Bicyclists pedaling along Emeryville’s only designated north-south Bicycle Boulevard beware.
The city’s Transportation Committee voted last Tuesday to strip bicycle lanes from a portion of Horton Street in order to accommodate more cars.
The vote by the Transportation Committee, comprised of City Council members Nora Davis and Ken Bukowski, ignores a unanimous recommendation by the city’s Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee to either retain the bike lanes or adopt the universal standard for bike boulevards. That standard, created by the cities of Palo Alto and Berkeley, limit speeds to 25 mph and the number of vehicles to 3,000 per day. The standard is based on traffic engineers’ determination that the street becomes unsafe for bicyclists if speed or traffic increases beyond those numbers. In the case of Horton Street, the bike-ped committee has asked that “traffic calming” devices be installed in order to keep the volume and speed of traffic down.
Despite the advisory committee’s concerns over safety, the Transportation Committe voted not only to remove the bike lanes but also refused to install traffic calming. Nora Davis, chairwoman of the committee, responded to concerns with a single-word rejoinder: “Poppycock!†(adopting a favorite retort of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher).
What’s Good for Bicyclists is Bad for Business
Transportation Committee member Ken Bukowski referenced the potential constraints bike boulevard standards would impose on the planned “Transit Center,†an office tower to be built just north of the Amtrak depot.
“If we were to impose a limit on the cars to help bikes, it would hurt development,†Bukowski said, thoughtfully. He said that the Horton Street bike boulevard was always intended to be temporary.
Issues of Safety
Bike-ped committee members Scott Donahue and Sam Fousee say they are already very concerned about bicyclist safety on Horton Street.
“There are already too many cars on Horton Street,†Fousee said. He and Donahue said that in order to keep speed and traffic within a safe range, traffic calming is necessary.
As development along Horton Street continues, the city projects traffic volumes in excess of 9,000 cars a day. “A lot more cars are coming and there’s nothing you can do about it,†Bukowski said. Davis agreed.
The fate of the Horton Street Bike Boulevard will be decided by the full City Council at its meeting Dec. 15. Concerned citizens are encouraged to attend the meeting and have their voices heard.
To have Nora Davis quoting Margaret Thatcher is too perfect and to have Ken Bukowski saying anything at all but apologies to Emeryville residents is outlandish. Who the hell does he think he is voting to close down the street for bikes after all the corruption he has engaged in? This guy is so finished.
And Nora Davis; don't get me started, she is totally clueless. She's about as smug as they come. I swear, these council members are all ancient. Why can't we get someone under say 75 in Emeryville? (sorry to Jennifer West).
So the Transportation Committee is made up of Nora Davis and Ken Bukowski?!? Anybody else??? These two are totally in the tank for developers. They'll NEVER rule in favor of bikes or residents. Why do we have those two in charge? Who let this happen? I can't believe the other council members let Bukowski still sit on committees. I guess it shows where their priorities lay.
Man oh man do we need to clean house in Emeryville! When we get rid of Bukowski, we need to also toss out his running mates: Nora Davis and Ruth Atkin.
I don't see why we can't keep this one street primarily for bikes. Every other street is thrown over wholy to cars. It seems to me we can afford to have bikes on Horton coexisting peacefully with cars. Let's just slow the cars down and encourage them to take other streets. Why is that so problematic?
Ken Bukowski and Nora Davis are right; bicycling is overrated. Up with cars and down with self righteous bike zealots.
"Why is that so problematic?"…easy; it's because the developer of the 'Transit Center', the well connected Rich Robbins, wants to dump the traffic generated by his project onto the length of Horton Street to make it easier for drivers to drive in and out of his development. The staff/council has not yet learned to say NO to Rich Robbins (and other big developers).
I live on the street in question (Horton) and would like to see it kept as a bike path…and I vote!
I commute on this street everyday by bike. The street needs to be improved for bicycle commuting, not eliminated. I'll be at the city council meeting to say so.
We should be encouraging bicycling in Emeryville, not discouraging it. The Council members need to be enlightened about this. It seems like they have a old fashioned view about biking as a form of transportation.