I saw an interesting subtext in the discussion last Wednesday night when the Arcata City Council failed to reach agreement on the H Street sidewalk widening project between Ninth and 11th streets. The council faced the choice of providing more space to widen the sidewalks by either eliminating the bike lane or limiting parking to the east side of H Street. There was a lot of discussion of different options for accommodating bicycles if the bike lane was eliminated, but little discussion of how to more creatively accommodate parking.
Dear Readers,
This Community Wheel focuses on the relationship between the economy and our transportation system. I certainly found plenty to talk about on this topic with economist Steve Hackett (p. 8).
Yes our economy is doing poorly. We experienced a huge gas price spike last summer, and gave a lot of our money to OPEC nations for a few more miles of driving. We are now indebted to them – literally, and it’s time to stop spending frivolously and start paying it back.
January 13, 2008
Kim Floyd
Project Manager
California Department of Transportation
P. O. Box 3700
Eureka, CA 95502 – 3700
Dear Ms. Floyd,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the new modified alternatives for the 101 Eureka Arcata Corridor Project. While the less expensive Alternative 1A provides an option that is somewhat more affordable, Caltrans has failed thus far to adequately justify the project or to address the impacts this project would have on non-motorized users of the corridor.
The light-hearted banter at the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District meeting on Friday, November 14th at the Wharfinger Building in Eureka served as a metaphor for the way the Commission chose, in a 3-2 vote, to move forward with a Redwood Marine Terminal development project that still contains an extremist rail-dependent container port in its long term plans.
“With all economic factors indicating the US is headed for a long recession, some experts are suggesting that the government should stop dumping all of our money into an enormous hole … Driving truckloads of money out into the New Mexico desert and dumping it into a massive pit is one of America’s greatest traditions.”
Transit operations in California are primarily funded by fares, and a “Local Transportation Fund” generated by a quarter cent sales tax, part of the Transportation Development Act (TDA). In the neighboring counties of Mendocino, Trinity and Del Norte, these TDA funds from the sales tax are spent almost entirely on transit with some money going to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Not so in Humboldt County.
The City of Novato settled its lawsuit with the North Coast Railroad Authority on Nov. 4, enabling the NCRA to award $8.9 million in contracts for bridge and track repair at its Nov. 12 meeting.
The Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) will soon decide whether the county will focus future development in existing communities or convert more farmland and timberland to suburban sprawl.
After a 6-month hiatus, the Humboldt County General Plan Update process has yet again sprung into action with the release of a new draft last month and a new tentative schedule of hearings for public input set to begin early in 2009. The new General Plan, once completed, will be the blueprint for future development across unincorporated areas of the County.
Happy faces and bright helmets were part of the kids’ bike rodeo on October 19 at Festejando Nuestra Salud, the LatinoNet Spanish-language Health Fair. Bike rodeos are great ways for children and adults to learn about being a safe bike rider on city streets. Learning bike skills and rules of the road helps children become confident and safe bike riders.
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