Two-Item Tuesday: Ribbon Cutting on Central Ave. in Alameda

Here are two quick, upbeat stories of interest to the safe-and-livable streets community.

Alameda officially opens the Central Avenue bikeway

Students, parents, and faculty who bike to and from Encinal Junior & Senior High School and Paden Elementary now have a safe, protected bikeway to use on Central Avenue for about a mile from Main Street to Washington Park. “Students from Paden Elementary, Jr. Jets, and Encinal High School all did a great job telling the crowd how the dedicated bikeway is making their commute to and from school faster, safer, and more fun,” wrote the school district on social media. “Thank you to the many people and agency partners who made this bike lane possible!”

Although the ribbon-cutting and official opening were on Monday, the bikeway has actually been all but finished and certainly in use for a while now.

As reported in March, one of the highlights of the project is the bus-boarding islands near Washington Park. The project also has three roundabouts, with markings delineating the space for pedestrians and cyclists. Unfortunately, east of 8th Street, the protected bike lanes drop out and instead cyclists get a road diet and paint-only lanes. Check out previous coverage for more details.

Santa Rosa advocates stop a small pedestrian space in the middle of a sea of parking lots from becoming yet another parking lot

Advocates with the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Bikeable Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa YIMBY, and the North Bay Transit Riders announced recently that they had successfully prevented the Santa Rosa Plaza shopping center from turning a pedestrian area into another parking lot. The “withdrawn project would have destroyed and replaced one of downtown’s most visible pedestrian spaces and worsened the divide between Courthouse Square and Railroad Square,” wrote advocates in a statement about the decision.

Although it’s a small victory, it’s an important one—especially for people who bike to and from Santa Rosa’s historic core and the SMART station.

“I ride B Street daily. The proposed project would have created additional conflict points by adding two driveways within two blocks. Drivers exiting the parking lot would be dumped right into the space where the bike lane and the new right turn pocket merge,” said Eris Weaver of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. “The removal of public art and landscaping to add more pavement is counter to all the City’s goals to invigorate downtown. Neighborhoods that are walkable, bikeable, and beautiful encourage outdoor community activity and are good for business.”

And don’t worry, drivers: nearly half of downtown Santa Rosa’s surface area already goes to car infrastructure and there are already giant parking structures and surface parking all over this area. You’ll be fine.

See past coverage for more details.