Our Fight for Bicyclists' Rights
After 22 years of success, the popular Cherry City Jubilee Bicycle Tour is dead. The San Leandro-based club could not sustain their fundraising ride under pressure from the Alameda County Sheriff.
In September of 1997 the Cherry City Cyclists sought to conduct their 23rd annual ride, however, the sheriff's department demanded that the club must hold a parade permit to conduct the ride. Furthermore, their permit application for the desired route was denied because the rural two-lane Collier Canyon Rd was declared "unsafe" and the ride itself "burdensome" for the residents. Hence the ride on September 14, 1997 was declared illegal and Chuck Pascoe, the ride coordinator, was cited for conducting an illegal event. The EBBC spent over $4000 on the legal defense and won a dismissal of the charges in December 1998.
Nevertheless, Alameda county still has the parade permit ordinance in place and the Sheriff feels compelled to regulate organized rides. Groups like Sunnyvale's Pedalera Bicycling Club, whose Mt Hamilton Challenge Tour passes through multiple jurisdictions, are justifiably confused by the sheriff's demands for Parade Permits. In 1998 the sheriff issued permits to eight groups to conduct organized rides. We note that two of the largest rides that travel through parts of Alameda county, the Fremont Freewheeler's Primavera Century and the Grizzly Peak Century, are not officially permitted by the Alameda Sheriff. They function just fine without paying a $189 fee or adding to a regulatory burden for the county.
The EBBC seeks to permanently remove the inappropriate application of the parade permit ordinance to bicyclists. To this end we are pleased that Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele has sought the assistance of the Alameda County Counsel in drafting changes to exclude bicyclists from the existing ordinance.
As currently written, the ordinance recognizes four exceptions to the parade requirement: (1) wedding and funeral processions; (2) student travel and activities; (3) government activities; and (4) processions associated with election activities. Assistant Counsel Jason Lauren proposed an additional exception for the Alameda County Ordinance Code section 12.12.020.B as follows:
This chapter shall not apply to "5. Any organized or improvised bicycle ride on any street, highway, road, thoroughfare, or alley of the county where bicyclists are otherwise permitted by law, whether or not such ride is to follow a predetermined route with starting and ending points, or has a starting and ending time, or consists of individual groups or units of bicyclists."
Unfortunately, the sheriff strenuously opposed any changes during a meeting between four representatives from the Sheriff's Department, Counsel Jason Lauren and myself at Supervisor Steele's office on July 2, 1999. My comments that Alameda county's attempt to regulate bicyclists is both unneeded and unique were rebuffed by Captain Robert Eilers as "naive." More disturbing were the remarks by Assistant Sheriff Tucker, whose face grew redder as the meeting progressed. At a point where Supervisor Steele briefly left the room to confer with Supervisor Keith Carson, Tucker blurted, "We will not yield, we will regulate. Take your rides to Contra Costa County."
The conduct of organized rides on public roads is a sign of a healthy community that the EBBC wishes to foster. Bicyclists are already regulated by numerous sections of the California Vehicle Code. Counsel Lauren suggested that "cyclists and event organizers desiring to have an event whose route is unimpaired by standard traffic restrictions (i.e., compliance with stop signs and stop lights, blockage of side streets, etc.) would be free to pursue a parade permit."
Currently Supervisor Steele is soliciting input on how other Bay Area counties regulate bicyclists. You can share your ideas and support with her office at 1221 Oak St, Oakland 94612. The other four Alameda County Supervisors also need to hear from their constituents who support excluding bicyclists from the parade ordinance.
-Robert Raburn
Four members of the EBBC attended the kickoff meeting of the Countywide Bicycle Trails Review Committee (CBTRC) on June 23. The EBBC members in attendance hopefully expected an initial meeting of this committee to reach a consensus of purpose and goals with the broad vision of increasing the utility of three representative trails for bicycle transportation.
These trails include the Ohlone Greenway, a 2.5-mile trial along the BART right-of-way, entirely within the City of El Cerrito; the 5-mile Mokelumne Trail within the City of Antioch; and the 14-mile Contra Costa Trail running from Martinez to Concord via Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek. While these trails are promoted as basic utility routes, experienced commuters often express some strong feelings about their alleged shortcomings.
Anticipated types of improvements to these trails to increase their utility might include:
Improved destination signing
Intersection improvements (e.g. traffic signals, yield signs, improved visibility and ease of access)
Trail lighting
Trail realignment
Improved connections between trails and adjacent land uses.
It is with this background that the County applied for a Transportation for Livable Communities planning grant for the purpose of evaluation, improving and enhancing the three existing bicycle trails.
The initial meeting of the CBTRC was also attended by 10 staff members of the county and various cities and districts. These staff approached the meeting very defensively and almost immediately challenged the charter of this fledgling CBTRC.
Staff expressed the attitude that it is unwise to produce written reports that detail any findings or deficiencies. The fear of liability issues and any negative criticism of trail design and maintenance were issues that were repeatedly played to the CBTRC. Some staff seemed to express paranoia over any potential political criticism that would develop from a published report.
The meeting was seemingly stalemated until Michael Jackson, Countywide Bicycle Facilities Coordinator, took on an action item to write yet another letter to the various cities in an attempt to identify issues and objectives that the individual jurisdictions would buy into. While there was talk of getting the committee out to inspect these trails, it was clear that such field trips would be delayed until consensus of the committee's purpose was established.
It would appear that the concept of a cooperative kickoff session of the CBTRC as it was composed may have been too optimistic. Experience shows that to effectively get such improvements to community through city councils, there is usually a healthy interaction between advocacy groups, bicycle advisory committees and staff. Without active bicycle advisory committees, staff has more control over maintaining the status quo.
The EBBC members at the meeting believe that the best action is to first have field inspection trips by bicycle and to assemble a checklist of suggested trail improvements before the next committee meeting on July 20. John Ruzek suggests such a Saturday morning field trip of the Mokelumne Trail on July 17. Please call John at (925) 939-5181 for details of this ride.
-John Ruzek
The primary non-freeway north-south arterial route in north-central Contra Costa County is a combination of North Main Street and Contra Costa Boulevard. It connects downtown Walnut Creek to Pacheco passing major commercial development including Sun Valley Mall. Although not the most bicycle-friendly route, it has always been a reasonable route, with wider lanes than most other Contra Costa arterials. Until the mid-1990's the route used North Main until it deadended at a T-intersection at Boyd Rd. in Pleasant Hill. One proceeded a short block east past the Soldiers' Monument and turned left to continue north on Contra Costa Boulevard (which originated as a freeway offramp.
As a part of the major reconstruction of I-680, Caltrans took out the jog in this route by routing northbound traffic onto a 1200' long bridge which met an offramp from I-680 at its peak, while routing southbound traffic to the east of the Soldiers' Monument and having the left lane split off as a freeway onramp. Unfortunately, in designing the bridge, Caltrans forgot about that bicyclists used this route and constructed the right wall of the bridge to be only 33.5" above the roadway. Current standards for such a wall or rail for bicycles is 54" with the probability that it will soon be lowered to the AASHTO's recommendation of 42".
Last October, shortly after the bridge opened, a sign was installed, just south of the bridge prohibiting bicycle and pedestrian access to it. A call to Countywide Bicycle Coordinator Michael Jackson referred was referred to Lynn Miller of Caltrans. Miller admitted that a problem existed and that it would be corrected. Does 6 months or so appear reasonable for the work to be done, with a temporary signed detour in the meanwhile? Guess again. In March, without any detour yet in place, Caltrans disclosed that any raising of barrier would not happen until 2001. At the quarterly district Caltrans bike meeting in April, it was proposed that temporary fencing be used until a permanent solution could be constructed. Caltrans responded with a list of reasons for not putting up the fence, which would apply almost anywhere such a fence might be used.
As of late June, here is what a bicyclist sees proceeding north from Walnut Creek:
At the Oak Park bridge, there is a black on white sign not seen before - it has a bicycle icon and a left pointing arrow. However, it is followed by a `Pedestrian, bicycles, motor driven cycles prohibited' sign with the word `bicycles' whited out. Just before Astrid, the last possible turn before the bridge, there is the full `Pedestrians, bicycles,..., prohibited' sign (note that a cyclist making a legal left turn from Astrid onto the bridge would not see this sign). There are no other signs regulatory or advisory signs for bicyclists.
If one turns left at Oak Park, at the next intersection (Pleasant Valley), there is a strange combination of signs. Just before the intersection, there is a `No Right Turn' pictograph regulatory sign. On the far side of Pleasant Valley is a green and white bike route sign with an arrow pointing right and the text `Pleasant Hill' under the sign. Blocking Pleasant Valley, however is a set of bollards with a regulatory `No Thru Traffic, Fine $160' sign. Thus it appears that the toll for bikes to use this route is $160. Where Pleasant Valley terminates at Astrid, there is no sign guiding cyclists further. Astrid itself is a narrow 2-lane road in need of repaving.
Caltrans has no legal right to bar cyclists from this route since it is neither a freeway nor a toll bridge. We need to consider legal action to compel them to remove their illegal signs. This situation points out the need for the local district to have its own bicycle coordinator to see that fiascoes such as this do not continue to occur.
-Al Forkosh
SAN LEANDRO will be constructing about five more miles of bike lanes on Williams Street and Estudillo Avenue this summer. In addition, an additional two miles on Fairway Avenue and a short piece of Marina Boulevard will be constructed late this year or early next.
OAKLAND proposals to stripe Class II bike lanes on the remainder of Telegraph Ave (2.5 miles) are undergoing public meeting scrutiny. Note that the lanes from Aileen St to Berkeley are completed. At a meeting on June 24, Councilmember Jane Brunner commented that "there will be many more public meetings prior to making changes on the roadway." She noted that some merchants had feared the lose of parking. Current proposals are to either remove one traffic lane or the center turn lane to provide room for bicyclists. A lane reduction near the fledgling Temescal Shopping Center would have the added benefit of allowing safe pedestrian crossing of Telegraph Ave. Our map of Oakland bicycle crashes focuses attention on the need for safety improvements on Telegraph Ave (See: cover of rideOn, March 1999). Contact Kathryn Hughes (238-6493) to receive notice of further meetings.
OAKLAND Bicycle Master Plan, approved by the Planning Commission on May 19, goes to the Public Works Committee on July 6, and the full council later in July. Polite encouragement to your councilmember can help our cause.
PLEASANTON A site visit to the Arroyo Mocho and a public hearing (June 29) on the matter have helped to remove some of the bitter neighborhood opposition to construction of a Class I bike path. Much more still needs to be done. We appreciate the support offered by Barry Moon of Paquettes Cycle.
BAY BRIDGE WEST SPAN PATHWAY STUDY has officially received $2 million from the MTC. Whether the money will be sufficient to cover a study to the 30-percent design stage (which is most desirable for a reliable estimate) depends on whether the study will be done by Caltrans or by consultants.
I80 BIKE/PED OVERPASS PROJECT has received California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) clearance and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) clearance is expected shortly. A mitigation plan is being prepared for the small amount of fill in the lagoon. Plans are 65% complete and currently under review by Caltrans. The project will go out to bid in August/September and construction is expected to be completed before the end of next year.
AMAZING BIKES: 2 CENTURIES ON WHEELS is slated to open at the Oakland Museum of California History, 1000 Oak St, on Sunday, September 12 from noon to 4:30 pm (note date change due to conflict with Rosh Hashanah). The Pryor Dodge Collection, one of America's foremost collections of early bicycles, cycling art and memorabilia will form the basis of the exhibit. We also expect to view work bikes, Kinetic Sculpture Race vehicles (see page 5) and California innovations from BMX and Breezers to the Gold Rush recumbent, which broke the influence of bicycling on women's apparel. All clubs and bicyclists are invited to attend and riders will get free admission. Free and secure valet parking will be provided by the EBBC. For more information check out the website at www.museumca.org.
Editor:
I enjoyed the April cover layout ("Road Diets: Less Filling, Tastes Great") on 4- to 3-lane road conversions. However, after a couple of recent visits to San Francisco's newly restriped Valencia St., I must question both claims about such "road dieting's" benefits to cyclists.
Valencia St. does now have bike lanes, which is great. And its center left-turn lanes (at intersections) do seem to have preserved the street's turning capacity, as promised. However, here's what else I noticed:
"Honk, honk, honk," said the SUVs, whenever a signal turned green and the lead car wasn't out of the gate fast enough for their liking.
"Beep, beep, beep," said the cars, whenever a bus stopped dead in the center of the (now) single lane to drop off or take on passengers.
Overall, I felt the same pressure-cooker atmosphere of impatience that one finds on other single-lane arterials. The adjacent vehicles actually seemed somewhat more "present," noisy, and oppressive than before restriping. I realized that simple quantitative measures of traffic capacity, before and after vehicle-lane removal, don't necessarily convey a street's subjective feel or tension level.
(Another problem, unrelated to the lane reduction: In places, the new bike lanes have dashed borders that invite vehicles to wander into them. And at bus stops, the bike-lane markings simply vanish. Big mistake -- the kind I expect from a rather bike-clueless city like Walnut Creek, not from San Francisco.)
I would urge other folks to visit Valencia St. (or other "dieted" roads) for themselves and decide what they think. My conclusion is that winning bike lanes on arterials through vehicle-lane removal may be a Pyrrhic victory. Where road capacity is in demand, reassigning whole lanes is inherently a zero-sum game. And when motorists "lose," they have a way of evening the score by making the street environment noisier and more unpleasant. There is some merit to letting road-ragers simply keep their passing lanes and get far away from us.
Still, there are ways to make road-sharing a positive-sum game in which everyone wins. For example, Toronto cyclists recently won a seven-year battle for bike lanes on a major north-south arterial (Spadina Ave.). Cyclists gave up on lane reduction after vehicle lanes were removed for a new center streetcar line. Merchants gave up on cajoling cyclists into settling for bike amenities on adjacent streets. Then, both cyclists and motorists compromised on narrower-than-standard lanes. That solution was not perfect for anyone. But cyclists now have their own clearly defined space - and as far as I know, this multimodal arterial is working pretty well for everyone.
Michael Katz
Berkeley
Editor responds:In just six months, bike use has doubled on Valencia Street - as many as 200 bikes per hour during morning and evening peaks.
Excerpt of letter from Oakland's City Manager, Robert C. Bobb, mailed to Federal officials regarding recertification of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the SF Bay Area.
"As you assess MTC's effectiveness in responding to Federal planning initiatives, there are a few areas where we believe changes would be beneficial for this region. Specifically we suggest the following initiatives which will expand travel options, encourage transit use, improve air quality, and respond to the long-term travel needs of this region...
"2) Expand current programs for pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The August 1998 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) boasts an investment of $370 million for bicycle and pedestrian facilities over the next 20 years. This figure represents 1.5% of the $23.8 billion MTC anticipates for road maintenance. By comparison, walking and bicycling account for just over 10% of commute trips in this region. Thus, the relative percent of regional revenues earmarked in the RTP for these two modes would seem disproportionately small.
"Pressure is mounting in the City of Oakland to revitalize streetscapes in order to spur redevelopment and revitalization of both the downtown and neighborhoods. While MTC's Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) program represents a pioneering effort to support this revitalization, the funds earmarked in the RTP fall far short of the needs. Oakland alone could easily use 50% of the $100 million earmarked for this program.
The letter was addressed to Jeff Lindley, Federal Highway Administration, 980 Ninth St, Sacramento 95814 and Leslie Rogers, Federal Transit Administration, 210 Mission St, Suite 2210, San Francisco, 94105. Questions concerning the comments can be addressed by Shanna O'Hare at 510-238-6613.
The King and Eye was one of the more elaborate entries
The CowTrans vehicle broke down and had to complete the race in the back of a pickup truck (CowTrans officials refused to disclose the nature of the problem)
Unlike the HumVee, the HumDinger can cross bodies of water, though it took 6 months of hard work to construct the vehicle
One of the kinetic sculputres racing past Ferndale's Kinetic Sculpture Museum
Race co-founder and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Hobart Brown