By MIKE McCOY <mike.mccoy@...>
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

 Published: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.

Santa Rosa’s City Council gave its unanimous go-ahead Tuesday to plans to
turn a 1.5-mile stretch of Humboldt Street into the county’s first bike
boulevard where cyclists and motorists will share the road equally.

The six-month experiment will involve adding traffic circles at four of the
14 intersections along the route, sidewalk “bulb-outs” at two other
intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic and added signage to make the
street as safe as possible, said transportation planner Nancy Adams.

The two-lane street would be turned into a bike boulevard where motorists
and cyclists follow each other in single file, neither having preference
over the other.

Councilman Gary Wysocky, who lives near the project area and is a member of
the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition that is backing the project, said
motorists who now use Humboldt as a short-cut between Lewis Road and Fifth
Street downtown won’t see much difference in their travel time even if they
are stuck behind slower-moving bike riders.

“Drivers will find these annoying cyclists are only taking up 30 to 40
seconds of their time,” he said.

Wysocky, and about a dozen audience members who came to support the idea,
agreed the trade-off for slower traffic is a residential street in the heart
of the Santa Rosa Junior College neighborhood that will offer greater safety
for all ages and levels of cyclists traveling across town.

“Safety is the No. 1 impediment to people getting on a bike,” Wysocky said.

Adams said cyclists and motorists would follow each other single file along
the 25 mile-per-hour street but that motorists could pass slower-moving
riders when there was no traffic in the oncoming lane.

The plan to eventually convert this stretch of Humboldt, traveled by between
2,800 to 4,800 cars daily, into the city’s first bike boulevard was added to
the city’s general plan in in 2001.

It is viewed as a safer alternative for less experienced cyclists to travel
across town or to neighboring schools, including Santa Rosa High School and
Santa Rosa Junior College.

The other major biking route to the two schools, four-lane Mendocino Avenue
located just two blocks east and running parallel to Humboldt, is traveled
by up to 29,000 cars a day.

Dexter Street resident Howard Adler, among the neighborhood cyclists
supporting the experiment, said, “We’re not asking for special treatment,
we’re asking for a level playing field.”

But Howard Street resident Kay Tokerud, who lives a half-block from
Humboldt, called the test project, which will cost $36,500 to implement, a
waste of money.

She said her own observations, along with that of five others helping her
monitor traffic on Humboldt for six hours Monday, found no conflicts between
motorists and cyclists.

She noted that while all the “drivers obeyed the red lights and stop signs,”
she said that cyclists often did not.

“They made very little effort to observe the traffic rules,” she said.

Adams said the temporary structures needed to implement the bike boulevard —
signage, sidewalk extensions called bulb-outs and traffic roundabouts —
should be in place by August.

After six months, the results will be reviewed and neighborhood meetings
will be held to determine whether to implement a permanent project at a cost
of $200,000, revise it or drop the idea.

Several council members indicated they likely will move ahead if the results
are favorable. The city could end up adding more controversial measures that
would make the boulevard even more bike-friendly, but at the expense of
motorists.

Christine Culver, executive director for the Sonoma County Bicycle
Coalition, said a true bike boulevard would include diverters, concrete
blocks that would block traffic at various sections of Humboldt and force
motorists onto side streets.

“The boulevard should give bicyclists priority,” she said.

From: larryshaeffer@...
To: pabikewalk-discussion@...
CC: info@...

These are the kinds of facilities that have to asked/demanded for specifically. The PCPC just can't bring themselves to propose things like this on their own. in the article they talk about bikes slowing down motorists (taking of their time) but in reality when these types of projects (retrofitting intersections w/roundabouts) go in, speeds go down but so do travel times. So, motorists win too.




http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090414/ARTICLES/904149890?Title=Santa-Rosa-council-OKs-bike-boulevard




Santa Rosa council OKs bike boulevard


			


	                
			
			

			
			




By MIKE McCOY

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT










 
			
			
			
			
				Published: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m. 

                Last Modified: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
			
			



Santa Rosa’s City Council gave its unanimous go-ahead Tuesday to
plans to turn a 1.5-mile stretch of Humboldt Street into the county’s
first bike boulevard where cyclists and motorists will share the road
equally.


	











The six-month experiment will involve adding traffic circles at four
of the 14 intersections along the route, sidewalk “bulb-outs” at two
other intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic and added signage to
make the street as safe as possible, said transportation planner Nancy
Adams.
The two-lane street would be turned into a bike boulevard
where motorists and cyclists follow each other in single file, neither
having preference over the other.
Councilman Gary Wysocky, who
lives near the project area and is a member of the Sonoma County
Bicycle Coalition that is backing the project, said motorists who now
use Humboldt as a short-cut between Lewis Road and Fifth Street
downtown won’t see much difference in their travel time even if they
are stuck behind slower-moving bike riders.
“Drivers will find these annoying cyclists are only taking up 30 to 40 seconds of their time,” he said.
Wysocky,
and about a dozen audience members who came to support the idea, agreed
the trade-off for slower traffic is a residential street in the heart
of the Santa Rosa Junior College neighborhood that will offer greater
safety for all ages and levels of cyclists traveling across town.
“Safety is the No. 1 impediment to people getting on a bike,” Wysocky said.
Adams
said cyclists and motorists would follow each other single file along
the 25 mile-per-hour street but that motorists could pass slower-moving
riders when there was no traffic in the oncoming lane.
The plan
to eventually convert this stretch of Humboldt, traveled by between
2,800 to 4,800 cars daily, into the city’s first bike boulevard was
added to the city’s general plan in in 2001.
It is viewed as a
safer alternative for less experienced cyclists to travel across town
or to neighboring schools, including Santa Rosa High School and Santa
Rosa Junior College.
The other major biking route to the two
schools, four-lane Mendocino Avenue located just two blocks east and
running parallel to Humboldt, is traveled by up to 29,000 cars a day.
Dexter
Street resident Howard Adler, among the neighborhood cyclists
supporting the experiment, said, “We’re not asking for special
treatment, we’re asking for a level playing field.”
But Howard
Street resident Kay Tokerud, who lives a half-block from Humboldt,
called the test project, which will cost $36,500 to implement, a waste
of money.
She said her own observations, along with that of five
others helping her monitor traffic on Humboldt for six hours Monday,
found no conflicts between motorists and cyclists.
She noted that while all the “drivers obeyed the red lights and stop signs,” she said that cyclists often did not.
“They made very little effort to observe the traffic rules,” she said.



Adams
said the temporary structures needed to implement the bike boulevard —
signage, sidewalk extensions called bulb-outs and traffic roundabouts —
should be in place by August.
After six months, the results will
be reviewed and neighborhood meetings will be held to determine whether
to implement a permanent project at a cost of $200,000, revise it or
drop the idea.
Several council members indicated they likely will
move ahead if the results are favorable. The city could end up adding
more controversial measures that would make the boulevard even more
bike-friendly, but at the expense of motorists.
Christine Culver,
executive director for the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, said a true
bike boulevard would include diverters, concrete blocks that would
block traffic at various sections of Humboldt and force motorists onto
side streets.
“The boulevard should give bicyclists priority,” she said.


	













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_________________________________________________________________
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email:  scott@...
website: http://www.bike-pgh.org
*****************************
Bicycle advocacy, safety, & community


On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 2:19 PM, Richard Moyer <moyerrpm@...> wrote:

>  I do NOT want to spend money to make streets so narrow that motorists will
> not be able to pass bikes in the normal course of traffic---I hope PA Bikes
> and Walks does NOT follow Santa Rosa's ideas. Biking is better when we have
> continous shoulder or wide outside lane clearance, not when motorists get
> aggravated because we are going 15-20 mph when they want to go 30 mph. NOT
> EVERYTHING THAT COMES DOWN THE "TRAFFIC CALMING" PIKE IS A GOOD IDEA! This
> Santa Rosa project is a waste of money and a waste of good road clearance
> space we should not try to duplicate in most areas of Pennsylvania I know.
> Richard
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:21:20 -0400
> Subject: [PA Bikes and Walks discussion] council OKs bike boulevard
> From: larryshaeffer@...
> To: pabikewalk-discussion@...
> CC: info@...
>
>
> These are the kinds of facilities that have to asked/demanded for
> specifically. The PCPC just can't bring themselves to propose things like
> this on their own. in the article they talk about bikes slowing down
> motorists (taking of their time) but in reality when these types of projects
> (retrofitting intersections w/roundabouts) go in, speeds go down but so do
> travel times. So, motorists win too.
>
>
> http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090414/ARTICLES/904149890?Title=Santa-Rosa-council-OKs-bike-boulevard
>
> Santa Rosa council OKs bike boulevard
> By MIKE McCOY <mike.mccoy@...>
> THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
>
>  Published: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
> Last Modified: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
>  Santa Rosa’s City Council gave its unanimous go-ahead Tuesday to plans to
> turn a 1.5-mile stretch of Humboldt Street into the county’s first bike
> boulevard where cyclists and motorists will share the road equally.
>  The six-month experiment will involve adding traffic circles at four of
> the 14 intersections along the route, sidewalk “bulb-outs” at two other
> intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic and added signage to make the
> street as safe as possible, said transportation planner Nancy Adams.
> The two-lane street would be turned into a bike boulevard where motorists
> and cyclists follow each other in single file, neither having preference
> over the other.
> Councilman Gary Wysocky, who lives near the project area and is a member of
> the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition that is backing the project, said
> motorists who now use Humboldt as a short-cut between Lewis Road and Fifth
> Street downtown won’t see much difference in their travel time even if they
> are stuck behind slower-moving bike riders.
> “Drivers will find these annoying cyclists are only taking up 30 to 40
> seconds of their time,” he said.
> Wysocky, and about a dozen audience members who came to support the idea,
> agreed the trade-off for slower traffic is a residential street in the heart
> of the Santa Rosa Junior College neighborhood that will offer greater safety
> for all ages and levels of cyclists traveling across town.
> “Safety is the No. 1 impediment to people getting on a bike,” Wysocky said.
> Adams said cyclists and motorists would follow each other single file along
> the 25 mile-per-hour street but that motorists could pass slower-moving
> riders when there was no traffic in the oncoming lane.
> The plan to eventually convert this stretch of Humboldt, traveled by
> between 2,800 to 4,800 cars daily, into the city’s first bike boulevard was
> added to the city’s general plan in in 2001.
> It is viewed as a safer alternative for less experienced cyclists to travel
> across town or to neighboring schools, including Santa Rosa High School and
> Santa Rosa Junior College.
> The other major biking route to the two schools, four-lane Mendocino Avenue
> located just two blocks east and running parallel to Humboldt, is traveled
> by up to 29,000 cars a day.
> Dexter Street resident Howard Adler, among the neighborhood cyclists
> supporting the experiment, said, “We’re not asking for special treatment,
> we’re asking for a level playing field.”
> But Howard Street resident Kay Tokerud, who lives a half-block from
> Humboldt, called the test project, which will cost $36,500 to implement, a
> waste of money.
> She said her own observations, along with that of five others helping her
> monitor traffic on Humboldt for six hours Monday, found no conflicts between
> motorists and cyclists.
> She noted that while all the “drivers obeyed the red lights and stop
> signs,” she said that cyclists often did not.
> “They made very little effort to observe the traffic rules,” she said.
> Adams said the temporary structures needed to implement the bike boulevard
> — signage, sidewalk extensions called bulb-outs and traffic roundabouts —
> should be in place by August.
> After six months, the results will be reviewed and neighborhood meetings
> will be held to determine whether to implement a permanent project at a cost
> of $200,000, revise it or drop the idea.
> Several council members indicated they likely will move ahead if the
> results are favorable. The city could end up adding more controversial
> measures that would make the boulevard even more bike-friendly, but at the
> expense of motorists.
> Christine Culver, executive director for the Sonoma County Bicycle
> Coalition, said a true bike boulevard would include diverters, concrete
> blocks that would block traffic at various sections of Humboldt and force
> motorists onto side streets.
> “The boulevard should give bicyclists priority,” she said.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Archive: http://www.livablestreets.com/[…]/1239812504666<http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/pabikewalk/lists/pabikewalk-discussion/archive/2009/04/1239812504666>
> To unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to
> pabikewalk-discussion@.... Please contact
> pabikewalk-discussion-manager@... for questions.
>
> ------------------------------
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>
>
> --
> Archive: http://www.livablestreets.com/[…]/1239819575306<http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/pabikewalk/lists/pabikewalk-discussion/archive/2009/04/1239819575306>
>
> To unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to
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> pabikewalk-discussion-manager@... for questions.
>

Quoting Scott Bricker <scott@...>:

> The bike blvds in Portland and Berkeley are great and allow for lots of room
> for passing at a safe speed and distance.
>
>
> Scott Bricker
> Executive Director
> Bike Pittsburgh
> *****************
> phone: 412.325.4334
> mobile: 412.726.5872
> email:  scott@...
> website: http://www.bike-pgh.org
> *****************************
> Bicycle advocacy, safety, & community
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 2:19 PM, Richard Moyer <moyerrpm@...> wrote:
>
>>  I do NOT want to spend money to make streets so narrow that motorists will
>> not be able to pass bikes in the normal course of traffic---I hope PA Bikes
>> and Walks does NOT follow Santa Rosa's ideas. Biking is better when we have
>> continous shoulder or wide outside lane clearance, not when motorists get
>> aggravated because we are going 15-20 mph when they want to go 30 mph. NOT
>> EVERYTHING THAT COMES DOWN THE "TRAFFIC CALMING" PIKE IS A GOOD IDEA! This
>> Santa Rosa project is a waste of money and a waste of good road clearance
>> space we should not try to duplicate in most areas of Pennsylvania I know.
>> Richard
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:21:20 -0400
>> Subject: [PA Bikes and Walks discussion] council OKs bike boulevard
>> From: larryshaeffer@...
>> To: pabikewalk-discussion@...
>> CC: info@...
>>
>>
>> These are the kinds of facilities that have to asked/demanded for
>> specifically. The PCPC just can't bring themselves to propose things like
>> this on their own. in the article they talk about bikes slowing down
>> motorists (taking of their time) but in reality when these types of projects
>> (retrofitting intersections w/roundabouts) go in, speeds go down but so do
>> travel times. So, motorists win too.
>>
>>
>> http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090414/ARTICLES/904149890?Title=Santa-Rosa-council-OKs-bike-boulevard
>>
>> Santa Rosa council OKs bike boulevard
>> By MIKE McCOY <mike.mccoy@...>
>> THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
>>
>>  Published: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
>> Last Modified: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
>>  Santa Rosa’s City Council gave its unanimous go-ahead Tuesday to plans to
>> turn a 1.5-mile stretch of Humboldt Street into the county’s first bike
>> boulevard where cyclists and motorists will share the road equally.
>>  The six-month experiment will involve adding traffic circles at four of
>> the 14 intersections along the route, sidewalk “bulb-outs” at two other
>> intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic and added signage to make the
>> street as safe as possible, said transportation planner Nancy Adams.
>> The two-lane street would be turned into a bike boulevard where motorists
>> and cyclists follow each other in single file, neither having preference
>> over the other.
>> Councilman Gary Wysocky, who lives near the project area and is a member of
>> the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition that is backing the project, said
>> motorists who now use Humboldt as a short-cut between Lewis Road and Fifth
>> Street downtown won’t see much difference in their travel time even if they
>> are stuck behind slower-moving bike riders.
>> “Drivers will find these annoying cyclists are only taking up 30 to 40
>> seconds of their time,” he said.
>> Wysocky, and about a dozen audience members who came to support the idea,
>> agreed the trade-off for slower traffic is a residential street in the heart
>> of the Santa Rosa Junior College neighborhood that will offer greater safety
>> for all ages and levels of cyclists traveling across town.
>> “Safety is the No. 1 impediment to people getting on a bike,” Wysocky said.
>> Adams said cyclists and motorists would follow each other single file along
>> the 25 mile-per-hour street but that motorists could pass slower-moving
>> riders when there was no traffic in the oncoming lane.
>> The plan to eventually convert this stretch of Humboldt, traveled by
>> between 2,800 to 4,800 cars daily, into the city’s first bike boulevard was
>> added to the city’s general plan in in 2001.
>> It is viewed as a safer alternative for less experienced cyclists to travel
>> across town or to neighboring schools, including Santa Rosa High School and
>> Santa Rosa Junior College.
>> The other major biking route to the two schools, four-lane Mendocino Avenue
>> located just two blocks east and running parallel to Humboldt, is traveled
>> by up to 29,000 cars a day.
>> Dexter Street resident Howard Adler, among the neighborhood cyclists
>> supporting the experiment, said, “We’re not asking for special treatment,
>> we’re asking for a level playing field.”
>> But Howard Street resident Kay Tokerud, who lives a half-block from
>> Humboldt, called the test project, which will cost $36,500 to implement, a
>> waste of money.
>> She said her own observations, along with that of five others helping her
>> monitor traffic on Humboldt for six hours Monday, found no conflicts between
>> motorists and cyclists.
>> She noted that while all the “drivers obeyed the red lights and stop
>> signs,” she said that cyclists often did not.
>> “They made very little effort to observe the traffic rules,” she said.
>> Adams said the temporary structures needed to implement the bike boulevard
>> — signage, sidewalk extensions called bulb-outs and traffic roundabouts —
>> should be in place by August.
>> After six months, the results will be reviewed and neighborhood meetings
>> will be held to determine whether to implement a permanent project at a cost
>> of $200,000, revise it or drop the idea.
>> Several council members indicated they likely will move ahead if the
>> results are favorable. The city could end up adding more controversial
>> measures that would make the boulevard even more bike-friendly, but at the
>> expense of motorists.
>> Christine Culver, executive director for the Sonoma County Bicycle
>> Coalition, said a true bike boulevard would include diverters, concrete
>> blocks that would block traffic at various sections of Humboldt and force
>> motorists onto side streets.
>> “The boulevard should give bicyclists priority,” she said.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Archive:  
>> http://www.livablestreets.com/[…]/1239812504666<http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/pabikewalk/lists/pabikewalk-discussion/archive/2009/04/1239812504666>
>> To unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to
>> pabikewalk-discussion@.... Please contact
>> pabikewalk-discussion-manager@... for questions.
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Rediscover Hotmail®: Get e-mail storage that grows with you. Check  
>> it  
>> out.<http://windowslive.com/RediscoverHotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Rediscover_Storage1_042009>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Archive:  
>> http://www.livablestreets.com/[…]/1239819575306<http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/pabikewalk/lists/pabikewalk-discussion/archive/2009/04/1239819575306>
>>
>> To unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to
>> pabikewalk-discussion@.... Please contact
>> pabikewalk-discussion-manager@... for questions.
>>
>
>
> --
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> http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/pabikewalk/lists/pabikewalk-discussion/archive/2009/04/1239821516624
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> pabikewalk-discussion@....  Please contact  
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>



----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.

  To: pabikewalk-discussion@... 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 2:19 PM
  Subject: RE: [PA Bikes and Walks discussion] council OKs bike boulevard


  I do NOT want to spend money to make streets so narrow that motorists will not be able to pass bikes in the normal course of traffic---I hope PA Bikes and Walks does NOT follow Santa Rosa's ideas. Biking is better when we have continous shoulder or wide outside lane clearance, not when motorists get aggravated because we are going 15-20 mph when they want to go 30 mph. NOT EVERYTHING THAT COMES DOWN THE "TRAFFIC CALMING" PIKE IS A GOOD IDEA! This Santa Rosa project is a waste of money and a waste of good road clearance space we should not try to duplicate in most areas of Pennsylvania I know.
  Richard


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:21:20 -0400
  Subject: [PA Bikes and Walks discussion] council OKs bike boulevard
  From: larryshaeffer@...
  To: pabikewalk-discussion@...
  CC: info@...

  These are the kinds of facilities that have to asked/demanded for specifically. The PCPC just can't bring themselves to propose things like this on their own. in the article they talk about bikes slowing down motorists (taking of their time) but in reality when these types of projects (retrofitting intersections w/roundabouts) go in, speeds go down but so do travel times. So, motorists win too.

  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090414/ARTICLES/904149890?Title=Santa-Rosa-council-OKs-bike-boulevard


  Santa Rosa council OKs bike boulevard

  By MIKE McCOY
  THE PRESS DEMOCRAT


  Published: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m. 
  Last Modified: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m. 
  Santa Rosa’s City Council gave its unanimous go-ahead Tuesday to plans to turn a 1.5-mile stretch of Humboldt Street into the county’s first bike boulevard where cyclists and motorists will share the road equally.

  The six-month experiment will involve adding traffic circles at four of the 14 intersections along the route, sidewalk “bulb-outs” at two other intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic and added signage to make the street as safe as possible, said transportation planner Nancy Adams.
  The two-lane street would be turned into a bike boulevard where motorists and cyclists follow each other in single file, neither having preference over the other.
  Councilman Gary Wysocky, who lives near the project area and is a member of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition that is backing the project, said motorists who now use Humboldt as a short-cut between Lewis Road and Fifth Street downtown won’t see much difference in their travel time even if they are stuck behind slower-moving bike riders.
  “Drivers will find these annoying cyclists are only taking up 30 to 40 seconds of their time,” he said.
  Wysocky, and about a dozen audience members who came to support the idea, agreed the trade-off for slower traffic is a residential street in the heart of the Santa Rosa Junior College neighborhood that will offer greater safety for all ages and levels of cyclists traveling across town.
  “Safety is the No. 1 impediment to people getting on a bike,” Wysocky said.
  Adams said cyclists and motorists would follow each other single file along the 25 mile-per-hour street but that motorists could pass slower-moving riders when there was no traffic in the oncoming lane.
  The plan to eventually convert this stretch of Humboldt, traveled by between 2,800 to 4,800 cars daily, into the city’s first bike boulevard was added to the city’s general plan in in 2001.
  It is viewed as a safer alternative for less experienced cyclists to travel across town or to neighboring schools, including Santa Rosa High School and Santa Rosa Junior College.
  The other major biking route to the two schools, four-lane Mendocino Avenue located just two blocks east and running parallel to Humboldt, is traveled by up to 29,000 cars a day.
  Dexter Street resident Howard Adler, among the neighborhood cyclists supporting the experiment, said, “We’re not asking for special treatment, we’re asking for a level playing field.”
  But Howard Street resident Kay Tokerud, who lives a half-block from Humboldt, called the test project, which will cost $36,500 to implement, a waste of money.
  She said her own observations, along with that of five others helping her monitor traffic on Humboldt for six hours Monday, found no conflicts between motorists and cyclists.
  She noted that while all the “drivers obeyed the red lights and stop signs,” she said that cyclists often did not.
  “They made very little effort to observe the traffic rules,” she said.
  Adams said the temporary structures needed to implement the bike boulevard — signage, sidewalk extensions called bulb-outs and traffic roundabouts — should be in place by August.
  After six months, the results will be reviewed and neighborhood meetings will be held to determine whether to implement a permanent project at a cost of $200,000, revise it or drop the idea.
  Several council members indicated they likely will move ahead if the results are favorable. The city could end up adding more controversial measures that would make the boulevard even more bike-friendly, but at the expense of motorists.
  Christine Culver, executive director for the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, said a true bike boulevard would include diverters, concrete blocks that would block traffic at various sections of Humboldt and force motorists onto side streets.
  “The boulevard should give bicyclists priority,” she said.






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> The bike blvds in Portland and Berkeley are great and allow for lots of room
> for passing at a safe speed and distance.
> 
> 
> Scott Bricker
> Executive Director
> Bike Pittsburgh
> *****************
> phone: 412.325.4334
> mobile: 412.726.5872
> email:  scott@...
> website: http://www.bike-pgh.org
> *****************************
> Bicycle advocacy, safety, & community
> 
> 
> On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 2:19 PM, Richard Moyer <moyerrpm@...> wrote:
> 
> >  I do NOT want to spend money to make streets so narrow that motorists
> > will
not be able to pass bikes in the normal course of traffic---I hope
> > PA Bikes
and Walks does NOT follow Santa Rosa's ideas. Biking is better
> > when we have
continous shoulder or wide outside lane clearance, not when
> > motorists get
aggravated because we are going 15-20 mph when they want
> > to go 30 mph. NOT
EVERYTHING THAT COMES DOWN THE "TRAFFIC CALMING" PIKE
> > IS A GOOD IDEA! This
Santa Rosa project is a waste of money and a waste
> > of good road clearance
space we should not try to duplicate in most
> > areas of Pennsylvania I know.
Richard
> >
> > ------------------------------
> > Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:21:20 -0400
> > Subject: [PA Bikes and Walks discussion] council OKs bike boulevard
> > From: larryshaeffer@...
> > To: pabikewalk-discussion@...
> > CC: info@...
> >
> >
> > These are the kinds of facilities that have to asked/demanded for
> > specifically. The PCPC just can't bring themselves to propose things like
> > this on their own. in the article they talk about bikes slowing down
> > motorists (taking of their time) but in reality when these types of
> > projects
(retrofitting intersections w/roundabouts) go in, speeds go
> > down but so do
travel times. So, motorists win too.
> >
> >
> > http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090414/ARTICLES/904149890?Title=Santa-Rosa-council-OKs-bike-boulevard
> >
> > Santa Rosa council OKs bike boulevard
> > By MIKE McCOY <mike.mccoy@...>
> > THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
> >
> >  Published: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
> > Last Modified: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.
> >  Santa Rosa’s City Council gave its unanimous go-ahead Tuesday to plans to
> > turn a 1.5-mile stretch of Humboldt Street into the county’s first bike
> > boulevard where cyclists and motorists will share the road equally.
> >  The six-month experiment will involve adding traffic circles at four of
> > the 14 intersections along the route, sidewalk “bulb-outs” at two other
> > intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic and added signage to make the
> > street as safe as possible, said transportation planner Nancy Adams.
> > The two-lane street would be turned into a bike boulevard where motorists
> > and cyclists follow each other in single file, neither having preference
> > over the other.
> > Councilman Gary Wysocky, who lives near the project area and is a member
> > of
the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition that is backing the project, said
> > motorists who now use Humboldt as a short-cut between Lewis Road and Fifth
> > Street downtown won’t see much difference in their travel time even if
> > they
are stuck behind slower-moving bike riders.
> > “Drivers will find these annoying cyclists are only taking up 30 to 40
> > seconds of their time,” he said.
> > Wysocky, and about a dozen audience members who came to support the idea,
> > agreed the trade-off for slower traffic is a residential street in the
> > heart
of the Santa Rosa Junior College neighborhood that will offer
> > greater safety
for all ages and levels of cyclists traveling across
> > town.
“Safety is the No. 1 impediment to people getting on a bike,”
> > Wysocky said.
Adams said cyclists and motorists would follow each other
> > single file along
the 25 mile-per-hour street but that motorists could
> > pass slower-moving
riders when there was no traffic in the oncoming
> > lane.
The plan to eventually convert this stretch of Humboldt, traveled
> > by
between 2,800 to 4,800 cars daily, into the city’s first bike
> > boulevard was
added to the city’s general plan in in 2001.
> > It is viewed as a safer alternative for less experienced cyclists to
> > travel
across town or to neighboring schools, including Santa Rosa High
> > School and
Santa Rosa Junior College.
> > The other major biking route to the two schools, four-lane Mendocino
> > Avenue
located just two blocks east and running parallel to Humboldt, is
> > traveled
by up to 29,000 cars a day.
> > Dexter Street resident Howard Adler, among the neighborhood cyclists
> > supporting the experiment, said, “We’re not asking for special treatment,
> > we’re asking for a level playing field.”
> > But Howard Street resident Kay Tokerud, who lives a half-block from
> > Humboldt, called the test project, which will cost $36,500 to implement, a
> > waste of money.
> > She said her own observations, along with that of five others helping her
> > monitor traffic on Humboldt for six hours Monday, found no conflicts
> > between
motorists and cyclists.
> > She noted that while all the “drivers obeyed the red lights and stop
> > signs,” she said that cyclists often did not.
> > “They made very little effort to observe the traffic rules,” she said.
> > Adams said the temporary structures needed to implement the bike boulevard
> > — signage, sidewalk extensions called bulb-outs and traffic roundabouts —
> > should be in place by August.
> > After six months, the results will be reviewed and neighborhood meetings
> > will be held to determine whether to implement a permanent project at a
> > cost
of $200,000, revise it or drop the idea.
> > Several council members indicated they likely will move ahead if the
> > results are favorable. The city could end up adding more controversial
> > measures that would make the boulevard even more bike-friendly, but at the
> > expense of motorists.
> > Christine Culver, executive director for the Sonoma County Bicycle
> > Coalition, said a true bike boulevard would include diverters, concrete
> > blocks that would block traffic at various sections of Humboldt and force
> > motorists onto side streets.
> > “The boulevard should give bicyclists priority,” she said.
> >
> >
> >
> >
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