The Collector
December 8, 2023
California Coastal Commission to Consider South Broadway Project
The South Broadway Complete Streets Project needs a coastal development permit from the commission. CRTP strongly supports the project, which was developed partly in response to our advocacy and will add protected bike lanes, new mid-block pedestrian crossings, safer intersection designs, and traffic calming features to our region’s most dangerous corridor. However, we are asking for two small improvements: (1) make the posts protecting the bike lane out of a material strong enough to actually protect bicyclists and withstand a vehicle collision; (2) redesign the bus stops so that the boarding areas aren’t in the middle of the bike lanes. You can email the Coastal Commission or attend next Wednesday’s meeting remotely and provide your own comments by submitting a speaker request (see Agenda Item 12b).
Humboldt Transit Authority Workers Named 2023 Responsible Transportation Champions
CRTP has given our annual award to HTA’s bus drivers, mechanics, vehicle service workers and equipment technicians. This is just one small way for us to recognize and honor the people who literally keep the buses running, providing us with desperately needed safe, equitable, and low-carbon transportation.
In other HTA news, the agency’s Board of Directors this week approved a pilot program to provide free rides for people going to emergency shelters during declared extreme weather events. The program was proposed by CRTP and our allies at Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives (AHHA) and Tri-County Independent Living as a way to help save lives by ensuring that everyone who needs access to shelter during extreme weather can get there.
Eureka Considers Building the Region’s First Parking Structure
More than one-third of downtown Eureka is covered by parking lots. The city’s own parking study found that there is more than enough public parking, even after a few lots are converted to housing, and recommended against a parking structure. But the city is now pursuing that idea anyway.
This is a really bad idea. A parking structure is extremely expensive, and would amount to a massive new subsidy for driving downtown. Recent estimates for California cities start at about $26,000 per parking space for construction alone, plus hundreds more each year for operation and maintenance. If they tried to charge enough to recover those costs, no one would park there, because there’s plenty of free parking nearby.
In addition, another central parking location would not stop the complaints from people who unrealistically demand parking availability right next to their destinations. The last time the city caved to the demands of the parking-first minority, their action didn’t silence the critics; instead, they’ve been rewarded with four new lawsuits and an anti-housing ballot initiative!
Don’t Forget About New Laws to Protect Pedestrians
Check out CRTP Board Member Carol Moné’s op-ed in the Times-Standard about the new crosswalk daylighting law and the decriminalization of “jaywalking.”
Street Story: A Simple Way to Contribute to the Fight for Safe Streets
Reports on Street Story only take a few minutes, and they give CRTP and local government agencies better information about the need for safety improvements. So don’t forget to make a report every time you experience a near-miss, a crash, or a hazardous location. La versión de Street Story en español está disponible aquí.
News from Beyond the North Coast
Parking Mandates Drive Up the Cost of Housing
A new report adds to the evidence that minimum parking mandates for new development only lead to more expensive housing and more traffic. Or, as in the case of a small town in Washington state, perhaps no new housing at all. Fortunately, Americans are starting to catch on, and a new poll shows strong majority support for eliminating these costly and unscientific policies.
Paris Could Be First City to Charge Big SUVs More for Parking
The massive vehicles have huge impacts on the climate, public safety, and local streets, and they tend to be owned and operated by wealthier individuals. So the mayor of Paris thinks they should pay more for the privilege of using the streets.
Read Carefully! That Article Could Be Sponsored by Big Oil
Respected major media outlets from Reuters to the New York Times have advertising programs that generate paid propaganda designed to look like real journalism. Fossil fuel companies are using these services in a big way.
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.