February 2022

This month will be busy with several events focused on road safety in light of the loss of beloved bicyclist Paul Moore last month.

In this month’s Newsletter:

•  Bike Café is on Tuesday, February 8, with a discussion of the Vision Zero initiative for zero fatalities and serious injuries on all roadways.  The panelists will be Joe Martinez, Board Chair of California Walks, and three members of the Fresno Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee:  Destiny Rodriguez, Laura Gromis, and Matthew Woodward.
• City of Fresno Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims Resolution is on Thursday, February 10 at 11:00 am, to be preceded by a police-escorted bike ride from Manchester Center to City Hall at 10:00 am.
• In our ongoing series on bicycle infrastructure, we discuss what the safe system approach is, and how that will shape infrastructure.
• The next Fresno Bike Station Fix Your Own Bike event is on Sunday, February 20 in the Tower District.
• City of Clovis Active Transportation Plan 2022 update virtual meeting is on February 10.
• We remember avid bicyclist Paul Moore, who suffered fatal injuries after being struck by a pickup near Woodward Park.
• The next chapter from the pending book by Juan Flores on bicycling in Fresno describes the Enterprise Canal Trail.
• The next Board meeting is on February 17.

FCBC Bike Café

The monthly virtual Bike Café allows FCBC members and others to socialize and discuss bike-related topics of interest.  This month's Bike Café on Tuesday, February 8 at 7:00 PM will be a panel discussion on"Vision Zero, what is it, and what it might mean for Fresno."  Vision Zero is a global initiative with one clear and simple goal:  ZERO fatalities or serious injuries on our roadways.  Due to the recent bicycle fatalities, this topic has become especially important.

 

The panelists will be:

• Joe Martinez, Board Chair of California Walks
• Destiny Rodriguez, City of Fresno BPAC Vision Zero Task Force Member
• Laura Gromis, City of Fresno BPAC Vision Zero Task Force Member
• Matthew Woodward, City of Fresno BPAC Vision Zero Task Force Member

Register here to get the Zoom link.  If you have questions about using Zoom, registration for the event, or any other questions, email us events@fresnobike.org.

 

If you missed the Bike Café last month with the discussion on bridges over the San Joaquin River with John Shelton, Executive Officer of the San Joaquin River Conservancy, the recording and other videos can be found on the FCBC website. 

City of Fresno Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims Resolution

 

On Thursday, February 10 at 11:00 am at City Hall, Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi is sponsoring a resolution to commemorate the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims at the City of Fresno Council Meeting. Traffic victims including Paul Moore and Paul Martinez will be recognized.

 

At 10:00 AM a bicycle ride with a police escort down Blackstone Avenue will depart from the Manchester Transit Center, located on Blackstone Avenue just north of Shields Avenue in the parking lot of the former Sears, to City Hall, reminiscent of the FCBC “Mall to Hall” ride. 

 

Following the resolution in Council Chambers, there will be a press conference in front of City Hall at noon. 

Register here to RSVP and receive updates:

City of Fresno Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims Resolution

If you are unable to attend the event on February 10th, please consider writing a letter of support for safe bicycle infrastructure to your council member if you live in the City of Fresno. For help writing to the Fresno City Council, visit our Take Action! page.

Bicycle Infrastructure and the Safety System Approach

Transportation engineers are rethinking the way they should approach designing infrastructure.  After decades of decreasing fatal and serious injury crash rates, as vehicle safety improved, seat belts use increased, and roadway safety improved as well, the rates began increasing over the past few years, especially over the last two years during the pandemic. During this time, other countries have fared much better, especially those that have adopted the Safe System Approach, which takes a holistic view of the road system and recognizes that humans make mistakes, and the transfer of kinetic energy to the human body should be lowered to reduce serious injuries.

The principles of the Safe System Approach are the following:

• Serious injury or death is unacceptable- elimination of crashes that result in death and serious injury is prioritized over other types of crashes
• Humans make mistakes - people will make mistakes, but the transportation system should be designed, operated, and maintained to accommodate a certain level of human mistakes before serious injury and death results from a crash 
• Humans are vulnerable - the human body has physical limits for tolerating crash forces before death or serious injury results
• Responsibility is shared - all stakeholders are vital to identify and address safety issues in the transportation system
• Safety is proactive - proactive tools should be used rather than waiting for crashes to happen and react afterwards
• Redundancy is crucial - all parts of the transportation should be strengthened so that if one part fails, the others parts will still protect people

Both the U.S. Department of Transportation and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have adopted the Safe System Approach, with the goal in California of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.

With the Safe System Approach, the focus is not reducing the rates of all crashes, but only those that result in serious injury or fatalities.  Roadway infrastructure will need to be changed to be more forgiving and protect the vulnerable users.  Safe speeds is an important element of the Safe System Approach, as lower speeds give drivers more time to react to situations and lowers the amount of kinetic energy that is transferred in a crash.  Vehicles also need to improve.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be mandating more driving assistant technologies in vehicles, such as automatic braking, but automobile manufacturers need to do more on their own, such as improving vehicle sightlines in large vehicles, as the electrification of the fleet should allow hoods to be lowered.

Road diets and narrowing vehicle travel lanes to provide wider bicycle facilities is in line with the Safe System Approach.  Narrower lanes will help reduce the speed of traffic, and the pavement can be reallocated to provide wider bike lanes or to add a buffer to enhance bicyclist safety.

The Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act passed late last year will significantly increase the funding available for active transportation.  More details are expected to be available in the next few months as transportation officials analyze the infrastructure bill.

Fresno Bike Station FYOB Event

 

The next Fix Your Own Bike event is scheduled for Sunday, February 20 between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM at the Van Ness Village Vendor Fair, located at 1440 N. Van Ness Avenue.  The Fresno Bike Station allows bike owners to learn how to repair their own bikes with help from experienced mechanics, including FCBC member Julie Congi and Tower Velo owner Chris Eacock.  The last event was on January 16.

 

Clovis ATP 2022 Update

The City of Clovis is updating their Active Transportation Plan.  A virtual meeting is scheduled for February 10 at 6:00 pm via Zoom.  More information, including a draft of the updated plan, can be found on the City of Clovis website.

In Memory of Paul Moore

 

A tragic crash on January 12 near Woodward Park in Fresno claimed the life of one of Fresno’s most avid and respected bicyclists.  While riding a recumbent tricycle, he was struck by a pickup making a right turn.  Ironically, this tragedy occurred within feet of a “Bicycle Friendly Community” sign at the entrance to Woodward Park, near Friant Road and Audubon Drive.  Paul commuted between Fresno and Kerman daily until he retired from teaching last year.  He worked as a part-time bike mechanic at REI for a number of years.  He rode the RAAM Race Across America with Fresno Cycling Club president Dennis Ball in 2012.

Jeremy Doyel, FCBC Vice Chair, shared that he was a student at Kerman High School when Paul was an English teacher.  While he was not in Paul’s classes, Jeremy and another student were the first members of a bike club formed by Paul and another teacher.  As Jeremy had only ever ridden on dirt roads around the farm where he grew up, the rides of the bike club were the first group road rides he had ever been on, probably traveling only four miles and wearing jeans and T-shirts instead of bicycling spandex.

Paul was a dues-paying, card-carrying member of FCBC, and the many people in the bicycling community that he impacted will greatly miss him.

Upcoming Book on Bicycling in Fresno

Below is the sixth chapter in the book that FCBC Board Member Juan Flores is writing on bicycling in Fresno.  Juan welcomes any comments, corrections, and constructive criticism at juan@fresnobike.org.  Previous chapters can be viewed on the FCBC website.

The Enterprise Canal Trail

The Enterprise Canal Trail begins near Sunnyside and Shepherd Avenues in Clovis and meanders its way alongside the channel that shares its name.  The unpaved quarter-mile segment immediately east of Sunnyside Avenue is no longer accessible to the public, as it lies on private property, and the property owners placed gates to restrict access.  It then travels southeast towards State Route 168.  Part of that trail runs along the stormwater basin, an area that is fenced but accessible to visitors.  However, there are times when the gates to the pond are shut and block access to the trail.  Part of the reason that the gates to some portions of the canal are shut is because those portions are on private property, or the Canal District does not believe that those portions are safe for bicyclists or pedestrians.  Nonetheless, many users continue their journey on the dirt path paralleling the canal on the other side of the fence and on those portions that are not open to public use.

Nees Avenue is a natural turnaround point, but bicyclists who want to go further can head left to the intersection of Nees and Temperance Avenues and then south on Temperance Avenue to the canal and the next asphalt section.  That stretch runs down to Owens Mountain Parkway, where there is a small commercial area of chain restaurants and a gas station. The Meat Market is a great place to get a tri-tip sandwich and refreshments so that you can continue on your trip fully refreshed.

The Enterprise Canal Trail is on a level path with plenty of shade trees along the trail.  Future plans for the trail include building a pedestrian bridge over State Route 168 and extending the trail south.  The inaccessible quarter-mile section immediately east of Sunnyside Avenue near the Dry Creek Trailhead is planned to be upgraded to a public trail in the future.

Before, it was easy to get to the north end of the trail by parking at the Dry Creek Trailhead at Sunnyside and Shepherd Avenues and then carefully crossing Sunnyside Avenue.  The access point is now on Fowler Avenue, but neither Sunnyside nor Shepherd Avenues have shoulders on which to ride from the Trailhead.  Another option would be to park in the residential area off Fowler Avenue south of the trail.  At the south end of the trail off Owens Mountain Parkway, you can park in the shopping center or at the park and ride lot behind the fire station at the southwest corner of the roundabout on Temperance Avenue..

Next Board Meeting

The next Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 17 at 7:30 PM via Zoom.  Everyone is welcome to join the virtual meeting.  If you would like to participate in the meeting, register here, and you will immediately get the Zoom link.

Membership

If you are not yet a member of FCBC or need to renew, please visit https://fresnobike.org/join to become a member or renew your membership.

Have a comment or suggestion?  Contact us at info@fresnobike.org