Opinion: Biking, walking have multiple environmental benefits
By Joanne Marchetta
Lake Tahoe is biking its way to a healthy, more environmentally sustainable future. In the first two weeks of June, more than 400 people around the Tahoe basin logged 13,800 miles and 3,800 bike trips just getting to work and doing errands as part of the Tahoe Bike Challenge. TRPA and the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition have put this event on seven years running to get people out on their bikes and to reinforce the commitment our communities have to multi-modal transportation, clean air and water. The data collected is used to help Lake Tahoe agencies make better decisions about biking facilities.
While there is a common understanding that TRPA is mandated to improve Lake Tahoe’s air quality, you may not be aware of the inherent linkages among land use policies, transportation programs, economic strength, clearer water, cleaner air and healthier, more vibrant communities. I’d like to connect the dots for you.
Cleaner air and water
Joanne Marchetta
The latest science shows that most air pollution at Lake Tahoe is coming from local pollutants created here in the Lake Tahoe airshed. Nitrogen emissions contribute to the growth of harmful algae that is clouding the lake. The size of our paved surfaces and the number of cars on our roads also contribute to the load of fine sediment washed into Lake Tahoe through streams, storm drains and stormwater runoff. Fewer vehicle trips and better community design are critical to improving both air and water quality and the goal of regaining the lake’s famed clarity.
Economy
Thousands of visitors come to Lake Tahoe every year just to ride their bicycles. That’s because Lake Tahoe offers some of the best cycling experiences in the West. Cyclists are estimated to bring between $6 million and $23 million in local direct expenditures annually to Lake Tahoe communities. As Lake Tahoe positions itself in the geotourism market and begins to diversify its local economies with a focus on recreation, health and wellness, bike trails and pedestrian-friendly town centers are critical investments.
Community
TRPA has benefited from broad community input on the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan update. One theme that we have heard over and over is the need for safer, more vibrant and walkable town centers. The current design of most of our town centers, with sprawling parking lots and dirt road shoulders, sends a clear message that we are built for the car and that you are only welcome if you’re in one. The emerging vision of the Regional Plan Update is to support bikeable, walkable communities which enhance the quality of life for locals and millions of visitors.
You can experience this more vibrant model of community design for yourself. Tahoe City’s downtown sidewalks and the Lakeside Trail along with the pedestrian plaza at the Heavenly Village show the benefits of safe, pedestrian-friendly town centers. The Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project, which is scheduled to break ground next year, promises to be an outstanding example of our emerging collective vision.
How we get there
TRPA is updating the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan and Regional Transportation Plan this year with a priority focus on more bikeable, walkable communities. Draft policies increase the connectivity of bike facilities basinwide. Others guide the form and design of development in our town centers to provide incentives for property owners to improve their street frontage, share parking, create storefronts that engage pedestrians, and contribute to transit stops and bike lanes along the roadway. Property owners considering redevelopment will have real incentives to redesign our built environment in a way that doesn’t revolve strictly around the car and that contributes to the vitality of our region.
There is no innovation without implementation. We are gathering specialists and experts in Tahoe this month to discuss what it takes for communities to reduce reliance on the private automobile. On July 25 and 26, we have guest speakers in town from Park City, a resort town similar to Lake Tahoe which managed the transportation needs of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and from Portland, a region that has transformed itself into one of the most bicycle-friendly places in the nation. We hope you can come out to hear from these experts.
If you want to learn about the strategies, challenges and solutions to improving our quality of life and environment, go online and plan to attend one of the upcoming educational opportunities on July 25 and 26 taking place on the South and North Shores.
Joanne Marchetta is executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
The one big problem with the emphasis on creating more pedestrian and bike paths to get people out of their cars is SNOW. I walk a lot this time of year, but it’s impossible in winter.
How is creating more coverage to build bike paths good for the environment? The recent stupidity is to build a bike path through Bourne Meadow to Nevada beach, then next to Elk Point to Round Hill pines. This bike path could have been built next to Hwy 50, instead it’s going through an SEZ. I attended the public meetings and expressly mentioned the nesting bald eagles along the proposed bike path, the bears, coyotes, fairy terns, and other wildlife that will be displaced by this site, to no avail. What really makes me mad about this is watching the cyclists not even use the bike paths on the Emerald Bay side, they use the roads. I expect the complete detour from Hwy 50 at this new Bourne Meadow site, with it’s steep climb to Round Hill pines, will also be avoided by cyclists who will just use Hwy 50.
I watched the grader at work last week at Nevada Beach, taking another pleasant Tahoe woods and meadow and making it a construction site. What a mess. Right next to the Lake…… For a bike path that cannot be physically used 6 months of the year due to snow….
And this is good for our environment? Tell that to the Eagles….
“The current design of most of our town centers, with sprawling parking lots and dirt road shoulders, sends a clear message that we are built for the car and that you are only welcome if you’re in one.”
The message I have always got, and other visitors have relayed to me, is the town looks run down and impoverished, not car friendly.
It definitely doesn’t inspire a desire to walk, to someone driving down hwy 50, looking out the window of their car, at least not the whole stretch of it.
Safety is a paramount concern. We have distracted cyclists and drivers commingling with disastrous results. We have to adjust for the fact that people are not paying the best attention, they are looking around at the sights. The new hwy 50 bike lane at Al Tahoe is particularly scary (to me), cyclists are squeezed between turning vehicles at the Denny’s, and the hwy 50 traffic, and that is just one sketchy spot, there are so many, ask the cyclists, they know where the trouble spots are.
I’m looking forward to hearing from experience, with hopes that the speakers have suggestions for what works and what doesn’t work.
The bicyclists who continue using Hwy 50 instead of the bike path near Baldwin & Pope areas are serious road-bikers, not casual riders. Not sure what would get them off the highway because they see themselves as speed-driven on par with cars. I prefer to ride paths away from traffic and in nature–for the joy of it and for safety (away from traffic).
What will become a new town center along Harrison Avenue is now well into the planning phase. It will benefit if not become an extension of the Lake Tahoe Commons project. In preparation for the additional use of these public attractions, I do not see much additional preparation for or the encouragement of alternative modes of travel specific to these projects. On the contrary, additional parking lots around the new town center will be built to accommodate local and visitor parking needs. While TRPA talks the talk of “vibrant, walkable town centers” I see a new yet to be built center relying on an old transportation response. Have some areas on these lots even been dedicated to bike parking? Not that I’ve heard of. Are the placement of picnic tables or benches contemplated for walkers? What is the difference between these new sprawling parking lots and the old sprawling lots Ms Marchetta refers to in her article? Who can tell the difference?
As some town centers become increasingly popular, we may have to consider tiered parking structures. Its either that or parking along dirt shoulders in the neighborhoods. Neither TRPA nor the city are interested in taking the specific steps that could make this outcome avoidable. South Lake Tahoe is-let’s be honest- built for the car.
Until bicycles sprout wings and snow plows we need to make the roads car friendly as well as bicycle friendly. How do people think the bikes get here?
Not to mention PARKING. Look at Ski Run and Marriot. Few if any locals visit the areas with paid parking.
I would love to see the math/carbon foot print for the side walks. Tens of thousands of cars sitting for hours at a time. Maybe the award winning walk-up window at McDonalds will reopen.
It will be interesting to see how many tourists come up to look at our new side walks and the pretty guard rails on Echo.
Just like the school improvements that were going to bring telecommuters to town. In the near future we will look at the cuts facing the state, county and city and be sick about how much money was spent.
People use cars because they are too convenient. When bicycles become more convenient, then that’s when you’ll see people get out of their cars. Is it possible for Tahoe to make bikes more convenient? Does Tahoe have the will to create it?