November 2010
WHEEL PEOPLE |
VOL. 29 NO. 6 |
November 2010 |
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Newsletter of the Humboldt Bay Bicycle Commuters Association P. O. Box 9054 Eureka CA 95502 THANKS TO THE NEW AND RENEWED MEMBERS FOR 2010 AND 2011 New Members:
Renewed Members for 2010:
Those with a ** have made additional donations to the HBBCA. Those with *** have made donations of $25 or more. Thank you for your generous donations to the HBBCA. THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING TO BE HELD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22ND IN ARCATA The next regular HBBCA meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m., November 22nd at Carmela’s Mexican Restaurant, 13th and G Streets in Arcata. Dinner is optional. Agenda items may be suggested by emailing Rick Knapp at info@humbike.org GAIL POPHAM TO BE SECRETARY/TREASURER OF HBBCA Gail Popham has come forward to take some of the duties from Rick Knapp. She will be the Secretary/Treasurer of the HBBCA. In that role, she will collect mail, deposit funds, send membership cards when members join or renew their memberships; and keep personal data up to date on members. Those of us on the Board are very appreciative of Gail stepping forward to help. Gail is a true bike commuter, one who rides to work EVERY DAY!! BICYCLE DETOUR FOR CYCLISTS AT ROUTE 101 MAD RIVER BRIDGE PROJECT Stage 2 of the Route 101 Mad River Bridge Replacement Project has begun. This entails removing the old southbound bridge and building a new northbound bridge. For Stage 2, almost all motorized traffic has been moved to the recently completed southbound bridge except for the northbound Central Avenue off-ramp traffic. All traffic lanes are now about 11 feet wide and lined by concrete K-rail. What this means is that there is not enough room for motor vehicles to overtake bicycles in the construction zone. Bicycles are therefore required to use a detour around the construction zone using the Hammond Trail bridge over the Mad River. Stage 2 of the project, and the bicycle detour, will be in effect for about one year. It is not known at this time whether or not bicycles will be allowed throughout the construction zone during Phase 3. The project is scheduled to be completed in the winter of 2012. The HBBCA is working with Caltrans to provide input on the bike detour routing and signage which had been a source of confusion this past Summer for both local and touring bicyclists. Watch for new signage going up in the near future which should help reduce, if not eliminate, confusion. Please be sure to follow the signs and use the designated detour. If you have any concerns or suggestions for improvements, please contact: Julie East, Caltrans District 1 Public Information Officer, julie_east@dot.ca.gov or phone 707-441-3998. For more information go to: www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1projects/madriver/ SOME GOOD THINGS HAVE HAPPENED FOR CYCLISTS RECENTLY At least three good things have happened for cyclists in the last couple of months: In Eureka, bike lane striping and marking has been redone on most bike lane streets. This has been a priority for the HBBCA. In Humboldt County, Harris Street between Harrison Avenue and Redwood Acres was rehabilitated. In conjunction with the project, parking was removed on one side and bike lanes added. This is a very nice improvement. In Arcata, new bike racks have been added at HealthSport. In Eureka, the new HealthSport, on Myrtle Avenue, has racks since the HBBCA brought the lack of racks to their attention and made recommendations. They jumped right on it. THE HBBCA JOINS WORKING GROUP IN SUPPORT OF IMPROVEMENTS TO THE TRANSPORATION ELEMENT OF THE COUNTY GENERAL PLAN The HBBCA joined many other organizations in making strong recommendations to the County Planning Commission to improve the draft Transportation Element of the General Plan. The essence of comments relate to integrating the “Complete Streets:” concept, which is to assure that the needs of all road and street users are considered in the planning and design of improvements. The General Plan update has been ongoing for well over a decade. Hopefully, it will come to fruition in the relative new future, once presented to the Board of Supervisors. UPDATE OF THE HCAOG REGIONAL BIKE PLAN IS UNDERWAY The Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) is updating its regional bike plan. HCAOG has hired Oona Smith to lead the effort to update and improve the plan. Oona recently completed Arcata’s Pedestrian & Bicycle Master Plan update. You can view the 2004 Bike Plan at www.hcaog.net. The draft update will be released in December, with the final to be adopted by February 1, 2011. Share your ideas (or ask questions) by contacting HCAOG at 444-8208 or HCAOGBikePlan@gmail.com. Click Here for a calendar you can use for 2011 to keep track of bike miles on a daily and monthly basis to make sure you aren’t slacking off. Rick Knapp has been keeping one of these since 1975, so he knows he has ridden over 80,000 miles and he knows he has not reduced his miles each year. He has realized, though, that it takes more hours on the bike in 2010 to get 3,000 miles than it did in 1980! LEAGUE OF AMERCIAN BICYCLISTS (LAB) UNDERTAKING A 2020 VISION PROJECT The LAB is undertaking a long term visioning and planning process. It will be drafting “10-year measurable outcomes” in support of its mission. At the beginning of the process, the LAB is encouraging members to help define priorities. We are being asked, “What are the top three or four things you feel the League should have accomplished 10 years from now? If you would like to participate in this effort, go to www.bikeleague.org and share your thoughts; or send ideas to humbike.org for consideration by the HBBCA Board of Directors. HBBCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS President-------------------- vacant Vice-President------------- Rick Knapp 445-1097(h) email: info@humbike.org Secretary/Treasurer------ Gail Popham 444-3316(h); 445-5204(w) Director of Publicity………… vacant Director of Planning-----Brett Gronemeyer 845-2117(h); 441-5770(w)If anyone is interested in filling a Board seat, or becoming more involved, please call one of the Board members above. WHO TO CALL WHEN YOU SEE A SAFETY CONCERN (Revised 1/09) The HBBCA checked with agencies in the Humboldt Bay region to determine appropriate contact personnel to respond to bike-related issues. If you see a condition that needs to be corrected in order to improve safety or convenience for cyclists such as a pothole in a bike lane, accumulated debris on a roadway shoulder, the need to re-stripe a bike lane, or the need to clear vegetation encroaching on a shoulder, call the responsible agency/person listed below. Of course, if you see a condition that requires immediate emergency action, call 9-1-1. For other conditions, the following is provided: Caltrans Mark Suchanek, Deputy District Director Mark_Suchanek@dot.ca.govCounty of Humboldt Wendy Meeks, Dispatcher 445-7421 wmeeks@co.humboldt.ca.us Abandoned Vehicles: Wally Williams, County Sheriff’s Office, 268-3629City of Arcata Monica Campbell, Public Works Administrative Assistant 822-5957 pubworks@arcatacityhall.orgAbandoned Vehicles: Arcata Police Dept. at 822-2424City of Eureka Pearl Mendoza Public Works Administrative Assistant 441-4192 pmendoza@ci.eureka.ca.gov Abandoned Vehicles: Mary Kirby mkirby@eurekapd.org, 268-5232PLEASE JOIN OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP FOR 2011 The HBBCA is working to improve and encourage bicycle commuting. Help make it happen by joining now or renewing your membership for 2011. Your $5.00 annual dues, paid on a calendar year basis, will help pay for youth helmets, this newsletter, our website, promotions, postage, etc. And, it will help demonstrate your commitment to our goal. With your membership card, request the following discounts on bike parts and accessories: 10% (or more) at Henderson Center Bicycles; 10% at Revolution Bicycle Repair; 15% at Adventure’s Edge; 10% at Pro Sport Center, 10% at the Outdoor Store and 15% at Sport and Cycle. |
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