When you mention Sacramento bike trails, many area residents immediately think of the American River Bike trail. Also known as Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, the 32 mile mixed use path winds along the American River between Sacramento and Folsom, CA. The trail is regarded as one of the longest paved purpose-built bike trails in the country. Not surprising that it is what many associate with the phrase Sacramento bike trails. But this gem is only part of a much larger network of bicycle infrastructure.

The American River Bike Trail is part of a much larger public use park complex known as the American River Parkway. There are various spurs and alternative, paved paths connected to the American River Bike Trail, and efforts are underway to expand those paths ever further.

The trail has become much more than just a recreational jewel. It also serves as a commuter path for folks commuting to work or activities in the city centers from suburbs. As more and more people use it as part of their daily commute, trail closures for maintenance can become more and more disruptive. Many segments of the trail do not have reasonable viable alternatives that don’t add several miles or more to commutes. In addition, communication of closures and detours tend to miss the casual or occasional users. While there is a website of trail and park status, it is not incredibly well known. The primary means of notification seems to be signs posted (hopefully well in advance) along the bike trail.

One current area of focus has been the addition of a path on the Sacramento end of the trail, on the opposite bank of the river from the American River Bike Trail. This portion of trail improvement has run into social issues due to the large number of homeless encampments in the currently somewhat secluded area of river bank. However, a recent Change.org petition is trying to spread more awareness of the potential gains of the project.

Farther south, a plan has been on the books for over 40 years to extend the Sacramento bike trails along the river, stitching together various disjointed routes of both pavement and gravel. However, this route crosses a lot of land that is currently privately held. And many of those owners are reluctant to part with it. Only time will tell how this will get worked out.

We reached out to the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Some folks in Chicago are a little confused about why city engineers would actually want to make cyclists ride against traffic. In infrastructure terms this is known as a “contra-flow bike lane.” At first glance, it takes the norm of bikes riding the same direction of travel as cars and intentionally turns it on it’s head.

In some implementations calling it “Contra-flow” is more a nod to the way things used to be, and less about how the bikes and cars interact. A good example of this is the Polk Street Contra-Flow Bike lane in San Francisco. By being physically separated from the motor vehicle traffic (“protected bike lane”) it seems a bit of a stretch to say that the cyclists are really riding against traffic. There are numerous dedicated or mixed use paths across the country that have much less physical separation from the motor vehicle lanes they parallel than the Polk street implementation.

The new contra-flow bike lane in Chicago, however, will not be physically separated from the rest of the traffic on the one-way road. The bike lane will pass between moving traffic and parked cars – both going in the other direction. This will force parking cars to cross the bike enter the bike lane heading in the opposite direction. I’m also curious what cyclists that are going with the flow of motor vehicle will do, and if that will create conflicts with other cyclists going in the opposite direction.

According to reporting in the local media, this may just be legalization of already existing, common cycling behavior. It will be interesting to see how this plays out after the lane opens.

Interestingly enough, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition just recently rejected a new bike lane proposal on Turk St. in San Francisco. According to StreetsBlogSF, this is the first time ever that the coalition has taken a “No” stance against a new bike lane. They are pushing for a safer, parking protected bike lane instead of the cities painted-stripes-in-the-door-zone approach.

Yes yes. Copenhagen and Amsterdam rock for cycling. We all know it. Well now Germany wants to have a thing to say about that. The first 5km of a new Velobahn have opened up. Keep right except to pass…If you haven’t guessed, a Velobahn is separated bike infrastructure. Unlike the mixed use trails so common around me in California, the path is wide enough to allow faster cyclists to pass slower moving cyclists going the same direction without having to face the folks coming the other direction. Presumably the Velobahn will also be off limits to joggers, skateboarders, and those pesky dogs that want to lick my ankles as I ride by.

Reportedly it even uses overpasses and underpasses where it crosses other roads to eliminate the interactions at intersections – and the need to stop.

Meanwhile here in the US our uber example of the bicycle city of the future – Davis California – seems to be struggling instead with a bicycle theft problem. We’ll just keep cycling our way thank you…

Portland, Oregon continues to demonstrate their dedication to multi-modal transportation options with the September 12, 2015 opening of the Tilikum Crossing over the Willamette River. No worries about how cars and bicycles will interact on this bridge – cars aren’t allowed. This bridge is all about transit, shoes and pedals.

At 1,720 feet, Tilikum Crossing is reported to be the longest transit-only bridge in the United States. The bridge took just over 4 years to construct, and is estimated to have cost $134.6 million.

Electrified rail power the MAX Orange Line light rail across the river in the middle of the bridge structure, with access shared by local cable cars and TriMet bus routes. Two 14 foot wide bicycle and pedestrian paths travel on both sides of the transit route, and are separated by physical barriers and the structure of the cable-stayed bridge. Pedestrians and cyclists each have marked lanes on these paths. The bicycle routes have been well connected to existing infrastructure, with many locations separated by physical dividers.

Before I even got on the bridge, I was impressed at how many bike-related changes have been made

^{— Bike Portland, “Touring Tilikum” by Jonathan Maus}

These sorts of infrastructure investments so a growing trend among US cities to change the common transportation paradigm. Mixed use and transit-only infrastructure can often face opposition, especially in heavily congested areas. However, the need for a more balanced approach to transportation is gaining more and more support.

What once were simply advertisement campaigns to encourage occasional bicycle rides have become official policies at the state and local level. Increasing adoption of these policies will lead to more people experiencing the benefits, and a greater quality of life and living experience for all.

Saturday, June 20^th. Sacramento, CA. Be a part of the development of a mountain bike park behind the Township Nine development.

More details are on their Meetup page.

The Sacramento Mountain Bike Skills Park is under construction on a back lot of the Township Nine development between N. 5th St. and N. 7th St. up by the river levee.  Randy Spangler of IMBA and Terry Cox of College Cyclery are designing and building the park, starting with a pump track.  We will also be working on a single track around the perimeter this Saturday.