Ventura to become more bicycle-friendly
City Council to vote on a five-year plan
for improvements
By Shane Cohn 03/16/2011
The elements suggest the city of Ventura should be a bicyclist’s haven. It’s flat. Warm. Dry. Coastal. But the lack of a bikeway network makes for a harrowing ride.
“Our intersections and roadways are deadly,” said Rachel Morris, VCCool executive director and Ventura Bicycle Union representative.
After years of planning, consulting and drafting, a comprehensive five-year bicycle plan for the city of Ventura may be given the green light during the March 21 City Council meeting.
The plan’s aim, among road improvement suggestions, better signage and wider lanes, is to connect important bike arteries throughout the city in attempt to make bicycle riding a more practical method of transportation.
According to the plan’s current data, the percentage of bicycle commuters in Ventura is more than twice the national average and slightly higher than the state average. Bicyclists who commute to work in Ventura, however, currently make up less than 1 percent of the working population.
With the city’s reduced public transportation budget, gas prices rising to and above $4 a gallon, and families reeling with issues of unemployment and a struggling economy, the simple act of riding a bicycle can unload a huge burden for individuals trying to get around town.
“This plan doesn’t just look at one or two routes,” said Morris. “It’s a comprehensive vision that includes routes, lights, how bikes are looked at from a policy standpoint and what is needed for bicycles to be a legitimate transportation option.”
The 2011 Bicycle Master Plan enacts the city’s 2005 General Plan’s call for providing “residents with more transportation choices by strengthening and balancing bicycle, pedestrian, and transit opportunities in the City and surrounding region.”
After four years of public workshops, bicycle focus group meetings, group bike rides of almost the entire city, project manager James Biega received community input and drafted the plan. Morris was baffled when she finally saw it.
“It was heavily slanted towards recreational routes on the outskirts of town,” she said. “Huge amounts of money would be going to projects where bicyclists don’t go. The main hot spots were missing and the rest was just filler.” Morris also noticed a lack of funding and projects for the Ventura Avenue community, which is perhaps the largest community of bicyclists in the city. Additionally, routes from east to west still didn’t connect, and the projects in the plan did not have prioritization for when they would begin.
During the past month, Morris and the Ventura Bicycle Union (VBU) sifted through the more than 277 projects identified in the plan, and created an addendum addressing 27 additional points that they believe is crucial for the five-year plan to be successful. After creating the addendum, the VBU went before both the Planning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission in February to say it only supports the bicycle plan if it includes the addendum.
Tom Mericle, the city’s traffic manager, said he recently included issues from the addendum in the plan.
“The Bike Union comments are very well thought out, and I agreed with them. They are being incorporated in some fashion into the final plan. The comments related to project priorities are especially poignant and have led to the complete rewrite of the chapter dealing with the recommended bikeway system and priorities for funding,” said Mericle.
Funding will come from federal, state and local sources totaling almost $3 million.
“We believe that the final plan will represent a significant step toward improving biking conditions in the City,” he added.
The City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 21. The plan can be reviewed and addendum can be found at cityofventura.net and vccool.org, respectively.
“Our intersections and roadways are deadly,” said Rachel Morris, VCCool executive director and Ventura Bicycle Union representative.
After years of planning, consulting and drafting, a comprehensive five-year bicycle plan for the city of Ventura may be given the green light during the March 21 City Council meeting.
The plan’s aim, among road improvement suggestions, better signage and wider lanes, is to connect important bike arteries throughout the city in attempt to make bicycle riding a more practical method of transportation.
According to the plan’s current data, the percentage of bicycle commuters in Ventura is more than twice the national average and slightly higher than the state average. Bicyclists who commute to work in Ventura, however, currently make up less than 1 percent of the working population.
With the city’s reduced public transportation budget, gas prices rising to and above $4 a gallon, and families reeling with issues of unemployment and a struggling economy, the simple act of riding a bicycle can unload a huge burden for individuals trying to get around town.
“This plan doesn’t just look at one or two routes,” said Morris. “It’s a comprehensive vision that includes routes, lights, how bikes are looked at from a policy standpoint and what is needed for bicycles to be a legitimate transportation option.”
The 2011 Bicycle Master Plan enacts the city’s 2005 General Plan’s call for providing “residents with more transportation choices by strengthening and balancing bicycle, pedestrian, and transit opportunities in the City and surrounding region.”
After four years of public workshops, bicycle focus group meetings, group bike rides of almost the entire city, project manager James Biega received community input and drafted the plan. Morris was baffled when she finally saw it.
“It was heavily slanted towards recreational routes on the outskirts of town,” she said. “Huge amounts of money would be going to projects where bicyclists don’t go. The main hot spots were missing and the rest was just filler.” Morris also noticed a lack of funding and projects for the Ventura Avenue community, which is perhaps the largest community of bicyclists in the city. Additionally, routes from east to west still didn’t connect, and the projects in the plan did not have prioritization for when they would begin.
During the past month, Morris and the Ventura Bicycle Union (VBU) sifted through the more than 277 projects identified in the plan, and created an addendum addressing 27 additional points that they believe is crucial for the five-year plan to be successful. After creating the addendum, the VBU went before both the Planning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission in February to say it only supports the bicycle plan if it includes the addendum.
Tom Mericle, the city’s traffic manager, said he recently included issues from the addendum in the plan.
“The Bike Union comments are very well thought out, and I agreed with them. They are being incorporated in some fashion into the final plan. The comments related to project priorities are especially poignant and have led to the complete rewrite of the chapter dealing with the recommended bikeway system and priorities for funding,” said Mericle.
Funding will come from federal, state and local sources totaling almost $3 million.
“We believe that the final plan will represent a significant step toward improving biking conditions in the City,” he added.
The City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 21. The plan can be reviewed and addendum can be found at cityofventura.net and vccool.org, respectively.
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Comments
Its great to finally get the wheel in motion on this project!!
posted by BONQO on 3/22/11 @ 03:36 p.m.