The Collector
May 2, 2025
May Is Bike Month!
May is Bike Month in Humboldt County, so prepare for lots of bike-related fun courtesy of the Bike Month Humboldt Coalition (of which CRTP is a member).
Events during Bike Month include Eureka and Manila Mural Rides, two pancake breakfast rides, Bike to Work and School days, and of course CRTP’s Eureka Bike Safety Audit.
A full schedule of Bike Month events can be found here.
Bike Month also comes with the Bike Month Challenge. New and experienced bicyclists of all ages and abilities are encouraged to sign up to track their rides, with the goal of biking at least five miles during the month of May. You can use a regular bike, an e-bike, a trike, an adaptive bike, or any other pedal-powered device that meets your needs!
Finally, don’t forget to visit some of our local bike-friendly businesses to get special deals when you ride your bike to shop or dine during Bike Month.
Take the Survey on Arcata Safety Improvements
The city of Arcata is considering plans to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety and access across US-101 on Samoa Boulevard, as well as adjacent upgrades to Samoa Boulevard and South G Street. Initial concepts supported by CRTP include removing several highway ramps and providing separated bike and pedestrian facilities on the overpass, as well as adding separated bike lanes on Samoa Boulevard and traffic calming measures on South G Street. If you walk, bike or roll on any of these streets – or would if they were safe! – click here to provide your input to the city.
Eureka City Council to Vote on Waterfront Plan
Several years ago, the city of Eureka adopted new zoning rules encouraging more housing production and higher density development consistent with existing Downtown and Old Town patterns, building on the strengths of the region’s most walkable neighborhoods. But a lot of this area near the waterfront is in the coastal zone and therefore requires different land use regulations addressing the mandates of the state’s Coastal Act.
The Waterfront Eureka Plan, which the city began developing in 2023, is the city’s new plan for its core coastal area. It provides a high-level vision, along with some general development parameters. (Specific zoning rules are expected later.) Next Tuesday at 6 pm, the City Council will vote on whether to adopt the plan. CRTP generally supports the plan, which will build on the dense, mixed-use character of these neighborhoods and encourage more walkable, bikeable development – but of course there’s always room for improvement!
More About That Measure O Transit Funding
As we reported last week, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted to allocate 15% of Measure O sales tax revenues to public transit and 85% to roads for the next five years. That’s a meaningful amount, and will greatly benefit local transit, but of course we think it should have been more. And as the Lost Coast Outpost reports, it very well might have been more if the Board’s agenda for the day had accurately described the required vote. A majority of supervisors supported a higher amount for transit, but the supervisors in the minority used that inaccurate staff report to effectively reduce the final percentage. We find that very troubling.
News from Beyond the North Coast
Red States Are Banning Safe Street Designs
The culture war over transportation is heating up. Idaho recently passed a state law to prevent local governments from implementing widely used, evidence-based safe street designs like lane reductions (a.k.a. “road diets”) and the conversion of car lanes into bike lanes, and Texas is now debating a similar law. The Trump administration has expressed support for policies like this – Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, for example, has complained about bike lanes taking street space from cars – and many advocates fear that this anti-safety trend will spread.
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.