Safe, low cost bike/NEV route between Woodland and Davis proposed
From a Woodland Record - Letter to the editor:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." starts "A tale of two cities" by Charles Dickens.
I am an experienced cyclist and bike commuter. I rode my bicycle from Los Angeles to New York city via bicycle 15 years ago and have experienced all types of roads and conditions while cycling. I have found that the worst roads for cycling are those roads where thin traffic lanes have no shoulder, or where a shoulder does exist, it is covered by dirt and debris.
This situation coupled with relatively heavy high speed traffic makes for a truly nerve-racking ride. Unfortunately this description also accurately portrays most routes between Woodland and Davis. While the bike lanes are superb within Davis and Woodland, the bicycle friendliness of the two cities seems to end at the city limits.
Read more at the Woodland Record.
Note: Paul Erickson, the author of the letter, is an associate professor of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at UC Davis. He is the director of the Hydrogen Production and Utilization Laboratory.
Visit http://mae.ucdavis.edu/hypaul/ or http://mae.ucdavis.edu/erickson/
From the City of Woodland's Web site:
Woodland-Davis alternative transportation corridor discussed tonight
There will be a community kick-off meeting for the Woodland-Davis Alternative Transportation Corridor on February 23rd at the Community and Senior Center from 6-8 pm. The proposed project would construct an off-road, paved path primarily focused on providing access for bicycles, pedestrians and low speed electric vehicles. The purpose of the meeting will be to provide the public with information about the project and allow citizens the opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns and provide input into the design and use of the project.
Click here for more information on the county's Web site.
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21 comments:
Great project for Woodland/Davis and UCD. The first electric car highway in nation.
I really like this idea. I'm sure some residents on Road 99 will not like it, but it is a workable solutiont that won't cost taxpayers millions. I also really like the idea of 11:14 that the county can get some positive national attention on this.
Interesting how Rd. 99 isn't even on the county's potential route map. Instead of spending millions on relocating the RR or a separate path over farmland, why not just change the speed limit on an existing road. Ingenious. Maybe a tax break for the residents on Rd. 99 will mitigate the impact of that 20 mph speed they won't have. I don't know, this might be too much out of the box for the county.
Build it and they will come...every enviromental whack-o from here to the right coast....slow speed environmental terrorists...yup, helluva idea. Let the greenies take their electro-cars out to destroy the GMO's...and eat wild hickory nuts.
Euell,
It's already built.
And I'm not quite sure of what the connection is between natural diet and transportation solutions... but maybe the WTF can plant pine trees along 99.
Why Rd. 99 is not on the list? If you would get off your couch and go to the public meetings, you would know.
10:42
That was a dumb comment. If you know why 99 is not on the map, just tell us. To think the public has to attend meetings or workshops to get information or make observations is ridiculous.
I think using 99 as suggested by Paul Erickson is a great idea. He is an experienced bicycle commuter and his profession deals with transportation. I also noticed 99 wasn't on the map... so tell us why using it is not a practical solution.
You're coming off as an insider with a pet project... "we won't think outside the box because it's our project and that's not our idea."
Wah.
When will the City of Woodland staff understand they are there to serve the citizenry and support local business to survive?
I am no greeny. I would love to ride my bicycle around town. I feel very un-safe. So I would love the bike trail to Davis. Then I would feel more safe riding my bike around that bike friendly town.
I question the comments that "some residents on Road 99 wont like it" I certainly can't speak for the few residents which live there but there are homes along the road now with slow moving vehicle triangles at their driveways and even some actual signs along fences that say "Slow Down." BTW just in case anyone was wondering about technology nepotism, the electric vehicles I work with at UCD are definitely not slow moving vehicles (with exception to the old fuel cell bus which tops out at 55 mph) the plug-in hybrid vehicles have about double the power of a conventional vehicle and will out pull and out accelerate the best in class. Frankly as a mechanical engineer I'm not really fond of pine or hickory nuts and I love high power machines and speed but honestly we should probably keep speed to roads that don't have bikes and nevs on them.
Regarding the comments about showing up to the planning meetings, I do know that 99-29-99D is the proposed western route for the Woodland-Davis bikeway. However I'm not confident that these projects will ever see the light of day given the cost and the current budgets. After all hasnt this been a "top priority" for 14 years? The planners told me in 2006 that the bikelanes on the 27-29 stretch would be done that year, it took till 2008.
Hey if we get a grant from the stimulus bill lets build a dedicated off road bike trail, if not lets use our brains and the roadways that we have.
Paul,
Albeit second hand, we did hear that one farmer on 99 didn't like the idea of slowing the traffic to 35. I'm with you, if I lived out there I would like the slower traffic. I lived on a country road and did not like the speeds that would often exceed 55.
I suggested a mitigative measure of a county tax discount for those residents who feel it's a hardship to drive a mile at 35 to get to a 55 mph road.
Again, I think it's a great idea. And by the way, I emailed your letter to the three contacts listed on the county's Web page (Yolo, Davis and Woodland)... as expected I have not even received an acknowledgment. They probably won't even include it in any discussions.
For the uninformed, Rd. 99 has its funding and will be completed this summer. The Rd. 99 widing project is going out to bid this March. See I know because I was at the Mondays meeting on bike trail.
1:04
What has the funding for widening Rd. 99 have to do with the concept of reducing the speed limit for bicycle and NEV use?
Being present at a meeting doesn't mean you were connecting the dots.
That farmer would not happen to be a same one who is a county supervisor is it? Yes the same one who admits he doesn't like bicyclists (that is 1st hand from the public comment portion of the Supervisors meeting November 2007). I imagine he would probably like a lower speed limit a little better if a harvester of his got creamed on the road rather than just another bicyclist. OK enough said there really the Chairman isnt such a bad guy, and really should not be held accountable for a single off handed comment. If it was someone with a real concern please note that 98 and 113 are readily available and with a lower speed limit the slow moving Ag traffic benefits significantly. In all fairness to the farmers out there they usually give you lots of room and arent going much over bicycle speed even in their trucks. Although it seems a little facist and is completely unenforcable there is another option as well. Since the main goal of the lower speed limit is to divert traffic away from 99, one could simply close road 99 to non resident non ag traffic open it to cyclists and NEVs and keep the speed limits the same. Under this option essentially the 20 homes/businesses of Road 99 would have a county funded semi private driveway that they share with bikes, NEVs, and AG although Im not sure that this is a great option considering the principles of freedom and equity as I see them.
Slightly off topic but in response to above I think that it is great that the widening is scheduled and has funding. Quite a price tag!
BTW I sent a preprint version of the letter to the same 3 people working on the project and heard back almost immediately from the Davis representative soliciting further opinion and made some clarification regarding the scheduled widening. Nothing from the others but I imagine they were swamped with the meeting that evening.
Is there a report on the community meeting from anyone who is willing to put off the cloak of anonymity? Note that I wrote the letter the day before the meeting and was I was jammed up with family obligations that evening thus could not go.
PAUL
Paul,
No. The concerned farmer is not a supervisor.
I'm glad the City of Davis official got back to you. My main concern was that your idea and message ended up on someone's desk.
Regarding the possible lowering of the speed limit on Road 99:
I think those of us who live and/or farm along Road 99 ought to have the biggest say in this. It is in front of our homes and in our fields that the bike riders have perished (2), been severely injured (2 more), and where the car wrecks end up (7 in the past 10 years just along our farm's 880' of Rd 99 frontage).
My family's farm depends upon our customers being able to get to our farm stand easily. My wife's & kids' lives & limbs depend upon being able to pull out of our driveway safely. I wonder about how enforceable a low speed limit would be. I am uncertain about the impact on our farm (could be good, could be bad).
A lower speed limit would inconvenience us, but only a little; it may impair other Rd 99 residents or farmers to a greater extent.
I have mixed feelings about it, but safety is definitely the top priority.
BTW,every accident I'm aware of did NOT involve farm equipment or vehicles.
There isn't that many households on Road 99 between Woodland & Davis (less than 25, I believe). We ought to all get together to discuss this.
Robert Ramming
20872 Co. Rd. 99
Robert, I am glad to see you chime in. I actually like this idea as well, but I think it would be important for the homeowners on that road to get together and have a little meeting on it. I do not think it would really have much negative effect on the homeowners, maybe only positive. It would keep the idiots who speed like crazy out of there. They would not have to worry about pulling out into the road as much.
I would guess your farm would even benefit in the short term due to some big news coverage of that location if this did happen??
Let's also be honest, for those who want to fly down the road between Woodland and Davis can go a half mile east or west and get on a major road.
Viva Robert! I certainly don't want this to hurt anyone's business out there either. Thus the closure to non residents doesnt make sense to me at all.
Robert,
I'm glad you joined the discussion. If safety on that road is a big issue, which I think you made the case for, I think a reduced speed is a benefit.
As for the impact to your business, I can see both sides. On one hand, there might be less cars because of the reduced speed. But are those potential customers and does that equate to less business? On the other hand, being on the Bike/NEV corridor might have marketing potential. Would there be a shift in the traffic volume to benefit your business?
I think overall, the benefits would outweigh the negative impacts. Lower speeds might be an inconvenience, but it would be safer. Loss of traffic volume because of reduced speed might translate into other potential customers. Mitigation might allow commercial signs at the intersections or markers to draw attention to corridor businesses.
As Realist pointed out, there would be a blip of notoriety... but I think a decent marketing strategy (a cooperative effort) can parlay that blip into a long-term campaign. Overall, the marketing potential is greater than with a dedicated road that follows the RR tracks. The idea might actually make 99 busier, which may or may not be the thing residents want.
Even with the negative aspects, I hope the idea gets serious consideration. For the money, it's still a great idea. I would be pleased if it got to a point where you could have a meeting with your neighbors.
I didn't notice the nonresident restriction comment earlier. I'm glad Paul retracted that for the reasons stated.
this road was built for vehicles & through traffic, don't close it except to residents only
Wow! I write a letter Sunday night and by Friday the county has swept Road 99. Perhaps someone brought this up at the meeting as well? Amazing! Big heartfelt thanks to whomever is responsible for sweeping up. Todays return commute was much more enjoyable without riding through the debris. It was getting bad! Again thanks a ton,
PAUL
Paul: The power of the blog helps us all:)
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