October
1995

Bicycle Coalition gains nonprofit status

• The Bicycle Coalition has been granted nonprofit status in an "advance ruling" by the Internal Revenue Service. Their final ruling will follow soon, but we expect it to be the same.
• The process of becoming a nonprofit corporation was begun over two years ago by past president Tricia Davis and attorney Lee Carter. It is finally being completed. Coalition treasurer Gary Wissman was instrumental in filling out applications for the state and US government. We are grateful to all those involved for their generous and professional effort.
• What this means is that the Coalition is now in a position to received grants and tax-deductible gifts. We are officially a 501(c)(3) corporation, which refers to the section of the IRS Code that exempts us from taxation.
• We are now eligible to be designated as a recipient of United Way donations. Coalition president Ralph Fertig recently discussed our status with financial director Jerold Newton at United Way. Newton said that those who wish to designate us should write "Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition" on the blank "Other" line on their Optional Designation Form. A small administrative amount is retained by United Way, but most of the donation is sent on to us in February and August. Please consider us—it's only monthly donations from Coalition officers that currently keeps us afloat.
• Finally, we hope to receive reduced rates for mailing Quick Release. An application for what the Postal Service calls "Special Third-Class Rates" has been submitted. It does not come automatically with our nonprofit status; only certain nonprofit organizations—including educational ones like us—may qualify. If the Postal Service judges in our favor, our postage rates will drop by nearly half.

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New rumble strip material may save cyclists



Wilson Hubbell, standing in front of the County commuting bicycle storage enclosure, holds up some sample dots of Spotflex striping material. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Wilson Hubbell, County alternative transportation coordinator, attended the Walkable and Bicycle Friendly Communities Workshop last August 23-24. While there, he discovered a fairly new road lane marking treatment "Spotflex" that has been successfully applied to highways in several Southeastern states since 1991.
• The material is machine-applied in liquid dots that settle and cure within 30 minutes. Each 0.5" diameter dot is spaced an inch on center in rows of the selected width. The dots come colored white or yellow, and have reflective glass beads immediately sprayed on them. The bumps not only provide an audible hum when cars cross them, they offer bright reflectance under dim and dark conditions.
• We are interested in this new material for several reasons:
• Noise-generating roadway edge treatment will alert inattentive drivers who are veering onto shoulders where bicyclists are riding.
• The County has several high-traffic, high-speed roads that provide touring and road cyclists with the only routes for many destinations.
• Three cyclists have been killed and several others seriously injured over the past few years when struck by motor vehicles while bicycling on the Highway 101 shoulder within 50 miles of Santa Barbara.
• Coalition president Ralph Fertig is working with Hubbell to write preliminary rumble strip guidelines for presentation to the California Bicycle Advisory Committee [see September 1995 Quick Release].
• Compared to other methods of rumble strip treatment, Spotflex appears to have many advantages and few of the shortcomings. It does not reduce the "sweeping" action of passing traffic that blows debris off the shoulder. According to Dan Burden, bicycle coordinator for Florida, it is perfectly ridable by bicyclists with the narrowest road tires without disruption. It can either replace or be applied over the fog line (right road lane edge) stripe. It takes no valuable shoulder space from cyclists. And finally, the glass beads give it an extra grip when wet.
• A possible problem might occur at high altitudes where snow plows could snag the material. Also, cost is always a factor, and we don't yet know what the application and maintenance expenses will be.
• The treatment is very appealing and the County is looking into its possible use. For details, contact Spotflex USA at 800-710-7768 or Hubbell at 568-3046.

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Highway 101 widening contention grows

• Caltrans has made the choice between widening Highway 101 to six lanes east of Santa Barbara or implementing a series of alternative transportation measures (like more bike facilities) more complex by offering a third plan: make ten "operational improvements" along the highway. The cost would be $71 million instead of the full widening cost of $130 (or so) million or the alternative package at $60 million.
• Those "improvements" would mean the removal of nearly as many trees and shrubs as the total widening project. Even more disturbing is Caltrans' new statement that they no longer have funding to maintain the existing trees along that particular stretch, and following any new construction, there will be no money for landscaping. What's more, the decision to go ahead with any plan must be made by late November, which precludes viewing the required Environmental Impact Report beforehand.
• It seems clear that Caltrans' funding sources are greatly diminished, but it's incredible that they have decided to use our money only for removing trees and paving, but nothing for replanting or landscape maintenance. With all the noise about Caltrans' tough stance and new proposal, alternatives have taken a back seat. Bicyclists may be left in the dust of new construction and traffic if we don't speak louder.

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Bike education grants awarded

• The Community Traffic Safety Program recently announced funding for several bicycle and pedestrian safety programs within Santa Barbara County. The bicycle grants went to the following:
• Santa Barbara Middle School. Expand a program that helps 8th & 9th graders to instruct elementary students in bike maintenance and safety.
• UCSB's Community Service Organization. Provide bicycle and helmet information to students and staff through a media campaign, bike safety fair, and bike safety check programs.
• Santa Barbara City College's Student Health Services Department. Promote bike safety through a media campaign and Bike Safety and Information Fair.
• Kellogg School (Goleta). Fund a Bicycle Safety Week with a poster contest, safety videos, a bike rodeo, and demonstrations.
• Steve Morris' Defensive Driving School. Present bike and pedestrian safety exhibits to preschools and elementary schools in the County.
• Another round of grants is upcoming, and the Bicycle Coalition could apply for funding. Any ideas about what we could do?

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Be poetic! Win a prize! Entertain thousands!

• While bicycling around, have you ever thought of a clever series of bike-related signs? Well, here's your chance to claim the renown that you deserve. Look at this sample:
• Although insured
  Listen kiddo
  They don't pay you
  They pay
  Your widow.
  Bicycle safely!
• The County Sheriff, the Solvang Conference & Visitors Bureau, and the Solvang Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring a "Burma-Shave" type sign contest for the upcoming Solvang Prelude ride this November. Ten winners will be selected by the Sheriff's Cycling Advisory Board that includes several members of the Bicycle Coalition. Prizes are still being solicited, but they will include cash, gift certificates, free dining, and free lodging.
• The contest is being promoted through the Solvang schools, but it's open to everybody. There's no limit to the number of entries you can submit. You just have to send your entries to arrive by October 17th with your name, address and phone number to:
• Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition
  PO Box 92047
  Santa Barbara, CA 93190-2047

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Coalition Board works on organization's future

• On September 13th, the Bicycle Coalition's Board of Directors met to enjoy a pot luck dinner and discuss our directions and priorities.
• Possibly the most important issue was to provide the Coalition with a solid financial base. It was decided to have an official paying membership, but not to link it absolutely with a subscription of Quick Release. That is, there are some individuals or organizations who would receive our monthly newsletter on a complementary basis—for example, the County Supervisors, all bicycle shops in the County, and South Coast Employee Transportation Coordinators (ETCs). On the other hand, any individual who contributed to the Bicycle Coalition as a member would be mailed Quick Release. Details, including a slight rewording of the bylaws, have to be worked out.
• Following the creation an official membership came a discussion of how to prioritize our needs for funding. Certainly office supplies and publishing Quick Release are necessary, but other suggestions—like educational videos, bumper stickers, promotional material—need to be considered in depth.
• Finally, a number of possible projects were considered. Although here they are mixed up, it was decided to separate them into short- and long-term projects, and classify by Coalition committee. The following were suggested:
• Bike racks on MTD & North County buses
• Bike detection and location markings at signals
• Educational safety video for public access TV
• Rumble strips on popular highways
• Bicycle Coalition Web page on Internet
• County-wide bicycling Web page
• Emergency email and fax alert system
• Regularly published newspaper letters & articles
• Signed bike routes
• Bike rack & locker brokerage program
• Bike violator course
• Bike restoration program
• Provide bicyclist-attracting information for local lodging and dining
• Promote Santa Barbara County as a recreational bicycling destination
• Mail "Bike SB" packages to California bike clubs
• Create periodic awards for individuals
• Sponsor legal "critical mass" rides
• Provide bike "valet parking" info to local groups
• Advocate a SB City Bicycle Advisory Committee
• Offer pro-bike presentations to local groups
• Provide architects with bike-friendly ideas
• Promote attendance at ProBike ¹96, Portland ME
• Sell Santa Barbara as the site for ProBike ¹98
• Outreach to Lompoc, Santa Maria, Solvang
• Public service announcements on TV
• Bike photo & video clip library
• Bike to Work Day & Earth Day activities.

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Private investigation into Bilski's death begins



Stanlye Richard Bilski, 1964-1995.

• Bicyclist Stan Bilski was killed on June 12th when a car turned left in front of him as he descended Tunnel Road near Santa Barbara. Bilski had the right of way, but the County District Attorney decided that no charges would be filed against the driver. [See July & August 1995 Quick Release.]
• Richard and Monica Bilski, Stan's parents, have recently retained Los Angeles lawyer Gary Brustin to investigate. "We are anxious for the true facts to be known for our peace of mind," offered Monica Bilski. "Our son was neither stupid nor careless which makes the accident as described in the police report incredible."
• Brustin, an avid bicyclist himself for 30 years, specializes in bicyclist accidents. He has personally sponsored many individual cyclists and bicycling organizations throughout Southern California, and has frequently lectured on bicycling safety.
• The results of the investigation may or may not become known to us, depending upon whether the Bilskis decide to press charges or not. The Bilskis of course have total right to proceed as they wish. However, many others who have reviewed the police report feel that it inadequately assesses the situation and wrongly blames Bilski for the accident. Accordingly, they hope that the results of this new investigation will be released.

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Another Caltrans contact

• The September Quick Release listed our Caltrans District 5 office contact as Danielle Lloyd in Public Affairs. A more direct contact there is Kris Bowden who is assuming the bicycling functions that Scott Eades previously had. Contact her at:
• Kris Bowden, phone 549-3225
  California Department of Transportation
  50 Higuera Street
  San Luis Obispo, CA 93403

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Coalition bike repair program gains support

• The July Quick Release reported that the Coalition's Safety & Education Committee has been considering a program that accepts discarded bikes and either repairs them or trains young people to repair them. Since then, several individuals have phoned Committee chair Steve Morris expressing interest in the program.
• Most recently, Arnie Schildhaus who works for County Mental Health Services came to our September 6th meeting to offer to help establish one. He has leads on free available space and possible funding sources. Several people at the meeting signed up as being interested.
• Morris will be moving ahead shortly with the proposal, so phone him at 965-7979 or come to our general meeting October 4th when the next step will be discussed.

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RAIN offers Bicycle Coalition free Web space

• A tri-county nonprofit network access provider named Regional Alliance for Information Networking (RAIN) has offered us 4 MB free space on their system for a World Wide Web (WWW) home page and presence on the Internet.
• The desirability of linking Coalition members through the Web is increasing as the Web grows by 10% a month. We would be able to post our past newsletters, information on regional bicycle clubs, and possibly most important, announcements of upcoming meetings, hearings, and public workshops that are vital to our interests.
• The offer is being made to nonprofit organizations in the three county region (Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo). It includes free assistance in formatting our material for posting on the Web. Come to our October 4th meeting to discuss the possibilities.

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Police catch bike thieves

• According to the September 15 Santa Barbara News-Press, a mass bicycle theft was stopped when UCSB police and Sheriff's Department deputies arrested two men on campus with a truck full of bicycles. Police were alerted to the thefts by witnesses who saw them loading bikes into the truck after midnight at Francisco Torres residence hall in Isla Vista.
• The two men, both 20 years old, were from Ventura and Moorpark. A third suspect escaped on bicycle. We're pleased that the theft was promptly reported and our law enforcement officers took swift action.

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Four bike applications now vie for CREF funding



Ortega Hill Road shown here would become a bicycling option if a new CREF bikepath is funded. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Two bicycle projects were described in the September Quick Release (the Carpinteria Bikepath and the Los Ba“os del Mar Bikeway). Since then, two new projects have entered the competition.
• All projects are contending over the 1996 Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund (CREF) that will be decided by the County Board of Supervisors late this year. According to Kathy McNeal Pfeifer, CREF coordinator, nearly $800,000 is currently available. The four bikeway projects must contend with other proposals that were submitted by the September 21st deadline. The new bike projects are the following:
• The Santa Maria/Guadalupe Dunes Bikeway. This proposal is jointly sponsored by the County and the City of Santa Maria. It calls for an unpaved multipurpose trail a mile long on the south side of the Santa Maria River from Guadalupe to the Dunes. It is another segment of the envisioned bikepath that runs from Santa Maria to the Ocean. A segment within the Santa Maria city limits has already been funded with $400,000 Federal TEA money.
• Ortega Hill Bikeway. Officially named "Class I Bikeway between Montecito and Summerland on Orgega Hill," this paved path will provide an alternative for commuting and recreational cyclists traveling between Summerland and Montecito. It will occupy a ledge just above the Northbound lane of Highway 101 and connect into Ortega Hill Road at both ends. The owner of the adjacent property, QAD Inc, has granted an easement for the path near Sheffield Road. In a related development, QAD is working with Summerland groups to create unpaved trails on their spectacular property.
• For details on the Santa Maria/Guadalupe Dunes Bikeway, call John Shoals at 925-0951 x244; for the Ortega Hill Bikeway, call Wilson Hubbell at 568-3046. And if you want better bicycling, write or phone your County Supervisor asking him or her to vote for these projects.

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Dogged cyclist dogs sheriff for dog action

• Goleta bicyclist David Madajian broke his leg last June 5th when an unleashed dog ran in front of him while he was bicycle commuting from work along the Atascadero Bikepath. From the hospital, he phoned the Sheriff's office to file an accident report; they sent him to the Highway Patrol, who said it wasn't their job either. Nobody, it seems, knew who was responsible for that popular transportation corridor in the unincorporated County.
• Now, after recuperating for 15 weeks, Madajian finally bicycled back to work September 18th. What did he see: four dogs with their owners, only one on a leash. Next day, five dogs, this time two on leashes. He has requested that Sheriff Jim Thomas enforce the County's compulsory leash law along the bikepath.
• National numbers show that about 10% of serious bicyclist injuries involve dogs. Dogs rarely kill, but who has four months to recover from a dog crash that happened because the owner chose to disregard the law?

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SB City encroachment fee waived for bike racks

• According the Santa Barbara Independent, business owners in the City of Santa Barbara who asked about installing bike racks in front of their businesses to accommodate bicyclists were told that they must pay $480 for an "encroachment permit." That's on top of buying the rack and having it installed. Accordingly, nobody went ahead with it in spite of the advantages.
• Rob Dayton with the City's Department of Transportation looked into the situation and determined that the racks were quasi-public improvements. Therefore, the encroachment permit fee would not apply.
• If you're interested in serving bicyclists by installing a rack in front of your business, call the City at 564-5385.