Luckily, We’re Not Made of Sugar

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

February 7, 2020

Transportation is Key to Medical Care on the North Coast
The possibility of losing obstetrics and gynecological services in Fortuna highlights the importance of transportation and relative location in access to care.

Luckily, We’re Not Made of Sugar
CRTP’s latest article in the EcoNews takes on active transportation in the rainy season.

2nd District Supervisor Candidates on Transportation
Well, whaddaya know? The local press is reporting what candidates said about transportation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Watch the Full 1st & 2nd District Candidate Forum
The full video – including the answers and non-answers candidates gave to CRTP’s question about reducing vehicle miles traveled – is now available to watch online.

Great Redwood Trail Takes Another Step Forward
A new segment of the Great Redwood Trail – the first since the former North Coast Railroad Authority right-of-way officially gained that moniker – opened last week in Ukiah. This is just the beginning, folks!

Weekly Street Story Update: Multimodal Hazards
About a quarter of Street Story reports in Humboldt County so far have reported places that are hazardous for multiple modes. A report near Willow Creek gives an example: “No posted speed limit. Should be 25mph max. Blind curves and too much speed. A very frequent problem. This section is on a cliff above the river. I have almost been run off over the cliff or had someone else swerve at high speed to miss me and almost go over the edge. Should be posted at 25mph and patrolled periodically to slow drivers down. It is also dangerous for pedestrians for the same reasons.” You can make your own Street Story report here.

Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force Issues Final Report
The official statewide task force recommends making it easier to lower speed limits and improving road design, education and enforcement. Will the state legislature actually listen this time?

Your Chance to Go to Walking College
America Walks is now taking applications for its “Walking College.” If you want a deep dive into pedestrian design and advocacy, this is your chance!

San Francisco Chronicle Bike Lane Hit Piece Pits Teachers Against Bicyclists
If this is any indication of how journalists are going to report on a shift to less car-oriented infrastructure, we’re in real trouble.

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.

We’re Suing Humboldt County

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

January 31, 2020

We’re Suing Humboldt County
CRTP has joined a lawsuit brought by Eureka residents who live in the housing that was slated to be demolished by the County in order to build a new parking lot on 4th Street. Although the County has announced that it no longer plans to buy the property, many residents were already displaced, and the remaining residents are living under deteriorating conditions. The lawsuit seeks to force the County to fulfill its legal obligation to provide displaced residents with access to alternative housing that has comparable access to public transit.

Plaza Task Force Makes Final Recommendations
The Arcata task force held its last meeting this week and finalized its report and recommendations to City Council. Among the recommendations: parklets, possible street closures, and shifting some parking off the Plaza. The final report is scheduled to be delivered to City Council on February 19th. Then it will be up to Councilmembers to take action to improve pedestrian design on the Plaza.

CRTP Cosponsors Supervisor Candidate Forum
Candidates for Humboldt County Districts 1 & 2 Supervisor seats answered questions about a lot of important topics on Wednesday night. We asked them their plan to address the climate crisis by reducing the amount of driving in Humboldt. Unfortunately, many of them ignored the premise of the question and only talked about making cars cleaner. (That’s important, but we still need to drive less!) The full video of the forum will soon be available for anyone to watch.

Old Arcata Road On-Demand Transit May Get Easier to Use
A consultant is recommending changes including allowing users to book a ride up to 1 hour in advance (instead of the 24 hours currently required) and providing curb-to-curb service (instead of requiring users to get to a designated pick-up/drop-off location). In its first year, the service only provided 10 rides, and the hope is that these changes would make it more popular. The recommendations will be considered at the Humboldt County Association of Government’s Technical Advisory Committee meeting next week, along with an interim assessment of other potential mobility-on-demand services for the county.

Caltrans Wants to Change Safety Corridor Project
The agency is asking the Coastal Commission to amend its permit, including to add another “auxiliary” lane on northbound Highway 101 between Bracut and Bayside. How long will it take Caltrans to figure out that no matter what word they put in front of it, an extra lane is an extra lane – and that will encourage more people to drive in the future? The hearing is scheduled for February 14th…in Long Beach.

County Airport Trying to Fix Problems
Meanwhile, travel from the airport jumped significantly last year. We don’t want to rain (or fog) on anyone’s parade, but it’s worth remembering that flying is generally the most carbon-intense form of transportation.

Bike/Ped Project Featured in Fortuna’s State of the City Report
Creating safer ways to bike and walk to an elementary school – what’s not to like?

Henderson to Become a One-Way Street at Broadway
Will it to anything to make Broadway less of a death-trap for people walking and biking?

Weekly Street Story Update: A Milestone
As of this week, more than 500 reports have been made on Street Story in Humboldt County! You can make your own Street Story report here.

SB50 Fails in the Senate
The bill, which would have required cities to allow denser housing near transit, had united a diverse coalition behind it, but divided the environmental justice and social justice communities. How will California meet its housing construction goals now? Let’s hope it’s not through the sprawling status quo.

Free Youth Transit Passes for California?
AB1350, which would require transit agencies to provide free passes to anyone under the age of 18, passed the State Assembly unanimously this week. Free bus passes for kids could be a transformative development in many areas. But cash-strapped rural transit agencies like the Humboldt Transit Authority are hoping that the state provides some way to make up for any lost fares.

Huffman Introduces Active Transportation Bill for Public Lands
The bill would set aside 5% of annual funding for transportation projects on federal lands for bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

Humboldt County Urbanism, PLUS: More Money for Trucks?

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

January 24, 2020

Trinidad to Return Trail Money After Strong Objections
After a contentious City Council meeting, the city is abandoning its already-funded project to build a trail and other improvements to bicycle and pedestrian access to the Trinidad Head area. The concern is that the project could disturb native Tsurai graves and other culturally important sites. We fully support protection of sacred native sites, and we also want people to be able to walk to Trinidad Head and its beaches without taking their lives in their hands. Hopefully a solution can be found.

McKinleyville Town Center May Get Mixed-Use, Form-Based Code
At a meeting this week, the McKinleyville Muncipal Advisory Committee gave its blessing to applying a single mixed-use zone to the entire Town Center area and appeared poised to adopt a form-based code for that zone in the future. This would be a radical departure from the county’s past zoning practices, and one that – if the code is well-written and well implemented – could allow McKinleyville to develop a truly walkable and appealing town center.

County Supervisor Candidates Will Be Asked a Transportation Question at Forum
We know, because we’ll be asking it. Want to hear the question – and their answers? Come out to College of the Redwoods on Wednesday evening – or the Mateel, where it’ll be simulcast – and you will.

More Money for Trucks?
Next week, the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission’s Technical Advisory Committee will consider whether to fund more “actions to support” the plan to widen and straighten sections of Highways 199 and 197 to accommodate larger trucks. This project has been mired in litigation for years, so it’s somewhat unclear what “actions” staff has in mind. Also on the agenda: more money for redesigning the proposed Sunset Circle active transportation improvements.

Humboldt County Urbanism
CRTP’s own Colin Fiske appeared on the new EcoNews Report on KHUM this week to talk about how the principles and practice of urbanism apply to our local area.

Arcata City Hall Gets Bike League Recognition
It was given Bike-Friendly Business recognition at the Bronze level. It’s not gold, but at least they’re on the podium!

Weekly Street Story Update: Roundabouts
A report from the Indianola/Old Arcata Road roundabout: “Vehicles do not yield to cyclists in roundabouts, a chronic ongoing danger for all cyclists.” (We can vouch for that, too.) You can make your own Street Story report here.

San Francisco’s Car-Free Market Street Starts Next Week
It’s a landmark achievement akin to New York’s pedestrianization of Times Square.

Can Suburban Homes Be Built Without Parking?
One developer wants to give it a try in Hayward.

The Nation’s Most Dangerous City for Pedestrians Is Making Some Changes
It’s Orlando. Trip to Disney World, anybody?

Blue Lake Transit Study Completed

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

January 17, 2020

HCAOG Board Reviews Blue Lake Transit Study
At its Thursday meeting, Board members of the Humboldt County Association of Governments reviewed the recently-completed Blue Lake Transit study. The study found that extending Blue Lake Rancheria Transit Service to Fieldbrook and Western Glendale Drive would be feasible under certain scenarios, but bus service to Korbel is unlikely to be successful.

Eureka City Council to Consider Height Increases
The city is proposing to increase building height limits from 35 ft to 55 ft in the Commercial Service zoning district within the Coastal Zone. This mostly applies to parts of downtown and most of Broadway. It’s part of the city’s recent effort, initiated by the recent General Plan update, to encourage denser development downtown.

Fatal Collision at Indianola Cutoff
It’s unarguably a dangerous intersection. Whether the long-planned Caltrans interchange is the right solution is a subject of much debate.

Climate Action Plan Gets More Public Input
Drastic action is needed to reduce our local carbon emissions – particularly from the biggest source, transportation.

North Coast Journal Readers Want You to Slow Down
Driving more slowly reduces emissions a bit. Of course, not driving as much in the first place reduces emissions a lot more.

Dangerous by Design 2020
A special edition of the national report on pedestrian safety shows that California is failing to meet even its own unambitious “safety” targets.

Weekly Street Story Update: Eel River Drive
In the words of the Street Story reporter: “Pavement is cracked and in very poor general condition, especially toward the right edge of the roadway. Shoulder is narrow or missing; where it exists it is not possible to ride due to degraded surface. Traffic volumes are high and cars travel too fast, a combination that makes cycling unsafe and unpleasant. Eel River Dr. is an essential cycling route connector in this area.” You can make your own Street Story report here.

Walking is a “Superpower”
It makes your brain and your body healthier. What else can you ask for?

Will E-Bike Popularity Reduce Car Trips?
We’ll likely have some data to help answer that question soon, as they are increasingly widely adopted in places like the San Francisco Bay Area.

Is Fare-Free Public Transit a New Trend?
It’s a time-tested way to increase ridership, and more and more cities are trying it out.

US Carbon Emissions Dropped Slightly Last Year…
…but transportation emissions remain stubbornly high.

Supervisor Candidates Debate Road Repair

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

January 10, 2020

Climate Action Plan Meeting Next Week
The County will be holding a workshop next Wednesday at 5:30pm at the Wharfinger Building to take public input on the multi-jurisdictional Climate Action Plan it’s been developing. If you read The Collector regularly, you know that the biggest source of local greenhouse gas emissions (by far) is transportation. Come on out and tell the County that if it’s serious about climate action, it needs to take bold steps to get people to drive less.

Supervisor Candidates Debate Road Repair
Everyone agrees District 1’s roads are in bad shape. What to do about it is the question.

Eureka Committee to Look at Transportation Safety Plan
The city’s current plan was written five years ago, and the Transportation Safety Committee will talk about updating it at its Tuesday meeting. There also may be discussion of a future comprehensive parking study for the city – pretty exciting stuff for us transportation nerds!

McKinleyville Town Center Wetlands Scrutinized
At this week’s special Town Center meeting, the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee discussed wetland issues with County staff and the public. At issue: which of the common definitions of wetlands should be used for the Town Center, and what are the implications for future development there? We think this focus on the wetland-dominated vacant parcels is distracting from the bigger picture. There’s plenty of already-developed land in and around the Town Center that could be re-developed with mixed uses at much greater densities without paving over the wetlands!

Eureka Planning Commission to Consider Capital Improvement Program
New this year: The City’s Engineering Department is proposing electric vehicle charging stations in various public parking lots. Oh, and just to balance things out, a new fueling station too.

Weekly Street Story Update: Samoa Boulevard Overpass
Numerous people have reported the Highway 101 Samoa Boulevard overpass in Arcata as hazardous, particularly for bicyclists and pedestrians. Reports note high rates of speed, failure to yield, lack of adequate bike/ped infrastructure, and gravel and other hazards in the narrow shoulders. You can make your own Street Story report here.

Radical Upzoning Bill is Back
State Senator Scott Wiener has re-introduced his bill to require cities to allow denser housing near transit. The crazy-quilt coalitions that support and oppose it are not backing down.

Huffman Introduces “GREEN Streets Act”
The bill would fundamentally shift federal transportation priorities away from highway building and toward lower-carbon modes of transportation.

New Accessible Scooters Rolling Out in Bay Area
Is it enough to meet some of the mobility needs of people with disabilities?

Meanwhile, E-Scooter Collisions Are on the Rise
Not surprising, given that e-scooter travel is skyrocketing.

Trump Administration Preempts State Truck Pollution Limits…
…with its own set of weak national standards that look like they were written by the trucking industry.

County Calls Off Eureka Parking Crater Project

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

January 3, 2020

Parking Crater Project Canceled by County
But many residents of the current housing on the site have already left under threat of eviction. The County hasn’t met its obligations under state law to provide relocation assistance – which includes ensuring former residents have comparable access to active transportation and transit as they did originally.

Next McKinleyville Town Center Meeting on Wednesday
Topics will include natural resource protection, open space, land use and design. None of which, if we’re being honest, can be accurately discussed without also talking about transportation.

Last Chance Grade Geotechnical Open House Next Week
On Wednesday, Caltrans will be holding a meeting in Crescent City to answer questions about the Last Chance Grade geotechnical study environmental document. This is a critical first step in the much larger Last Chance Grade highway realignment project, which will likely not be completed for over a decade.

Asked About Renewable Energy, A Supervisor Mentions Transportation
Supervisor Madrone brought up the need for electric buses and a better trail system to address the transportation system’s energy use.

Weekly Street Story Update: Henderson Center Revisited
As we reported 6 months ago, lots of hazardous conditions have been reported in the Henderson Center area of Eureka. Now that more of the details of those reports are available, a clear pattern emerges: The urban arterial roads which come together here – including F St, H St, I St and Harris St – are designed to encourage fast driving and do not contain adequate amenities for safe walking and biking. You can make your own Street Story report here.

Caltrans Spending Updates Show State Priorities
While Caltrans says it’s “taking a turn toward active transportation,” it’s still working with a funding system that dedicates the vast majority of funding toward building and maintaining highways for cars and trucks. While the $200 million that SB 1 generated for active transportation is a significant improvement over past funding levels, it pales in comparison to the more than $50 billion for the State Highway System Management Plan which is almost entirely focused on vehicles.

E-Bikes and E-Scooters Vetoed in New York
Governor Cuomo vetoed a bill that would have legalized the new forms of transportation, citing the lack of requirement for riders to wear helmets. You can find some of our previous coverage of bike helmet requirements here.

Council Talks Access for Arcata Housing Project

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

December 20, 2019

Vehicle, Pedestrian and Bike Access Are Focus of Creekside Homes Discussion
The Arcata City Council discussed the Creekside Homes project this week. Creekside is one of the bigger residential projects to come before the city in recent years. Much of the discussion by Council – and objections from neighbors – focused around transportation issues, specifically: how many vehicular access points should there be and where, and what about active transportation? People raised serious concerns about safety issues arising from increased traffic. Unfortunately, what was missed in all of this discussion was how the project itself could be designed to minimize driving. You can read CRTP’s previous comments on the project here.

Arcata Committee Talks Street Story, Plaza Street Closures, and Accessible Design
The city’s Transportation Safety Committee had a packed agenda this week. CRTP’s Colin Fiske shared information about Street Story, and committee members discussed how to integrate it into future work. Also, North Coast Growers Association’s Portia Bramble announced that they have reached agreement with Arcata Main Street to close 8th Street on the Plaza during Saturday farmers markets, and CRTP hopes to provide bike valet services in that area. Finally, the committee heard from local advocate Peggy Martinez about the problems with roundabouts (and other common street designs) for blind and sight-impaired pedestrians.

Plaza Task Force on Winter Break
Arcata’s Plaza Improvement Task Force isn’t meeting this month. However, it’s expected to meet in January – and that might be its very last meeting before making final recommendations to City Council. Will the recommendations call for a more pedestrian-friendly Plaza? What will the Council do with those recommendations? We wait with bated breath.

Another Person Dies on Broadway
Two people driving cars appear to have hit and killed a person on foot, and both then fled the scene. And yet you may note the use of passive voice in the headline, which grammatically removes the drivers from the equation, and the inclusion in the police press release of a report that the person walking was “outside of the crosswalk.” Broadway is literally a death-trap for pedestrians and bicyclists, and the number of victims only keeps growing. Any hint that these victims are in some way to blame for their fates should be thoroughly rejected. The fault lies with the design of the road and with the drivers who are performing an inherently dangerous activity, not with people simply trying to cross the street.

Last Chance Grade Geotechnical Project Document Released
Exploratory drilling and other work will be needed in order to determine the feasibility of various potential new routes for Highway 101 at Last Chance Grade. Now is the time for public comment on the environmental impacts of this part of the much bigger long-term project.

Weekly Street Story Update: Read the Reports!
Street Story now allows users to view the details of a report with a click of the mouse. You can find out exactly what hazards, crashes, and near misses people are reporting for each dot or line on the map. You can also make your own Street Story report here.

New Report on Transportation and Health Equity
Where we live has a huge impact on our health – and transportation is a big reason for that.

International “Streets for Kids” Design Guide in the Works
Could we design streets as places kids can play – as they once were – rather than dangerous places where we have to look both ways before even stepping in?

Residents Sue Over Eureka Parking Crater Plans

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

December 13, 2019

Residents Sue County Over Parking Crater Plans
Now we know why the Supervisors delayed their property purchase plans last week. It turns out that current residents of the 1000 block of 4th Street would rather not be kicked out of their homes with no place to go so that the County can expand the jail and blast a parking crater into downtown. Who would have thought?

Supervisors Push Back on Traffic Fee
As we reported last week, Humboldt County is proposing a new development impact fee which would be used to pay to increase vehicular capacity on local roads. Supervisors Wilson and Madrone objected to the focus on cars, while other Supervisors picked up on realtor and developer objections to having to pay more to build. In the end, the Board directed staff to “talk to stakeholders” and come back with a new plan.

Give Your Feedback on the Town Center!
If you missed the latest meeting, or even if you were there, fill out the survey to tell the County that you want a walkable McKinleyville Town Center.

Health Clinic’s Transportation Impacts
The new Open Door center provides close to the minimum amount of required parking (that’s a good thing!) – and their plan still shows more land devoted to parking than to the actual clinic. But there’s still a lot they can do to encourage employees and clients to walk, bike and ride the bus instead of drive. Luckily, they’re working on that.

Local Resident Wants to Own a Bike Shop
The letter published in the Times-Standard from a currently incarcerated Eureka man is both heart-breaking and inspiring. It’s a story of bad circumstances and bad decisions with a dream of bicycles at the end.

Is Eureka’s “Moonshot” Program All About Transportation?
Examples provided of possible “moonshot” topics range from self-driving cars to drones e-bikes to buses to hyperloops. If we’re talking about big transportation goals, how about a 100% pedestrianized downtown?

Arcata Planning Commission Considers Housing Element
The new document is focused on infill housing development for active transportation and transit.

Weekly Street Story Update: McKinleyville
From the map of reports, it looks like far fewer McKinleyville residents have been using Street Story than Arcata or Eureka residents. McKinleyville has almost the same population as Arcata, but a fraction of the reports. And we know it’s not because the roads are safer! McKinleyville residents (and everyone else): You can make your Street Story report here.

CalBike Unveils 2020 Agenda
Check it out!

The Future of Electric Trucks in California
Is this how we’ll make our freight transportation system more sustainable?

Will the County Charge Developers to Build Bigger Roads?

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

December 6, 2019

County Proposes Impact Fee…to Build Bigger Roads
At the Board of Supervisors meeting next week, an ordinance is on the agenda to establish the Greater Eureka Area Traffic Impact Fee – the culmination of a project that began way back in 2006. We believe in developers paying their fair share for impacts they cause. But this proposed ordinance says revenues can be used ONLY for “capacity enhancing improvements” like road widening and road expansion. This would lock the county into the kind of counterproductive road planning that will just encourage more driving and increase congestion in the long run. It seems the county needs a reminder that you can’t reduce congestion by building bigger roads – you’ve got to make it easier to walk, bike, and take the bus.

4th Street Parking Crater Plans May Be Delayed
Also on next Tuesday’s Supes agenda is a staff request to delay purchase of the housing and commercial properties on 4th Street in Eureka, which the county plans to use mostly as a parking lot. The delay is attributed to unspecified “issues relating to the tenants and occupants” of the existing buildings.

County Considers 2020 Legislative Platform
Also on Tuesday’s Supes agenda is a discussion of what types of state and federal bills the county should officially support next year. Lots of transportation-related issues could be affected, including infrastructure funding, the Richardson Grove road expansion project, and the Highway 101 Arcata-Eureka Corridor project. Not currently on the list: support for federal and state-level Complete Streets bills.

Town Center Planning Continues Next Week in McKinleyville
The County Planning Department and McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee are hosting a “Community Round Table” next Wednesday to get more input from residents on how to prioritize elements of the future Town Center Master Plan. At the last meeting, walkability was the most talked-about feature of a future town center. Come on out and make sure it stays at the top of the list!

Truckers Parade, Meet EV Parade
A new tradition starts in Blue Lake.

Weekly Street Story Update: SoHum
Most of the Street Story reports so far have come from Arcata, Eureka, and surrounding areas – because that’s where most people in the county live. But there are road hazards in the rural areas, too, as residents know well. You can make your Street Story report here.

Transportation Commission to Allocate Active Transportation Funds
At next week’s meeting, the California Transportation Commission will vote on funding for a long list of active transportation projects, including local projects in Blue Lake and Fortuna. Also on the agenda are cost overruns for the Panther Creek Bridge seismic retrofit project in Del Norte County and a discussion of the federal government’s latest attempt to roll back fuel efficiency standards.

Wireless Charging for Electric Buses
New technologies allow electric buses to charge up during their routes, extending their ranges substantially.

New Arizona Development Won’t Allow Cars
Could this be the start of a trend?

Cargo Bikes On the Rise in New York
Major shippers are signing on to use bikes for local delivery in the big city.

CRTP Names 2019 Responsible Transportation Champion

Posted on November 22, 2019 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

November 22, 2019

Mary Burke Named 2019 North Coast Responsible Transportation Champion
CRTP recognized the McKinleyville official for her leadership in bringing active transportation planning to the forefront in that historically car-dominated community. If you see her around, thank her for all of us!

New Street Tree Program Debuts in Eureka
The Times-Standard notes that “benefits include traffic calming.” Meanwhile, Eureka and Caltrans continue to argue over who’s responsible for such things on Broadway. We love trees and traffic-calming, but we caution planners to make sure new trees don’t create unnecessary obstructions or hazards for users of the sidewalk.

Another Driver Hits A Pedestrian on Highway 101
And again, CHP and the media appear to be blaming the victim.

Arcata Accepting Comments on Housing Plan
Where and how we allow (and build) housing is the biggest factor in determining where and how we get around.

Weekly Street Story Update: Broadway
If Eureka is serious about making Broadway safer, there are good data on Street Story for them to consider. The Arcata Transportation Safety Committee talked about Street Story this week – so can Eureka! You can make your Street Story report here.

Bay Area Planning Agencies Debut New Public “Game”
“Mayor of Bayville” is an online platform intended to increase public participation in transportation and land use planning.

An Experiment in Development Without the Rules
There are lots of good reasons to regulate development. But in a small area in the middle of the Vancouver, BC, a Canadian First Nation unconstrained by density restrictions and parking requirements is able to build a lot of housing that wouldn’t have been possible if they’d followed the rules. Makes ya think.

What’s Missing from Candidate Climate Plans?
We’re talking about it, so it must be transportation-related.

Wondering What’s in the Federal Complete Streets Act of 2019?
Find out here, courtesy of Smart Growth America.

How to Transform the Suburbs
Ideas from leading thinkers on land use, transportation, housing and more.

A Debate in New York Over the Price of Parking
Could free storage of private cars in the public right-of-way – ahem, street parking – become a thing of the past in the nation’s biggest city?