for a new job, here are some other opportunities:

Share your transit story. Send us a paragraph or two about why you ride transit, how transit makes your life better, what you couldn’t do without it, how it could be better with more public support, and any other thoughts you want to share. Your story could help build support for more transit investment in our region!
Sign the petition for safer 4th & 5th Streets in Eureka. If you’ve already signed, share it with a friend! We’re also looking for endorsements from organizations, businesses, and elected officials.
Become a member of CRTP. Without our members, CRTP wouldn’t exist!

Arcata Adopts Regional Climate Action Plan

The Arcata City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Regional Climate Action Plan at its regular meeting on Wednesday. The plan had already been adopted by the county, Eureka, and Rio Dell, which means the vast majority of the county is now covered by the plan.

Transportation is by far the biggest source of climate pollution covered by the plan. In order to meet its targets, the plan requires both a transition to electric vehicles and a shift to more walking, biking, and transit. We are hopeful that adoption of a coordinated regional plan will spur local agencies to act more quickly toward these goals, which we’ve been advocating for since CRTP’s founding in 2015!

Infrastructure Updates from Around the Region

A computer-generated graphic overlaid on a satellite image shows a roundabout at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue, McFarlane Street, and a paved trail.

The City of Eureka has requested a delay in state-awarded construction funding for the planned Bay to Zoo Trail, extending the start of construction from 2026 to 2028 due partly to negotiations with property owners over trail right-of-way. CRTP continues to work to ensure that the trail design is safe and comfortable for everybody. One of our concerns is the design of the Myrtle Avenue roundabout. Plans currently call for people biking on the trail to either merge with traffic in the roundabout or ride on the sidewalk and in the crosswalk. Neither option works well for kids and less confident bicyclists.

The city’s request for delayed construction funding is on the agenda for a California Transportation Commission meeting next week. Also on the commission’s agenda are funding allocations for pedestrian improvements in Rio Dell, purchase of a small electric bus for Del Norte’s Redwood Coast Transit Authority, and planning for Crescent City’s future transit center.

CRTP is also tracking other projects on the commission’s agenda. One is a planned project to repave Highway 299 and improve some bike and pedestrian infrastructure near Willow Creek. The other is a previously planned small project to improve bike and pedestrian facilities at the US 101 & School Road interchange in McKinleyville, which Caltrans is now scrapping. We’ll keep readers of The Collector informed as we learn more.

Distracted Driving in Eureka

California law prohibits drivers from holding a phone or other electronic device while driving, but this kind of behavior remains common. The Eureka Police Department recently reported that it cited ten drivers for cell phone violations in the month of April alone. Distracted driving is extremely dangerous, and even legal, “hand free” device use distracts drivers, reduces attention to road conditions, and slows reaction time.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Transportation Update from Sacramento

E-bikes are a hot topic for California lawmakers this year, and unfortunately some of their bad ideas – like requiring special license plates for e-bikes – are moving through the legislature. Other bills addressing everything from bike infrastructure to speeders and driving under the influence, are also moving. Click here for a full update from Streetsblog. And while you’re there, check out their primer on California gas prices, which provides some helpful context for current gubernatorial politics.

Trump Is Still Refusing To Release Funds for Walking, Biking & Transit

Advocates across the country, including CRTP, are asking why Congress should negotiate with the White House over a massive new transportation funding bill, when the Trump administration has already demonstrated that they will simply refuse to disburse money allocated by Congress for projects and programs they don’t like.

May Is Bike Month!

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

May 1, 2026

May Is Bike Month!

There are lots of ways to celebrate Bike Month, from joining a group ride or the annual Bike Celebration, to signing up for the friendly Bike Month challenge, to patronizing a local bike-friendly business. The month kicks off with car-free day on Newton B. Drury Parkway on Saturday and an Arcata Explorers weekly ride on Sunday. Later in the week, Cal Poly Humboldt Bike to Work/School Day is on Wednesday, or you can join a daily morning commute ride on the beautiful Humboldt Bay Trail from Arcata to Eureka on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Check out the full event calendar here. And wherever you’re riding this month, don’t forget to report any biking hazards, near-misses or even (we hope not) crashes on Street Story.

May Is Also Voting Month!

Technically Election Day is June 2nd, but voters will start receiving their ballots in the mail next week. In addition to the high-profile state and federal elections, there are also local races on the ballot. Our elected officials make decisions every day about whether or not our streets get safer, our buses get more funding, our communities get more walkable, and our climate crisis gets addressed. If you haven’t made a plan to vote yet, now is the time!

Join the CRTP Team

We’re looking for a new Outreach Specialist who is passionate about safe, equitable, climate-friendly transportation and wants to join our small but mighty team. If that sounds like you, send in your application today! The full job description and application instructions can be found here.

Want to do more, but not quite ready to apply for a job at CRTP? Here are some other opportunities to get involved:

Share your transit story. Send us a paragraph or two about why you ride transit, how transit makes your life better, what you couldn’t do without it, how it could be better with more public support, and any other thoughts you want to share. Your story could help build support for more transit investment in our region!
Sign the petition for safer 4th & 5th Streets in Eureka. If you’ve already signed, share it with a friend! We’re also looking for endorsements from organizations, businesses, and elected officials.
Become a member of CRTP. Without our members, CRTP wouldn’t exist!

McKinleyville vs. Amazon

McKinleyville residents turned out to a public meeting this week in large numbers to make it clear that they do not want an Amazon distribution center in their community. Community members cited many reasons for their opposition, from environmental impacts to harm to the local economy to workplace safety conditions.

CRTP also opposes the project. As we have previously noted, a new distribution center in the region would drive up levels of carbon pollution, undermine the emissions reductions that we could otherwise achieve through building more walkable communities, and likely make local streets and roads less safe.

If you’d like to offer ideas for projects that might actually have a positive impact, Humboldt County is holding public meetings Saturday (in person) and next Tuesday (online) to get input on how to “improve the community’s livability” with Community Development Block Grant funds. Proposed projects must be in unincorporated parts of the county, including McKinleyville.

Arcata to Consider Adopting Climate Plan

The Arcata City Council will consider adoption of the Regional Climate Action Plan at its regular meeting next Wednesday. The plan has already been adopted by the county and by Eureka. That means that, following Arcata’s adoption, 86% of Humboldt County’s population will be formally covered by the plan, even before the smaller cities adopt it.

Of course, adoption is just the first step. The county and the cities will next have to agree on how to fund a regional climate coordinator staff position, likely housed at the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, and then get to work actually implementing measures to tackle climate pollution. We’ll be pushing to make sure the work begins quickly.

Make Sidewalks Safer & More Accessible

A pickup truck and trailer are parked mostly on the sidewalk, completely blocking passage.

Improperly parked cars, utility poles, mailboxes and other objects often make sidewalks impassable, especially for people with wheelchairs or strollers. To make things worse, tree branches, wires, and other objects often jut out over sidewalks, threatening the safety of pedestrians – especially people who are blind or have low vision. In a recent op-ed in the Times-Standard, accessibility expert and CRTP Board Member Peggy Martinez explains the importance of addressing these problems to make sidewalks safer and more accessible for everyone.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Will California Give Critical Public Transit Funding to Oil Companies Instead?

California’s “cap and invest” (formerly called cap and trade) program brings in billions of dollars in state revenue that are meant to fund programs that reduce carbon pollution. Some of the cap and invest revenues go to grant programs that local agencies in Humboldt have relied to fund the new EaRTH Center transit hub, the transition to zero-emission buses, the Linc Housing and Sunset Heights affordable housing projects in Eureka, and many other transit, bike, and pedestrian investments.

Now, however, the California Air Resources Board is proposing to divert billions of dollars from the program to subsidize oil and gas companies, responding to threats from those companies to close refineries in the state. Independent analysis shows that the proposal would both undermine climate progress and eliminate funding for those crucial transit and housing programs. CRTP joins with transit, housing, climate, and environmental justice advocates from around the state in condemning the proposal and asking the Board to reject it.

Pollution Doesn’t Just Come from Tailpipes

New research shows that asphalt is constantly emitting toxic air pollution. Meanwhile, Humboldt Waterkeeper and Wiyot Tribe Shawir Darrudaluduk have found high levels of toxic, salmon-killing tire chemical 6PPD-q in local waterways. Count these as two more reasons to dramatically reduce our dependence on cars (even EVs) and the infrastructure that supports them.

That Device You Bought May Not Be an E-Bike

As we have previously reported, high-powered, unregulated “e-motos” are the real cause of many safety hazards that have been unfairly blamed on legal e-bikes. The problem is that many manufacturers have been marketing e-motos as e-bikes, and it can be hard to tell the difference just by looking at them. California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently issued a consumer alert on the topic.

Why Eureka’s Parking Garage Plan Is a Really Bad Idea

Posted on April 17, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

April 17, 2026

Why Eureka’s Parking Garage Plan Is a Really Bad Idea

A digital rendering shows a blocky 8-story building in white and teal across the street from a blocky 3-story building in yellow.

The Lost Coast Outpost reported last week that Eureka and the Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) are considering building an 8-story, 216-stall parking garage downtown. For context, Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery noted that would probably make it the tallest building north of San Francisco.

As we pointed out when this concept was first floated back in 2023, a parking garage in downtown Eureka is a really bad idea for many reasons. We’ll list a few of them here:

Parking garages are really expensive. A recent UCLA report found that above-ground garages cost an average of $52,000 per space to build. And the Victoria Transport Policy Institute estimates that parking spaces cost between $500 and $2,000/year to operate and maintain. Neither the city nor HTA could afford to build the proposed parking garage – which leads to reason number two that this is a bad idea.
Transit money shouldn’t be spent on a parking garage. To pay for the project, the city and HTA would apply for a state grant meant to fund transit improvements. At a time when the need for transit service is rising, state and federal transit funding is declining, and HTA is being forced to backfill its budget with new Measure O funding just to maintain existing service, it should be inconceivable to local decision makers to use limited transit funding to build a parking garage rather than actually improving transit service.
A “park-and-ride” in this location is doomed to fail. To justify using transit funds, the project would be called a “park-and-ride” and theoretically limited to use by people boarding a bus at the new transit hub across the street. But the concept of a park-and-ride is to collect suburban commuters for an efficient ride to jobs downtown. A feasible park-and-ride location is near residential areas and far from job centers, and provides competitive travel times compared to driving alone. No one is going to drive to downtown Eureka in order to get on a bus and go somewhere else – they’ll just keep driving.
There is no need for this. More than a third of downtown Eureka is already covered with parking lots. There are already plenty of empty on-street and off-street spaces at any given time, despite the fact that most of the parking is free. And now that the city is beginning to more efficiently manage the downtown parking supply, it’s virtually certain that there will be even more parking spaces available in the future without building any more. Even if the garage were used (illegally) by non-bus riders, it’s likely that it would sit mostly empty most of the time, costing HTA maintenance and operations money that would otherwise go toward providing actual bus service.
Bus riders, pedestrians, and bicyclists will pay the price. Even the best park-and-rides are inefficient subsidies for motorists. A downtown “park-and-ride” is even worse, because it uses up valuable real estate that could otherwise be used for desperately needed housing or services to make the area more walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly. If homes were built on this site instead of parking spaces, the people who lived there would provide new riders for HTA and help support the improvement of bus service. In contrast, a parking garage would just be another ugly monolith for people to walk or bike past on their way to somewhere else.

CRTP will be working hard to make sure that transit funds are spent on improving transit service and that this proposal never comes to fruition.

Share Your Input on Bike and Pedestrian Safety Upgrades

In better news from Eureka, the city and Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation (RCHDC) are applying for a state grant to build affordable housing at the Sunset Heights site, above Broadway between Harris and Henderson Streets. If that sounds familiar, it’s because they applied for – and won! – a grant for the first phase of the same project just last year.

A black-and-white drawing shows a 4-story apartment building with a pitched roof, windows, an articulated facade, and trees.

The state’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant program funds not only housing, but also bike, pedestrian, and transit improvements in the surrounding neighborhood. You may recall the public outreach that was conducted last year to inform what improvements the first grant should cover. Now that more money could be coming, there are new opportunities to provide input!

This neighborhood has well-known traffic safety problems, as we were reminded this week when another pedestrian was struck by a driver on Harris Street just blocks from the new housing site. CRTP encourages Eureka residents – and anyone who might want to live in the new housing after it’s built – to fill out the city’s online survey and attend a community walk next Thursday at noon to help identify opportunities for bike and pedestrian improvements. And as always, you can also report hazardous locations on Street Story, which CRTP and the city both periodically review.

Share Your Ideas for a Better McKinleyville

Cal Poly Humboldt and the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee are collecting “ideas to improve quality of life, sustainability, and/or economic growth for McKinleyville.” Want better sidewalks, protected bike lanes, calmer traffic, or better transit service? You can share your ideas at a listening session Saturday morning or submit specific ideas through this form.

Get Involved with CRTP!

Want to do more to support safe, fair, climate-friendly transportation on the North Coast? Here are some current opportunities.

Share your transit story. Send us a paragraph or two about why you ride transit, how transit makes your life better, what you couldn’t do without it, how it could be better with more public support, and any other thoughts you want to share. Your story could help build support for more transit investment in our region!
Sign the petition for safer 4th & 5th Streets in Eureka. We’re also looking for endorsements from organizations, businesses, and elected officials.
Support CRTP. You can support CRTP by becoming a member or by buying a raffle ticket for a dual-battery BLIX cargo e-bike. To buy tickets, email cemone2@reninet.com or contact any CRTP Board Member. The drawing will be May 1st – the first day of Bike Month!

Temporary Hammond Trail Closure

McKinleyville bicyclists and pedestrians, take note: the Hammond Trail will be closed for maintenance next week between Murray Road and Knox Cove Avenue.

Arcata Committee to Discuss Lowering Speed Limits

Arcata’s Transportation Safety Committee will meet next week and consider whether to create a new subcommittee to guide the city toward lower speed limits. State laws passed in the last few years have created opportunities the city can take advantage of, poking some holes in the regulatory regime that historically made lowering speed limits practically impossible in most cases. Local governments can now reduce speed limits to 20 mph on many streets, and even to 15 mph in places with special safety needs.

News from Beyond the North Coast

“America Has No Transportation Engineers”

To get a degree to work as a transportation engineer in the United States, a civil engineering student often takes only one class: “Introduction to Highway Engineering.” It’s no wonder that they often don’t seem capable of solving the traffic safety crisis or building usable bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Doing those things requires an understanding of the complexities of how humans interact with the built environment, and our engineers just aren’t trained for that.

Join Us for a Solidarity Gathering!

Posted on April 10, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

April 10, 2026

Join Us for a Solidarity Gathering!

A flyer announcing a solidarity gathering at Humbrews with Friends of the Eel River, EPIC, and CRTP on Monday, April 13th from 5-7 pm

Next Monday, April 13th, join CRTP and our allies at Friends of the Eel River and EPIC for a Solidarity Gathering from 5-7 pm at Humbrews in Arcata. This is an opportunity to learn how to participate in community decision-making and help shape the future of our cities, rivers, and forests. CRTP will share about our campaign for safer local streets, and EPIC will teach you how to get involved in environmental policy-making in our region.

Humbrews is generously donating a portion of sales during the event, so please bring your family out to have dinner and drinks and join the movement to support what our community cares about. There will also be a raffle!

Friends of the Eel River is hosting these gatherings every month to help community members plan creative resistance to the Trump administration’s destructive policies, learn about community initiatives, and take meaningful action to protect the people, creatures, and values we all hold dear. Join us on Monday, and keep an eye out for the next one!

The picture is taken from inside the back of a bus, looking toward the front. Bus passengers with beanies and baseball hats are seated, with the backs of their heads visible.

Share Your Transit Story

If you are a transit rider on the North Coast, we want to hear from you about the importance of public transit in your life. We’re looking for a paragraph or two about why you ride, how transit makes your life better, what you couldn’t do without it, how it could be better with more public support, and any other thoughts you want to share. Your story could help build support for more transit investment in our region!

Don’t Forget to Buy Those Raffle Tickets!

CRTP is raffling off a dual-battery BLIX cargo e-bike, and there’s still time to buy tickets. Tickets are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20, and all proceeds benefit CRTP. To buy tickets, email cemone2@reninet.com or contact any CRTP Board Member. The drawing will be May 1st – the first day of Bike Month!

Show Your Support for Fixing Our Most Dangerous Streets

A bicyclist with a yellow backpack crosses a wide street. A one-story commercial building and a three-story apartment building are on the other side of the street.

Almost 600 residents of Eureka and other local communities have signed our petition for safer 4th and 5th Streets so far. If you haven’t signed yet, there’s still time!

We are also looking for endorsements from organizations, businesses, and elected officials. If you represent a group that would like to publicly endorse the petition and encourage people to sign, email colin@transportationpriorities.org.

Trail Updates, from Eureka to Cloverdale

A satellite image of eastern Eureka shows the Bay to Zoo Trail proposed route in three sections: a green northern section, a yellow middle section, and an orange loop in the south. — The proposed Bay to Zoo Trail route. Image: City of Eureka.

The City of Eureka has published a new story map with information about the planned Bay to Zoo Trail. CRTP has advocated for this trail for years and is excited to see progress toward construction. However, we continue to have some concerns about its design.

When designing a trail meant to serve bicyclists of all ages and abilities, it’s crucial that the entire route be comfortable and safe for everyone from kids to seniors. But, despite labeling the entire planned route a “trail,” the city plans to require bicyclists to ride in the street with not even a bike lane from St. Joseph’s Hospital south to the Sequoia Park Zoo. We are also concerned about the design of a new roundabout trail crossing at Myrtle Avenue. Preliminary designs appear to show bicyclists diverted onto sidewalks or into the street, with no safe, dedicated crossing location.

In other trail news, a recent ruling by an obscure federal railroad agency is presenting new challenges for the future of the Great Redwood Trail. The ruling means that the Great Redwood Trail Agency will not be able to convert train tracks from Willits to Cloverdale directly into a trail, but instead will have to preserve the rails alongside this important central piece of the trail. As Humboldt’s trail advocates know from years of experience, this “rails with trails” approach dramatically increases the cost of trail-building and as well as the environmental impact.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Pedestrian Deaths are Down, But Still Too High

A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association estimates that pedestrian deaths dropped by 11% in the first half of 2025, and deaths in California decreased nearly 32% from the year before. This is incredibly good news, and should be celebrated. However, we must consider these safety gains in context.

Despite the progress, fatalities remain higher than they were before the pandemic, which saw a huge increase in pedestrian deaths. The Trump administration is slashing funding for the kinds of infrastructure upgrades which likely contributed to the recent safety gains. And, if you’re a decision-maker focused more on dollars than deaths, it should be noted that even at this reduced level of deaths, pedestrian fatalities are costing the US economy more than $40 billion every six months.

Stop Doing What Doesn’t Work

There’s no reason to fix a dangerous intersection until someone is killed. A pedestrian who is killed by a driver is to blame for their own death. The real solution to the traffic safety crisis is more police enforcement or pedestrian education.

If you’re a transportation safety advocate, these refrains will sound very familiar to you. They are repeated over and over again by public officials in response to demands for street safety upgrades. But these and other common ideas are all completely wrong, and the safety “solutions” they suggest just don’t work.

Safe Biking Networks Are Both Necessary and Possible

A new study confirms previous findings that building low-stress, protected bike lanes leads to more people biking. But the findings also show that bigger ridership increases come only when communities build complete networks of low-stress facilities, rather than disconnected projects here and there.

A complete network of comfortable bike lanes might sound like a pipe dream, but it’s not! With enough political will, infrastructure can change quickly. The city of El Paso has demonstrated this dramatically, building 1,000 miles of bike lanes over the last 10 years.

Share Your Transit Story

Posted on April 3, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

April 3, 2026

Share Your Transit Story

CRTP is collecting stories about the importance of public transit to people on the North Coast. If you are a transit rider, we want to hear from you about the importance of public transit in your life. We’re looking for just a paragraph or two about why you ride, how transit makes your life better, what you couldn’t do without it, how it could be better with more public support, and any other thoughts you want to share. We’re hoping to share some of these stories publicly as we work to build support for more transit investment in our region.

To show our thanks for sharing your stories with us, the first five people to send us their transit stories will each get a free ticket for CRTP’s current raffle of a dual-battery BLIX cargo e-bike! Just email your story to kelsey@transportationpriorities.org, and we’ll get a raffle ticket for you!

Of course, you can also buy raffle tickets without sending us a transit story. Tickets are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20, and all proceeds benefit CRTP. To buy tickets, email cemone2@reninet.com or contact any CRTP Board Member. The drawing will be May 1st – the first day of Bike Month!

The Richardson Grove Fight May Finally Be Over

Looking up, tall redwood trees fill the picture, with blue sky visible beyond.

19 years after Caltrans publicly proposed a highway expansion through Richardson Grove State Park, and 15 years after the first lawsuit was filed against the project, a panel of judges has ruled against EPIC and other plaintiffs in their latest challenge to the project’s environmental review. This decision may mark the end of the long-running fight over the project. Caltrans has said it intends to start construction soon, and the California Transportation Commission has already allocated millions of dollars to spend on it.

CRTP is eternally grateful to EPIC for leading the fight against the Richardson Grove project for so many years. And we are deeply disappointed that Caltrans continues to pursue this completely unnecessary, damaging project, at a time when there are so many real and urgent needs on other parts of the state highway system. The fact that Caltrans continues to disingenuously call this a “safety project,” while refusing to fund real safety projects in places where people are actually dying on their highways – like Broadway, 4th and 5th Streets in Eureka – is especially discouraging.

For CRTP, this is personal. Our organization was founded in 2015 by people who were already, by then, veterans in the fight against the Richardson Grove project. The misguided transportation priorities epitomized by this project were the inspiration for starting an organization dedicated to promoting responsible transportation priorities – priorities like safety, equity, and sustainability. We will keep fighting, along with our allies, to ensure that Caltrans and other agencies do better in the future.

Join More Than 500 of Your Friends and Neighbors!

Humboldt County is rallying in support of a major safety overhaul for Eureka’s 4th and 5th Streets. More than 500 residents of Eureka and other local communities have signed our petition for safer 4th and 5th Streets so far. Organizations and public officials have been endorsing the petition as well, including 4 out of 5 Eureka City Councilmembers, and organizations like Tri-County Independent Living and the Area 1 Agency on Aging. Have you signed the petition yet?

E-Bikes Are Not a Problem – They’re a Solution

E-bikes empower more people to get on bikes, to ride longer distances, and to carry more stuff. That in turn allows people to drive less and bike more, which makes our streets safer, our environment cleaner, and our planet more livable. And as more safe, long-distance bike infrastructure becomes available, the opportunities for e-bikes are expanding even more.

But e-bikes are often unfairly blamed for safety problems they’re not really causing, which is fueling a wave of “bikelash” in many communities. CRTP Executive Director helps set the record straight in a recent Times-Standard op-ed.

Eureka City Council to Consider Transit Hub Funding, Transportation Safety

At its regular meeting next Tuesday, the Eureka City Council will hold a hearing and vote on approval of bond funding for the long-awaited Eureka Regional Transit and Housing Center (EaRTH Center). The hearing is largely a formality, and CRTP is eager to see the financing finalized and the new transit hub under construction.

Later in the meeting, the Council will hear a report on the city’s “transportation safety protocols.” CRTP has been urging Eureka and other local governments to adopt the Emergency Streets protocol, which calls for immediate intervention after a fatal crash to lower speeds at the crash site and investigate changes to prevent future crashes. We plan to take this opportunity to continue to advocate for this common-sense protocol.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Proposed Legislation Would Transform Process for Bike & Pedestrian Projects

AB 1976, introduced by Assembly Member Buffy Wicks of Berkeley, would dramatically change how new bike and pedestrian safety projects are approved in California. Instead of holding separate hearings for each project, local governments would be required to just go ahead and build the projects with no hearings, as long as they are already included in their general plans. This is intended to prevent the endless local fights that often delay or stop important safety projects. However, some advocates worry that it could also reduce opportunities to provide input that actually improves project design. CRTP will be watching this bill closely.

We Need to Cap Vehicle Size

A new study finds that capping vehicles sizes – in other words, stopping the trend toward ever-bigger cars, SUVS, and pickup trucks – will be a critical component of any effective plan to reduce road deaths and address the climate crisis.

When Will We See Those Safer Roads in McKinleyville?

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

March 27, 2026

When Will We See Those Safer Roads in McKinleyville?

When the McKinleyville Town Center ordinance was finally adopted last fall, we celebrated along with other advocates for safer streets and more walkable communities. After all, the ordinance includes major safety overhauls for both Central Avenue and Hiller Road, including protected bike lanes, wide sidewalks, street trees, traffic calming, and more. Less than six months later, however, we’re already being reminded that none of these improvements are guaranteed.

The Humboldt Commons senior living project recently requested to be excused from a requirement to pave an extra 13 feet of Hiller Road along the project’s frontage. The extra paving is intended to serve as the eastbound lane of Hiller in the future, when the rest of the Hiller Road upgrades are complete. But there’s currently no funding or timeline for the rest of those improvements, and in the meantime extra-wide paving is the opposite of a safety upgrade.

The Humboldt County Planning Commission denied Humboldt Commons’ request, but gave them five years to coordinate the paving with other improvements and directed the county to seek funding for the rest of the street upgrades. We hope this is an opportunity to move forward with the comprehensive safety upgrades we were promised. But it’s clear that the journey toward safer streets may not be fast or direct. We will have to stay vigilant and continue to advocate for the promised improvements to both Hiller Road and Central Avenue in the months and years to come.

You Could Win a Cargo E-Bike! And Support CRTP!

CRTP is currently raffling off a dual-battery BLIX cargo e-bike! Tickets are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20, and all proceeds benefit CRTP. To buy tickets, email cemone2@reninet.com or contact any CRTP Board Member. The drawing will be May 1st – the first day of Bike Month!

Another Opportunity to Comment on That Big CPH Parking Lot

The environmental review comment period for the proposed new Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH) parking lot in the Arcata Bottoms has been reopened due to some proposed changes in the project. Specifically, the university has added a bike and pedestrian trail from the parking lot to the the eastern portion of Foster Avenue, which would allow people walking from the parking lot to campus to avoid the sections of Foster and 17th Street without sidewalks. The university has also reduced the promised frequency of shuttles between the parking lot and campus from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes. You can find the revised environmental document here.

A black-and-white site plan shows a large parking lot north of Foster Avenue, with a retention pond and two bicycle shelters. A dotted red line shows a trail along two side of the parking lot, then extending from a corner of the parking lot across McDaniel Slough to Foster Avenue.

We applaud CPH for mitigating some of the bike and pedestrian safety concerns raised by CRTP and others during the initial round of public comment. However, the new trail does not solve all the problems with the project. For one thing, many neighborhood residents will still be exposed to safety risks from increased traffic on nearby streets without bike or pedestrian facilities. In fact, the reduced shuttle frequency will make it much less likely that neighbors will use the service, as CPH claims they will, rather than walking or biking on those streets. Furthermore, the new environmental document does nothing to address the other big problem CRTP highlighted in our previous comment letter: the fact that the university can’t “take credit” for the cancellation of plans to build an unrelated parking structure somewhere else, and therefore the project needs to mitigate for the increased driving it will cause.

We encourage responsible transportation advocates to submit new comments telling CPH that they still need to add sidewalks and bike lanes to Foster Ave and 17th Street, and they still need to mitigate the increased driving the project will cause. We also strongly support the demands from our friends at Humboldt Waterkeeper for the university to fully assess contamination at the site (a former lumber mill) and address the impacts of the toxic tire chemical 6PPD-q on Coho salmon in nearby waterways. Comments are due via email by April 2 to ceqa@humboldt.edu, with “Foster Campus Connectivity Project” in the subject line.

4th & 5th Street Safety Campaign Still in Full Swing!

If you haven’t signed the petition for safer 4th & 5th Streets yet, please sign today! Then, email the petition link to family and friends, share the link on social media, or re-post CRTP’s posts about it. To help with the campaign even more, email kelsey@transportationpriorities.org for more information.

Local Communities to Receive Complete Streets Safety Assessments

The Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, the Hoopa Valley Tribe, the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, and the City of Fortuna have all been selected for a program from UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) to assist in assessing conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists and planning safety improvements. CRTP looks forward to progress toward safer and more equitable transportation systems in these diverse communities.

Better Parking Management & More Bikes in Eureka

Eureka is moving to an app-based system for paid parking in city lots, starting on April 1st. The move is part of a broader city effort to manage downtown parking more efficiently, including increasing rates and providing more information and flexibility for drivers. Local employee and resident parking passes will remain valid. The city has previously said it intends to extend the same paid parking program to street parking in the future, and that there will be a way for drivers without smart phones to pay, although that option is not yet available.

In other news from Eureka, the city appears to be moving forward with long-awaited plans to install bikeshare stations. The stations will be an extension of the successful system already operating in Arcata. Eureka is requesting funding from the Humboldt Association of Governments to help support two stations for 5 years, and intends to add another station to the EaRTH Center transit hub when that project is complete. CRTP has been advocating for this bikeshare expansion for years, and we’re excited to see it finally moving forward.

Great Redwood Trail Master Plan Approved

Several years into the planning process for the Great Redwood Trail, the trail agency’s board of directors has approved an official Master Plan for trail development. CRTP is excited to see progress on this regional priority for active transportation, which will eventually connect communities from Humboldt Bay to San Francisco Bay. Additionally, since the state legislature has exempted the trail from environmental review, we continue to work with our allies to advocate for clear environmental commitments and public engagement policies from the agency.

News from Beyond the North Coast

California Just Keeps Pouring Money Into Highway Expansions

While Governor Newsom touts relatively small investments in public transit – “transportation for the future” – the vast majority of funding continues to go toward massive highway projects that double down on the congesting, polluting, climate-destroying transportation system we already have.

Don’t Be Fooled About Road Safety in the US

American road safety statistics almost always use a specific metric: fatalities per million miles driven. In other developed countries, a different statistic is typically used: fatalities per capita. Why does this seemingly small difference matter? Because one of the reasons so many Americans die on the road is that we drive so much. The statistic commonly used in this country hides just how bad our safety record is, and ignores the fact that one of the most effective safety interventions is to get people to drive less.

More Bicyclists Are Dying Outside of Cities – and Painted Lanes May Not Help

A new study shows that over the last twenty years, the population density of census tracts where bicyclist fatalities occurred has decreased. In other words, more bicyclists are dying in suburban and rural areas. Meanwhile, another study has concluded that most paint-only bike lanes in the US are high-stress, because they’re on high-speed, high-traffic roads. Absent other safety interventions, paint on the road does not necessarily create a safe and comfortable place to bike. This study adds to the growing evidence that busy streets need bike lanes that are protected by more than just paint.