City of Arcata announces multimodal bike plan

The city of Arcata has announced the new plan for a multimodal bike corridor on G street, as well as some improvements to Highway 255. We asked local residents and business owners what they thought of these new improvements. 

The city wants to improve the walkability and bike access between South Arcata and Sunnybrae. 

I’ve lived here a long time, and I know those quieter streets and the streets that have nice bike paths that I can use. I think the city has done a pretty good job about putting in bike paths everywhere and coloring them and stuff here and there”, says Justin Brown of Revolution Bicycles. 

Brown said Cyclists have been shying away from riding local roads and opting for alternative riding options. 

“A lot of people are scared of distracted drivers now. There’s a lot of people on their cell phones and driving distracted, and a lot more traffic on the roads than there used to be in Humboldt. So we’ve been selling a lot more gravel bikes and mountain bikes. People are trying to get away from traffic”, Brown says. 

The city wants your feedback on the potential plan. 

“So most of the people here, we get here like seven, and there’s only a 4 hour or 2 hour parking around here. So it’s like you get a rush or you’ll get tables and you can’t run out and switch your car. We love to have like a little cone or a waiver or flier in the car that says, we’re working, trying to make money, not lose it $40 every time”, says Parker Thurman who works in Arcata. 

There is no program in place for employee permitted street or lot parking in Arcata like there is in Eureka. 

“I’ve tried and I’ve talked to police officers, the city, we’ve been denied, denied, denied. We have a person that lives above here and he can’t park in the back. And he lives here. So it’s been detrimental to everybody, losing money. And just you got to worry about is your car good? Is it going to be there when you get back? Will it be towed, booted? So, I’m just trying to go to work”, says Thurman.

Input for these changes begins next month, you can submit comments here.

https://www.cityofarcata.org/1085/South-Arcata-Multi-Modal-Safety-Improvem

Story by Tucker Caraway