ma Newsletter, 14, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition

8/9/2019 ma Newsletter, 14, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition

1/12

promoting bicycling for transportation and recreationNEWS FROM THE SONOMA COUNTY BICYCLE COALITION

ISSUE 14 SUMMER 2005

Defending Bicycle Master PlansMichael Eunice

Bike lanes on Mendocino Avenue demonstrate a majorconflict for the Santa Rosa City Council. They say that

traffic is the number one issue for them. Traffic engi-neers, because of their training, try to move as muchtraffic past a given point as fast as possible. Once again,they told the members of the BPAC that bike lanes onMendocino were impossible even though they were inthe master plan. Yet, Mendocino Avenue, in front of theJunior College and Santa Rosa High School, has thehighest pedestrian and bicycle accident rate in the city.Dan Burden, a consultant hired by the J.C. NeighborhoodAssociation, said that traffic must be calmed down for thesafety of pedestrians (a.k.a. students), and that narrowingthe traffic lanes and adding bike lanes were necessary.

Will the Council antagonize motorists with traffic calm-ing measures, or will they accept the high accident rates?The Council faces a choice between two evils.

Fortunately for Rohnert Park and Windsor, they have bi-cycle proponents on their City or Town Councils. RohnertPark has a bike lane on every major street and bike pathsalong most of the creeks, due in large part to Councilmember Jake Mackenzie. Also, the Town of Windsorrecently completed bike lanes on Old Redwood Highwaythe entire length of Windsor due in part to the efforts ofCouncil member Debora Fudge.

About fifteen years ago, Congress passed the first Trans-portation Enhancement Act (TEA), which required states,counties, and cities to develop bicycle master plans withthe advice of bicycle advisory committees. Subsequently,Congress added pedestrians to the plan, resulting inbicycle and pedestrian advisory committees (BPACs).Most public agencies still view BPACs only as a means toreceive federal money from TEA. That is, most cities and

counties implement their bicycle plans only when pushedto do so, although some traffic engineers do put bikelanes on the streets, whenever they can keep it below thepolitical radar screen. For example, if public works is do-ing an overlay of a street anyway, they can paint on a bikelane for very little cost. If the project is important enoughto pay for the time to make the application, they will ap-ply for TEA funds to pay for the bike lane part.

Several years ago, Gene Benton, the traffic engineer forSanta Rosa, tried to put bike lanes in the Bennett Valleyarea. No one appeared at the City Council meeting in

support, and one person from the Chamber of Commercespoke against the bike lanes. When an accident in Ben-nett Valley involving a prominent politician pointed upthe need for left turn lanes and a signal, Gene was thenallowed to add bike lanes at the same time.

In recent years, the Santa Rosa BPAC members havenoticed several cases where staff members have ignoredthe bicycle master plan. In fact, a highly placed memberof the planning department told me a year ago that if aconflict occurred between a developer and the bike com-mittee, the committee would lose. This year, a memberof the city planning department came to the Santa RosaBPAC (well stocked with coalition members) to ask ourblessing for a master plan amendment which wouldfacilitate a development project. This amendment wouldeliminate the bike lane requirement on Aston Avenue,thereby allowing a developer to ignore the approvedBicycle Master Plan. The motion to amend the bicyclemaster plan failed in committee for lack of a second.The planners took their amendment to the city councilanyway, where Mike Martini eloquently led the Councilunanimously to defeat the proposed amendment. Thisaction represents a major policy change for the Council

from the Bennett Valley days. continues on next page


2/12

2

The Petaluma BPAC meets twice a month, twice as oftenas others, to review the reports of its members, who studyeach new development to see if it conforms to the bicyclemaster plan.

The Sonoma County BPAC (also well stocked with coali-tion members) creates and enforces the master plan forall of the roads in the unincorporated areas of the county.

In recent months, the members of the

county BPAC have received developmentplans for review. This should result in bet-ter implementation of its bicycle masterplan. Thanks to their efforts, we now havea bike lane or a shoulder on major countyroads from Cloverdale to Petaluma.Special thanks go to County staffer SteveSchmitz, for finding the money for theShare the Road signs on all those countyroads without shoulders. Also, thanks goto Janice Eunice, District One representa-tive, for schmoozing the traffic engineer

with cookies.

The issue of bicycle parking is just appearing on the po-litical horizon. Most recreational riders dont think aboutbicycle parking much; but bicycle commuters, includ-ing students, do because they need a place to park theirbicycles where they will be safe from theft and vandalism.The city of Santa Rosa, for example, has a zoning code#20-36.90 that requires a bicycle locker for every ten mo-tor vehicle parking spaces in residential developments,and a one in twenty ratio for commercial development.

This code has been on the books for about twenty years.The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Bay AreaAQMD) provides funding for free bike lockers (for com-muting workers) and bike racks (for shoppers) and theirinstallation. They also provide the funding for a full timeposition to administer the program along with otheralternative transportation programs. If we want peopleto get out of their cars and ride bikes to work, we needto provide adequate parking for them. Even though bikelockers are practically free to the City, when the issuearises, blank stares result.

EDITOR

Christine Culver

CONTRIBUTORSLoretta Esparza

Vicki Duggan

Sheri EmersonMike Eunice

Christine Culver

Lou Salz

COPY EDITORSLoretta Esparza

Bunni Zimberoff

PHOTOSJon Dick

Bruce Eisert

Mike Eunice

DESIGN & LAYOUTKim Stuffelbeam

SCBC Board of Directors

Bernie AlbumMiguel Crawford

Vicki Duggan

Mike Eunice (Secretary)

Tim GonzalesDoug McKenzie

Misty Mesel (Treasurer)

Lou SalzSean Walling

Ken Wells (Vice President)

Gary Wysocky (President)

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORChristine Culver

MEMBERSHIPCOORDINATOR/OFFICE MANAGERMarguerite Bellringer

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We welcomeyour comments.

Send letters to:

SCBC

PO Box 3088

Santa Rosa CA 95402-3088

e-mail comments:

[email protected]

Santa Rosas Citywide Creek Master Plan projectreceives a Community Based TransportationPlanning Grant of $110,000 from CalTrans

Sheri Emerson, Environmental Specialist, Santa Rosa Public Works Department

The City of Santa Rosa has been awarded$110,000 from the Community BasedTransportation Planning Grant program,applied towards the bicycle and pedestrianaccess planning element of the CitywideCreek Master Plan. The Plan will guidethe protection and enhancement of 70miles of streams and waterways withinSanta Rosa, and will include specificrecommendations for new pathways andconnections to existing pathway facili-ties, to link schools, transit, residences,employment centers, civic hubs, shopping

centers, and recreation destinations throughout the City.Ultimately, implementation of the project recommenda-tions will help integrate the communitys restored wa-terways into a viable network of greenways that will helpto balance transportation and promote the communityslivability.

The Citywide Creek Master Plan will be completed in thefollowing phases: Public outreach, resource assessment,development of recommendations, development of imple-

mentation strategy, preparation of plan document, andenvironmental review. City staff and project partners arecurrently in the process of evaluating the condition andlocation of existing flood control channel access roads,street crossings, pathway access points and gate design,and potential for connections and improvements. Pleasecontact Public Works Environmental Specialist Sheri Em-erson at (707) 543-4225 [email protected] withyour ideas for improving our creekside trails and theiruse as alternative transportation corridors.


3/12

3

SCBC CALENDAR

Thanks to Sprint for supporting the SCBC.

Wow!

Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Chapter 2, Policy 8, page 10;Chapter 6, page 31; Chapter 4, Policy 19, page 19, page32; Chapter 6, page 33; Chapter 6, page 38; Chapter 6,pages 38- page 39.

Shame on you, Petaluma. The members of your Bicycleand Pedestrian Advisory Committee work hard to createa better place for bikes and pedestrians, and they deserveto receive an award for Most Improved Bicycle Com-munity because of the important input they have givenon new projects. But in this case the projectmanagers just didnt follow the Plan forbike lanes on Petaluma Boulevard; it isonly mentioned in the Plan no less thanseven times.

Yes, there are imperfections in our bicyclingnetwork, and believe me, there are some

doozies. But there has been much forwardmovement with the addition of bike lanesand paths in the last four years. Now letstry to insure that our communities keep totheir plans - thats why we have them.

These past three months have kept those of us in thebike advocacy world pretty busy. Im so pleased that thefederal transportation bill, Safe, Accountable, Flexible,Efficient Transportation Equity Act-Legacy for Users(SAFETEA-LU), finally passed. Along with scores of other

bike advocates, I visited Washington, D.C. twice to supportnon-motorized transportation and bicycling specificallyin this bill. If you see Jim Keene, part owner of NorCalBike Sport and the Bike Peddler, tell him thanks forgoing with me and dedicating some of his precious timeto talk to our government representatives about the im-portance of supporting bicycle-related funding and theimpact it has on local businesses.

There is a great article in this newsletter about the im-portance of public agencies following their bicycle masterplans. Unfortunately, on occasion a project is done under

the radar and is built incomplete. A good example of thisis a job the city of Petaluma just finished on PetalumaBoulevard from Twin Bridges to Lakeville Highway. Thisproject was originally approved with improved shoulders,but instead they paved only a foot to the right of the whiteline, not leaving much room for bicycle or pedestriantravel. The City of Petaluma Bicycle Plan states multipletimes that Petaluma Blvd. should be improved withClass II bike lanes (those are the real deal - 5 ft. pavedand marked lanes). These can be found in the Petaluma

Christine Culver

Executive Director

SCBC Sonoma County Bike Map

SCBC board member Lou Salz with his teamof volunteers has been diligently workingon a comprehensive bike map forSonoma County. We can finally seethe light at the end of the bike path.At the time of going to press with thisnewsletter we have the draft at the SCBC

office for final review. We hope to havethe map ready at the end of September forapproximately $10. A huge thanks to Lou,his team and to Landis Bennett of 360Geo-graphics for all their dedication and hardwork on this project!

SCBC Board Meetings

Board meetings are regularly held

on the third Wednesday of each

month 6:30pm, 445 Orchard St.

Suite 205 in downtown Santa

Rosa, members are encouraged to

attend, open to the public.

Valet Bike Parking

Wednesday evenings at the Santa

Rosa Downtown Market through

the end of August

Street Skills Seminar

E-mail [email protected], or call

545-0153 to register or for more

information

October 5Walk and Roll to School

For help in organizing your school

call 545-0153


4/12


5/12

5

SUPPORT THE BUSINESSES THAT SUPPORT SCBC!

Agilent Technologies

www.agilent.com

American LungAssociation 707-527-5864

The Bike Peddler

707-571-2428

Cambria Bicycle Outfitter707-206-9500

Car-Lite

Community Market

707-546-1806

Empire Eye Doctors

Medical Group

707-575-3800

The Middle Way &

Community Bikes

707-823-8755

NorCal Bike Sport

707-573-0112

Orthopedic & Sports

Physical Therapy707-571-7615

Gary and Jessie Wysocky, Ken Wells, Bernie Album, SeanWalling, Miguel Crawford, Tim Gonzales, Lou Salz, DougMcKenzie, Linda Picton, Janice Oakley, Kim Stuffelbeam,Bill Oetinger, Isabella Sever, Richard Sever, MalindaDagit, Kaydee Mellor, Simone Mellor, Helene Simon andanyone we missed. Thanks also to the event sponsors:

Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks department, the Red-wood Empire chapter of the American Lung Associationand Winzler and Kelly Consulting Engineers. More pho-tos of Bicycle Santa Rosa may be seen at the SCBC websitewww.BikeSonoma.org

Mark your calendars now for next years event!

Pepes Mexican

Restaurant

Santa Rosa 707-571-7478

REI 707-540-9025

Rincon Cyclery

707-538-0868

Santa Rosa Cyclery707-537-2254

So Co Agricultural

Preservation & Open

Space 707 565 7360

Soulcraft Bikes

707-775-2453

SyCip Designs, Inc707-542-6359

Winzler & Kelly

Engineers707-523-1010

Wooden Spoon

Technologies

707-523-2222zach@wooden-spoon.

com

Special thank you to REI for a $3000 grant to promote safe bicycling.

SR City Council member Lee Peirce with Bike decorating contest

winners, Photo by Jon Dick

SCBC volunteer, Kim Stuffelbeam holds a framed copy of

the beautiful event poster he designed. Photo by Jon Dick


6/12

6

continues on next page

Bike to Work Events 2005As torrential rain bombarded Sonoma County the daybefore Bike to Work Day, bicycle commuters preparedtheir bike fenders and rain slickers. Happily, the morningof May 19 was without rain and with 1,322 bike com-muters157 more riders than last year. Thanks to allvolunteers who picked up supplies, set up at daybreak and

worked the 24 Energizer Stations throughout the county,many sacrificing their own bike commute in order toserve others. A special thanks to the enthusiasm shownby Lawrence Fischers REI crew at the Santa Rosa CityHall station, who fueled bike commuters by cooking pan-cakes and serving them with a smile along with strawber-ries and whipped cream, in addition to other energizermainstay items such as fruit, bagels and juice.

They had so muchfun putting in anextra effort that

next year SCBCwill have a contestfor the best Ener-gizer Station!

Bike to Work Dayis a collaborativeeffort of city andcounty agencies,local and regionalbicycle coalitionsand hundreds of volunteers. This

years event was the Bay Areas eleventh Bike to Work Day,and it was successful as a celebration to promote bicy-cling as a healthy, fun andviable form of transporta-tion. More than 180 Ener-gizer Stations were locatedalong local bike commuteroutes in all nine Bay Areacounties and providedfree beverages, snacks andlocal encouragement to

bicyclists.

Bike ClinicSponsors

Cambria Bicycle OutfitterREI, Santa RosaSonoma Mountain Cyclery

VolunteersRichard BattlesKen Brown

Andy BunnellEd and Judy Buonaccorsi

Autumn Buss

BC BC CappsAnne CotrellClaire CulverBarbara Denlis

Jon DickBruce EisertHope FaunaLawrence FischerDonamarie ForbesTim GonzalezPhil Grinton

Kimberly HoffmanMike Ivory

Jim JarviceJim KeeneMelanie Lenat

Cindy LewisLaura MaddoxTom MaunderMisty MeselDavid Miller

Andre MorandDick NoskerTerry OdenMim PaschalShaun RalstonSteve ReddieRuben RiosKatie Rieden

Adam RussellKelli SaufnauerMarcia Scanlon

Steven SchmitzJill ScottCherice SilvaKathy StorinSuzanne Whipple

If we missed you on this list please let us know so we canthank you too!

SponsorsPress DemocratSonoma Air Quality Resource Team for the Bay Area AirQuality Management District

Agilent TechnologiesSutter Medical Center

Photo by Bruce Eisert.

REI employee Lawrence Fisher dishes up pancakes

A Bike to Work cyclist, Peggy Songster, Dick Nosker and Patty Powell


7/12

7

Amys KitchenAndys ProduceBAAQMDBasin Street PropertiesCambria Bicycle OutfitterCity of CotatiCity of Santa RosaCity of Santa Rosa, Transit

and ParkingCommunity MarketCotati Chamber of

CommerceCounty of Sonoma -

Facilities OperationsDepartment

Eastside CyclesGrateful BagelHub Cyclery

Metropolitan TransportationCommission 511.orgMix 104.1NorCal Bike Sport and the

Bike PeddlerPetaluma Pedestrian Bicycle

Advisory Committee

Santa Rosa Community MarketsBike Raffle.

Community Market organized and managed the raffle ofa Breezer Town Bike and donated the proceeds of $113 to

the SCBC. A big thank you to Community Market for or-ganizing the raffle and for arranging the purchase of theBreezer Bike from NorCal Bike Sport and the Bike Ped-dler. Congratulations to Community Market Bike RaffleWinner Deanna McKenzie and a huge thanks to everyonewho bought tickets and made this a great success!

Rain, rain

The second annual Bike-in Movie was sponsored by thecity of Santa Rosa on May 4th. Even the lure of a freeticket to watch bike film classicBreaking Away at theRialto Cinemas couldnt pull most riders of the sofa and

out of their dry homes on this day of pounding rain. Al-though this year was too rainy and wet for most, we hopeto offer it again next year under clear skies.

SCBC Re-cycle Swap Meet

Our first Bike Swap held on May 15 was a howling success;even the rain couldnt chase away the fun. There were over20 booths stuffed full of cheap bikes and hard to find parts,

we even had a bargain flea market section with house wares,books, and clothing to name a few items to be found. We willbe doing it again and will be looking for bike donations and

fun stuff to sell as a fundraiser to support our good work.Thanks to Doug Simon and all his volunteers for making this

such a success.

Supporting organizationsand businesses

Press DemocratREIRKA LuggageRohnert Park Pedestrian

Bicycle AdvisoryCommittee

Santa Rosa Cyclery

Santa Rosa Junior CollegeSonoma Air Quality

Resource TeamSonoma County Bicycle

Advisory committeeSonoma County

Pedestrian BicycleAdvisory Comittee

Sonoma MountainCyclery

Sonoma Muffin WorksSonoma State UniversitySonoma Technology, Inc.Sonoma Valley Trails

CommitteeTaylor Maid CoffeeThe Hub Cyclery

Whole FoodsWindsor Cycle Center

Bike to Work Awards

As part of celebrating May as Bike to Work month, TheMetropolitan Transportation Commission handed out

awards to the nine bay area counties. Sonoma Countywas honored with three awards at a ceremony in SanFrancisco at Justin Herman Plaza on May 5th, whichincluded speeches, a bike giveaway, and a small expothat included a bicycle-powered smoothie machine. MostImproved Bicycle Community was awarded to the city ofPetaluma because they have demonstrated an improvedcommitment to provide safe and accessible bicycle lanesand pathways throughout their city. Jared Vollmer, Peta-luma Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee mem-ber, received this award for Petaluma.

Outstanding Workplace that Fosters Bicycle Transporta-tion was awarded to Agilent Technologies. Agilent sup-ports their employees in pedaling to work by providingbicycle facilities and also budgets for an on-site bicycleteam. Steve Reddie, Agilent employee, received thisaward in honor of his company.

Sonoma County Bike Commuter of the Year was awardedto Loretta Esparza, a longtime bicycle commuter. Sheuses her bike for a variety of transportation needs: to andfrom university, for errands, recreational activities andjust about any other excuse. She encourages others todo the same. For more information about the awards or

bike transportation, visit www.511.org.

Jared (left) picked up the award for the city of Petaluma, and

Loretta (right) won Bike Commuter of Sonoma County


8/12

8

Beware of the Goat Head!by Lou Salz

It is once again goat head thorn season. Sonoma Countywas hit by heavy rains late in the spring when the tem-peratures were nice and warm. Combine this with bareplaces left by earlier applications of Roundup to clear thenative brush and you have a bumper crop of Tribulusterrestris (also known as goat or bull heads), with theirnasty thorns growing along the edges of roads and paths.

There is a lot of confusion about the plant that holdsthese burrs. It isnt the star thistle. This low-growingplant is an annual with light green foliage and tiny yel-low flowers; it spreads out flat against the ground andproduces a great quantity of thorns. Its one of the fewsmall plants thats still green at this point in the dry sea-son here in the Bay Area. The fruit separates at maturityinto four-seeded segments, each of which is studded with

two or four sharp and rigid spines. As they dry they be-come extremely strong and durable allowing the spinesto penetrate and lodge in bicycle tires, shoes, human feetand the fur of animals. This, along with the possibilitythat seeds may survive for 20 years, aids propagation.

It is possible that this is the only plant growing wild inSonoma County that can cause a flat tire. If you learnto identify it, you can largely avoid it. It is commonthroughout much of the southwest U.S. In the San Fran-

cisco Bay Area it tends to grow in areas where the groundhas been wiped clean of other vegetation (which growsin the rainy season), either by traffic or an herbicide likeRoundup. It doesnt seem to be able to compete withother vegetation in this area. The seeds usually germi-nate in the last rains of the season when the weather haswarmed. The heavy and late May/June rains seem to havesprouted a large crop of it this year. There are some prettybig patches of it along the roads where road crews havesprayed to keep the fire danger down.

If you are having trouble with these thorns, look alongthe side of the roads or trails in areas where you aregetting the flats and see if you can learn to identify theplants. The thorns are pretty heavy and tend not to movevery far from the plant itself, so you can pretty much

avoid the problem by avoiding the plants. Riding in thesame tracks that cars or bicycles follow is a good strategytoo, because the thorns are quickly picked up by previoustires.

The best strategy to avoid goat head flats is to avoid go-ing where they are growing. While prevention productsmay slow down the penetration of the thorn, spikes tendto break off the seed and then work through to the tube.A nasty aspect of these thorns is that they are ingenious

continues on next page

2001 CDFA


9/12

9

Recent Grants, Donations and Awards

in design and tend to have a spike sticking up. If youhave picked up one, often there are others. Tires must becompletely checked over, looking for broken spikes lodgeddeep into the rubber. Thoroughly check even the insidesof the tires; a spike can be just below the surface of thematerial, just waiting for you to hit a bump or provide achance for it to wiggle through to your tube. They thenget you a second time or more. Ive seen spikes on thethorns that are more than 1/4 inch long.

For more information http://www.naturesongs.com/vvplants/puncturevine.html

SCBC received another generous grant from Briant Smithand the WHH foundation.

BIG THANKS TO BRIANT and the GENEROUS DONORSLISTED BELOW we made it to our $4,000 goal!!!!

Richard and Karin Burger for their donation of $100Barbara Denlis for her donation of $100Mike and Janice Eunice for their donation of $500

Eleanor Guerin and Ken Wells $100Claire and Jessie House, $100Veronica Jacobi David Gougler for their

donation of $100Hans Kellner for his donation of $100David Lightfoot for his donation of $100Barbara Moulton for her donation of $100David Noorthoek for his donation of $100Maureen Peterson for her donation of $100Marcia Scanlon for her donation of $50Kurt & Deborah Shaver for their donation of $100Jill Thompson for her donation of $20Warren Watkins for his donation of $115Don & Barbara Wolf for their donation of $50Bunni Zimberoff for her donation of $165WHH Donation of $2,000Agilent Technologies $1,500Santa Rosa Cycling Club $2,570American Lung Association,

Redwood Empire Chapter $5,000WoodenSpoon Technology for donated

bookkeeping and computer IT support

Recent Awards

We received the Advocate of Courage Award presentedby the Sonoma County District Attorney and the VictimAssistance Center for the support given to the SonomaCounty District Attorney in the successful convictions oftwo drunk drivers who killed two cyclists and seriouslyinjured another.

We won the 2005 Clean Air Award honorable mention forTransportation and received recognition from Congress-woman Lynn Woolsey and the California State Assemblyfor this award.

2001 Steven Thorsted

SCBC Executive Director, Chris Culver receiving a

generous donation from Agilents Jeff Weber.


10/12

10

Spare the Air this Summer

and Ride Transit for Free

Summer is here, and with it sometimes we get smoggyair. The Spare the Air program was created to help keepour air clean. The big news for this years program is that21 Bay Area public transit agencies will give free morningcommutes from 4 a.m. until 9 a.m. on the first five (non-holiday) weekday Spare the Air days this summer.

From now until October 14, whenever air-quality fore-casters predict the Bay Area could violate federal air qual-ity standards and a Spare the Air Day is called, the transit

agencies will welcome morning commuters aboardtrains, buses, streetcars and ferries without chargingthem a fare.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District and theMetropolitan Transportation Commission are coordinat-ing the free ride program. Transit agencies offering freemorning rides include the Bay Areas largest operators-- San Franciscos MUNI, BART, AC Transit, SamTrans,Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Caltrain, andGolden Gate Transit. A complete list is below.

Spare the Air days are called when air quality forecastersexpect hot weather and little wind--the perfect recipe forbrewing ground-level ozone. Air quality officials urgepeople to avoid polluting activities such as driving, paint-ing and using barbecue lighter fluid or hairspray.

Spare the Air days will be announced about 1 p.m. theday before, and advisories will be sent out to employers,schools, the media and to people who have signed up atwww.sparetheair.org to get Air Alerts (e-mail notification

of Spare the Air days). More information about the FreeMorning Commute program can be found at www.511.org. For more information about Spare the Air, please visit www.sparetheair.org.

North bay Transit agencies offering free morn-ing rides on Spare the Air Days are:Golden GateTransit; Napa County Vine; Petaluma Transit; Santa RosaCityBus; Sonoma County Transit.

Local SceneGreenwayis expected to be placed at the end of Septem-ber. The Santa Rosa bicycle network is underway!

TheJoe Rodota trail crossing at Stony PointRoadwas completed last month. While it addresses acritical link on this trail, what was installed is a pedes-

trian crosswalk. Please remember that when crossing ina crosswalk you must legally walk your bike. The nextcrossing at Dutton Avenue is next on the list to be added.

Bike Lanes are being added toWest 9th StreetfromWilson Avenue to Dutton Avenue.

Sebstopol

The construction of the trail connection from the JoeRodota Trail across Hwy 12 to Morris Street has startedand should be completed by the end of this year.

Sonoma County

Sonoma County was recently awarded $650,000 fromRegional Bicycle and Pedestrian Program funds throughthe Metropolitan Transportation Commission to com-plete the last stretch of Old Redwood Highwaywith new bike lanes just north of the Windsor Townlimits to Eastside Road.

Petaluma

Lots of great things happening in Petaluma: The WaterStreet Redevelopment project is underway and when fin-ished will create apromenade along the river fromWashington Street to the Balshaw Pedestrian Bridge.

The freewaybicycle and pedestrian overpass con-necting Stuart Street to the old Kenilworth School site isnow unlocked and open 24/7.

The first section of the River Trail is open at theend of Edith Street, connecting to the Lynch Creek Trailvia the Washington Creek Pedestrian Bridge.

Repaving is scheduled this summer for South Ely Boule-vard, South McDowell Boulevard, and Caulfield Lane.

Repaving is complete on Petaluma Boulevard. Northfrom Shasta Ave. to the twin bridges. Unfortunately Peta-

luma gets an F for not following their own master planand installing real bike lanes in this crucial north southcorridor.

Santa Rosa

Joe Rodota trail eastern connection is gaining momen-tum each day. The bicycle and pedestrian bridgethat will connect theJoe Rodota Trail to the Prince


11/12

11

New Transportation Bill will HelpMore Americans Walk and BikeAmerica Bikes News Release July 29, 2005

Everyone who contributed funds or contacted their membersof Congress bicycle suppliers, shop owners, advocates, clubriders should be proud that our efforts convinced membersof Congress that when America bikes, America benefits, saysTim Blumenthal, Executive Director of Bikes Belong, the coali-tion representing the bicycle industry that has provided pri-mary funding for America Bikes.

As in any legislation, the final bill fell short of reaching all ofAmerica Bikes goals. In the final days of House-Senate negoti-ation the Senates Fair Share for Safety provision was removed,

which would have required states to spend their safety funds inproportion to bicycle and pedestrian deaths. Today most statesspend only a tiny fraction of those funds on non-motorizedsafety, despite bicyclist and pedestrian fatality rates averaging13 percent. Another disappointment was the Senates defeat,by a slim margin, of a provision that would have required the

construction of complete streets roads that safely serve allusers.

Despite these disappointments, we are confident that we haveestablished bipartisan momentum for doing more to make allof our streets safe for bicycling and walking, says Clarke.

A number of other provisions will also help improve the envi-ronment for people who bicycle and walk; please check outour website regularly for additional information on all the

provisions. This information will be updated as details becomeavailable.

For more information, contact Barbara McCannat (202) 641-1163.

Editors note: Sonoma County Bicycle Coalitions executivedirector Christine Culver and NorCal Bike Sport and BikePeddler owner Jim Keene traveled twice to Washington,D.C. in the last two years to support the passing of this bill.Next time you see Jim make sure you tell him thanks!

The final federal transportation bill approved by both theHouse and Senate on Friday will launch a new Safe Routes to

School program, and strengthen existing programs that willmake it safer and easier for millions of Americans to bicycleand walk.

This bill will help states provide substantial benefits for adultsand children who ride bicycles, and this will benefit Americaas a whole by helping people avoid traffic congestion, by

producing less air pollution, and by helping more Americanslead active, healthy lives, says Andy Clarke, President of theBoard of America Bikes and Executive Director of the League of

American Bicyclists.

The new Safe Routes to School program, championed by Rep-resentative James Oberstar of Minnesota, is funded at $612

million over 5 years and will help make it safe and convenientfor children to walk to school. Grants administered by stateDepartments of Transportation will allow communities tobuild sidewalks, fix hazards, and slow traffic near schools whileincreasing safety through focused enforcement and education

programs. A smaller new program, the Non-Motorized Trans-portation Pilot Program, will grant each of four designatedcommunities $6.2 million annually over 4 years to developcomprehensive networks for bicycling and walking. The intentis to demonstrate the potential of such networks to shift travel

patterns.

The bill, known as the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient

Transportation Equity Act-Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), alsostrengthens three existing programs of importance to bicycling:Transportation Enhancements, Congestion Mitigation and AirQuality (CMAQ), and Recreational Trails. The TransportationEnhancements program has been a primary source of fund-ing for multi-use trails and other facilities, and funding forthe program is set at approximately $3.5 billion over 5 years.CMAQ helps communities improve air quality with non-pollut-ing solutions. This program will be available in more commu-nities and funding is set at about $8.6 billion over 5 years. TheRecreational Trails program uses off-road vehicle fuel taxes tobuild trails; it will receive a higher portion of the revenue fromthose taxes, receiving $370 million over five years, $100 mil-

lion more than the original allocation in the last bill, TEA-21.

From left to right: Former mayor of Bogot, Enrique Penalosa,

Christine Culver, and Jim Keene at the 2004 National Bicycle Summit


12/12

NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE

PAID

PERMIT NO 25SONOMA COUNTYBICYCLE COALTIONPO BOX 3088SANTA ROSA CA 954023088

7075450153WWW.BIKESONOMA.ORG

promoting the bicycle for transportation and recreation

SCBC Membership FormMembership Support Levels

$15 Student/Low Income $250 Sustaining* $35 Regular Individual* Family Membership add $10 to * levels $60 Contributing* $500 Business or Organization$100 Supporting* $50 Bike Store, add $10 per employee

New Renewal

NAME LAST (PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY) FIRST

ADDRESS STREET/BOX NUMBER

CITY/TOWN STATE ZIP

PHONE DAY EVENING

EMAIL (TO RECEIVE SCBCS EUPDATES) DATE

DO NOT SHARE MY INFORMATION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

ON A SEPERATE SHEET:

PLEASE LIST FAMILY MEMBERS IF THIS IS A FAMILY MEMBERSHIP

PLEASE LIST EMPLOYEES IF THIS IS A BIKE STORE MEMBERSHIP

I want to volunteer

Grant Writing Bike to Work Other ___________________________

Valet Bike Parking Staff an informational table ___________________________________

Fund-raising Events Advocacy in your town ___________________________________

W lk & R ll t S h l

N l tt di t ib ti i t

Make checks payable to:

SONOMA COUNTY BICYCLE COALTIONPO BOX 3088, SANTA ROSA CA 954023088

Id like to make an additional taxdeductible donation of $___________

5x 1.5

11.5x 3

2x 2.75Sizes: S to XXL

NEW!

T-shirt DesignSCBC Stickers QUANTITY COST

Membership (select category below) $ _________

Tax Deductible Donation $ _________

T-shirt $10 ($15 non-member) ______ Size ______ $ _________

Yellow Share the Road bumper sticker $1 each ______ $ _________

Live Free or Drive bike sticker 50 each ______ $ _________

White Share the Road bike sticker 50 each ______ $ _________

Traffic Slayerbike sticker 50 each ______ $ _________

Total $ _________

ma Newsletter, 14, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition

Documents

Transcript of ma Newsletter, 14, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition