Happy Trails

Emily and I talk with Doby Class, Public Works Director and Netra Kahtri, Assistant Public Works Director from the City of Arcata about their plan to start Bike Boulevards in the city. Also discussed is today's vote at the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on a plan to purchase the McKay Tract for public use as the McKay Community Forest. It is widely expected to pass. The vote is at 1:30pm today.

Cliff and Emily talk with Debi Farber Bush and Kirk Cohune of Greenway Partners and the Humboldt Trails Council about progress on the Bay Trail and the upcoming awareness campaign the Jammie Jog. Participants will jog or walk in their pajamas beginning at 9am on April 27th starting at Greenway Partners in Arcata. Also more information on the trails stewards program is discussed.

Cliff talks with Emily Sinkhorn and Darin Dinsmore of Crowdbright who facilitated a meeting last night at Azalea Hall regarding the Central Ave Improvement Project. This brainstorming session brought together dispirit viewpoints to find common ground. The discussion continues at crowdbright.com. There will also be a series of meetings regarding the proposed McKay Tract Community Forest. That is also discussed.

Cliff and Emily discuss the California Transportation Commission's funding of nearly 3 million dollars for both the southern and northern ends of the Bay Trail and a project in Fortuna. Mark Dinger of Caltrans discussed the California Travel Survey which shows a 50% increase in bike and ped traffic in the state. With that said, Caltrans is shifting their priorities to included this data in their future projects.

Emily and I talk with Dave Hayes of the Humboldt Trails Council about the McKay Community Forest Trail Stewards call for volunteers. With the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors set to vote on wether to move forward with large public forest project covering land between Myrtletown, Cutten and Ridgewood the Humboldt Trails Council is looking for a bank of volunteers to help offset and mitigate the costs of maintaing this large piece of public land. If you would like to volunteer go to http://www.humtrails.org/mckay.html

Today Emily and I spoke with Anne Thomas of Shasta Living Streets. Redding already has an extensive, world class trail network. Shasta Living Street's goals include:

• Quiet, low-speed residential streets

• A world-class bicycling network with bike lanes to serve people of all abilities, ages 8 to 80

• Protected bike lanes on busy streets with sophisticated intersection controls

• Off-street pathways, greenways and trails

• Walkable, bicycle-friendly business districts

• All children can walk or bike to school

• Services and events to support community-wide active living excellence

Cliff and Emily discuss Monday's 8 to 1 Supreme Court decision in favor of a private land owner in Wyoming. This decision potentially effects over 1400 bike and nature trails nationwide. We also look at how it could effect Humboldt County's trail efforts. We also look at where we stand with the political football known as the General Plan Update and how now the Board of Sups has said "Oops" regarding sending it off the the New Planing Commission for their unwanted input items that have strong to unanimous approval. Lastly we talked with Kevin Wright about Prop A, a highly targeted tax to fund trails and transportation which was passed in Marin County and now being implemented and what we can learn from their success.

Emily and I spoke with Sheila Parrot and other city engineer's about Eureka's new public safety campaign. You have probably seen posters and banners all over town. It is part of a large effort to reduce pedestrian vs vehicle accidents in the City. In past years, Eureka has had a much higher than normal rate of these types of accidents for it's population size. This campaign has is in concert with the reduction of speed limits, new radar signs and new countdown crosswalk signs at all lights within the city.

Emily and I spoke with Neil Davis of Walk & Bike Mendocino. This is a new organization promoting walking and biking for in town commutes of 2 miles or less.

May is Bike Month, so this morning Emily and I talked with Mark Mueller and Justin Fricker about man of the events going on. There are regular Bike Kitchen and Rodeos, along with Bike to Work Day, the Humboldt Bike Challenge, part of the National Bike Challenge, Wheel In Wednesdays and so much more. More info at HumBike.org.