Home › The Collector › It’s Official: Arcata Council Adopts Gateway Plan!

It’s Official: Arcata Council Adopts Gateway Plan!

Posted on by

The Collector

July 19, 2024

Humboldt County Supervisors to Vote on Tax Measure Next Tuesday
Readers of The Collector may recall that CRTP and our allies have been advocating to ensure that the county’s new sales tax measure will fund not just roads, but also public transit. While the proposed ballot language has not yet been published at the time we’re writing this, we are hopeful that our efforts will pay off and that transit will be included in the measure. Stay tuned for more information in the days to come!
More than two and a half years after the first draft of the Gateway Area Plan was published, it was finally approved by the Council this Wednesday, along with a Gateway zoning code and a major General Plan update. As we said way back in 2021 about that first draft, the Gateway plan is the most bike and pedestrian friendly land use plan yet proposed in our region. And since that first draft, CRTP’s advocacy has resulted in even more improvements to the plan, as well as a strong zoning code to implement it. Even better, many of the best parts of the original Gateway plan – from parking reforms to policies prioritizing safer streets and promoting denser, transit-friendly housing – are now in the General Plan and apply citywide! The approval of these documents marks a major victory for CRTP and a milestone for the entire community.
Caltrans District 1 has added Street Story to its new Active Transportation Program page, and CRTP works with district staff to ensure Street Story reports are consulted when initiating projects. State highways in our region include Broadway, 4th and 5th Streets in Eureka, State Route 255/Samoa Boulevard in Manila and Arcata, State Route 96 in Hoopa, State Route 299 in Willow Creek, and many more. Do you have any experiences to report about these Caltrans roads? Post them on Street Story! Haga clic aquí para hacer un informe en español.
A screen shot from Caltrans District 1's Active Transportation Page includes the bold text "Visit Street Story" and a photo of Broadway, part of US 101 in Eureka
Just like humans, wildlife deserve safer streets and highways. A new project in northern Humboldt will use tracking collars on Roosevelt elk to activate warning signs for drivers on US 101. We hope this project helps reduce crashes and increase safety for both elk and people.

News from Beyond the North Coast

More on the Active Transportation Program Budget Cuts
In the latest round of applications to the state’s funding program for bike and pedestrian infrastructure, agencies have requested fifteen times more money than is actually available after recent severe budget cuts. That means a lot of desperately needed bike lanes, sidewalks, and trails will not be funded. Yet somehow the much larger highway funding programs saw no similar cuts to their budgets.

US Department of Transportation Talks About Mode Shift
A new report from the federal government acknowledges that electrification of vehicles will not be enough to meet climate goals. We also need to see significant land use reforms and more investment in walking, biking, rolling and public transit.

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.