MAY 2025

HAPPY HOUR, MAY 14, 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: May 14, 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.

BIKE TO WHEREVER DAY, MAY 15, 7–9 AM @ DEL NORTE: ECRA Walk & Roll is hosting a Bike to Wherever Day Energizer Station on the Ohlone Greenway at El Cerrito Del Norte BART Station, 7–9 a.m. on Thursday, May 15. Come by and say HI! To volunteer at our station, write to info@ecrawalkroll.org.

BUSINESS MEETING, JUNE 11, 7–8:30 PM: On Zoom. Agenda TBA. Remaining business meeting dates in 2025 are June 11, Aug. 13, Oct. 8, and Dec. 10.

VOLUNTEERS FOR JULY 4/WORLD ONE FESTIVAL: El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll will again have a booth at El Cerrito’s July 4/World One festival in Cerrito Vista Park. Sign up to volunteer at our super-fun booth or write to us at info@ecrawalkroll.org.

Bike to Wherever Day
is May 15

ECRA Walk & Roll is hosting a Bike to Wherever Day Energizer Station on the Ohlone Greenway at the El Cerrito Del Norte BART Station, 7–9 a.m. on Thursday, May 15. Walk or roll in, get some swag and snacks, and say HI!

Check out the map to find Energizer Stations and along your morning route. The City of El Cerrito is hosting an Energizer Station on the Ohlone Greenway at El Cerrito Plaza BART station, too!

Join Bike East Bay for these fun activities for Bike to Wherever Day:

Pledge to ride: Be a part of a growing bike movement! When you sign up, you’ll receive a map of Energizer Stations, bike offers and discounts, and a limited edition 2025 messenger bag.

Bike Happy Hour: Join the block party (4–7 p.m.) in Old Oakland (Washington & 10th) for Drake’s Beer, a live DJ, giveaways, helmet decorating, kids’ activities, and a transit-themed meet and greet.

Learn more from 511 Contra Costa about biking around town smartly and safely:

Test your street smarts anytime in May by taking 511 Contra Costa’s short Road Safety Quiz. You could win one of five $20 Starbucks gift cards. Winners will be randomly selected on May 30.

Bikes on transit: The trip between home and work might be too long for biking alone. One solution: add transit to your trip. Bikes are welcome on buses, BART, and the San Francisco Bay Ferry. Learn more.

AccessTrikes of Richmond Annex gave test rides

Bikes, bands, crafts, and community: GO GREEN! Mobility Fair was a big hit

In celebration of Earth Month, the City of El Cerrito, City of Berkeley, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), ECRA Walk and Roll, and Bike East Bay hosted the GO GREEN! Mobility Fair on Saturday, April 26, to showcase sustainable, affordable, and fun travel options that bring neighbors together, improve our air quality, fight climate change, and connect our Bay Area communities.

Check out lots of great photos of the day here!

Neighbors from El Cerrito, Richmond, Albany, Berkeley, and more joined over 20 community organizations at the site of the upcoming 750-unit El Cerrito Plaza Transit-Oriented Development (Parcel A) to enjoy music by Hotrod Jukebox and Nashville Honeymoon, face painting, recycled-stuff crafts, a Bike East Bay Family Cycling workshop, e-bike test rides, and smoothies made by pedal power!

Access Trikes, an exhibitor based in Richmond Annex builds custom adult mobility tricycles for people who have physical challenges in the way of riding a standard bicycle, created a great video recapping the 29 test rides they provided at the event. For a complete list of exhibitors and their websites, visit el-cerrito.org/mobilityfair. Source: El Cerrito Green Happenings newsletter.

A HUGE thank you to all the groups, individuals, and awesome volunteers who helped make this event such a big success. It wasn’t just ECRA Walk & Roll (led by Janet Byron and Steve Price) who worked on the fair. We especially thank all members of the GO GREEN! planning committee for their super-human efforts to make this first-ever event a reality: Christina Leard, City of El Cerrito; Rebecca Milliken, City of Berkeley (and El Cerrito resident); and Rachel Factor and Kamala Parks of BART. We’re so proud to call vibrant and eco-friendly El Cerrito our home!

New fact sheet supports Richmond Street
Complete Street

A new group called “Richmond Street Neighbors Association,” was formed to oppose El Cerrito’s Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project. El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll coordinating committee offers evidence-based responses to unsubstantiated claims and mischaracterizations on the group’s Richmond Street For All website.

We’ve got a new fact sheet (below) that we’ll be distributing in the community in coming weeks.

For our responses to Richmond Street For All’s claims, visit our website and learn why Complete Streets make us all safer!

We’ve heard voices in El Cerrito complain about tax-paying automobile owners having to pay for bicycling infrastructure (as if bicycle riders don’t pay taxes for automobile infrastructure!) This rings of the classic complaint of some motorists that bicycle riders are waging a “War on Cars” (as if most bicycle riders aren’t also car owners!)

Our local bicycle advocates who own cars recognize the many challenges of even doing short local trips by bicycle: unsafe streets, distracted motorists, the growing size of automobiles, lack of bike racks, etc. They don’t want to use their cars for every trivial trip; that’s why they advocate for fixing the barriers to bicycling. By the way, the infrastructure for active transportation (mostly bicycling) is not an extravagant part of California’s state transportation budget (per the above chart).

In its article, “There is no deficit in California’s transportation budget,” CalBike explains why — despite Governor Newsom’s vetos — the state’s limited spending on active transportation programs is a paper tiger in terms of the state deficit. — Steve Price

GET MORE INVOLVED WITH ECRA WALK & ROLL: 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.

CONTRA COSTA BIKE CHAMPIONS: As part of Bike Month (May), Bike East Bay honors Bike Champions from all nine Bay Area counties. This year the Contra Costa Bike Champions included a remembrance of Bill Pinkham (pictured)— a member of El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll and many other local and regional climate and bike advocacy groups — who passed away last year. The award notes: “Bill was not only a familiar face at public meetings but also a masterful mind for not only recalling needed improvements to the bicycle network but also developing solutions.” The other Contra Costa champion is Teresa Datar, who commutes by bike and BART from Brentwood to Martinez.

POINT MOLATE TRAIL UPDATE: Spurred by 68 emails from local advocates, the Richmond City Council voted unanimously on April 15 to appropriate $2 million to stabilize the section of eroded shoreline north of the Point Molate beach park, lay an 80-foot-long bed for the trail on the planned alignment, and provide a temporary short inland detour while awaiting completion of shoreline stabilization. The council’s vote allowed East Bay Regional Park District to advertise for bids to build the entire 2.5 miles of Point Molate Bay Trail from the Richmond San Rafael Bridge past the beach park along the shoreline past Point Molate pier and the Winehaven Historic District to Stenmark Drive. Source: Bruce Bayert, Trails for Richmond Action Committee.

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’!

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