The Collector
January 17, 2025
EaRTH Center Moves Forward
The City of Eureka Design Review Committee approved the city’s long-awaited downtown transit and housing hub last week – but only barely. The fact that a committee charged with making aesthetic judgements about architectural design ever had the potential to stop such an important city project is highly concerning. In fact, the committee has a history of objecting to infill development projects based on factors (like parking) that it is not legally supposed to consider. That dysfunction was on full display last Wednesday, when the committee initially deadlocked with a 2-2 vote, failing to approve the EaRTH Center based on vague objections to the project’s appearance and location. The project was only approved when one of the committee members left the meeting for another appointment, allowing approval with a 2-1 vote. While the final outcome was a victory, the process was another reminder of the problems that arise from subjecting important projects to a few people’s opinions about architectural attractiveness (and whatever other opinions they care to hide behind the language of design).
Arcata Housing and Transportation Updates
This week’s annual Arcata State of the City meeting highlighted several projects of great interest to CRTP and our members. The Annie & Mary Trail Connectivity Project, which will finally provide a safe bike and pedestrian route between the Sunset neighborhood near Cal Poly Humboldt and Valley West, West End Road and Baduwa’t (Mad River), is expected to break ground this year. The trail goes right by the new Hinarr Hu Moulik (hi-NAD HU ma-LEEK) dorm project, which will open on the former Craftsman’s Mall site this summer, providing housing for nearly 1,000 students within easy walking and rolling distance to campus.
Congressman Jared Huffman also recently announced $15 million in federal funding for the city’s Sunset Avenue interchange project, which aims to replace two of the city’s most dangerous intersections with roundabouts. CRTP has been advocating to ensure that the new designs are actually safe for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.
Safe Routes to School Workshop in Arcata Next Week
Next Wednesday, January 22nd, at 5:30 pm, the City of Arcata, the Humboldt County Association of Governments, and Fuente Nueva Charter School will be hosting a public workshop focused on identifying needed improvements to allow kids to safely walk, bike and roll to schools and parks in the neighborhood. The workshop will be at Fuente Nueva Charter School at 1730 Janes Road in Arcata. If you can’t make it to the workshop, the city and HCAOG are encouraging people to use Street Story to report safety issues in the area.
Eureka Plans First Quick-Build Projects
When Eureka adopted its citywide bike plan last year, one of CRTP’s requests was for the city to embrace a quick-build approach to upgrading infrastructure. Quick-build is a strategy that uses low-cost materials like paint and bollards on existing streets, allowing rapid safety improvements that can be modified or made permanent later. It is a change in paradigm from the traditional years-long process that often keeps simple upgrades like bike lanes and crosswalks from being built in a timely manner.
We’re glad to report that the city is now showing a real interest in quick-build. At this week’s Transportation Safety Commission meeting, city staff reported that they intend to construct their first two quick-build projects this year: a couple of small traffic circles near downtown and some quick-build “sidewalks” – designated pedestrian areas on the side of the street where actual sidewalks are missing – near the new DMV office.
Humboldt County Airport Planning Meetings Next Week
Here at CRTP, we have our reservations about air travel, given that it is generally the most carbon-intensive way to get around. But as long as people are flying, we think you should be able to get to the airport without a car. Unfortunately, the Humboldt County Department of Aviation has historically done little to support ground transportation outside of private vehicles. But that could change!
The department is currently updating its “Airport System Plan Study,” which aims to identify “potential long-term development concepts to meet the needs of each airport, its users and the surrounding communities.” Next week there will be a series of public meetings, including one on Tuesday afternoon at the main airport in McKinleyville. This is a great opportunity to tell the county to focus more on providing good public transit to the airport, as well as long-term bike and bike trailer storage options.
News from Beyond the North Coast
2024 Traffic Deaths May Have Gone Down Slightly
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released estimates for traffic fatalities in the first three quarters of 2024, and they are slightly below the total for the same period in 2023. That’s good news. But to be clear, the numbers are still unacceptably high – more than 29,000 people died on streets and highways in this nine month period. And we don’t yet know the figures for pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities, which in recent years have often increased even when overall traffic deaths go down.
More Evidence That the Bike “Safety Stop” Really is Safe
Rolling slowly through an intersection without coming to a complete stop when there is no cross-traffic – a.k.a. the bike safety stop – has long been legal in many states, and is common among bicyclists everywhere. Two new studies add to the evidence that safety stop rules do not increase safety risks, and may make bicyclists safer. Unfortunately, Governor Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed it in California.
Cities Have to Take Sidewalks as Seriously as Streets
A new study reviewed 30 US cities with complete streets policies, and found that in only 3 of them does the city itself take responsibility for building and maintaining sidewalks. In the rest – as well as in local communities on the North Coast – adjacent property owners are legally responsible for sidewalks. This piecemeal approach would never be accepted if applied to vehicular infrastructure, and it is undermining progress toward pedestrian safety and walkability.
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.