Why do most of us hop in our cars to accomplish the tasks we have to get done outside the house? It’s because everything is laid out to do it that way, even in Arcata. It got that way because of plans people made in the past about how they wanted to lay out and build things.

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

Image: Photo mock-up of proposed project from the Caltrans DEIR.

Lots of folks in this community have been clamoring for a trail between Arcata and Eureka along the bay, parallel to the 101 corridor. So Caltrans is working up plans spend $55-62 million of our regional transportation dollars building a mountain of an interchange out at Indianola Cutoff and closing all the median crossings between Eureka and Arcata without making any improvements for pedestrians, bicyclists or transit. Wha?!?

How much would it cost to build a multi-use trail from Arcata to Eureka paralleling 101? At the final Stakeholders meeting with regard to the Arcata-Eureka Bay Trail feasibility study last Tuesday we finally got to see some preliminary dollar amounts for three different options for how the trail might be put in. The final numbers, which will be available when HCAOG makes the study public, are sure to fuel the debate about rails and trails around Humboldt Bay.

If you travel toward Eureka on the 101 “safety” corridor, look to your right and picture a bike trail along the railroad tracks. This trail is something many people have wanted for many years.

On Saint Patty’s Day I was biking home from my wilderness first aid class on the HSU campus, having just practiced a bunch of emergency medical scenarios over the course of two days. At the corner of 11th and H streets, I came upon a man lying on the sidewalk holding his bloody head as a few acquaintances and his bicycle sat around him. My first thoughts were something along the lines of: How did my instructors know which way I was biking home, where did they recruit these actors, and how did they get the blood on this guy’s head to look

What’s the best way to get somewhere? I went on trip a couple weeks ago where I had the opportunity to research this question. I traveled by car, bus, train, plane, SUV, van and helicopter.

So which was the best? I guess that depends on your criteria. Comfort, speed, and convenience come into play. Since so much of our impact on the environment comes from transportation, I was curious about the gas mileage per person for each mode.

Transportation is responsible for 45 percent of Arcata’s greenhouse gas emissions¹. This is an issue where each person’s actions are what could really make the difference. In eco-groovy Humboldt County and other liberal enclaves, many folks have taken to buying hybrid cars so they can feel like they are doing something good for the environment. There is good sentiment here, but a big problem. Hybrids aren’t all that great for the environment.

My nephew is obsessed with trains. In fact, last weekend he traveled from suburban New Jersey into New York City with my stepfather to ride the Number 7 subway line in his quest to ride every subway line in NYC from end to end. There are some folks here in Arcata and Humboldt County who seem to be almost as obsessed as my nephew, to the point of losing sight of what rail is for: moving people and goods from place to place.

Five million dollars per year.

That is what California appropriates for bicycle infrastructure. It might sound like a lot of money, but not when you consider that Caltrans is working up the Environmental Impact Report for a frivolous $60 million project to save motorists 60 seconds on their trip to Eureka.
Compare that with $5 million for bicycle infrastructure spread over the most populous state, a state that has plenty of dangerous places to bike, and you can see the imbalance in our transportation policy.