Dave Campbell's blog

Join our Summer efforts for Safe Bike Access to MacArthur BART Station

Construction is moving forward swiftly on the 7th Street Streetscape Project in West Oakland, which will include new bike lanes from Union to Wood Streets, wider sidewalks, new street lighting that may look really nice, bike racks, and a Blues Walk of Fame commemorating the heart of the West Coast blues scene from the 40's, 50's and 60's.

The 7th St Streetscape project is funded by the Air District and was born out of a community based transportation plan that started back in 2006. The Project is also part of a larger West Oakland BART Transit Village being developed to attract new housing and businesses to the area.

The project area was once home to numerous forms of transit and transportation, commerce and cultural institutions, but has suffered greatly from the negative impacts of freeways and BART since the 1950's. While it once thrived from its connections to the rail and the Port of Oakland and benefited from employment and industry, it has been physically divided by freeways and the overhead BART structures and continues to suffer today from noise and shadow from the BART structure and bad air quality from diesel truck traffic and freeway pollution.

Richmond is in the process of developing a city-wide bicycle and pedestrian plan that will be incorporated into the new revision of the City's Master Plan. Fehr & Peers, the consultants, have created a very useful interactive map to which you can add your public input. Using the convenient icons, you can suggest such things as places for bike racks and appropriate streets for bike lanes, as well as pointing out hazards and difficult traffic conditions.

Ever been sideswiped on a narrow street or honked at on a bicycle boulevard?

Centerlines are used to keep cars to the right side of the roadway, out of the way of on-coming traffic. They certainly help on rural roads and curvy roads, particularly at night on these streets. How do they affect cyclists? I don't like 'em! I feel I get honked at more on streets with centerlines.

On roads that are popular bikeways, centerline stripes encourage motorists to stay in their lanes and maneuver to pass cyclists closely. Preferably, motorists move left into the adjacent, on-coming lane to safely pass. Thus, there is a contradiction–bikeways encourage motorist to pass to the left of a cyclist, while centerline strips encourage motorists to do the opposite and stay right to pass. Have you even been sideswiped on a narrow street?

The videos below tell the story of "shared spaces." After watching them, you may agree that they give us hope of one day bringing back the public realm and a sense of place to our roadways. At the end of the 3rd video is the following quote from a famous Dutch traffic engineer:

"A safe street is one that tells a rich story about it's past, its context, and the future hopes of its residents."

Shared spaces are a European concept that started in the Netherlands and spread to England, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Germany. We hope to bring these wonderful concepts to Berkeley as part of Berkeley's Downtown Streets and Open Space Improvement Plan.

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node_7425_user_51_Universal Streets.pdf

Take Action On Rumble Strips with Caltrans

EBBC has worked with Caltrans for many years minimizing the troubling increase in the use of rumble strips in California. Many of you have read the report from the League of American Bicyclists outlining the threat and explaining how to take action. EBBC joined the LAB for a national conference call to strategize ways to work with state DOTs to protect our bicycle routes from indiscriminate rumbling.

Now, we need the members of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition to act.

What should you do?

Please visit the League’s Advocacy Center, and send this message to Caltrans today. And send this alert and link to your cycling friends and supporters urging them to take similar action.

Oakland is busy designing new bike lanes on MacArthur Blvd beween High St & Seminary Ave

The Maxwell Park neighborhood is well-organized and is championing some serious roadway improvements on the mile-long stretch of MacArthur Blvd between the Laurel District and Mills College. As a result, Oakland is dedicating over $300,000 in planning grants to redesign the roadway to improve walkability and provide bike lanes.

At its July 28, 2010 meeting, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission approved targets of 7% Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reductions by 2020 and 15% reductions by 2035, thanks to the urging from a coalition of organizations lead by Greenbelt Alliance (including the East Bay Bicycle Coalition). The Commission was ready to approve a lower 2035 target of 10%, but raised that to 15% thanks to the organized turnout at the Commission's meeting. Numerous advocates spoke in favor of the higher targets, and several EBBC members wrote letters and signed on in support online. Commissioner Tom Bates (Mayor of Berkeley) voted in support of a 15% target, while Commissioners Amy Worth (Contra Costa) and Federal Glover (Antioch) voted no for the 15% target. Commission Scott Haggarty (Tri-Valley) was absent.

Issues:

• What do 'Per Capita' reductions achieve?
  The Commission and the Air Resources Board have changed their approach to GHG reductions by looking at "per capita" reductions, i.e. reduction amounts per every person in California. However, AB 32, Governor Schwarzenegger's landmark greenhouse gas reduction legislation, calls for absolute GHG reductions by the year 2020 of the levels that occurred in 1990.

July 26, 2010 Update:
Prosecutors have backed away from offering a plea agreement to an El Sobrante man charged in the hit-and-run death of Mark Pendleton in 2008 along McEwen Road in Contra Costa County. Assistant district attorney Paul Sequeira said Monday that after speaking with the victim's family, his office decided to cease discussions about a plea deal for Harold Brown, 54. Brown is accused of striking 49-year-old electrician and Martinez resident Mark Pendleton the night of Nov. 24, 2008, and then fleeing the scene in his vehicle. His next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2010.

Read Full Story in Contra Costa Times

Mark Pendleton (49) regularly enjoyed rides from his home in Martinez on beautiful roads thoughout the East Bay. Mark was the victim of a hit and run crash after climbing McEwen Road on Monday, November 24, 2008. An updated news report about this generous individual and CHP's effort to find the northbound motorist, who crossed into the oncoming lane, appeared in the Contra Costa Times newspaper on 11/26/08 and on 12/11/08. The initial article includes a photo of Mark.

San Leandro is updating their Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan and this is your opportunity to provide feedback to the City on the initial draft of the Plan, which is available online at:

San Leandro Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan [4.4MB pdf]

The Draft Plan is lacking many critical bike lanes and the City of San Leandro needs to here from us. Bike Lanes should be included on E. 14th Street, Davis Street, Alvarado Street, Washington Street, as well as a better connection to San Lorenzo. And where bike lanes are not being provided, traffic calming, slowing and an increase in motorists' awareness of bikes should be part of the Plan.

In addition, the draft Plan should include an analysis of bicycle crashes (only a pedestrian crash analysis is included) and should include a bicycle parking ordinace requiring secure bike parking for new residential and commercial development. Do you have additional thoughts and concerns? Please share them with us in this blog.