JUNE 2025

BUSINESS MEETING, JUNE 11, 7–8:30 PM: On Zoom. We’ll talk about Richmond Street design and more! (See the meeting agenda.) Future business meeting dates in 2025 are Aug. 13, Oct. 8, and Dec. 10.

CITY OF EL CERRITO/WORLDONE JULY 4 FESTIVAL – VOLUNTEER AT OUR BOOTH!: The annual City of El Cerrito/World One July 4 festival provides the chance to celebrate amongst high-flying banners, world-class music, friends, community groups, vendors, and more. The event is free to the public, with pay-as-you-go options for attractions such as food booths, rides, bounce houses, vendor booths and more! El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll will again have a booth at El Cerrito’s in Cerrito Vista Park. Sign up to volunteer at our super-fun booth or write to us at info@ecrawalkroll.org.

HAPPY HOUR, JULY 9, 5–7 PM, FATAPPLES: Join us to hang out, eat, have a beer, and talk multimobility and safer streets with like-minded neighbors! Our happy hours are every other second Wednesday: July 9, Sept. 10, and Nov. 12, 5–7 p.m., at family-friendly Fatapples, 7525 Fairmont Ave. Look for us at the picnic tables or indoors, depending on the weather.

Canvas Richmond Street in support of Complete Streets project on June 8

El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll will be canvassing Richmond Street at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 8 to support the Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project. Meet at the corner of Richmond Street and Moeser Avenue (park bikes at the community center two blocks east at 7007 Moeser). Fun ice cream debrief to follow at Bill’s house!

Please join us! We are going to walk as a loose group, put flyers on porches, and talk to anyone who is interested. Our goal isn't to argue with anyone but rather to show that there are a lot of us who support bike infrastructure for our community, and explain some of the huge benefits of this proposal.

Questions? Contact Bill Wood at bill.e.wood@gmail.com or Henry Pinkard at Henry.Pinkard@gmail.com.

If you are not sure bike lanes on Richmond Street north of Moeser are a good idea, we urge you to first, check out our fact sheet (also below).

A few key points:

1. The Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project is being paid for with an $8 million federal Safe Streets for All grant. The street has to be repaved following a yearslong EMBUD project, the city has the money, and the time is now. 
   

2. It's very difficult to bicycle from the middle school (which serves the entire city and Richmond Annex) to the pool, community center, Cerrito Vista Park, or high school without biking on Richmond Street. A private apartment complex and a PGE substation block north-south access just two blocks south of the middle school and the only reasonable route is using Richmond Street. The community center and pool are three blocks south of the middle school. Biking to the Ohlone Greenway would turn this into a 12-block ride! No one is going to do that. A bike lane on this stretch is critical for our children's safety.
   

3. The anti–bike lane group has made many disingenuous statements about emergency vehicle access, property values, and bicycle safety. The truth is, replacing parked cars with a bike lane will make it easier to drive ambulances and fire trucks down Richmond, and the fire chief has said as much. Property values will go up, not down (obviously, but we've cited some studies on our fact sheet), and bike lanes make biking safer, not less safe (opponents have literally said the opposite, which is unreal). 
   

4. If we let a small group of opponents of change to stop this bike lane it sets a dangerous precedent that our city values overly abundant parking (4.5 spots per household in El Cerrito!) over a safer network of bike infrastructure.

WAYS TO SUPPORT RICHMOND STREET COMPLETE STREETS: Please help us build community support for a citywide network of safer bike and pedestrian routes. There are many ways to help!

• Join us for canvassing on June 8.

• Send an email to the city council.

• Speak during public comment at an upcoming council meeting (1st and 3rd Tuesdays).

• Attend the upcoming Richmond Street design open house on June 25 and the city council meeting on July 15 (presentation on El Cerrito’s Active Transportation Plan and Complete Streets policy (see below).

• Talk to your neighbors about why you support better bike and pedestrian infrastructure ALL around town (last time we checked, Ohlone Greenway does not go everywhere!)

• Learn more on the Richmond Street page of our website.

Open House on Richmond Street Complete Streets design - June 25 

After numerous community outreach events starting at the city’s July 4 Festival in 2024 and including three workshops, two online surveys, presentations to City committees and local organizations, and on-site meetings, the preliminary Richmond Street plans are ready for public review and comment. Stretching the length of Richmond Street from Elm Street to Fairmount Avenue, the design will improve safety and connectivity for everyone who travels along the street by installing new traffic calming features, creating dedicated bicycle lanes north of Moeser Lane, planting new street trees, adding pedestrian warning lights and safety lighting, replacing damaged sidewalk, resurfacing the street pavement, and more. 

Learn more at the Project Open House on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 6 to 8 p.m. in City Council Chambers (10890 San Pablo Avenue). Drop-in any time to learn about the design. A brief presentation at 6:15 p.m. will provide a project overview.

Please note additional important dates:

• The full project design plan will be available on the project website and at city hall (Public Works first floor front counter) starting June 9.

• The Zoom link to attend the Open House virtually (presentation portion only) will be available on the project website in mid-June.

• The city council will hear a presentation on the Citywide Active Transportation and Complete Streets policies during their regular meeting on July 15.

• Final approval of the project design by the city engineer is expected in late July.

Visit the project website for more information, including regular updates to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.

Source: El Cerrito City Manager’s Update

E-bikes: Not just hobby horses. They replace car trips.

By Steve Price

Everywhere you look you see a growing number of e-bikes. Our cities have to prepare themselves for an evolving multimodal future where streets are for bicycles and cars, not just cars. Most recently the number of electric cargo bikes has exploded. These are not recreational bikes. Owners don’t ride them on 50-mile road trips in Marin County. They use electric cargo bikes for running local errands: shopping, taking children to school, going to the recycling center—short-run tasks that most people now use a car for. Most e-bike owners also own cars, which are good for trips to Mendocino or buying a microwave oven at Best Buy. Yet for buying toothpaste at CVS, a 4,000-pound car with three empty passenger seats is too much vehicle.

Do people truly use e-bikes to replace a car trip? California Bicycle Coalition reports, “A recent survey of American e-bike users indicates that about half of electric bicycle trips replace car trips of an average length of 9 miles." For even shorter distances, that percentage is no doubt even higher.

E-bikes, and especially electric cargo bikes, are more expensive than most conventional bikes—more than many can afford—yet a fraction of the cost of car ownership. Those committing the money to purchasing an e-cargo bike should be commended. It’s more than an extravagant purchase whim. It also represents a financial commitment to the well-being of our community: clean air, improved public health, safer streets, and a friendlier place to live. And if the e-cargo bike replaces car ownership, then it is not so expensive after all.

KIDS SPRING BIKE SWAP AT HARDING – JUNE 7, 10 A.M. TO NOON: ECRA Walk & Roll coordinating committee member and Harding parent Stuart Sonatina invites all families to the Spring Bike Swap event at Harding Elementary School, 7230 Fairmount Ave., 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 7 (enter at Ashbury gate). Stuart says: "Gotta kids bike you're ready to pass on to the next little squirt? Or maybe your kiddo is starting to look funny all scrunched down over that dinky 12-inch? Come to the spring bike swap on the 7th! Take a bike, leave a bike! Last year the number of donated bikes matched pretty well to the number of kids who needed a bike.” Bring bikes with you or email Stuart at Stu@stusona.com to arrange a pickup.

PROVIDE INPUT TO ALBANY’S ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN BY JUNE 8: Albany invites the community to provide input on phase 2 of their Active Transportation Plan update (the network development phase) to help shape the future of walking, biking, and rolling infrastructure in Albany. On the ATP website, you can: 1) Review and comment on the draft pedestrian and bicycle priority network maps; and 2) complete the key corridors survey (located at the bottom of the page). Please submit feedback by end of day Sunday, June 8. Mobility issues between Albany and El Cerrito/Richmond Annex are closely intertwined; let Albany know what your priorities are!

EL CERRITO SUMMER BIKE CHALLENGE: Explore El Cerrito from the seat of a bike! Participate in 511 Contra Costa’s Summer Bike Challenge: a no cost and noncompetitive biking program for people of all ages. Each city has its own unique game board filled with bikeable destinations. Simply ride to each location and cross off the squares as you go — like BINGO! Plus, weekly bonus challenges will send you on extra rides to capture new challenge themes with chances to win $20 gift cards. Ten winners every week! Ready to roll? Visit 511cc.org/sbc to download your game board and get started. Source: 511 Contra Costa

EL CERRITO DEL NORTE COMPLETE STREETS: Progress on the El Cerrito Del Norte Complete Streets project continues with construction of medians, curb ramps, curb and gutter, and irrigation and electrical infrastructure. The median in the center of San Pablo Avenue between Knott and Potrero avenues is underway. At the wider median locations, the project will be landscaped with new plants and trees later this year. Additionally, curb ramps were upgraded at multiple intersections on the west side of San Pablo. Questions or comments about this project? Reach out to: transformingdelnorte@gmail.com or the project hotline: (800) 930-3720. More info: el-cerrito.org/TransformingDelNorte. Source: El Cerrito City Manager’s report

RICHMOND–SAN RAFAEL BRIDGE UPDATE: Bike East Bay reports that despite staff recommendations in support of keeping the bike lanes open 24/7, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans are still trying to bring a trail closure proposal back to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), which could happen as early as August. Learn more here. Source: Bike East Bay

BETA-TEST NEW BIKELINK CONTACTLESS CARD: BikeLink is rolling out a new contactless card to make secure bike parking even more convenient. Be among the first to try it out at the roomy new Albany Beach lockers and North Berkeley BART station (more locations to come). You’ll get a FREE card preloaded with $5 until the Beta program fills; at 3 to 5 cents per an hour, that is a lot of free bike parking! Start parking with just a tap and give BikeLink feedback on how the new cards work. Sign up for the new card here. Source: BikeLink

EBRPD DISTRICT PLAN SURVEY: The East Bay Regional Park District is seeking community input to develop their next District Plan,  a long-term strategic roadmap that will guide the park district’s major decisions over the coming decades. Please take the short survey available at https://www.ebparks.org/district-plan now through July 31. The website also offers more information about EBRPD and the District Plan. Source EBRPD

JOIN ECRA WALK & ROLL IN ADVOCATING FOR WALK- AND BIKEABILITY: Want to help make El Cerrito and Richmond Annex streets safer, more joyful, and inclusive for all? You’ve come to the right place! Our effective and fun coordinating committee meets every month to plan our advocacy work on traffic calming, Complete Streets solutions, safe routes to schools, bike parking, and more. We’re also looking for a pro bono graphic designer to help us with our logo and the overall look and feel of our communications. To volunteer and/or join the coordinating committee, write to us at info@ecrawalkroll.org.

REPORT TRAFFIC CONCERNS TO EL CERRITO PUBLIC WORKS: If you see a traffic hazard or problem of any type — such as potholes, trees down, maintenance needs, lights/signals out, bad sidewalks, illegal dumping, or graffiti — the best way to take care of it is to report it to El Cerrito Public Works Department via its traffic improvement page. Things can only get fixed if the city knows that they need fixin’! (Newsletter editor Janet Byron reported grafitti on the city’s granite blocks for sitting on San Pablo Avenue and it was cleaned up in days!)

Our mission: El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll promotes walking, bicycling, and other low-carbon multimodal transportation alternatives and builds community for safer, more joyful, and inclusive streets for all.

To sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit our website at ecrawalkroll.org (scroll down for sign-up) or write to us at info@ECRAWalkRoll.org.

Please submit traffic safety requests to El Cerrito’s online traffic improvement request form.

Newsletter edited by Janet Byron