Saturday Notes from the Underbelly

Davis to Woodland Bike Path in the Works

The County Board of Supervisors this week announced that funding was secured for a Davis-Woodland Bikepathway.

According to the staff report:

"Bids were opened October 31, 2007 and a construction contract to add 4’ bike lanes on County Road 99 between 27 and 29 was awarded to Central Valley Engineering and Paving in November 2007. Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2008 as weather allows, and to be completed after 45 working days."

"Funding for major road improvement projects comes primarily from state and federal sources. This funding is generally awarded on a competitive, project specific basis. The discretionary revenue received by the Road Fund generally covers only the annual cost to maintain the County’s 794 road miles, with the remainder available to meet match funding requirements.

An application was submitted to SACOG for the Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding Program on December 3, 2007. $1.6 million was requested for the widening of the County Road 29 segment.

A pre-application letter was submitted to SACOG on November 16, 2007 for $600,000 of SACOG Community Design Funds to improve County Road 99 between County Road 25A for bicyclists."

Supervisors Mariko Yamada and Matt Rexroad have led the way on this.

According to Supervisor Rexroad on his blog,

"My mission in January will be to focus on the dedicated bike path between Woodland and Davis. This information will be part of the discussion."

From the map it appears there will be dedicated four foot bike paths on both sides of the roads. While this is clearly an improvement over the existing road conditions and in fact I have enjoyed using such bike paths on some of the county roads.

That said, I would really prefer a separate bike path such as they have along Russell Blvd as it heads out to Winters (I never quite why the path suddenly stops halfway there). That way bicyclists would be separate from motorists who are traveling in excess of 60 mph along these roads.

As I said, the current plan is certainly an improvement, but if we are spending over $2 million at least in outside source money already, why not go the rest of the way for maximum safety and convenience for bicyclists?

I Object

Look at the two pictures above. One is from the Davis Enterprise website. The other is a scanned copy of yesterday's newspaper. Anyone notice a difference between the two pictures? Apparently some of the Vanguard's readers do. And, despite the appearances on this blog, the one on the right is much larger than the one on the left.

Before I get the sanctimonious and self-importance complaints again, I want to stress that while I find this absolutely hilarious, my objection is that they didn't also crop the picture on the left a bit more.

Donate to the 22nd Annual Holiday Meal

from Shelly Bailes and Ellen Pontac

The Davis Food Co-op is hosting the 22nd annual Holiday Meal on Monday, Dec. 24, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Veterans' Memorial Center, and we need some help. Groups like Davis Community Meals and STEAC report a continuing demand for their services. Last year, the Holiday Meal served a full nutritious dinner, free of charge, to more than 800 people.

We appreciate the support we have received in the past from local businesses and individuals. Please help us continue this Davis tradition with your financial donation. Donors who contribute will have their names listed at the meal, and those who donate $50 or more will be acknowledged also in our pre- and post-event advertising. All donations of any amount are appreciated.

Please take a moment to write a check and send it to: Holiday Meal, Davis Food Co-op, 620 G St., Davis. If you wish, you may leave your contribution at the Co-op as well. For more information, just call the Co-op at 758-2667 and speak to Seth Larsen or e-mail him at slarsen@davisfood.coop.

Thanks for your help.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting

Making a Davis-Woodland Dedicated Bike Lane a Priority

A few weeks ago, a man was killed bicycling on County Road 99 between Davis and Woodland. It was just before 6 a.m. and the man wore a bicycle helmet and he had a light. But he was no match for the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on the narrow road. It is a road I have traveled by bike many times, although always during broad daylight.

The tragic death of bicyclist Willie Lopez serves as a stark reminder that our county roads are increasingly becoming urban thoroughfares that share narrow lanes with farm machinery, bicyclists and suburban traffic.

Yolo County Supervisor Matt Rexroad recently remarked on his blog:

"This should further prioritize a dedicated bike path between Woodland and Davis."

Two years ago marked a spike in Multiple-Casualty Incidents. As a result, a task force was created by Supervisor Mariko Yamada to determine why deaths on county roads were increasing at such a high rate.

According to her, no patterns has emerged but they were able to identify the top 20 most dangerous roadways and intersections in Yolo County and have obtained a grant to help get data on where road upgrades need to occur.

Yolo County now has a master plan for bikeways and is actively seeking to produce a dedicated bike path between Davis and Woodland.

They are also looking at an improved transportation corridor between Woodland and Davis that would help create a pathway for electric vehicles. The "e-ways" as they are calling it, would be a dedicated pathway that has a portion set aside for bicyclists and another portion for electric vehicles.

These are all steps in the right direction. There are actually two important issues that come together. On the one hand, basic safety for bicyclists who need a pathway away from vehicle traffic that travels in excess of 60 mph on narrow roads. The other of course in environmental, creating pathways for easy access for both bikes and electric vehicles, would create an incentive to use those vehicles instead of cars on the short trek between the two cities.

There is already a dedicated bike path along side I-80 over the causeway between Davis and West Sacramento. However it would be helpful there as well to have a way for electric vehicle to be able to go over the causeway and into West Sacramento and Sacramento itself.

The City of Davis is also looking to expand the accessibility of the dedicated bike path from Davis to West Sacramento.

Ken Celli wrote a letter to the editor on October 24, 2007:

"On Monday night, the Bicycle Advisory Committee voted to expedite four capital projects for inclusion in the existing Bicycle Plan, one of which would be a connector ramp from either the Pelz Bicycle Overcrossing or Pole Line overpass to the Old Route 40 bike path that parallels Interstate 80. This is the bike path that is sandwiched between I-80 and the railroad tracks. Currently, the only Davis access to this bike path is from Richards Boulevard (via Olive Drive) or Mace Boulevard. There is no access in between.

By opening up this corridor, all of North, East and South Davis can commute entirely by bike path east toward Sacramento without dangerously commingling in the rush-hour automobile traffic on Fifth Street, Second Street or Mace Boulevard; traffic that is projected to increase four-fold with commercial development on Second Street near Mace."

The city of Davis was the first city to have dedicated bike paths, however, it is time for Davis to expand itself far reaching view into the next century. Davis needs to lead the way to help push the county to expand its bike access paths so that safety can be a high priority for all bicyclists. Just as importantly, the more people we can get out of their combustion driven cars and into alternative means of transportation, the better we will be able to reduce our carbon footprint, a stated goal of the city council.

A Davis-Woodland bike path seems like a perfect partnership project between Davis, Woodland, and the Yolo County Board of Supervisors. Hopefully the Davis City Council will step up as well to make this goal a reality.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting