www.sbbike.org Serving Santa Barbara County We’re a countywide advocacy and resource organization that promotes bicycling for safe transportation and recreation.
How to reach us Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition PO Box 92047 Santa Barbara CA 93190-2047 phone 962-1479 email info@sbbike.org web www.sbbike.org
March 1st meeting Join us on the first Tuesday of each month for our general meeting: Tuesday, March 1st County Public Works Conference Room, 1st Floor 123 East Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, California 12:00 noon
Online email list We sponsor an online email forum where you can post and read messages that pertain to regional bicycling issues. It’s easy and free. To subscribe to our general forum, just send an email message to:
March 2005
Coalition addresses bicycling in Goleta The City of Goleta is writing a General Plan from which future actions on land use, transportation, housing, and open space will be determined. In a series of five public workshops in January, hundreds of people expressed their feelings about the content of a “discussion draft” version of the Plan. Of primary interest to bicyclists is the Transportation Element that deals with development and improvement of the City’s transportation system. Goleta’s Pat Dugan invited the Bicycle Coalition to comment on the draft Transportation Element. In response, we sent a letter with comments on February 14th. The letter started out with a quotation from the Federal Highway Administration, the government agency that interprets Federal transportation funding legislation: “Bicycling and walking facilities will be incorporated into all transportation projects unless exceptional circumstances exist.” Now not all funding comes from the Feds, but most of it does by way of Caltrans—hence the requirement. We call for two important additions to the Element: the creation of a Coordinator of Alternative Transportation position, and the inclusion of the South Coast Bikeway Signage network, along with provisions for its expansion. We noted problems with their Bike System map. Compared with the County’s Bicycle Master Plan of 1999, the most serious omission was the
The bikepath parallel to Los Carneros Road offers bicyclists an alternative to bikelanes on the road.
proposed bikepath along the Union Pacific Railroad. Another was the loss of the Ellwood bike/ ped bridge over 101 at Pacific Oaks—we suggested that it stay in the plan and be compared, issue by issue, with a new proposed bridge with bikelanes at Ellwood Station Road. Finally, we suggested several changes to the text. Most important is the inclusion of bikelanes on both major and minor arterial streets. Those are the streets that lead to the major destinations that bicyclists seek. That accommodation is essential. What’s next? The City will edit the document and offer a Draft General Plan for public review.
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Join the Coalition You can help improve bicycling safety and conditions in Santa Barbara County by joining others in our own regional Bicycle Coalition advocacy group. Together we will continue to make a real difference. See page 6 for details.
Our Cycle Smart program The Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition’s Cycle Smart bicyclist education program offers bicycling skills classes for school children and adults. Look for details of upcoming classes inside Quick Release, or contact our Coordinator Nancy Mulholland by phone at 563-9073 or email nmulhol04@yahoo.com.
Coalition offers “Sideways” bike rides The film “Sideways,” shot in the Santa Ynez Valley and surrounding area, has been receiving acclaim. It captured Golden Globe awards for best comedy or musical, as well as best screenplay, and has received five Academy Award nominations. “Sideways...has given the region unprecedented attention and stirred the wanderlust of road trippers across the nation and overseas,” wrote Maria Zate for the Santa Barbara News-Press. Why not bicyclist road trippers too, thought Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig. So he crafted two rides that encompass the major film
locations. The North County has superb cycling, so why not package it into good rides that feature movie locations? Both rides start in central Solvang across from the Little Mermaid statue. They are: • Sideways via Los Olivos. This 52.3-mile ride has lots of climbing along Foxen Canyon Road, but the country is spectacular, especially now with brilliant green hills. It stops at a cafe and four wineries (cheers to Firestone Winery for providing a bike rack for visitors). • Sideways via Lompoc. This 50-mile ride has a lot less climbing than the other. It goes to Lompoc via Highway 246 and returns along charming Santa Rosa Road. It features nine film locations including a bowling alley, three restaurants, a golf course, one winery and Ostrich Land. You can download Sideways rides—and others— from our web site. Check them out on our ride page: www.sbbike.org/region/rides/rides.html.