A Month of Pedal Power
As May is Bike Month spins down, we review the highlights
May 23, 2019: For all the fun, festivals, and
miles pedaled during the 15th annual May is Bike Month, the
first event of the month stands out for making the biggest impact
on bike riding.
That event was the City of West Sacramento opening an extension to the Sycamore Trail. Connecting Michigan Boulevard to West Capitol Avenue, the trail provides a safe route for students in the neighborhood attending Westfield Elementary School. It served as a reminder that you can encourage people onto bikes all you like, but the best way to get people to bike is to make it easier and safer for them to do so.
West Sacramento mayor
Christopher Cabaldon said the extension “provides a
critical north/south connector that may be the spine of West
Sacramento, right at the geographic center of our city, for bikes
and pedestrians as well as scooters and strollers and wheelchairs
to get safely and comfortably through the heart of West
Sacramento.”
Future stages of the trail will include an overpass over US 50 to Westmore Oaks Elementary all the way across the Barge Canal into Southport.
SACOG helped fund the trail with $730,400 toward the design and construction of phase 1, which cost about $1.2 million. SACOG awarded a further $1.15 million toward the design of the overpass. That helped the City have a shovel-ready project that attracted a $5.2M Urban Greening Grant from the Natural Resources Agency to construct phase 2.
The good news about biking infrastructure continued
later that morning at the May is Bike Month kick-off event at
James Marshall Park. Jennifer Dolan Wyant from the City of
Sacramento said the city planned to build 45 blocks
of parking protected bikeways over the next 18 months.
The City built 25 blocks of parking protected bikeways (P,
Q, 10th, and J streets) in 2018.
At the park throngs of riders collected their May is
Bike Month T-shirts and jockeyed to catch the popular May is Bike
Month socks being tossed into the crowd. Charley Cross
got a free
check-up for his bike from Sac Bike Doctor
Michael Harting. Cross said he rode to work every day on his
trusty 22-year-old bike, racking up about 3,000 miles a
year on his 14-mile round-trip commute.
“I feel good about it. I’m getting exercise, I’m not
dumping crap into the atmosphere, and it’s fun: win, win,
win,” he said.
Another launch attendee, Mary Ellen Ruiz, has
commuted to work for the past eight years, a round-trip of 16
miles from her Pocket neighborhood home. She said her favorite
part was a scenic section along a levee, which made her ride safe
and fast.
Eight days later was Bike Fest on the grounds of the
Capitol Building. About 250 people rode the 25 miles from Folsom
to the event along the American River Parkway as part of the
Mayors’ Ride. Joining them were Sanea Crawford,
Stan Kimura, and Julie Congi, friends who rode light rail
from Sacramento to Folsom early in the morning to take
part. Sanea said she had been taking part in May is
Bike Month for about five years and as she did not have to be at
work until later, the Mayors’ Ride was a great way to start her
day.
The May is Bike Month calendar had 96 events on it and with a week left at the time of writing, there’s still time to dust off your bike and join in. Or simply look for an errand or outing where you can replace a car trip with a bike trip and ride happy in the knowledge that you’re doing something fun and healthy that also benefits your neighborhood and the planet.