Storms Highlight North Coast’s Transportation Vulnerability

The Collector

March 1, 2019


Caltrans Talks About Eureka Projects
A jumble of overlapping projects and objectives aim to improve bike and pedestrian facilities, but also move traffic faster. Faster cars are more dangerous to people on bike and on foot, of course, but no irony has been noted in Caltrans’ presentations.

Tantalizing Hints of a Zoning Code to Come
The Humboldt Transit Authority Board got a sneak peak at the City of Eureka’s new zoning code, which is currently under development. Among the potential features of the new code relevant to transit: “development bonuses for including annual bus passes for new residential development [and] parking reductions for being within a set distance of a bus stop.”

Flooding, Slides Hit Local Roads
Many state highways and local roads were impacted by the week’s weather. Of particular note for bicyclists, flooding in the Arcata Bottoms blocked a popular bike-commuting route between McKinleyville and Arcata for several days.

Shoaling Wreaks Havoc on Local Maritime Transportation
On the North Coast, our roads have land slides, and our marine corridors have shoaling.

Clean Electricity Goal Inches Forward
On Thursday, the Board of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority directed staff to conduct public outreach and continue researching the goal of providing Humboldt County with 100% clean, renewable energy by 2025 (which had been recommended by the Authority’s Community Advisory Committee). As much of our transportation system looks set to transition to electric power, the sources of that electricity become more and more relevant to transportation advocates.

Nothing to Talk About
The Del Norte Local Transportation Commission’s regular March meeting was cancelled, as were the regular Technical Advisory Committee meetings for both DNLTC and HCAOG.

Can Block-Chain Technology Help Reducing Shipping Emissions?
Or at least hold shipping companies more accountable?

Is the Future Rural?
A new report from the Post Carbon Institute argues that “reruralization” will be necessary for a post-carbon society, in part because of the costs of long-distance transportation of food. But what about the transportation of people, which is much more impactful in rural areas and is already one of the primary factors driving greenhouse gas emissions higher?


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.