Vol. 40  No. 1                                                                                          

Website: www.humbike.org
Email: info@humbike.org

New and Renewed Members of the HBBCA

The following are new and renewed members for 2021.   If you haven’t renewed your dues for 2021, they were due on January 1, as all dues expire on December 31.   An application is at the end of the newsletter.

Renewed Members for 2021

Carl & Judy Cooper, Bayside**
Will Dvorak & Carole Beaton, Eureka***
Jim & Frances Maunder, Eureka
Gail Popham, Eureka**
Rick Knapp, Eureka***
Lisa Hoover, Blue Lake***
Ralph Martinelli, Eureka**
Patricia Anne & George WinterSun, Eureka***

Those with a ** next to their name gave an additional donation. Those with *** have given                                                        
a $25 or greater donation.   Thanks to all those who have joined or renewed their commitment and those who have given additional donations to support our many causes.

We particularly want to express our appreciation to those who continue to provide strong support to the HBBCA at this difficult time when we have been unable to conduct in-person meetings and events.

Get on board now for all the benefits, including discounts at all the bike shops.  See application at the end of the newsletter.    

Happy New Year, 2021

The HBBCA Board would like to wish all its members a Happy New Year for 2021. Obviously, it has gotten off to a rocky start in Washington D.C. and we have a lot  to get over with before we can be too happy. But, let’s hope for the best, and a second half that will be good for all.
                                        
HBBCA Meetings Cancelled for Early 2021

Due to COVID, regular HBBCA dinner meetings are postponed until further notice. Hopefully, we will be able to resume them by late spring or early summer.

Enhancement of Pavement and Bikeways in Eureka Anticipated

By Rick Knapp

On December 7th, I was riding the Bay Trail and encountered Scott Ellsmore who was walked the trail at lunchtime. I had seen him similarly several times during the pandemic months. This time I stopped him to find out what we could expect with regard to the “disappearing” bike lanes (due to the lack of restriping). He started by telling me that restriping of many bike lanes will occur in the next few months, especially with the passage of Measure H that will go into effect on July 1. It replaces the existing 0.5% sales tax with a 1.25% sales tax, which will be used for “general city operations including police, fire, emergency medical response, youth and senior services, local business and jobs support, street repair and road safety, community health services, homeless prevention programs, parks and recreation, debt reduction and other essential services.” While there is a lot of competition for the funds, it will generate an estimated $9.6 million per year. There is no sunset for the measure. [A similar measure was passed in Fortuna, Measure G, that will extend its existing $0.75 sales tax to 2033 and will generate about $1.4 million a year for “essential services.”]

Scott detailed a lot of good news regarding upcoming roadway projects for 2021 due to approval by the State of funding under the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)—“funds he said they had been seeking for about 10 years.” After hearing all the news, I asked him to send me an email with the details. He did so the next day. Here are the highlights of upcoming projects and funding applications:

Henderson Street Improvements—Water/Sewer/Paving, D Street to Fairfield, Spring 2021

Pavement Rehab 2021—14th Street, West to Broadway; Highland, Glenn to Broadway; Hawthorn, Broadway to Felt; Felt, Hawthorn to Del Norte; Koster, Wabash to Washington; Clark, Broadway to Koster, Spring 2021 (Variety of funding sources)

Pedestrian Crossing improvements in 2021, 38 locations citywide, including bulbouts, crosswalk markings

Applied for funds for the H & I Street Corridor Bike Facility from the Highway Safety Improvement Program, a competitive program

Applied for funding for E/F Street Pedestrian Safety Improvements, bulbouts, crosswalk markings, same as above

Applied for funding from the Active Transportation Program (ATP) for the C Street Bike Boulevard

Applied for ATP funding for Bay to Zoo trail, as above.

Sad News for us in the Bicycle Advocacy Business—Areli Cupp is leaving Humboldt

Oona Smith and Rick Knapp received an email from Areli Cupp of the Public Health Department in December. Areli has effectively chaired our Bike Month Humboldt Committee for the last few years and has provided the desperately needed organization and enthusiasm to the team. She advised us that she would be moving to Sacramento “starting a new and exciting chapter.” While we wish her the very best, she will be sorely missed by the bicycle community in Humboldt.

New Leadership at the Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG)

Effective December 28, Beth Burks will be taking over as Executive Director of HCAOG, replacing Marcella May (formerly Clem). The following was provided by HCAOG:

“Beth comes to HCAOG with over 16 years of professional planning experience. She has worked in both the public and private sectors during her career.  She was a senior planner for Humboldt County before becoming the Planning Principal at LACO.
She is a graduate of Humboldt State University and has lived in Humboldt County for over 20 years.
She has routinely worked on controversial projects and has established positive and productive working relationships with project proponents, state agencies, local governments, service districts, and tribal governments as well as worked closely with the public.
Her areas of expertise include CEQA, land use and entitlements, permitting within the Coastal Zone, the Brown Act, and Public Records Act. She has worked on many infrastructure improvement projects during her career. In addition to technical planning knowledge she has experience in areas of budgeting, contracting, management of staff, and project fulfillment.
She has a passion for public involvement, affordable housing, and seeing Humboldt County thrive.

Status of Improvements to Broadway in Eureka—Short Term and Long Term

The Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG), the City of Eureka, and Caltrans, through the aid of a consulting firm (GHD) are developing a long term plan for the Broadway Street corridor to enhance the safety of all users and reduce congestion.

Some of the alternatives presented involve creating couplets for US-101 traffic by creating new roads where none currently exist by extending 4th Street through the Balloon Tract to align with Koster St (e.g Koster Couplet) and creating another couplet by creating a new southbound route (Southern Couplet); starting south of Harbor Lanes, going behind Les Schwabe, and meeting back up with Broadway at the northern entrance to Bayshore Mall (with extensive reconstruction of that intersection). The benefits of these couplets is that they would allow sidewalk widening and bikeways to be installed on Broadway north of Wabash where there are currently no shoulders, nor space for bikeways. The downsides are cost and environmental impacts. More information regarding this study, including review of the draft study report can be found here: https://www.hcaog.net/documents/eureka-broadway-multimodal-corridor-plan

However, there have been calls from the public and the Mayor for more immediate, near term improvements to address what appears to be a marked increase in fatal and injury collisions involving bicyclists and pedestrians. In response, the City of Eureka Engineering Department developed plans for mid-block pedestrian crossings at 5 locations on Broadway Street:

• Mid-block crossing between Vigo Street and Hawthorn Street
• Mid-block crossing just south of Del Norte Street
• Mid-block crossing between Clark Street and Cedar Street
• Crossing at the Hilfiker Lane intersection
• Crossing at the Truesdale Street intersection

The City and Caltrans are working together on the details of the designs and to determine how to get at least two of these locations quickly funded and constructed.
This is an on-going discussion. We encourage our members to review and comment on the draft report, as well as watch for any upcoming notices for public comment. To sign up for personal email notifications of upcoming council meetings and the agendas, please visit this website: http://www.ci.eureka.ca.gov/depts/city_clerk/agenda_information/default.asp

Download Bicycling Calendar

If you would like to keep track of your daily/weekly/monthly bike miles for 2021, download the Bicycling Calendar from our website: humbike.org

Who to Call When You See a Safety Concern (Rev. 5/2019; No change 1/2020))  

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, the need to clear vegetation encroaching on a shoulder, or a street light that is out, call the responsible agency/person listed below.  Of course, if you see a condition that requires immediate attention, like a stop sign knocked down, call 9-1-1.  For non-emergency conditions, the following contact information is provided:
                           

Caltrans
 

Betsy Totten, Customer Service Liaison
441-5655   https://dot.ca.gov/contact-us
https://csr.dot.ca.gov/

County of Humboldt

Dispatcher
445-7421 RoadsDispatch@co.humboldt.ca.us
Abandoned Vehicles: Wally Williams,
County Sheriff’s Office, 268-2509

City of Arcata

Melanie Dabill
Public Works Administrative Assistant
825-2128 mdabill@cityofarcata.org

Abandoned Vehicles:
Arcata Police Dept. at 822-2424

City of Eureka

441-4203 publicworks@ci.eureka.ca.gov
Abandoned Vehicles:
eureka-policeabatement@ci.eureka.ca.gov;
phone 268-5232

HBBCA Board of Directors (Rev. 1/3/20)

President---------------------- Rick Knapp

707-445-1097(h) email: info@humbike.org

Vice-President---------------- Brett Gronemeyer

707-845-2117(cell); 445-6578 (w)

Secretary/Treasurer---Gail Popham,

707-502-8030(cell)

Director of Planning-----open/available
Director of Publicity ----open/available

Contact Rick Knapp if you are interested in filing a vacant Board position.

Please Join or Renew Your Membership for 2021

The HBBCA is working to improve and encourage bicycle commuting.  Your $5.00 annual dues, paid on a calendar year basis, will help pay for youth helmets, bike racks, this newsletter, the website, BikeSmart promotions, “Bike Month” activities, prizes, postage, insurance, etc.   And, it will help demonstrate your commitment to our goal.

With your membership card, you may request the following discounts on bike parts and accessories: 10% at Revolution Bicycle Repair; 15% at Adventure’s Edge; 10% at Pacific Outfitters, and 15% at Sport and Cycle.  Membership cards include stickers on the back showing discounts offered by the various bike shops.

Enclosed: $_____dues ($5.00)    $_____donation

Name_______________________________________________

Address_____________________________________________

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Phone__________________(h)______________________(w)

____I’d rather receive my newsletter by email.   This is my neatly printed email address:

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Mail to HBBCA, P.O. Box 9054 Eureka CA 95502-9054