We've been doing a lot of good work lately to improve your ride. To continue building momentum, we're starting some important working groups: a great way to contribute to our work.
Let's continue to grow this movement together!
Collaborating with City staff to improve our streets
5th Street bike lanes from L to Pole Line by Fall!
A few months ago, we became interested in a sewer renovation project on 5th Street between L and Pole Line. Why? Because that street segment is a key gap in the bicycle network, and we saw a big opportunity to pilot a new street configuration. City staff had considered adding bike lanes to that segment in 2019, but that project was put on hold because of COVID budget cuts.
City staff was on a tight timeline, so Bike Davis quickly hired a top Dutch designer (BikeMinded) to prepare a conceptual design and present it as a pilot project to staff. Staff saw that this proposal could be implemented within the project timeline, and refined it to a final concept. The project was presented to BTSSC on June 10, and should be put in place this fall, at the tail end of the sewer renovation project. See the final concept here and read the staff report here.
The sewer project also includes re-surfacing 5th Street from G St to L St this summer. City staff had planned to re-stripe that section to match existing conditions, but thanks to our input, the section will have wider bike lanes than currently exist, and some buffer space between the bike lane and travel lane. See the upcoming configuration for that segment in our memo.
This was a great collaboration and we appreciated staff's willingness to quickly adapt their plans. If that project is meaningful to you, feel free to send a note of appreciation to staff and City council (pwetweb@cityofdavis.org, citycouncilmembers@cityofdavis.org , you can copy info@bikedavis.us if you'd like)
Re-striping, pavement rehabilitation, and street standards...
... yes, those words get us excited! When the City is working on its roads, we have a great opportunity to make them better for people biking, walking and driving by applying Davis' Street Standards.
Our street standards were revised in 2016 with a lot of involvement from the community, including Bike Davis. The revised standards provide right-sized vehicle lanes (10 ft wide) and more comfortable bike lanes, as well as bike lane buffers where road widths allow. Together, this reduces speeding and crashes, and it makes biking safer and more comfortable.
However, the details of the standards sometimes get missed, so we worked closely with staff to ensure all their street projects would comply. As a result, we now have about 2 miles of streets that are more comfortable and safer for people biking and walking. These include segments of E 8th Street (from Pole Line to Loyola), Pole Line Rd (5th to Covell) and Cowell Blvd.
There are even more pavement rehabilitation projects slated for this summer, and we are collaborating with staff on those as well to ensure the best outcome possible.
A recently re-surfaced street with a comfortable, clearly marked bike lane
We need your help with our work!
Working groups
In July and August, we are rolling out our first three working groups as a way for our members to contribute to our work and to help us grow. These three groups are just the start and will hopefully lead to many more. If you don’t see a group working on active transportation topics that interest you, feel free to make suggestions! We are beginning with groups focused on green waste, bike access for all (BikeEmPowered), and bike theft.