Stop, Drop and Roll

15 June 2007 | Alameda Community, Alameda Community Development Forum, Transportation Commission | John Knox White

While Alice Cooper didn’t get it exactly right, the school has not been blown to pieces, most kids in Alameda are starting summer vacation. AUSD kids end up with an extra week of summer break this year, some sort of scholastic leap year deal I guess. It’s a great time to get kids out on bikes and walking.

With the weather becoming hot and people taking to the streets, I passed more walkers and bikers today, I thought it appropriate to encourage folks to tell the city about their walking and biking needs and concerns. The city has commissioned a survey of residents and is looking for as much participation as possible. The information will be used to inform the current Pedestrian Master Plan process and upcoming Bicycle Master Plan update, both of which will layout policies to help maintain and strengthen Alameda’s great walking and biking environment.

One of the things to think about before starting is what issues you have when walking and/or biking around town. Two that come to mind for me are the lack of a crosswalk and sidewalk on the south side of Buena Vista across Tilden. There’s no light activation button and the road is designed to make you cross Buena Vista, cross Tilden, then cross Buena Vista again if, say, your walking to the Alameda Natural Grocery and coming from the Fernside District, south of Buena Vista. A west end example would be the “no ped crossing” sign at the northeast corner of Webster and Central, next to the bus stop. Again, you’re required to cross three streets just to get to the other side of Central.

It is these little things that make walking a hassle and discourage people from doing it more regularly.

Here’s the survey link . It takes about 3 minutes to fill out.

As always, you can get updates on the entire Transportation Master Planning (TMP) process emailed directly to you by going to the Alameda Transportation Master Plan website and entering your email into the TMP Mailing List address box on the right-hand side of the screen. You won’t get more than one or two emails a month and typically less. It’s a great way to keep on top of the meetings that happen.