Peninsula Community Association

Walking on the Peninsula

Apr 19, 2005

We have a wonderful place to walk, so long as we stay away from the streets and highways. Walking on the beach and in the dunes is very picturesque if not a bit rigorous. However walking and biking to and from our attractions, such as the park and community center, or to school, to visit neighbors is a fairly scary undertaking. Though there is a short bike commute to or from Eureka or Arcata it is dangerous enough to forbid many from doing so.

We hear a lot about the health effects of walking and that we need to get an hour of exercise per day and how our population is in the midst of an obesity epidemic. So what are we doing about making our streets and highways more pedestrian friendly? Some Manila citizens have been struggling with this problem for years and it is truly moving along, albeit at a snail?’s pace. At this rate and with California?’s funding crisis the community will be fortunate to have one small footpath between Manila?’s two major intersections by the end of the decade.

There are some very good pedestrian websites?– though a Google search revealed that saferoutes.org and walkability.org could no longer be found. ?“Safe routes?” was an advocacy site for increased bike and walking routes to schools and walkability.org advocated for more and safer pedestrian routes. It seems that very little state and federal funding has been directed toward pedestrian safety in the past few years. It is important for citizens to become informed about the health effects of walking and to advocate for increased opportunities to walk and bike safely within their community as well as for commuting. There is no good reason why a Peninsula resident shouldn?’t be to bike safely into Eureka or Arcata. For more information check out these websites from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/ped/walk1.html

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/buses/GTSS/toc.html

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/olddrive/SteppingOut/positive_rewards.html

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/newtips/pages/Tip7.htm

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/newtips/pages/Tip8.htm

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/newtips/pages/Tip9.htm