September
2004

Supervisors approve Santa Ynez plan



This drawing shows a possible route for the Santa Ynez River Trail. A bikepath along Highway 154 would avoid problems near the dam.

• After hearing dozens of people speak on the subject over three meetings, the Board of Supervisors finally voted to proceed with the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan on August 10th.
• The proposed trails in the plan themselves did not receive much discussion or comment, but there were strong feelings about whether the plan should encompass the Valley's entire 231,000 acres, or should only deal with the much smaller urban core. If the rural areas had been deleted, it would have also deleted many of the proposed trails.
• Supervisors Joe Centano and Joni Gray supported excluding agricultural land from the plan area of the original acreage. However, it was Supervisor Gail Marshall—whose district encompasses the Santa Ynez Valley—who felt that the Valley should be remain unified under one plan. She eventually made a motion to proceed with the plan that would consist of all 231,000 acres, and it was passed with the support of Supervisors Susan Rose and Naomi Schwartz.
• At the August 3 Supervisors meeting, Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig delivered the petition with 728 names of people who supported the Santa Ynez River Trail, collected over two months last spring by Buellton bike shop owner Corey Evans and by the Bicycle Coalition.
• During the August 10th discussion, Supervisor Joni Gray admitted that "trails improve our quality of life," although she also said that she didn't want one running through her property. Willie Chamberlin, a ranch owner near Los Olivos, said that there should be no trails through private property. He objected to the standard process of putting a trail on a map, then having planners require a trail easement whenever the owners, one by one, apply for a project permit on their land.
• Overall, we consider the progress of the plan a positive step toward new bicycling trails. What happens next? The plan was sent off for study of environmental impacts. At the earliest, it could be adopted by summer 2005. However, there will be challenges along the way, so we will need your help in realizing better trails for us all.

Shoreline bikepath opens

• On August 14, a large crowd turned out to celebrate the opening of Santa Barbara's new Shoreline Drive bikepath, sidewalk and landscaping. Mayor Marty Blum, Supervisor Susan Rose, SBCAG Director Jim Kemp, plus past and present City Council members officiated.

Mulholland and Bike Education

• Bicycle Coalition Board member Nancy Mulholland has offered to head up our committee on Bike Education. Although it officially awaits approval at our next board meeting, we have no doubt that she will be confirmed. Three others have come forward to assist her: Dru van Hengel, Erika Lindemann, and Chuck Anderson. If you would care to help out with this important program for children and adults alike, whether you are a League Cycling Instructor or not, contact Nancy Mulholland at 563-9073.
• Watch Quick Release each month as courses are announced and bike safety information is offered. Look below for a description of two September bicycle education opportunities for South Coast children—and spread the word.
• This is just the start of an important program that will enhance community awareness of bicycling. We look forward to a long and successful program under Mulholland's coordination.

Bike safety for kids

• These two offerings are part of our bicycling education program now being coordinated by Nancy Mulholland.
• Bike Safety and Handling Rodeo for Kids
  Event: Salsa Festival Santa Barbara 2004
  Date: Saturday, September 4th
  Time: 12:00 noon to 8:00 PM
  Location: Ortega Park in Santa Barbara
  Instructor(s): to be announced
  Sponsor: COAST Safe Routes to School Project
  Contact for more information: Ricardo Venegas 963-7605 to sign up children for the course, or Jessica Scheeter for more information.
• Children's Bicycle Safety Course
  Event: Lompoc Old Town Fair
  Date: Saturday, September 18th
  Time: 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon
  Location: Cypress and South H Streets, Lompoc
  Instructor: Erika Lindemann, LCI
  Sponsor: Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce
  Contact for more information: Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce 737-4567; or Erika Lindemann at 961-8919.

Member summer barbecue another success



Here our Bicycle Coalition members digging into all the food at our Third Annual Member Appreciation Barbecue. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• August 8th was another superb day in our area, and just the perfect time for a picnic. Our annual Member Appreciation Barbecue attracted over 30 members, family and friends to Tucker's Grove County Park. We offered barbecued chicken from Santa Barbara Chicken Ranch, drinks, and all the great food brought by our members to share.
• Our thanks to Dru van Hengel, Erika Lindemann, and Ralph Fertig for all their work in putting it together. And to Wilson Hubbell who brought free peel-and-stick reflective material to pass out, plus Vie and George Obern who brought three big bags of apples from their trees for us to enjoy.
• We realize that some members had conflicts with Fiesta and other commitments that kept them from attending, so would a mid-August date be better than early August? Was the Goleta Beach location better? Please let us know.

Coalition honored for Car Free Project

• Since its inception in fall 1998, the Santa Barbara Car Free project has encouraged South Coast visitors and residents to get around without a car. Originally called "Take a Vacation from Your Car," the project has been coordinated by the Air Pollution Control District's Mary Byrd from the beginning.
• Partner organizations include the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, hotels, bike rental shops, kayak, bike and jeep tour companies, boat rentals, the MTD transit agency, regional tourist bureaus, Chambers of Commerce, and Amtrak.
• Current Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig has been involved from the beginning because he saw a great opportunity to get visitors to rent bikes while here, or bring their own bikes with them. "The more bicyclists on our streets and paths, the safer it will be for us all," is his feeling.
• So on August 19, the Board of Directors of the Air Pollution Control District awarded a Certificate of Appreciation to Fertig who received it for us, for all our work in making bicycling a more prominent aspect of our community.

Olympic cycling

• What a summer! Lance Armstrong and the Posties had barely finished their last circuit around the Arc de Triumph, when the Olympic flame was ignited. For us bicyclists, it's road races, time trials, track cycling, mountain bike races, and triathlons. We're proud of local cyclist Adam Duvendeck who raced in the Olympic velodrome, even though he didn't win a medal.
• The cycling totals show the United States tied with Great Britain and the Netherlands for fifth place in total medals. Australia, Russia, Spain and Germany were ahead of us, and 14 other countries shared the remaining medals.

August Coalition meeting topics

• Our August 3rd Bicycle Coalition gathering attracted 14 people to discuss these and other issues:
• Ralph Fertig described meeting Vince DiMarco from Greenwich CT who was here to examine Santa Barbara's transportation system.
• Plans for our Member Appreciation Barbecue were discussed.
• Ralph Fertig described Renaissance Cycles relocation to Santa Barbara.
• Wilson Hubbell described the re-planking of the Obern Trail bridge near Patterson using recycled plastic lumber.
• Mike Hecker talked about his ongoing mountain bike races in Elings Park.
• Ralph Fertig, Mike Hecker and others talked about the Board of Supervisors consideration of bike trails in the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan.
• Cliff Baldridge complained about unsafe bicycling on Cliff Drive in Santa Barbara. The City is working with Caltrans over relinquishment of the state highway.
• Wilson Hubbell and Ralph Fertig talked about Caltrans' plans for Foothill Road.
• Ralph Fertig described the involvement of UCSB students in the MoveUC campus tour currently taking place.
• We discussed reauthorization of the County's 1/2-cent transportation tax, and possible inclusion of bicycling conditions

Hazard's new shop

• Bruce Davis has many reasons to smile at his new, bigger shop, Hazard's Cyclesport. It's now located at 110 Anacapa Street in Santa Barbara.

Bye bye bikepath



Kohn Hall now has a sidewalk on the left of new parking spaces (where the construction truck is parked). Chancellor Yang removed the bikepath for new car parking. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Santa Barbara County's Coast Route bikepath through UCSB was temporarily rerouted onto a service road while construction of Kohn Hall extension was in progress over the past year or so. It entailed a short distance on busy Lagoon Road from the Goleta Beach bikepath before entering the service road between Kohn and Engineering I. Yes, it was less safe than the direct crossing and an inconvenience, but it was temporary. Or so we were told.
• On August 25, to commuting bicyclists' surprise and dismay, the place where the bikepath was to be restored was replaced with new parking spaces that were clearly defined with freshly-poured concrete curbs.
• Investigation by bicyclists determined that Chancellor Henry Yang made the decision in response to a request from somebody with influence in Kohn Hall for convenient parking for his car.
• Whether protests against this taking are effective or not, the precedent that it sets is disturbing: that the Chancellor can, with a swoop of his pen, inconvenience and endanger thousands of people using sustainable transportation for the personal convenience of one individual who prefers not to walk a short distance.
• A flurry of phone calls and emails from irate bicycle commuters over their loss is continuing as this goes to press. The Bicycle Coalition will take a stand against this action. We especially note the timing of this switch, intentional or not: it occurred when nearly all students were absent and many staff and faculty were on vacation.
• While we formulate an appropriate protest, you may wish to express your own opinion—please contact Chancellor Yang at henry.yang@chancellor.ucsb.edu.

Granada bikestation moves ahead

• On August 24th, the Santa Barbara City Council accepted a $19.9 million bid to construct the "Granda Garage" parking structure that includes a "bikestation" within the structure. Ground breaking will begin this September and the bikestation should be completed by February 2006.
• The management and services offered by this new bicycle facility have not been determined. The extent, if any, to which our Bicycle Coalition is involved, will be considered over the next 18 months.

Coalition seeks safer Foothill designs



Foothill Road west of Santa Barbara will have these drainage ditches filled in, but we ask that the new covering shoulder will be paved. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Over the past 3 years, Caltrans has considered improvements to a narrow stretch of Foothill Road (Highway 192). What's involved is a 0.7-mile section between Mission Canyon Road and Alamar Avenue. Because it's a state highway, Caltrans is responsible for its design and maintenance.
• The situation first came to our attention at a November 2001 meeting between Caltrans and the Mission Canyon Association. Caltrans described possible changes due to the high accident rate, poor drainage, and emergency response times. According to a report published in December 2001 Quick Release, the subject of paved bikelanes came up. We observed, "Most residents favored paving because they either want to bike or walk there, or because cyclists hold them up when they drive on the roadway. Other residents, however, say that while they don't mind paved shoulders, they sometimes use the space for parking when they have company."
• The Bicycle Coalition followed the meeting with a letter to Caltrans dated January 23, 2002. We urged them to design the road with four-foot shoulders, shoulder stripes, and designated "No Parking" zones on both sides. This was for six reasons:
• safer conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists
• a place for USPS mail trucks for delivery
• safer conditions for disabled vehicles
• space for motorists when emergency vehicles approach
• greater sight distances for motorists exiting driveways
• no blocking of motorists by slow-moving bicyclists in the travel lanes.
• After that, we heard nothing about Foothill Road for 30 months until they scheduled a public information meeting last July 28th. Their proposed design was on display—it included four-foot unpaved shoulders. We were told that it would be a "stabilized" material, and that the roadway paving would extend in various distances onto the shoulder. We were also told that it was the Mission Canyon Association who asked for the unpaved shoulders.
• What was most disturbing was an informational poster at the meeting titled "Purpose and Need." One of the six items on the poster said, "While the shoulder would remain mostly unpaved, it would provide a flat refuge area for bicyclists."
• Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig sent a letter to Caltrans on August 4th. The letter states that Caltrans failed to comply with its own Deputy Directive DD-64 in design of Highway 192 improvements. That DD-64, dated March 2001, states in part:
• "The Department fully considers the needs of non-motorized travelers (including pedestrians, bicyclists and persons with disabilities) in all programming, planning, maintenance, construction, operations and project development activities and products."
• We further questioned the concept of a "refuge area for bicyclists." We asked, "A refuge from motorists? Does that mean that we are expected to abandon the paved roadway to which we have full legal access, whenever a motorist approaches us from the rear?"
• Fertig suggested a solution. It would be to use a colored surface paving treatment. It could be colored to match local earth, giving residents the rural feeling that they desire, while providing bicyclists with a safe place to ride.
• It remains to be seen whether we get the consideration that DD-64 requires, but we have heard that our letter has provoked discussions. We're definitely staying tuned.

Transportation and Livability Summit



Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Our thanks to Representative Lois Capps for organizing a half-day meeting on August 25 to discuss the future of transportation in the South Coast of Santa Barbara County. Over 100 key transportation partners from Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties attended; Ralph Fertig was invited to represent bicyclists.
• The keynote speaker was Representative Earl Blumenauer from Portland, Oregon. He is a senior member of the important House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Both he and Capps are members of the House "Bike Caucus" that promotes bicycling issues. Fertig phoned Blumenauer's office beforehand and invited him on a Santa Barbara bike facilities tour, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time.
• "Increase the number and variety of transportation choices," said Blumenauer. "The auto is necessary, but it's important to not surrender to it."

Walk/Bike Conference in Ventura

• The California Bicycle Coalition's President Gail Payne announced that the City of Ventura will be the site of the Walk/Bike California 2005 conference. Our Bicycle Coalition had teamed with the City of Santa Barbara to propose that it be held here, but Ventura beat us out.
• It will be held in September 2005, and we may be involved with pre-conference and post-conference events. With over 300 people attending, we can offer bicycling weekends for those who chose to make it a fun vacation or expand their education.

MoveUC students visit university campuses



UCSB students, from the left—Soumil Mehta, Greg Banks, Eric Lohela, Edward France, and Logan Green. Photo courtesy of Edward France.

• For two weeks during the summer, UCSB students joined others on a bicycle-oriented tour of University of California campuses. They were investigating and promoting sustainable campus transportation as part of the "MoveUC" program that is a campaign of the California Student Sustainability Coalition.
• By meeting with students, faculty and administrators at eight of the UC campuses, they laid the groundwork for awareness and action. One result was that the UC Office of the President is creating a new Sustainable Transportation Coordinator position to work with the MoveUC campaign and collect "best practices" information. UCSB students Soumil Mehta and Edward France are working with Arthur Coulston from UC Santa Cruz in gathering that information. Their task, says Mehta, is to compile the data for the CSSC, and then use it for presentation, documentation, and outreach.
• By using bicycles for transportation between cities and on campuses, the group appreciated more deeply that, as Mehta expresses it:
• Bikes are the perfect transportation match for the medium-to-high density and centralization of college campuses.
• Bicycle networks are a vital part of any sustainable transportation network.
• Bike-friendly development enables connecting links, thereby completing any multi-modal network of transportation.
• Among the campuses, there is a wide-range of practices and cultural attitudes towards sustainability and transportation alternatives.
• All the UC campuses have the potential to become more bicycle-friendly, especially Riverside and Irvine because they plan large-scale growth well suited to bicycling networks.
• Bicycling is a rewarding, exhilarating and intimate way to travel through California. It provides freedom to get on and go with- out worrying about traffic jams, while rewarding the cyclist with a sense of joy and wonder.
• Bicycles have been taken for granted for too long. For a real and substantial change in the campus mode split, we need to give bike facility development the highest priority and first consideration in the circulation element of campus long-range development plans.
• Bike networks must be the centerpiece of the campaign because they have the potential to benefit a significantly higher proportion of campus populations than any of the other solutions like carshare, rideshare, transit, and others.
• What lies ahead for MoveUC is a campaign that requires a methodical approach, a cultivation of relationships with faculty, staff, and administration, and a persistence.
• At UCSB, the Associated Students' BIKES committee has provided the spawning ground for MoveUC action. Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig has regularly joined the committee for meetings, and intends to continue. It's to our united benefit to aid them in embracing their vision of a transportation network developed on sound principles. It will lay a sustainable foundation for not only the UC campuses, but also all neighboring communities.

We met Caltrans about new bridge

• Bicycle Coalition members Wilson Hubbell, Erika Lindemann and Ralph Fertig met with Heather Diez from the City of Goleta, and three Caltrans representatives on August 27th. We examined plans for the proposed Cathedral Oaks bridge over Highway 101. We agreed that the bridge configuration of two 12-foot traffic lanes, two 8-foot shoulders, and one 6-foot sidewalk on the west side would acceptably serve all users.
• Details for the intersections of Calle Real on the north and Hollister Avenue on the south include stop signs and no added turn lanes. This still needs approval of the California Transportation Commission. If all goes well, construction will start in mid-2007, and finish in mid-2009. We'll be watching.

Active members

• Please thank and support the following Bicycle Coalition business members:
• Hazard's Cyclesport, Santa Barbara
• Rincon Cycles, Carpinteria
• Piekert Group Architects, Santa Barbara
• We welcome new Bicycle Coalition members Kenneth Kosai and Yolanda Blue.
  And we certainly thank those who renewed their memberships: Jim Marshall, Hildy Hoffman, Dennis Thompson, Mark McClure and Ron Williams.

Westside Bikeabout



Joan Livingston, center, shows a map of improvements slated for the Bohnett Park Extension during her Westside Bikeabout. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Westside Santa Barbara activist Joan Livingston led a bike tour of existing and proposed public facilities on August 18th. The purpose was to see how existing parks, bridges, and gardens were used, and look at possible new park locations.
• The group consisted of Livingston, the Bicycle Coalition's Ralph Fertig, city Planning Commissioner Jonathan Maguire, and several others. They visited Bohnett Park, the upcoming Bohnett Park Extension, the "green jungle" at Figueroa and San Pasqual that could become a new park, the graffiti-free Anapamu bike/ped bridge, the newer Ortega bike/ped bridge, and the Rancheria community gardens.
• We learned that a new "Aloes and Birds" art project will soon be installed at the Ortega bridge. It will consist of decorative arches all along the bridge and its ramps.
• Maguire commented that the long ramps on the Ortega bridge were a deterrent to pedestrians who resented the extra walking. Fertig said that he loved them for bicycling, and would sometimes go out of his way to use that bridge. The ramps must have a gentle slope to accommodate disabled people, whether separate stairs are added or not, so there may be no design alternative short of an elevator.

Obern Trail stop

• An idea was hatched last spring during preparation for Bike to Work Day. A temporary coffee and rest area was established by Don Lubach at the juncture of the Obern and Maria Ygnacio Trails. The idea of a permanent stop and information display came from Wilson Hubbell and Ralph Fertig, and applying for CREF funding seemed ideal. An email to the four architects who are Bicycle Coalition members generated interest in design of the stop, with Jeff Stoutenborough being the first to reply. Additional assistance was offered by Dennis Thompson and Carrie Bingham.
• The idea is to create an information stop that explains the Juan Bautista de Anza party's trek through there in 1776, why the Obern Trail was so named, and who Maria Ygnacio was. So we're going to work with Jeff to make the deadline for a preliminary project description by October 1st. If you wish to be involved, contact Fertig at sb-ralph@cox.net or 962-1479.