The Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA) Board of Directors would like to thank Jim Brown, Executive Director of SABA since November 2012, for his service and contributions to the Sacramento area bicycling community. Jim leaves behind an impressive legacy of accomplishments during his time with the organization including aiding in the creation of an updated Bicycle Master Plan in the City of Sacramento, doubling SABA’s operational budget over the course of 6 years, managing our many Safe Routes to Schools programs, among many other achievements. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.
We are pleased to welcome Debra Banks as SABA’s Interim Executive Director. She is the owner of Rivet Cycle Works, a boutique bicycle leather saddle and accessory company, and is an avid randonneur. Debra began her involvement with SABA as a member of the Board of Directors. In 2018, she was hired as SABA’s Operations Director to oversee the organization’s contracts and financial matters. Debra is well-positioned to lead SABA’s programs and activities in this transitional period as the Board of Directors works towards a permanent leadership role.
We are excited for another busy year in bicycle advocacy this 2019, and we hope to continue to have your support. Stay tuned for more updates about SABA’s leadership, events, and activities!
Join the team that is helping make bicycling a clean, sustainable transportation choice for more people in our region. We’re hiring for two positions on our management team.
Bike Valet Lead
Councilmember Eric Guerra (center) and SABA volunteers at the Tahoe Park Food Truck Mania
We’re looking for a highly organized, detail-oriented perfectionist who loves going the extra mile to deliver high-quality service to customers and clients and help SABA raise its profile in the community. Bike Valet turns community events into bikeable destinations. In 2018 we parked more than 10,000 bikes at more than 250 community events. Our clients include the Sacramento Kings, Sacramento Republic FC, SactoMoFo, Downtown Sacramento Partnership, and Midtown Association. This is our most visible program! Read more about Bike Valet here.
You’ll deliver Bike Valet services and work closely with clients to ensure that bike parking is handled efficiently for everyone. You’ll be a great fit if you love what bikes do for the world, .
This is a part-time variable hours, including occasional early mornings and late evenings.
Pay: $15 per hour.
Bike Doc Manager (seasonal)
We’re hiring a manager for Bike Doc, a program we manage for North Natomas Jibe that provides maintenance checks and basic repairs at more than 24 community events per year in North Natomas. This year our team of mechanics checked and repaired 675 bikes between April and October.
You’ll manage all details of our contract with North Natomas Jibe, train and supervise SABA’s team of 8-12 mechanics, promptly complete reports about repair activities, and maintain an inventory of supplies and materials. You’ll also work as a mechanic at each event, where you’ll supervise all mechanic services.
You’ll be a good fit if you really know and love bikes, have professional bike mechanic experience, are highly organized, and work well as a team leader.
This is a seasonal position from Feb. 1, 2019 through Oct. 31, 2019. Hours vary from 6 to 12 hours per week, depending on the Bike Doc schedule, with the busiest periods in April to June and September through October. Pay: $18 per hour.
What a year! In the face of grim news about our warming atmosphere and changing climate, we saw a lot of new bicycle infrastructure installed in our region, and more public funding to make even more progress. SABA’s work on behalf of clean, healthful, sustainable transportation has never been more important. Read more below about some of our most important accomplishments from 2018.
But first, if you value this work, please consider showing your support with a tax-deductible, year-end gift. Click here to give online using your credit or bank card or directly from your bank account. Thank you!
Advocacy
Bike share
Photo by Lezlie Sterling/ Sacbee
When the regional bike share system launched this spring, we worked with the Sacramento Area Council of Governments , the agency that manages the regional bike share program, to help introduce the system, especially to underserved neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, we are part of a steering committee to advise on a possible bike share system in Rancho Cordova and Folsom. We continue to be a strong champion of bike share as a way to replace short car trips with bike trips.
Protected bikeways
Protected bikeway on J Street in Midtown Sacramento.
Since this spring, the City of Sacramento has installed the city’s first protected bikeways on 9th, 10th, J, P and Q streets in downtown Sacramento.
Meanwhile, the City of West Sacramento is completing its second protected bikeway project, near 5th Street and Tower Bridge Gateway, and planning protected bikeways and buffered bike lanes along West Capitol Ave. And the City of Rancho Cordova continues work toward installing its first protected bikeway on Routier Road and Rod Beaudry Drive.
We continue to be strong advocates for protected bikeways as the way to make busy streets function more safely and comfortably for a wider variety of bicyclists, especially those who are the most reluctant to ride directly next to vehicle traffic. Read more here.
Connecting the Grid
Narrow conditions on 16th Street leave no space for bike lanes.
Even as the City of Sacramento continues to install protected bikeways in the downtown Grid, notable disconnects persist at freeway ramps along the south and east edges of the Grid, in the part of downtown north of P St. and west of 16th St., and north of downtown to the American River.
In January, when Sacramento County closed the Jibboom Street Bridge for a 6-month-long rehab project, we generated some media attention to the need for more bridges across the American River. And this spring we went directly to the community and heard strong demand for much better access for bikes on N. 16th Street.
Off-street paths
We’ve been actively involved with generating public support for new off-street multi-use biking and walking paths, including the Mather Heritage Trail in Rancho Cordova, the Sycamore Trail in West Sacramento, the Dry Creek Greenway West in Roseville and the Sacramento River Parkway, Del Rio Trail and the Two Rivers Trail in Sacramento.
Our efforts include providing technical assistance where needed, and also advising elected officials, residents and prospective users about the ways that multi-use paths enable healthy activity, provide safe, car-free routes for bicycling, and activate isolated areas.
Cross section of the Two Rivers Trail
No on Prop 6
Prop. 6 on the Nov. 2020 ballot would have repealed the gas tax increase enacted last year in California and made it nearly impossible to enact future increases. As of this fall, new gas tax revenues had increased the City of Sacramento’s transportation budget by 50%. Prop. 6 would have been disastrous for our region and the state by eliminating this funding. We joined hundreds of organizations, businesses, professional associations and local government agencies throughout California to defeat Prop. 6. California voters rejected the measure by 57% to 43%.
Countywide transportation funding
The Sacramento region spends too little on transportation. Regionally, our spending is lower than comparable metropolitan areas elsewhere in California. That’s partly the result of not having enough locally controlled funding for transportation improvements. In most of our region, most transportation funding comes from competitive grants, which require local matching funds. Without a sufficient pool of locally controlled funds, we can’t generate much match funding, which limits the number and size of grants we pursue, and we also don’t have the capacity to make improvements quickly outside of grant cycles.
This summer we began working with our closest allies – including WALKSacramento, Environmental Council of Sacramento, Breathe California Sacramento Region and Sacramento Housing Alliance – on a strategy to fight for a community-driven process for producing the next countywide transportation sales tax measure, which would increase the amount of locally controlled funding for transportation. Measure B failed to win passage in 2016 in part because it was simply a shopping list, without clear goals that reflected what community needs from its transportation system. With Sacramento County planning to put another transportation sales tax measure before voters in 2020, we want to make sure it fully understands what the community expects from the measure.
Bike skills training at Southport Elementary School in West Sacramento.
This year we held our first-ever cycling skills classes, including 11 in West Sacramento so far — and we’re planning for more next year, including classes in Sacramento.
Through the City of West Sacramento’s Safe Routes to School program, we also delivered cycling skills instruction at four elementary schools in West Sacramento and we’ve begun offering it at three more during the current school year.
Bike Valet
We provided valet bike parking for more than 10,000 bikes at some 250 community events, enabling thousands of people to bike to community events instead of drive. Those bike trips replaced car trips that would have pumped nearly 10 tons of carbon pollutants into the atmosphere and our lungs. Read more here.
Bike repairs
We performed safety checks and minor repairs on 675 bikes in North Natomas and on dozens of bikes in South Sacramento and Rancho Cordova neighborhoods that don’t have retail bike shops.
Protected bikeway on P Street in downtown Sacramento
We’re looking for at least 100 new monthly members who love what bicycling does for our community.
Could one of them be you?
We’ve just introduced a new monthly membership option that makes it easy and affordable to support our mission and our work.
For as little as $5 a month — less than the price of a Starbucks® pumpkin spice latte or a pint of your favorite local IPA — you can help us continue advocating for the region-wide benefits of bicycle transportation, including cleaner air, safer streets and calmer neighborhoods for everyone.
You’ll also be entered in our grand prize drawing to win this PUBLIC Dutch-style, single-speed step-thru (medium/large frame), courtesy of Mike’s Bikes.
Joining today is simple: Click on the link below and select the monthly donation amount that feels right for you. You can make your membership donation using your credit or bank card or by direct transfer from your bank account.
Beginning with a feasibility study in 2010, the City of Sacramento is installing the Two Rivers Trail along the south side of the American River. As a first phase, segments of paved path have been installed between Tiscornia Park opposite Discovery Park to the Hwy. 160 bridge and for 0.7-mile east of Sutter’s Landing Park.
The City of Sacramento is currently designing the next phase, a 2.4-mile stretch from the Union Pacific RR bridge to H Street tentatively set to open in 2019. The City has received a $3.3 million grant from Senate Bill 1 gas tax revenues to design and build the trail.
The project would pave the existing dirt maintenance road at the base of the levee that’s been open to the public for more than 50 years. The paved trail will be used for walking and biking as well as for levee maintenance vehicles, and will include decomposed granite shoulders for walking and running.
Benefits for River Park residents
Provides access for all, especially those with mobility impairments. There currently is no ADA-accessible path into the Parkway from River Park. Some mobility-impaired River Park residents have never seen the river in their own backyards!
Improves safety by creating the conditions that encourage legitimate, legal activity and deter illegitimate, illegal activities.
Protects the privacy of residents by giving walkers and bicyclists an established path below the crown of the levee. Initially the path was envisioned for the top of the levee, but it was later moved due to restrictions by the regional flood control agency, which uses the top of the levee for maintenance vehicles.
Safeguards bicyclists by creating a direct, continuous, completely car-free bike route to the Midtown Grid. This path will completely bypass congested East Sacramento streets, including the undercrossings and freeway ramps at the Capital City Freeway.
Benefits for the region
Aligns with the vision of River Park resident Frank Cirill, longtime defender of the American River Parkway, for a fully accessible American River.
Legalizes bicycling in this part of the American River Parkway. Except in the Woodlake and Cal Expo areas of the Parkway, bikes may only be ridden on paved paths. Riding off-pavement is illegal and bicyclists riding there are subject to a citation by County Parks rangers.
Encourages biking and eases congestion by creating a continuous, off-street bike route between the Sac State campus and the Midtown Grid.
Roads in need of repair cost California drivers $61 billion (yes, billion) every year in the form of additional vehicle operating costs, the cost of lost time and wasted fuel due to congestion, and the financial cost of traffic crashes, according to a report released this month by a national transportation research organization.
Here are five reasons why the condition of our roads matters for people on bikes:
– People on bikes are hurt in crashes caused by hitting or dodging potholes and broken pavement.
– People on bikes are hurt and killed in collisions with drivers who hit or try to dodge potholes and broken pavement.
– Rough roads discourage people from traveling by bike instead of driving, and that keeps too many cars on the road.
– People on bikes, like all other Californians, suffer the health effects of breathing air polluted by traffic congestion resulting from poor road conditions.
– Most people on bikes also drive cars.
Road maintenance is essential to providing safe conditions for bicycle transportation. We need adequate funding to keep our roads in good repair.
Last year California enacted the first increase in the state gas tax in a generation, with the goal of funding a backlog of roadway repairs and other improvements. Click here to read more about this new revenue source, including the local roadway projects being implemented throughout the state with this funding.
Protected bikeway on J Street at 21st Street in Midtown Sacramento
The protected bikeway on J Street in Midtown Sacramento, the 2 miles of buffered bike lanes being installed on Mack Road, and the proposed Two Rivers Trail in the American River Parkway near East Sacramento are prominent local projects funded with the new gas tax revenues.
A November 2018 ballot measure called Proposition 6, whose largest donors are 7 Republican congressional and gubernatorial campaigns, seeks to repeal the funding. SABA is part of the coalition of 300+ organizations, businesses and public agencies united against Prop. 6. Please consider joining the No on Prop. 6 coalition and also encouraging those in your network to do the same.
# # # # #
If you value this kind of information and SABA’s work in our region, please consider becoming a SABA member.
The central city isn’t the only part of the city getting some bike love as the result of ongoing road resurfacing projects.
While bicyclists get used to new buffered bike lanes on 24th Street and Elvas Ave. and a new protected bikeway on J Street, this week City of Sacramento crews started work to resurface 2 miles of Mack Road between Valley Hi Dr. and the Morrison Creek bridge just west of Deer Creek Dr.
When the roadway striping is eventually repainted, the existing bike lane will be enhanced with a 2-foot painted buffer, like the new lanes recently installed on 24th Street and Elvas Ave. near downtown. The space for the buffer comes from narrowing the existing traffic lanes, which are more than 20 feet wide in places (the City’s minimum standard for the width of a striped traffic lane is 11 feet).
As with the recent bikeway improvements installed in Midtown, Curtis Park, Oak Park and East Sacramento, this project is funded with state gas tax revenues specifically earmarked for road rehabilitation projects. The City has a policy of installing planned bikeway improvements whenever a street is resurfaced. With striping already included in the resurfacing budget, adding bike lanes costs almost nothing.
Buffered bike lanes on 24th St. between 2nd Ave. and Broadway
The new buffered lane will add some lateral space between bikes and moving vehicles, making Mack Rd. a little more comfortable for bicycling. Accommodating bikes on Mack Road is important because it’s the only continuous east-west street for more than a mile to the north and south and it’s the area’s main destination for shopping as well as service jobs.
Will the new bike lanes solve the problems bicyclists experience on Mack? It will help slow down traffic, which is the main factor in fatal collisions throughout the city – even drivers will benefit from this project. But the speed limit on most of Mack Road is 45 MPH, a speed at which nearly every collision involving a bicyclist or pedestrian is fatal. A year ago a cyclist died in a collision on Mack Road at Summersdale Dr.
Speeding is a major problem on Mack Road. Like most of the main roads in the South Area, Mack Road has very long blocks between signalized intersections — more than a half-mile between the signals at Valley Hi Drive and Center Parkway and nearly three-quarters of a mile between the signals at Deer Creek Dr. and Brookfield Dr. at the west end of the project area. Long distances between signals and very wide traffic lanes make it easy and inviting to drive considerably faster than 45 MPH.
There are several alternatives to installing this type of bike lane that come with big caveats. A protected bikeway could provide a little more separation between bikes and cars, however, this kind of facility isn’t recommended for a street that has the number of driveways seen along Mack Rd. Plus, there is no curbside parking anywhere along Mack Road, so creating true physical separation would require installing a median, which is far beyond the City’s budget for a road resurfacing project.
A completely separated, off-street bike path might be the safest solution for a street this busy. Installing one would require the City to buy the necessary right-of-way on both sides of the street for at least 2 miles. That assumes that owners were willing to sell and the City could afford to buy, not including the cost of construction.
A cheaper and safer solution might be to look for an alternate route that parallels Mack, however, the nearest continuous east-west streets are Florin Rd. more than a mile to the north and Cosumnes River Boulevard about 1.5 miles to the south. The lack of continuous east-west streets other than these major arterial boulevards is a significant obstacle to improving mobility and safety for bicyclists throughout the South Area.
For now, enhancing the existing bike lanes on Mack Road is a worthy first step, recognizing that making arterial boulevards accessible for bicycling remains a huge, complicated and necessary challenge.
If you value this kind of information and SABA’s work in our region, please consider becoming a SABA member.
Off-pavement bicycling advocate Bob Horowitz interviewed in August 2016 about the pilot program.
Off-pavement bicycling advocate Bob Horowitz interviewed in August 2016 about the pilot program.
The Sacramento County Recreation and Parks Commission has given its final approval for implementation of the off-paved path cycling pilot in the Woodlake and Cal Expo areas of the American River Parkway near downtown Sacramento. The 3-year pilot program will open existing unpaved maintenance roads to people on bikes beginning in September.
The June 22 vote concludes a 15-year effort led by Bob Horowitz of the Folsom Auburn Trail Riders Action Coalition or FATRAC to accommodate off-pavement bicycling within the American River Parkway master plan. The pilot program has been part of the Parkway plan for the past decade. The County seemed especially persuaded to implement it by the potential for giving kids from nearby neighborhoods more places to ride. Off-pavement cyclists of all ages represent a large new group of potential Parkway stewards and supporters.
Off-pavement riding is already permitted in the Parkway east of Hazel Ave., which is administered by California State Parks.
The pilot program does not authorize bikes on existing equestrian paths, except in one short segment to be shared. Bicycling on all other equestrian paths in the Parkway west of Hazel Ave. remains prohibited.
The implementation plan approved by the commission includes measures for monitoring environmental and other impacts over the next three years, including damage to vegetation at the edges of the trails, whether informal trails or technical features such as jumps or berms are illegally constructed, trash such as water bottles and wrappers, and security as well as conflicts among trail users.
By introducing more active uses in this part of the Parkway, the pilot program will begin to help discourage illegal camping and reverse the related impacts of drug activity, trash, human waste, off-leash dogs and wildfires. These benefits also make the Parkway safer for those who bike, walk and run along the paved Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail.
Especially in light of the recent violent confrontations in this part of the Parkway, safety remains a significant concern for everyone. Ensuring the safety of new and existing trail users will require additional County funding for ranger patrols. The implementation plan includes funding for added security as well as signs and trash containers. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will also be asked to allocate more funding to rangers and enforcement activities throughout the entire Parkway.
Potential conflicts with equestrians have also been central to the discussion of implementing the pilot program. While equestrians very rarely use this part of the Parkway, the County will measure the success of the pilot program in part by whether there are fewer bicyclists riding illegally on the equestrian trails. Continued or increased bicycling on the equestrian trails is likely to keep the County from opening more areas of the Parkway to off-pavement bicycling.
As the County rolls out the program, watch for more information from SABA and FATRAC about rules for trail users and other details, including the exact opening date.
The American River Parkway is one of the region’s most important natural and recreational amenities. If riding, walking or paddling along the Parkway is part of what makes the region special for you, you owe a debt of thanks to Frank Cirill, who passed away in January. Frank’s life and memory will be celebrated in Carmichael on Saturday, June 10. The remembrance below was written his daughter Lisa Cirill.
Protector of the Parkway
Frank Cirill, a longtime supporter and partner of the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates, passed away peacefully of natural causes at the age of 94 earlier this year. A bicycle commuter and race competitor, Frank was known as the “Protector of the American River Parkway”. He devoted his life to preserving the American River Parkway against development threats and ensuring adequate flow in the lower American River.
Frank served as Chief Mate aboard Merchant Marine liberty ships during World War II and throughout the Marshall Plan. He was an engineer and construction estimator from 1950 to 1987. The highlight of his career was serving as chief estimator with Continental Heller Construction and overseeing the $68 million restoration of the State Capitol from 1975 to 1981.
In 1968, Frank began to serve as a board member of the Save the American River Association. He served as SARA’s President from 1978 through 1994 and later as President Emeritus. “For nearly half a century, Frank Cirill did more than any other person to preserve and enhance the Parkway’s ecosystem, wildlife habitat, waterway and recreation resources,” said Stephen Green, SARA President. Frank was a guiding light for the 1976, 1984 and 2006 American River Parkway Plans. For 21 years he successfully fought the East Bay Municipal Utility District from taking American River water from the Folsom South Canal.
Frank was an avid outdoorsman, swimmer, fly fisherman, runner, bicyclist, kayaker and Nordic skier. Among other endeavors, Frank served on the County Parks and Recreation Commission from 1973 to 1978, founded the Sacramento Southside Striders running group in 1975, co-founded the Capitol Nordic Skiers cross-country ski club in 1980, and after designing the original race course, spent decades on the organizing committee as Race Director and Race Director Emeritus of the Eppie’s Great Race. He was that race’s first Ironman in the age 60-plus division and he was a Masters Class Nordic Ski Champion.
Frank continued running 20 miles a week on the Parkway until he was 86. His last voyage on the Pacific was at 88 when he served as a working crew member aboard the Hawaiian Chieftain. Frank then continued to stay fit through the remainder of his life by using a stationary bicycle. A burial at sea near the Golden Gate Bridge from aboard the SS Jeremiah O’Brien liberty ship was held for his immediate family.
Frank is survived by his wife of 56 years, Doris; his son Curtis Cirillo (Soussan Cirillo), his daughter Lisa Cirill (Kevin Shirley) and three grandchildren. A celebration of Frank Cirill’s life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 10, 2017, along the American River’s edge at the picnic area across from the golf course clubhouse at Ancil Hoffman Park, 6700 Tarshes Drive, Carmichael, CA 95608. Remembrances in his honor can be made to the Save the American River Association at www.sarariverwatch.org/ways_to_give.
If a new bike arrived at your house this holiday season, here are some tips to make sure you’re ready to roll.
1. Get it checked. If your bike came from a big-box store, have your local bike shop check it over before it’s ridden. Walmart, Target and Kmart sell more bikes than any other retailer, but the employees who assemble those bikes aren’t bike mechanics. Common assembly errors include parts that aren’t fully tightened and parts that should’ve been lubed but weren’t. A bike shop mechanic can check your new bike to make sure it’s ready to ride.
Click here to find a bike shop near you. And once your bike is in good shape, click here to learn how to keep it that way with simple maintenance steps you can do at home.
2. Use your head. State law requires any bicyclist under age 18 to wear a helmet. A helmet can help keep an adult head safer too. Click here for instructions on how to wear a helmet properly. And click here to review the rules of the road for people on bikes.
3. Protect your ride. Compared to the cost of replacing your bike, buying a good bike lock is cheap insurance. Click here to learn more about the best types of locks and how to use them correctly.
4. Show that it’s yours. Sacramento residents can register their bikes for free with the Sacramento Police Department – click here to get started. You can also register for free with the National Bike Registry. Or ‘self-register’ by writing down the make, model, type and color of your bike, attach receipts if you have them, and take a selfie with your bike.
5. Go have some fun!Click here for links to maps showing bike routes throughout the region, including streets with bike lanes and off-street bike paths.
The Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA) Board of Directors would like to thank Jim Brown, Executive Director of SABA since November 2012, for his service and contributions to the Sacramento area bicycling community. Jim leaves behind an impressive legacy of accomplishments during his time with the organization including aiding in the creation of an updated Bicycle Master Plan in the City of Sacramento, doubling SABA’s operational budget over the course of 6 years, managing our many Safe Routes to Schools programs, among many other achievements. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.
