[DB!-Announce] Thurs. PM Climate Action Plan; 5th Street proposal

[Davis Bicycles Announcements]

This Thursday evening:
DAVIS CLIMATE ACTION PLAN PUBLIC FORUM

Sponsored by the City of Davis Sustainability project

See what's being done locally, and how you can help

Thursday, June 26th, 2008, 6:30-8:30pm
Veterans Memorial Center MPR
203 E. 14th Street, Davis

6:30pm, background presentation

7:00-8:30pm
Open House: Drop in and give us your ideas.

For more information, visit the City's Sustainability website
http://www.cityofdavis.org/cmo/Sustainability/ClimateChng.cfm


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FIFTH STREET RE-STRIPING PROPOSAL ADVANCES

On Tuesday, June 10th, the Davis City Council instructed the Public Works
Department to provide a plan without delay for reconfiguring the street to
test a configuration that would have:

* One through lane in each direction for vehicles.
* Bike lanes on each side of the street.
* Protected left turn lanes, as are common at many intersections in town.

Many of you may be familiar with this "Fifth Street road diet" plan
considered by the city circa 2003-2005.

The idea at this time is to do an "honest test" that will re-stripe the
street and change the signals at F and G Streets to include left turn arrows
for all vehicle movements.  This can all be accomplished between the curbs
on the existing roadway with just new signals and paint.

This issue resurfaced because of the ongoing accident problem in the
corridor, that has included a frightening number of pedestrian and bicycle
accidents.  There were 11 bicyclists or pedestrians hit on the short stretch
of 5th Street between B and L Streets in just 22 months.  Accidents
involving more than one or two cars have been piling up, including one
recently where a young driver hit four parked cars, while making a hasty
turn off of 5th Street during the Saturday Farmers Market.  This came less
than a month after four cars were involved in a crash directly in front of
the fire station.  Recent data shows fully 10% of all the accidents in the
entire city occur on this short piece of roadway just over 1/2 a mile in
length.

Davis Bicycles! has not taken any position on this issue, and we recognize
that there are strongly held views for and against any reduction of car
lanes. We urge our members to look for updates, to learn more about this
important issue, attend future meetings, and get involved.


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The Davis Bicycles! steering committee recently decided on its MISSION AND
VISION STATEMENTS, a necessary step to defining the role of the
organization, which is in the process of attaining official non-profit
status. You can find the mission and vision statements on the DB! website:

http://www.davisbicycles.org/about.htm
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