PREVIOUSLY:

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Six years ago, I wrote a guest opinion about H and I streets in the LoCO. It’s been roughly six months since the upgrades to the two streets, and as a resident of H Street, I can attest that traffic is calmer and slower, people on bicycles are enjoying the new bike lane, and people are able to actually cross the streets without fearing for their lives.

Photo: Erin Kelly.

In my previous column, I wrote about the many problems of H and I streets: that there were more than three times the number of collisions relative to comparable streets in California. That I watched high schoolers run across the streets (in crosswalks) while speeding motorists ignored their presence. That it was dangerous for both motorists and pedestrians when there were crosswalks across (essentially) a highway. H and I streets are right in the center of town, and they have a lot of cross traffic and pedestrians. The way the road became highway-like wasn’t because of thoughtful design, it was because of lack of design, and the streets unfortunately served to cut Eureka in two.

And so, the city council and staff decided to update the roads to account for the different ways people use them. They reduced the lanes from three to two, created a buffered bike lane, put in flashing lights at crosswalks, and installed bulb-outs to aid people crossing the street.

I’ve seen some criticism of the changes to the streets and it’s true: many cars now need more time to get down these streets. This is because the average speed of vehicles has been reduced to closer to the actual speed limit.

But the benefits have been immense. The crosswalks, once only decorative, have become functional. The groups of high schoolers heading to and from school cross H and I streets safely. Cars stop because of the flashing crosswalk lights, and the bulb-outs mean that people crossing don’t have to run across so many lanes to get to their destination. The bike lanes feel safe and I see a lot of folks bicycling on them. The other night, I was on my bike on H Street, stopped at a traffic light. A couple rode up behind me, one of them with a toddler in a seat on the front of her bike. We rode together for a few blocks, chatting about how nice it was to be on H Street – as cars passed us safely on our left.

The reduced speed, and reduced swerving across three lanes, has made our streets feel more like the city streets that they are. Families with kids, older folks walking dogs, teenagers on skateboards, bicyclists in lycra tights and bicyclists in skirts, all get to use these streets, alongside cars. Their prior design made most modes of transit unsafe. The upgrades now mean that people are able to enjoy H and I streets more safely.

Six years ago, I wrote that “I think that the proposed H and I Streets project helps us to prepare for the future we want, rather than living with the infrastructure we are stuck with.” Now I can start to see the changes that the H and I upgrades have brought. People can cross the streets and ride their bicycles to downtown and to Henderson Center. And they can also still drive down those streets. I drive down those streets. And I appreciate knowing that everyone is safer, in cars and outside of cars, while doing so.

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Erin Kelly lives on H Street.