We’re on a bikeway to nowhere
It’s bike to work/school week in San Benito County so we’ve had
bikeways on our minds. The benefits of bicycling are numerous.
Riding a bike is a great way to burn calories. It offers a chance
to spend some time outdoors in the mild San Benito weather. And it
keeps one more car off the roads, leading to less pollution.
We’re on a bikeway to nowhere
It’s bike to work/school week in San Benito County so we’ve had bikeways on our minds. The benefits of bicycling are numerous. Riding a bike is a great way to burn calories. It offers a chance to spend some time outdoors in the mild San Benito weather. And it keeps one more car off the roads, leading to less pollution.
But a quick walk around downtown reveals a sorry state for those who’d like to ride a bike to a downtown job, or to one of the several schools that border the core of the city. Bike lanes are scarce and where they do exist, they often dead end in places with no shoulder for cyclists to ride. Places to lock up a bike are few and far between. A walk along a mile of downtown streets revealed just one bike rack. And the rack is in front of the county offices on Fourth Street, a place less likely to be frequented on a leisurely afternoon than the main street restaurants and shops.
San Benito County has had a bikeway master plan since 1990 – and after working through the 100-plus page document that a transportation planner gladly provided to us, it has some really great plans for downtown. The highlights include a path along the San Benito River that would provide biking and other recreation options. There is also a plan for a path along the Union Pacific Railroad easement, connecting Hollister to Gilroy. Other plans include bike lanes between residential areas and their neighborhood schools as well as the downtown core.
But in the six to 17 years that the plans have been on the books, county roadways remain much more accessible to motor vehicles than to bicycles.
Part of the problem seems to be that the federal government is really good at ponying up money to create master plans for alternative transportation methods that don’t require a personal car or truck. But when it comes to constructing the bikeways – which can include everything from paving a bike path to striping the streets for a bike lane – the money is harder to come by.
San Benito is due for the first update to the bikeway master plan since 2001 and we see it as an opportunity to look at some priorities for the projects that have already been proposed – some on the books with no movement for nearly 20 years – and to look at new projects that would make bicycling easier in the county.
While the transportation planner is looking into alternative methods of funding, there is one resource that can be found in the county – bike enthusiasts – and they should be the first to volunteer when it comes to making changes to the bikeways master plan in the county.
