Happy Trails

Cliff and Emily talk with Sara Sundquist and Amy Pendergast of Shasta County Public Health about Healthy Shasta, Redding Bikeway Action Plan, a recent trail user survey that received input from over 800 trail users.

Cliff and Emily talk about proposed state bills to help protect non-motorized users of the road. These laws include changes to the state's written drivers test and safe passing laws.

In aftermath of a rash of bike & pedestrian vs motor vehicle fatalities and injuries in the past few weeks, Cliff and Emily talk with Patti Horsley of the California Convergence about ways to make our area safer.

Cliff and Emily talk with Ben Kageyama, Senior Civil Engineer for the City of Ukiah Public Works. The city is on the verge of putting in this trail through the Heart of Ukiah. The process of how this came to be is discussed.

Cliff and Emily talk with Kevin Wright about the grand opening of the Elk River/Hikshari' Trail. Kevin also talk about his trip to Napa and their Rail Trail. Also discussed is tomorrow's open forum at HSU regarding the future of the Humboldt Bay Rail Corridor. This forum will take place at the College Creek Great Hall at 6pm and will be moderated my Cliff Berkowitz.

Cliff and Emily talke with Gary Helfrich of the Sonoma Bicycle Coalition about their efforts to share a railroad bridge for a trail in Healdsburg. Efforts to share the NCRA right of way here in Humboldt and the problems of the Eel River Canyon are discussed.

Cliff and Emily talk with Steve Paine of the Willow Creek Community Service District about their extensive trail system and how they overcame funding obstacles. The success of the Trail to Trinity Valley School is highlighted. Emily also previewed tomorrow's meeting of the NCRA and the proposed lease of a rail bridge for a Rail With Trail project in Healdsburg.

Cliff and Emily talk with Dr. Margret Gordon of the North Coast Community Blood Bank about the Walk with a Doc program. National obesity an inactivity benchmarks for the nation and Humboldt county are discussed. Hint: Humboldt's numbers are worse than the rest of the nation.

Cliff and Emily talk with Craig Benson of the Eureka Open Space & Parks and Recreation commission about trail plans through Eureka and open space issues.

Cliff and Emily talk with Rob Holmlund and Terry Supahan about the Smith River Rancheria project to improve 101 through Smith River for bikes/peds. The Rancheria got a TIGER Grant (large federal grant) last year and were only 3 communities awarded in CA and the only tribe/rancheria. They just held the first public meeting last week. We talked about the grant, the project goals, timeline, who is involved etc. GHD and Terry Supahan Consulting are assisting the Rancheria.

Cliff and Emily talk with former Humboldter Chris Rall of Transportation For America about transportation options and land use patterns in California and Oregon and Portland vs Humboldt County. However the discussion first goes over the latest meeting of the North Coast Railroad Authority at which the full board adopted the recommendations of the Eureka - Arcata corridor subcommittee.

Cliff and Emily Sinkhorn discuss tomorrow's full meeting of the NCRA (North Coast Railroad Authority) set for 10:30 AM at the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors chambers. The full NCRA board will discuss recommendations given to the board by the Eureka/Arcata rail corridor committee. At stake, potential agreement to break with Rail With Trail policy in limited and specific places such as bridges where the right of way could be shared for an agreed upon time. Trail enthusiasts are encouraged to attend.

Cliff and Emily talk about an ad-hock committee that dealt with the Circulation Element Update For General Plan and made recommendations to the County Board of Supervisors yesterday. The Mendocino Pacific Coast Bike Route was also discussed along with the upcoming meeting of the NCRA.

Cliff and Emily talk with Ryan Wiggins California Field Organizer Transportation for America and the Federal Transportation Reauthorization and Map 21 Overview.

Cliff and Emily talk with Dan Gjerde, Fort Bragg Cit Councilman and newly elected Mendocino Supervisor talks about Fort Bragg Coastal Trail, Mendocino Trails & Ukiah Rail Trail. Emily updates last week's meeting of the NCRA and the Bay Rail Committee's recommendations.

Cliff and Emily talk with Todd Kramer of Pacific Watershed Council about road decommissioning to extend the Arcata Ridge Trail and restore the watershed. Emily updates the recommendations of the NCRA Arcata - Eureka Rail Corridor committee. A meeting of the full NCRA will take place next week when they hear the recommendations. This will be open to the public.

Cliff and Emily talk about Circulation Element Update For General Plan along with an update on the NCRA Eureka to Arcata corridor.

Now that the 3 meeting of the Humboldt Bay Rail Corridor committee have taken place we felt it was time to look at where we stand and what we have learned. Dennis Rael and Rees Huges, members of the Bay Trail Advocates talk with Cliff and Emily about the potential opportunities from these meetings and what we might expect at the next meeting of the NCRA in November.

Cliff talks with Don Allen, board member of the Trinidad Coastal Land Trust and Director of NRS/RCAA. The grant of funds for the Little River Trail Feasibility Study is discussed along with progress on the Elk River Trail project between Pound Road and Truesdale in Eureka.

Emily Sinkhorn talks about the latest NCRA Eureka-Arcata Rail Corridor Committee meeting that took place on Friday October 12th. Detailed costs and feasibility studies are sited on how to make this long sought-after goal of a class one bike trail along the railroad corridor. Also the forthcoming Communities In Motion Forum coming up on October 27th is discussed.