The Collector
May 9, 2025
Bike Safety Audit Next Week
Next Wednesday from 5:30-6:30 pm, CRTP will be conducting a bike safety audit of Eureka’s 4th and 5th Streets. We’ll meet at the corner of 4th and C Streets in Eureka, and no bike is required to participate.
Bike audits are an opportunity to experience and take note of the conditions for bicyclists in a particular neighborhood or location. Unfortunately, due to the dangerous conditions on 4th and 5th Streets, we will not be riding bikes during the audit. But while we already know 4th and 5th Streets are not safe for bicyclists, the bike audit will help document the exact hazards, and suggest solutions to improve safety.
During the audit, we will walk or roll on the sidewalk while observing conditions for bicyclists, and will focus on observations of three intersections: 4th & C Streets, 4th & H Streets, and 5th & I Streets.
And don’t forget, May is Bike Month! The bike audit is just one of many local bike-related events and activities. Click here for more information about other bike-related events and activities scheduled for May.
Truck Driver Hits and Kills Bicyclist in Eureka
We join friends and neighbors in grieving the loss of a beloved community member who died this Tuesday, when a truck driver hit him while he was riding his bike on Harris Street in Eureka. While the details of this awful incident are still emerging, we know, as the Times-Standard noted in their coverage, that this is not the first serious crash in the area. Just last September, a pedestrian using a mobility scooter was hit and killed by drivers a few blocks away, and neighbors at the time reported that they were afraid to even cross the street.
We also know that a tractor-trailer was involved in Tuesday’s crash. Such vehicles are often designed in ways that prevent their drivers from clearly seeing bicyclists and pedestrians, but safer options are available.
We appreciate the bike and pedestrian improvements the city of Eureka has made on Harris Street recently, but clearly more is needed. We are currently supporting the city and Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation in an application for state funding for the Sunset Heights affordable housing project which includes bike and pedestrian improvements on Harris and other streets in the neighborhood. We are also heartened by the fact that construction has finally begun on the first of the Broadway safety projects nearby. As always, we encourage everyone to keep supporting this progress by making reports of known hazards, crashes and near-misses on Street Story.
Traffic deaths are preventable. Better street designs and better vehicle designs save lives. We know what to needs to be done, and CRTP is working hard to ensure that the local agencies that control our streets and highways (and many vehicle fleets) make the right decisions.
McKinleyville Town Center Environmental Impact Report
The draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the McKinleyville Town Center zoning ordinance is currently out for public review. CRTP has been involved in the development of the zoning rules for many years, and we are excited about the possibilities. As written, the rules will result in the most walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly development in unincorporated Humboldt County, with denser housing mixed in with commercial and civic uses, and major pedestrian and bike improvements on Central Avenue and Hiller Road.
We do have a few concerns about the Environmental Impact Report, which you can read about here. Most critically, we are worried that the county is planning to implement major intersection expansion projects in response to imagined future congestion. These projects would undermine the Town Center goal of a walkable and bikeable neighborhood and encourage even more driving, and their environmental impacts are not considered in the EIR. We are strongly urging the county to disavow the intersection expansion projects and stick with the bike and pedestrian safety improvements that are part of the Town Center plan itself.
We are also disappointed that some community members continue to oppose key elements of the Town Center plan, including denser development and a safer design for Central Avenue. We encourage CRTP members and supporters who live, work or play in McKinleyville to support the proposed Town Center zoning rules and street improvements, and to submit comments urging the county not to undermine this hard-won progress by expanding local intersections and encouraging more car and truck traffic.
News from Beyond the North Coast
Immigration Crackdown Threatens Freedom to Move
The federal government’s harsh immigration enforcement techniques are making many people terrified of being picked up by federal agents anywhere they go. As America Walks points out, living in a walkable neighborhood doesn’t mean much if you’re too scared to leave home. Speak up for the freedom to move safely regardless of immigration status.
Round 2 of State E-Bike Vouchers Rescheduled
Technical difficulties led to state officials scrapping their last attempt to distribute the second round of the wildly popular e-bike vouchers. They have rescheduled the voucher release for May 29th and promise things will go more smoothly this time.
More States Approve Speed Limiters for Reckless Drivers
State legislatures in Georgia and Washington state have joined Virginia in approving bills that allow judges to require speed-limiting devices in the cars of habitual reckless speeders. A similar bill has been introduced in California.
Dangerous Streets Make Parenting Harder
Kids need safer streets and other public places where they can roam free and just be kids. So do their parents.
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.