Arcata mulls bike lanes (published Feb. 19, 1997)

By John Baker
Lumberjack Staff

The City of Arcata is considering resurrecting an old proposal to establish bike lanes on G and H streets near HSU, but no action can be taken until a transportation committee is seated, said an Arcata city councilman.

Councilman Jason Kirkpatrick is in favor of the idea, but says the council will need input from a committee first.

"We haven't passed a resolution to do it (to put in bike lanes), but we have discussed it," he said. "We want the transportation committee to look it when it starts up. It's an idea that should be talked about during our transportation master plan evaluation."

But the plan is stalled until the new committee forms may be a while, as there are only five applicants for seven committee positions. Those interested in joining the transportation committee should call (707) 822-5953, Kirkpatrick said.

G and H streets are parallel one-way roads and are the primary north-south streets which connect the Plaza area of downtown Arcata with the area near HSU. The concept, as it stands now, is to reduce the streets from their current two-lanes, plus both sides of the street parking configurations to one-lane, one-side of the street parking with a bike lane.

Scott Kelly, president of the Humboldt Bay Bicycle Commuters Association, leads the group which recently introduced the proposal to Kirkpatrick.

"The HBBCA did promote that (configuration) several years ago," Kelly said. "The city council at the time dumped the idea."

In 1991, the city council rejected a similar attempt to put bike lanes on the two streets due to safety, liability and merchant parking concerns. Bike lanes on LK Wood Boulevard, in front of the University, were, however, put into place.

"There was quite a bit of opposition at the time," Kelly said. "In retrospect, it seems the perfect solution. At the time it was a very controversial project to take away two lanes of traffic on LK Wood."

In time, the lanes have been accepted and interest in adding to the system has grown, according to Kirkpatrick.

"I think it was a successful move, (what) the city did on LK Wood," Kirkpatrick said. "They said you should never put a bike lane there, the traffic's too bad. But I think it's been very successful."

Kirkpatrick noted that merchant parking concerns might be alleviated if diagonal parking were instituted on G and H streets. Diagonal parking on one side of the street should yield as many spots as parallel parking on both sides, he said.

Besides LK Wood, other bike lanes in Arcata include those on Alliance and Janes roads, K Street, Giuntoli Lane and part of Samoa Boulevard. The City of Arcata recently got a $70,000 grant from CalTrans to update existing bike lanes after Kelly and HBBCA member Rick Knapp rode each bike lane in the city and documented where the lanes didn't meet state standards.

"Generally, the HBBCA, and personally, I, am in favor of bike lanes on G and H street," Kelly said. "Especially going up G, you're fight traffic coming from behind you going up the hill."

In a related matter, the Redwood Community Action Agency is working on a feasibility study about the idea of opening up a bike lane between Eureka and Arcata. The HBBCA is providing input to the RCAA. Those seeking information are asked to call Jennifer Rice of the RCAA at 269-2060, but right now the proposal is only in the study stages.