A lot of blame has been laid at the feet of "big oil" for artificially inflating the price of gas. Well, oil companies in the refinining business are starting to get squeezed between the high price of oil on one side, and the threat of demand destruction on the other side. The resulting tight margin means that if oil continues to increase in price as it has in the last five years, the price of gasoline has nowhere to go but up, and much more steeply than it has so far.

Workshop on the 2008 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) at the Wharfinger Building, 1 Marina Way in Eureka, Monday, April 21, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

The Regional Transprotation Plan lays out the transportation priorities for the county for the next 20 years. It is updated every 2 years.

See calendar for other RTP workshop times and locations.

Eureka City Councilmembers Chris Kerrigan, Jeff Leonard and Larry Glass had some very encouraging comments tonight on the Traffic Signal synchronization project which the city is pursuing in cooperation with Caltrans. The project installs compatible electronis in both Caltrans' and the City's traffic signals to improve the flow of car traffic.

Changing diapers for two beautiful babies several times per night is one of my new joyful challenges these days. But being a father of newborn twins is also forcing me to revisit many of my views and habits with regard to alternative transportation. Completely avoiding driving with two newborns would involve substantial sacrifices. Transit doesn’t directly serve my low-density residential Greenview neighborhood very frequently, so I usually rely on a bicycle to get around town

This is an update from a letter to the City of Arcata.

At the beginning of July I was driving back home, yes in my truck, and passed through the new road construction on K Street, Arcata near 11th Street. As I crossed 11th Street heading north I was completely shocked and pissed-off that the new, temporary lane markers indicating the centerline directed motorist right into the class II bike lane. It frustrates me that it appears that construction crews and the City only acknowledge that motorists use the roads, and fail to meet the needs and safety concerns of bicyclists while construction is taking place.

We’ve inventoried street design issues, potholes, and other hazards with photos on a map of Arcata. Visitors can even add locations & comments. Click to go to the CommunityWalk map.

Dear City Council,

I am writing regarding the proposed Q Street subdivision, which the Council started discussing November 16^th. The issue will be continued at the December 7^th meeting. Without bike and pedestrian thru-access, this cul-de-sac project becomes an L.A.-style, car-centric liability to our city’s goal to create a walk-able and bike-able city. In the council’s discussion of this issue, it was great to see Paul Pitino asking questions about the bicycle and pedestrian bridge which enables thru-access.