September
1995

Caltrans provides ongoing contact with bicyclists in County



The popular Maria Ygnacio bikeway as it passes under the railroad and Highway 101. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• For years, the mandate of the California Department of Transportation has been to design, build and maintain highways for motor vehicles. They do a great job. In the past decade, however, they have been expanding their exclusive concern with motor vehicle traffic to encompass additional modes of transportation such as rail, bus, bicycling, and walking.
• When planning for bicyclists, Caltrans has provided an unpredictable range of results—safe accommodations, no notice of us, or very dangerous situations. Increasingly, though, our five-county Caltrans District 5 regional office in San Luis Obispo has been listening to us and attempting to serve our needs for the highways under their control. In several contexts, bicyclists within our County are now being effected by Caltrans as follows:
• Maria Ygnacio bikeway
• The first time that bicyclists heard about Caltrans' proposed closing the popular Maria Ygnacio bikeway in Goleta was when Caltrans' booklet Santa Barbara Moving Forward was distributed in early August. The booklet describes five South Coast highway projects, including the replacement of two bridges over Maria Ygnacio Creek and the adjacent bikeway. The booklet warned us that the $2.2 million project "Ùwill have a significant impact on cyclists and pedestrians," and the bikeway "could be closed for extended periods of time." It begins in September 1995 and continues for a year.
• The booklet describes how Caltrans will minimize disrupting Highway 101 traffic by working nights; it urges motorists to use alternative transportation like biking during construction.
• Wilson Hubbell immediately phoned Caltrans about the closing. This resulted in a special meeting in San Luis Obispo that produced a construction amendment to limit the bikeway closure to 24 days or less. We realize that it's essential to close the bikepath in order to demolish the concrete bridges, and we appreciate Caltrans working to shorten our inconvenience.
• Highway 101 widening
• Expanding 101 through Montecito and Carpinteria to six lanes has been contentious since Caltrans' Draft Environmental Impact Report was published. [See February & August 1995 Quick Release.] Briefly, bicyclists have much to gain if transportation alternatives are funded instead of highway widening—possibly a complete South Coast bikeway network and rising bicycle usage.
• Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig had an "opinion editorial" that advocated the alternatives published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on August 11. "I received almost a dozen congratulatory phone calls and letters," remarked Fertig, "indicating intense concern."
• On August 17th, Coalition members Jean Thomson, Gary Wissman, Dave Beamer, and others went to the Association of Governments (SBCAG) meeting to speak for alternatives instead of widening. Virtually all public speakers there favored alternatives. A decision will be made by SBCAG directors by mid-December.
• Rumble strips
• In June, the Bicycle Coalition requested that Caltrans install corrugated rumble strips on Highway 246 between Buellton and Solvang to increase bicyclist safety. [See July 1995 Quick Release.] James Alessi from Caltrans sought guidance from the California Bicycle Advisory Committee (CBAC) at their August 3rd meeting. Ralph Fertig from the Bicycle Coalition obtained online opinions about rumble strips before the meeting and sent them to Rick Blunden, the California bicycle coordinator. The CBAC had divided opinions, so Blunden has now asked Fertig and Wilson Hubbell to prepare rumble strip guidelines by mid September.
• Bicyclist representation
• Scott Eades was appointed as Caltrans District 5 assistant bicycle coordinator late in 1993, but he was let go early this year. Although his position was only half time, we felt good knowing that somebody was representing our interests at the San Luis Obispo district headquarters.
• Although there is no direct replacement for Eades, there is a principal contact that we should use:
• Danielle Lloyd, phone 568-0858
  Public Affairs Office
  California Department of Transportation
  50 Higuera Street
  San Luis Obispo, CA 93403
• Our Caltrans district also has a World Wide Web site that you can find at: www.callamer.com/~ipctrans. They have a weekly update on road repairs around the district, but the only bicycle information—called "Bike Lane info"—is an outdated section placed by Eades months ago.
• Bicycle Touring Guide
• Scott Eades was instrumental in developing a District 5 Bicycle Touring Guide that shows where cyclists can use freeways and what alternatives exist where we can't. A prototype of the booklet was distributed for comment last June, and Tim Brummer, Wilson Hubbell and others responded with helpful suggestions. We hope that the guide will be published this fall.
• Fairview Avenue overpass
• On July 5th, James Alessi and Paula Huddleston from Caltrans joined us at our monthly Bicycle Coalition meeting to discuss bicyclist accommodations over Highway 101 at Fairview Avenue in Goleta. [See August 1995 Quick Release.] The possibility of saving money on bikelanes on the bridge and putting it toward a separate bike bridge was explored. Alessi stressed that Caltrans obligation ended with replacing the deteriorating overpass with an equal structure and any additional development was the responsibility of the County. He did comment, however, that elected County and State officials can influence the allocation of funds. We were guaranteed that wide bike lanes would be striped on the new overcrossing. As for a separate bicycle overcrossing, we'll get one somehow.

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CREF funding sought for two new bikepaths

• Two bicycle-related projects may gain funding from the 1996 Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund (CREF). The CREF money comes from pollution mitigation charges paid by oil companies within Santa Barbara County. Petitions have been distributed by supporters of both projects to local bike shops and other locations—look for them and sign them this month if you want these new bikepaths. The projects are the following:
• Carpinteria Bikepath. This half-mile path, located between Highway 101 and the Southern Pacific Railroad, will connect Santa Claus Lane with Carpinteria Avenue. It will provide a safer and shorter bike route for many workers and recreational riders bicycling between Santa Barbara, Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria.
• Los Baños del Mar Bikeway. This Santa Barbara path will start at the upcoming traffic signal at Rancheria and Montecito Streets, pass through Pershing Park, and connect with Los Banos del Mar pool and the Beach Bikeway. The project will provide safe access for Westside residents to beach recreation and jobs, City College student access from the Eastside, and through bike routes from Goleta to Montecito that avoid downtown traffic.
• For details on the Carpinteria Bikepath, call Wilson Hubbell at 568-3046. For the Los Baños del Mar Bikeway, call Donn Longstreet at 965-4058. In addition to the petitions, write a letter to your County Supervisor asking him or her to vote for either or both projects.

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Doctors Support Bicycling
by Peter Jacobsen

• Support for bicycling continues to grow in the medical community. Dr. Fleur Fischer, Head of Science for the British Medical Association, wrote the following in an article for the British newspaper, The Independent (June 15, 1995):
• "We think the government should positively discriminate in favour of cycling. Cycling improves strength and endurance, reduces the risk of heart disease, and contributes to lower weight and blood pressure. It's a health benefit to the community, because cycling doesn't pollute as car driving does. The government should put cyclist training on the national curriculum in schools and introduce random breath-testing for car drivers."

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Prizes for biking to work

• Traffic Solutions is sponsoring a "Rideshare Week" from October 2nd to 6th. Created to encourage ridesharing and other non-single-occupant driving to work in order to alleviate traffic congestion and air pollution, the event includes, fortuitously, bicycling.
• According to Lori Risque from Traffic Solutions, local businesses are donating thousands of dollars of prizes to be raffled off to participants. What you have to do is bicycle to work that week, fill out a pledge card from Traffic Solutions, and return it by October 10th. Get a card from your employee transportation coordinator (ETC) at work or phone Risque at 963-7283 for one.
• Everybody who participates gets a free bowling game at San Marcos Bowl plus a chance to win other prizes. Hey, what a great world this is when you get a prize for just bicycling!

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Gandy sees opportunities in political turmoil

• Speaking at a California Bicycle Coalition meeting on August 18th in Los Angeles, Charles Gandy from the Bicycle Federation of America noted that these are times of political upheaval. The decline of the Democratic Party is leaving a vacuum where everything is being reexamined. All issues are on the table for discussion, including ISTEA, the huge 1991 federal transportation bill that has brought a vast infusion of funding for bicycling projects.
• Bicyclists must make their concerns known to their representatives in Washington, or larger organized interests will run us down. Curiously, recreational sports like bicycling are about the only US industries where the consumers are the advocates. Possibly too late, bicycle manufacturers are realizing that their fortunes will rise or fall with funding for bicycling facilities.
• With or without any bicycle industry help, we must publicize the beneficial aspects of bicycling. Lifestyle, says Gandy, is now more important to most people than jobs or money. Livable communities are becoming increasingly important to Americans. A recent survey shows that bicycle paths have replaced golf courses as the most desirable neighborhood amenity.
• What can we do to help? Three things, suggests Gandy:
• Create sustainable advocacy groups—ones that have a durable structure, incoming funding, and a flow of new active members.
• Push for continued federal funding of bicycle transportation.
• Make sure that all levels of government have employees to handle bicycling issues.

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Hubbell is reappointed

• On August 15, the County Board of Supervisors conducted a one-year review of the appointment of Wilson Hubbell as alternative transportation coordinator. A letter from the Bicycle Coalition supported the continuation of Hubbell in his position, and the Supervisors voted unanimously for exactly that.
• The Bicycle Coalition was especially instrumental in pressing for the creation of the position last year. Bicyclists all over the County have benefited greatly from having Hubbell hold this position, but they aren't the only ones. According to Hubbell, handling of bicycling issues has been streamlined because there is now a central person rather than many in Public Works who had been previously coping with bicycling requests, complaints and general accommodations.
• An example of how we benefit occurred a few weeks ago concerning Baseline Road in the Santa Ynez Valley. Hubbell heard in the County's Public Works hallways that Baseline was slated for repaving. Realizing that it was designated in SBCAG's Regional Bikeway Study for Class II bikelanes, he asked about getting new bikelanes on the shoulder. The reply was, "Go get funding to pay for widening it, then come back." But when Hubbell saw that the road was to be striped for 13' lanes and 2' shoulders, he asked, "Is there any reason why it can't be striped for 11' lanes and 4' shoulders?" The answer was "no," so everybody agreed that when it's repaved and restriped, we'll get official 4' Caltrans-width bikelanes on Baseline at no extra cost.
• We're pleased to know that Hubbell is watching out for our interests, and we're looking forward to a long and beneficial relationship. Phone him any time at 568-3046.

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CABOforum’s bike news

• An online service provided by the California Association of Bicycling Organizations (CABO) offers California bicyclists a forum for discussing important issues that affect us. Started early in 1995, CABOforum's growth has come not only within California, but from over the US and even from some foreign countries.
• If you subscribe to an online service that has Internet access, you can subscribe to CABOforum by sending an email message to majordomo@cycling.org with a text line of:
• subscribe caboforum
• For a subject, you can enter anything. There is no charge for the service. After you subscribe, you will receive a welcome message telling you about CABO, CABOforum and Cycling.org. Hopefully, you will make contributions of your ideas to others, helping us all sprint forward.

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State Street bikelanes



Bicyclists ride on the new State Street stripe. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• In response to requests from the Bicycle Coalition for safer bicycling conditions on downtown State Street, the City of Santa Barbara striped in a bike lane on August 18th along the first half of each block. "It's possibly safer than before," commented Ralph Fertig, "but I certainly wish that they had given more room for bicyclists. I never for a moment considered that anybody would stripe it so narrowly."
• The newly-striped eight-block section of State Street between Haley and Victoria Streets has on-demand pedestrian stop lights in mid block, and two traffic lanes in the second half of each block (typically one right turn and one straight ahead) with a slot striped between them for bicyclists. The traffic lanes are 9' to 10' wide.
• In the first half of each block, the available space is 15' wide. On the right side, the concrete curb pan extends 18" into the street. For the 900-through-1200 blocks of State Street, there is a broken, uneven, pot-holed space between the asphalt paving and the pan which attentive bicyclists avoid. The 15' space could have been divided into 10' cars/5' bicycles or 11' cars/4' bicycles. (Caltrans bikelane standards are 4' minimum.) But the City striped it for a 3' bikelane, leaving bicyclists with only 18" left of the broken edge.
• On August 22nd, Fertig observed bicyclists and drivers in the newly striped section of the 1200 block of State Street for a half hour at noon. No bicyclists rode within two feet of the curb, and as many rode outside the new bike lane stripe as on the inside. The drivers entered the block in the left side of the lane because that's where they came from in the prior block. By mid block, they had moved into the middle of their perceived car lane, placing them in conflict with bicyclists. People travel in the middle of their spaces unless there is a good reason, like broken pavement or other hazards, not to.
• Rob Dayton from the City Public Works looked at the striping and was struck by its narrowness. He is attempting to determine how it happened and what might be done to make it safer for everybody. We'll be watching.

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APA meeting to feature bicycle workshop

• A three-day regional conference of the American Planning Association in Santa Barbara will offer participants a mobile bike workshop on October 1st. Led in small groups by local bicyclists with an interest in planning, the tour will highlight good and poor facilities between Fess Parker's Red Lion Resort and Goleta Beach County Park. We are currently creating a list of tour highlights to show to the visiting community planners and we welcome suggestions. Phone Ralph Fertig at 962-1479 (home) or Wilson Hubbell at 568-3046 (work) with your ideas.

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Following bike legislation

• For those of you who have access to the Internet's World Wide Web, you can read and track California state bills through the legislative process. Sponsored by the state Senate, the Web site allows you to subscribe to a given bill and have email sent to you appraising you of each step.
• As an example, suppose that you wish to track SB 726 ("SB" means Senate Bill). That's a real transportation omnibus bill that contains Vehicle Code changes to allow two bikes on all bus bike racks. You direct your Web browser to: www.sen.ca.gov
• Once there, you can search for senators, general information about the legislative process, and under "Legislative (Search Bill Text)," you can enter "SB 726" to find out its history. There you can click a box to subscribe to that bill. (By the way, SB 726 just passed an Assembly hearing on August 23.)
• Although the language used in bills is often arcane, we now have a mechanism to track a bill's progress and our elected representatives' votes.

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Notes from August 2 Bicycle Coalition meeting
by Sandra Wintermoss

• In attendance: Ralph Fertig, Wilson Hubbell, Robert Bernstein, Alan Bergquist, Pat Maurice, David Madajian, Rob Dayton, Benjamin Sawyer, Jerome L. Mercer, Greg Nielsen, Robert Bernstein and Sandra Wintermoss.
• Ralph Fertig: Caltrans replied to Tim Brummer's letter about making Harris Grade an official bike route; they will make it a Highway 1 alternate.
• — Tom Evans, a cyclist from Summerland, sent a new map of proposed bike trails & asked for help.
• — Newsletter crisis: Now it costs $118/month to produce and mail, mostly postage.
• — California Bicycle Coalition is holding a meeting in Los Angeles on Aug 18. CABO is having its meeting in Saratoga on Aug 27. The Bicycle Federation of America is having a conference in Davis on Oct 14-15. All who can should attend.
• — Death of bicyclist Stan Bilski. LA lawyer Gary Bruston visited the site, took measurements, read the police report, & consulted with the family, but we don't know if he's been retained.
• Wilson Hubbell: We should do as in Mexico—put in a cross for each death.
• Alan Bergquist: There should be warning signs.
• Rob Dayton: We can put signs up, but need to focus on a sign package. Our efforts would be better served to educate the general public.
• Greg Nielsen: It's easy to go 35-40 mph there.
• Robert Bernstein: If someone turns in front of the cyclist without warning, nothing matters
• Pat Maurice: It is a potentially dangerous area.
• Sandra Wintermoss: Education is vital.
• Rob Dayton: John Forester has a video Effective Cycling. We could produce a similar video using ourselves as cast members. Run it on local TV.
• Wilson Hubbell: Bikepath North of Highway 246 has been funded for $555,000, but now there is opposition. Can the CMAQ money be moved?
• Greg Nielsen: The project was awarded on competition basis, not to the County itself. CMAQ is not being fully funded by the State. The $555,000 could be used to rescue those projects.
• Benjamin Sawyer: Is there support for bikepath?
• Wilson Hubbell: There was from Solvang as a tourist recreational trail.
• Rob Dayton: Bikes and pedestrians don't mix—it fosters collisions and deaths.
• Ralph Fertig: Alternative transportation versus 101 widening meeting was 2 weeks ago. Public discussions at City Council & SBCAG Aug 15 & 17.
• Robert Bernstein: We need letters in SB News-Press. The County should request the State to raise the gas tax to pay for local road paving.
• Wilson Hubbell: A problem is that gas tax is now per gallon, so revenue drops as inflation rises.
• Rob Dayton: If you have to put in 8 lanes after 6, why not preserve what we have & change our lifestyle now? Congestion is beneficial. Berkeley put in barricades to create congestion. Roads create congestion. Time to work has not changed since the horse & buggy era: 40 minutes one way.
• Robert Bernstein: Pre-industrial time to earn transportation and commute was 5%; now it's 40%.