For better biking

Though many of them prefer two-wheeled travel, comfort and safety concerns on a cold and wet Monday evening (Nov. 9) caused most of the more than three dozen cyclists who gathered at ARC Pavilion to leave their bikes home for the night.

Comfort and safety of local cyclists was precisely the focus of the event, an open house to discuss updates to the Chico Bicycle Master Plan—last updated in 2012—and present a draft report on existing cycling conditions in the city. Information used in the report was based largely on the findings of an online survey and interactive mapping launched in September.

Inside the building, survey results and maps were displayed near the entry. For the first 45 minutes of the two-hour event, attendees were encouraged to view the material and submit written suggestions and concerns. They also were invited to write comments about specific problem areas on Post-it notes and attach them to a large map laid out on a table. The map was color-coded in various shades of green, yellow and red (with green being the safest) to indicate current levels of traffic stress according to the speed and volume of motor vehicles and as reported by surveyed riders.

Brittany Whitman-Hall placed a Post-it on the yellow-colored stretch of The Esplanade between East and Eaton avenues. “There’s no shoulder, the traffic moves really fast, and cars don’t seem too concerned about people riding on the side of the road,” she said.

The city is working with Nelson\Nygaard, an international transportation planning firm, to gather data and help develop the new plan. Drew Meisel, a Nelson\Nygaard associate from the company’s Portland office, was on hand to facilitate the open house.

“As we move into the next phase of the project, were going to be developing alternatives and filling out the current system [of bike facilities],” he said. “We’re trying to design a bicycle network that appeals to all riders, so people from 8 to 80 will still feel comfortable riding around the whole city.

“We would like this map to be all green, eventually,” he continued, referring to the traffic comfort map.

After reviewing and adding to the information provided, community members gathered at tables to hear Meisel’s presentation. The top concerns reported by survey respondents were the abundance of streets where riding is uncomfortable because of motor vehicle traffic, bike theft and number of streets lacking bike lanes or other facilities. Eighty-four percent of respondents supported replacing street parking or travel lanes with bike-friendly alternatives.

One telling map tracked bicycle collisions over the last 10 years, with the majority of crashes occurring downtown. The report noted larger arteries with faster, more frequent traffic are the sites of more crashes than smaller streets with lower speed limits, and the majority of accidents happen in spots with no existing bike facilities.

Meisel said the draft report will be made available at chicobikeplan.com in the near future, pending further review by city staff.

Wyatt West, an engineer with the city’s Traffic Engineering, Building and Development Services department who is overseeing development of the Bike Master Plan update, said by phone that the city is hoping to have a draft master plan ready by January, at which time more public meetings will be scheduled.