News summary August 18

2013/08/192013/08/19 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Open Letter to Mayor Johnson and City Council – Do Not Repeal the Superstore Ordinance Sacramento Press 2013-08-18
Sacramento-area officials seek to take over, develop Jackson Highway (SacBee 2013-08-18)
Regional transit looks at possible funding shortage with growth surge (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-08-16)
End of Summer DUI Crackdown- SacPD (Sacramento Press 2013-08-15)
West Sac awards contract for Barge Canal bridge (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-08-14)
Feds delay ruling to withhold California’s mass-transit funding (SacBee 2013-08-16); Editorial: Obama official needs to free up transit money (SacBee 2013-08-14); Billions in federal transportation funds riding on California’s new pension law (SacBee 2013-08-13)
OPINION: Repeal of ‘Big Box’ threatens regional sustainability (Sacramento Press 2013-08-14)
Viewpoints: Problems with McKinley Village proposal begin with geography (SacBee 2013-08-14)
GearUp Cycle for Youth Ride, October 12
RT breaks ground on new Franklin Boulevard station (SacBee 2013-08-14); Sacramento RT starting work on blue line extension (SacBee 2013-08-13)
The MLS promenade: Whether Sacramento’s best step is toward downtown or the suburbs (Sacramento Press 2013-08-12)
Addiction to Bike Polo: Dealing with Obsession (Sacramento Press 2013-08-12)

Choosing streets to bike

2013/08/172013/08/17 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

As I said yesterday, I choose primarily two-way, two-lane streets to walk on, because they offer a quieter and calmer place to enjoy walking, looking around, and finding businesses to frequent. When bicycling, I’m more likely to be going someplace specific, and more likely to be in more of a hurry. If given the time, I’d almost always rather walk than bike, but bicycling certainly saves a lot of time, and so I bicycle more than walk.

The first criteria for choosing streets to bike on is traffic speed. In the grid, nearly all of the streets are posted 25 mph, but traffic speeds vary widely from 20 to 40 mph. When a street is designed for 40 and then posted for 25, motor vehicle drivers respond by going 40. Again, this is a street design issue. I am not afraid of 40 mph traffic, and I am OK mixing in with it – I’m a vehicular bicyclist, but why, when I don’t need to? So I pick other streets.

First preference is quiet streets with a design or signing welcoming to bicyclists. Best example is M Street in East Sacramento, my usual route to and from Trader Joes, and also when I jump off the parkway at Sac State and continue into downtown/midtown. Streets like M are the closest Sacramento has to bike boulevards or neighborhood greenways.

Second preference is narrow streets without bike lanes. Why? Because the traffic moves slowly on these streets, sometimes below the posted speed. Since I’m now treating stop signs as yield signs, the more frequent stop signs on these streets don’t slow me down very much, there are few vehicles to take turns with except at two brief times of day. Parking along these streets helps a lot, particularly when it is diagonal, because parked cars create friction that slows drivers.

Third preference is streets with bike lanes. But often these are higher volume, higher speed streets. If I’m really in a hurry, these are the streets I use. Fewer stop signs and fewer signals make for a faster trip. In that sense I’m making the same decision as car drivers.

Choosing streets to walk

2013/08/17 Dan Allison2 Comments

business on a two-way, two-lane street (Capitol at 18th)

I walk a lot in midtown, going to and from various destinations such as the train station, nonprofits and agencies I work with, grocery stores, theatres, farmers markets, breweries, etc. I was thinking last night as I walked to and from Capital Stage about what streets I choose to walk on.

Almost all the time I choose to walk on two-way, two-lane streets. I rarely choose to walk on the multi-lane streets and the one-way streets, except for short distances as I zigzag to my destination. The two-way, two-lane streets are usually quieter, less traffic and traffic moving more slowly. I can relax more with the quiet, and I can look around more, paying more attention to everything around me and not just traffic.

Why is this significant?

confronting the stop sign myth

2013/08/122013/08/12 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

this bicyclist rode through a stop sign, past a right-turning car, rude and dangerous — this bicyclist rode past a right-turning car on the right side, without letting the car driver go first

I often see or hear the statement “bicyclists run stop signs all the time.” The person making the statement is not just making an observation, but trying to justify some attitude or action on their part, such as “bicyclists shouldn’t be on the road,” “bicyclists should be on the sidewalk,” “bicyclists should be thrown in jail,” “it is OK to intimidate or run over bicyclists,” or “we should not be spending any of our transportation money on bicycle facilities.”

I think that it is time for all of us to confront that statement and end its use. Yes, it is true that some to many bicyclists run stop signs. It is also true some to many motor vehicle drivers run stop signs. To refer back to my earlier posts on stop signs, stop signs are installed largely to reduce vehicle speeds and to get drivers to take turns at intersections. Bicyclists are rarely exceeding the speed limit, so that function is not served by the stop sign, nor by a bicyclist stopping. In the case of taking turns, the issue is taking turns, not the act of stopping. If a bicyclist does not stop at a stop sign, but no other vehicles are present which should go first, then the function of the stop sign to get people to take turns is intact, it has not been violated.

News summary August 11

2013/08/112013/08/11 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Carnage

Man dies in Auburn hit-and-run crash (SacBee 2013-08-09)
Coroner identifies man killed in Woodland hit-and-run crash (SacBee 2013-08-05)

Other

Will McKinley Village Obstruct Essential State Highway and Rail Projects? (Sacramento Press 2013-08-09)
On the future of Sacramento’s K Street: The Kay after tomorrow (Sacramento News & Review 2013-08-08); K Street is definitely a place where transportation and development strongly influence each other
Councilmember Jay Schenirer opposes updates to big-box ordinance (Sacramento Press 2013-08-08)
City council to consider options for new American River crossings (Sacramento Press 2013-08-07)
A year later, some still grumble over shifting of Sacramento train tracks (SacBee 2013-08-07)
SMUD to install fast electric car chargers (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-08-06)
City should embrace train repair facility (SacBee 2013-08-06)
Bike update: Green bike lanes going in the Capitol Mall, deadline approaches for bike share program (Sacramento Press 2013-08-05)

News summary August 4

2013/08/042013/08/11 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Caltrans surveys Sacramento sites for new railyard (SacBee 2013-08-04)

Back-seat Driver: Guy West Bridge to get a face-lift (SacBee 2013-08-02)

Interchange work points to growth hot spots (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-08-02 paywall)

Elkhorn interchange to get widening, stoplight (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-08-01)

Despite changes, labor and neighborhood groups remain opposed to big-box ordinance (Sacramento Press 2013-07-29); for any of you wondering why this is a transportation issue, it is because big box stores generate considerably more motor vehicle trips than do small, locally owned businesses, and they are part of the sprawl development patterns that many places are striving to eliminate

In Sacramento, bicycling buds part of a growing trend (SacBee 2013-07-29)

Bike rack artist Gina Ross fuses functionality with creativity (Sacramento Press 2013-07-9)

News summary July 28

2013/07/282013/07/28 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Carnage

Teen bike rider dies in collision near Marysville (SacBee 2013-07-26)

Other

Superstore “big-box’ ordinance amended to exclude Central City (Sacramento Press 2013-07-26)
Highway 99 interchanges on schedule (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-07-25)
Folsom police to keep an eye on pedestrian-related wrongs (SacBee 2013-07-25)
I-5 interchange on track, Delta Shores development to follow (Sacramento Business Journal 2013-07-24)
City to move on long-awaited safety improvements for Carlson Corridor (Sacramento Press 2013-07-22)

Sacramento’s Transportation Report Card

2013/07/26 Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The lead article this week in the Sacramento News & Review is Sacramento’s report card. I can’t resist getting in on the fun.

The article covers bicycle transportation in the “On two wheels” paragraph, and does it pretty well, giving a C grade. I’d add that art bike racks can be fun if they are also functional. The dragon at Shoki Ramen House and the bottle openers at New Helvetia Brewing are good examples. I think bicycling really works pretty well in the central city and some of east Sacramento, with people getting along in sharing the road most of the time. The further out you go, though, the worse things are, with belligerent drivers traveling at high speeds. I’d give central city a B and the far suburbs an D-. Does this average to a C?