Is WCHS serious about biking to school?
Crossing Del Paso is no walk in the park - this sea of pavement is a result of car-dependency. (Photo by Joel Edison for The Expedition)
September 29, 2023 Joel Edison | Staff Writer
One Saturday a few weeks into school, my mom and I went bike riding to the Westlake Charter High School (WCHS) to test if it would be a viable mode of transportation. The narrow and exposed bike lanes along Del Paso and East Commerce Way were extremely dangerous due to their high speed limits - discouraging us from the road and onto the sidewalk. However, the sidewalk was hardly a sufficient substitute as we still conflicted with pedestrians and cars exiting various driveways and parking lots. Our safest route to the school was through multiple parking lots behind the office buildings near the highschool. Even when we arrived there were only a handful of bicycle racks for the 300+ students at WCHS. Our approximately 35 minute journey highlighted a glaring lack of bike friendly infrastructure as well as all the dangerous hallmarks of car dependency.
No longer should bicyclists be told to “share the road” with death barrelling beside them at 50 miles per hour. The embarrassing excuse of “bike gutters” can no longer represent the safety standard of bicycle infrastructure in Natomas. The students and parents of Natomas must magnify their voice for change by educating family and friends, writing city leaders, and voting for the establishment of bicycle trails, protected bike lanes, and bike racks. Promoting multi-modal transportation will provide a plethora of benefits to WCHS and nourish the surrounding community by decongesting roads, decreasing crash and fatality rates, lowering noise and air pollution, increasing the value of land and housing, improving people's health, and saving money.
Eight bike racks located in front of Westlake High School support 300+ students. (Photo by Joel Edison for The Expedition
Biking is a fun, stress-relieving alternative with undeniable health benefits. According to the Better Health Channel, managed by Victoria State Government in Australia, “Cycling can help to protect you from serious diseases such as stroke, heart attack, some cancers, depression, diabetes, obesity and arthritis.”There are also other positive benefits which include, “...increased cardiovascular fitness, increased muscle strength and flexibility, improved joint mobility, decreased stress levels, strengthened bones, and decreased body fat levels.” Among biking’s plethora of health benefits, it is easy to learn at a young age and can be integrated into your commute to WCHS instead of the inactive alternative of driving.
Not reliant on gasoline, bicycles reduce the amount of pollution expelled into the air, curb noise pollution, and lessen our environmental footprint as less roads and highways are paved. According to the study, Safe Routes to School, Steps To a Greener Future, “Half of U.S. schoolchildren are dropped off at school in the family car. If 20% of those living within two miles of school were to bike or walk instead, it would save 4.3 million miles of driving per day. Over a year, that saved driving would prevent 356,000 tons of CO2 and 21,500 tons of other pollutants from being emitted.” The detrimental carbon emissions of cars, a leading cause of climate change, can be greatly reduced by the simple switch to biking to school. Furthermore, biking does not produce disruptive noise pollution, which negatively affects ecosystems and people’s health.
Bicycles are substantially cheaper to buy and maintain than cars. In 2017 nearly 60% of all vehicle trips were less than six miles, if even a fraction of these trips were taken by bicycle the savings on gas, maintenance, and insurance would be astronomical. According to Strong Towns, a non-profit organization advocating against suburban development, “Bikes are good for your wealth. Let’s start with the bare minimum: any mileage you put on your bike instead of your car saves you about 50 cents per mile in gas, depreciation, wear, and maintenance. From this savings alone, doing a couple of bike errands per day (4 miles) in place of car errands will add up to $10,752 over ten years.” The small act of biking to school can accumulate impressive savings over time - allowing families to juggle financing. Furthermore, when students bike to school, parents, who are normally obligated to drive their child, may experience a decrease in time stress for their own commute to work.
One of the major barriers discouraging people from biking is safety concerns. To make bicycle infrastructure more appealing to students and parents, the stress levels of biking during a journey must be curbed. This can be done by separating and reducing conflict between automobiles, bicyclists, and pedestrians. According to the Sacramento Bicycle Master Plan, “Bikeways that could be considered lower-stress include: 1. Bike paths 2. Protected/Separated bikeways (with vertical barrier) 3. Buffered bike lanes on streets with a posted travel speed of up to 45 miles per hour 4. Shared streets (or bike routes) with a posted travel speed of up to 25 miles per hour.”
A study of traffic stress by Roger Geller, a bicycle coordinator and member of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, concluded that 60% of bicyclists are “Interested, but concerned. They like riding a bike, but don’t ride much. These individuals would like to feel safer when they do ride, with less traffic and lower speeds.” This majority of casual bicyclists will not tolerate a bikeway that is high stress. Many bikers only feel comfortable on a wide, protected bike path, either beside a slow road or on an altogether separated trail. In contrast, the bike lane in front of the school is located on the 50mph East Commerce Way with no separation or protection from traffic - leaving you exposed.
Developing protected bicycle lanes and lowering speed limits is no fantasy. The Netherlands, often considered the “bicycle capital” of the world, is the quintessential example of bike infrastructure. Georgia Tech states that 26% of trips are taken by bicycle compared to the 0.5% in the U.S. According to Dutch Cycling Embassy Marketing and Communications Manager Chris Bruntlett, Dutch cities only mix bicycles and cars on streets that have speed limits of 30 km/h (18 mph). At speeds of 50 km/h (30 mph) or greater, off-road or buffered cycle paths are provided, creating a safe environment for road users. When bike paths or buffered lanes are provided, they are designed with a 7.5-foot width.
Here in Sacramento, based on highway design manuals, 4-ft wide lanes are built onto roads with 40-50 mph speeds as a form of environmental mitigation to the road being built, with no protection for vulnerable road users should they choose to use them. Bike lanes are often assumed to offset the increase of carbon emissions when a road is built. There is often no thought of whether the bike path is actually suitable or safe. This is an embarrassing excuse for bike infrastructure when other countries such as the Netherlands are leaps and bounds ahead.
Pedestrians and cyclists are exposed while crossing Del Paso. The conflict with cars creates safety concerns.
(Photo by Joel Edison for The Expedition)
Separated offroad bike trails will reduce crash, fatality, and congestion rates related to cars, pedestrians, and bicyclists. The meager sidewalk or bike lane often designed on the edge of perilous, high speed roads with no protection or separation will not suffice for safety. According to the World Resources Institute, “In car-dependent transportation systems, roads are dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists. A pedestrian is killed by a vehicle every 85 minutes in the United States, and fatal pedestrian injury is a leading cause of death for children.” This quote shows the necessity for safe, off road bike paths which promote alternative modes of transportation. Biking will ease the burden on congested roads as well as reduce conflict between cars and bicycles.
Low-stress bikeways would also be more accessible to younger siblings/students - creating opportunities for early bicycle riding development and more independence. According to the Federal Highway Association, “Off-road facilities can provide low-stress environments for bicycling and walking that are separate from motor vehicle traffic. They can be great places for novice and child bicyclists to try out their riding skills prior to taking trips on urban streets.” Off-road bike infrastructure appeals to a larger audience due to its lower stress conditions and safety, this not only inclines parents to allow their child to walk or bike, it also allows younger biking candidates to build their confidence on a protected and friendly course.
Cars often encroach on the narrow East Commerce Way bike lane at 40 miles per hour. This high speed road feeds the entrance of WCHS. (Photo by Joel Edison for The Expedition)
The City of Sacramento Parks and Community Enrichment Report’s Site Plan for the district area near the school, intends to develop residential housing, a SMUD Facility, a park, plaza, hotel, and hospital/health campus in the former Sleep Train Arena area. Prioritizing construction of bike infrastructure lays the groundwork for those future developments - increasing the land's inherent property value. The bike trails will revitalize the community around WCHS and provide numerous economic, safety, health, environmental, accessibility, and social benefits. Furthermore, building bike trails and protected bike paths on undeveloped land is also significantly cheaper due to the fact that the land has no conflicting construction at the moment.
To accelerate and exponentially grow bike infrastructure around WCHS, it is preferred that an enhanced infrastructure financing district be established to concentrate funds on the project. According to the City of Santa Rosa Business, “An Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, or EIFD, is a type of special financing district that uses a portion of property tax increment revenues generated by community growth from a specifically defined area to finance public infrastructure and economic development projects of community-wide significance.” An EIFD will allow the rapid implementation and funding of bicycle trails, this will increase property values and subsequently increase property taxes. The increased rate of property taxes is a small price to pay for the prioritization, improvement, and rehabilitation of bike infrastructure in the former Sleep Train Arena area and WCHS. The bike trails and protected lanes will become the backbone for future developments - attracting new residents for years to come.
The staggering health, climate, and transportation value of bicycle infrastructure speaks for itself. There are multiple ways to advocate for the development of bike trails, protected bike lanes, and bike racks around Westlake Charter High School and the greater Natomas area. Some methods include: 1. Write to city council members, 2. Raise awareness in the community 3. Implore others to vote Yea for the establishment of infrastructure financing districts.