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Q&A Sessions
People Power
Dear People Power members,
For many years I have been a strong supporter of People Power. Beginning in 1990, I worked on the City Transportation Commission to establish a meaningful bicycle plan to be an important part of the Cities Circulation Element of the General Plan.
I respectfully submit my answers to your questionnaire and earnestly seek your endorsement.
As you know, I am a strong advocate of many diverse forms of transportation by means other than by single occupant automobiles. With sustainability being a distinct issue for gasoline powered cars and trucks, we are entering into a new era in transportation. I think People Power is among the forerunners in this societal change.
1. The county has expressed its support for a Rail Trail along the railway from Santa Cruz to Watsonville. If you support this trail, how do you envision creating it as soon as possible?
I strongly support the Rail Trail. To create it as soon as possible, Proposition 116 funding needs to be used for this purpose immediately. We will need to make a political change in this county so that the RTC responds to the majority of residents who live here.
2. How much do you think it will cost? Where will we get the money? Proposition 116? How long will it take?
Now that the current RTC has made the political mistake and failing to use Prop 116 money, proceeding will be difficult until the sales tax measure (measure J) is defeated in November. After that we will need to put strong political pressure on the RTC to do their job and allocate the Prop 116 money to the Rail Corridor Acquisition.
Additional money will be needed for the building of the Rail Trail itself. The RTC must budget for this cost and set it as a high priority.
3. For almost a decade now the city has planned to put in a bicycle connection from Broadway to Brommer. Do you support the city's latest plan for this connection?
I voted no on the current plan because the Frederick Street route is smarter and far less expensive. It only would be 100 seconds longer in travel time and would have the same elevation changes. It is highly questionable whether or not the Coastal Commission will approve the present plan. There is strong opposition from those who believe that you never violate the habitat of any endangered species. Many environmentalists and conservationists are strongly opposed to the current plan’s impact on Arana Gulch
I began advocating a modest plan for this bike route in 1990. The currently favored plan has grown beyond all reasonable proportion. This is a time when we must be frugal in our spending of precious transportation money and still get the quality bike route that we need. If the Coastal Commission does not ultimately support the current plan, I will still be happy to advocate for the Frederick Street route. I strongly support of the Soquel bike lanes and the use of the rail corridor for a bike route as well. Completion of three such routes will be revolutionary for bicycle transportation in Santa Cruz.
4. Do you support plans to widen Highway 1, between Santa Cruz and Watsonville? What effect do you think widening the Highway would have on county land use and development?
I definitely do not support the widening of Highway 1 between Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Widening Highway 1 will not solve the traffic problems and will cause additional traffic problems in the surrounding neighborhoods. It would be growth inducing throughout the entire county and cause even worse congestion in just a few years.
5. Would it reduce traffic congestion? If so, for how long?
Widening the highway would only temporarily reduce traffic congestion, but within a few years congestion would return to even higher levels.
6. Do you support Measure J, the sales tax initiative that would raise much of the money necessary for this widening project? If not, what will you do to defeat it?
As I said above, I am opposed to measure J because the RTC has put forward a very unfavorable proposal forcing us to accept highway widening as a price for the Rail Trail.
7. Do support bicycle boulevards as a traffic calming/ bicycle advocacy measure? To make a bicycle boulevard entails blocking automobile traffic at strategic points while allowing bicycle and pedestrian traffic to go through. The best example is probably California Ave. in Palo Alto. Do you support the concept?
Yes, I strongly support bicycle boulevards. The community has begun to understand the value of these in our neighborhoods and we must continue outreach to gain majority acceptance in affected neighborhoods.
8. Which of the following, if any, would make good bicycle boulevards? Pine? King? Cayuga?
All of these are good candidates and actual adoption of these will depend on community education and acceptance.
9. The parking of private vehicles on public and residential arterial streets is considered a sacred right by many drivers and business owners but parked cars are often at odds with bicyclists for road space. In addition, the opening of a car door into a bicyclist's path creates a serious and common traffic accident. Would you support the removal of on-street parking where it will facilitate a safer space for cyclists?
I have supported such parking removal on many occasions in the past and will continue to do so.
10. The City of Santa Cruz voted, almost 2 years ago, to put a bike lane on Soquel. What can be done to finish this project?
Engineering work for this project is in progress right now, with acquisition of some right-of-away. The most recent time estimate for completion for the bike lane is about 6 months. Funding for the bike lane comes from an air pollution grant and a bicycle transportation grant. The RDA is supplementing these funds for some acquisition of right-of-away. The project is fully funded.
11. Do you support the use of public funds to pay for on-bicycle education for elementary and middle school students? If you do, what would the funding mechanism be?
Absolutely. It is of extreme importance that our youth both learn that bicycles are a preferable mode of transportation and that riding a bike comes with responsibility for safe riding.
Our city staff has become expert in obtaining grants for projects such as this and we should authorize application to whatever programs they are able to identify. When revenues return to year 2000 levels, we could use General Fund money.
12. Do you support having bicycle classes as an alternative to tickets or infractions? How would the program work?
If we have classes for ticketed car owners, we should also have classes for ticketed bicyclists. The program should work the same way as for car owners, possibly in coordination with bicycle education organizations.
13. The Mission Street Widening Project has resulted speeding automobile and traffic and the deaths of two pedestrians within a couple of years. What steps would you take to increase bicycle and pedestrian safety?
More enforcement, better marked cross walks, signage to share the road with bicyclists, and higher fines for infractions.
14. What steps would you take to promote bicycling and bicyclist's safety? What improvements are you prepared to champion? How?
Communication with bicycle advocates on the latest safety procedures for cities. Bicycle education for the community, including TV spots, newspaper stories, outreach to and education in the schools, and inclusion in City mailings to residents.
Material on this site is copyright 2000,2004 Ed Porter unless otherwise attributed.