Safe Cycling for the California College Commuter:
Placer vs. Sacramento County
Chloe Rice
American River College
Geography 350
Fall 2010
ABSTRACT
The lack of bike lanes along the most direct routes to Placer
County’s largest community college, Sierra, make it very clear that both the
city of Rocklin and the county as a whole make alternatives to automotive
transportation a minimal priority compared to Sacramento County. A lack of
non-profit initiatives in the area as well as demographic differences may be to
blame.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this project is to highlight the clear difference
of priority given to safer roads for cyclists between Sacramento and Placer
counties. In doing so I hope to petition for bike lanes on any new developing
roads in both counties, particularly Placer, on roads considered part of a
network of direct routes to schools. While I feel safety for all students and
teachers commuting to schools, I will focus on the areas 3 community colleges:
Sierra College of Rocklin, American River, and Sacramento City, both of
Sacramento, CA.
BACKGROUND
As a former student of Sierra College, a current student of both
American River and Sac City Colleges, and as an avid cyclist, I’ve come to know
the back roads of Placer and Sacramento counties very well. While attending a
biology course at Sierra this summer I road my bike from Midtown Sacramento to
Rocklin Monday through Thursday for eight weeks straight, the total daily
mileage being 23.4 miles one-way. I
made it my summer’s work to find the most direct route from my house to the
school using sites like Google maps and the Online Trip Planner on the
Sacramento 511 webpage. Upon my first trip to school I discovered that the most
direct routes all happen to be on the most dangerous roads. I was horrified at
how unkempt the roads were (most of the route lacking bike lanes and the parts
that did have them were full of glass and debris) and how many ADA violations
there were in the sidewalk structures or lack thereof. Living in a “bike town”
I took for granted how maintained and friendly the roads are in my area, and
the fact that they’re like that not because the city or even county cared but
because Sacramento’s citizens fought for the input of the bike lanes by forming
groups like the California Bicycle Coalition and Walk Sacramento whose members
now work with the Transportation department to continue improving conditions
for pedestrians and cyclists. I think
it’s important that the voices of commuters in Placer County be heard as well,
and the first step is to show the problem in a way that clearly makes it
apparent, and what better way than with maps?
METHODS
My first task after an endless quest for data was to map and
highlight the direct routes along major roads in the counties. I did this by
selecting the streets I researched for my own routing needs this summer as well
as the routes I take to school presently. The results include Auburn Blvd,
Roseville Rd, Pacific St, Taylor Rd, Antelope Rd, Freeport Blvd, 19th
St, 21st St, Sutterville Rd, Del Paso Blvd, and El Camino Ave. I
then input the bike lanes that are located along those routes, if there were
any.
RESULTS
After comparing the two maps it is visually obvious that Placer
County is completely lacking in road routes for bike commuters. The bike lanes
that do exist surround the mall and residential communities and disappear as
you head toward Sierra College. Sacramento on the other hand, has lanes along
and around almost all of the roads directly leading to the Sac City College.
American River College routes are still dangerous and lacking in comparison to
City, but are nothing compared to that of the Sierra College routes.
CONCLUSION
After completing this analysis it is clear that advocation for
safe cycling routes in Placer County is a must. The rates of student enrollment
are increasing every semester, and in this economy it’s undeniable that
commuting by bike is free, and driving in the traffic along clogged roads is
not. I think it’s also a valid point that implementing road improvements in
Placer County would be giving a lot of job opportunities in the community at
the benefit of the commuters and the unemployed construction workers.
REFERENCES
http://www.sacregion511.org/bicycling/trips/
http://atlas.ca.gov/download.html
http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/CommunityDevelopment/GIS/GIS_Download.aspx
http://www.cityofsacramento.org/gis/data.html
http://www.walksacramento.org/