Why Placer County needs more Miners Ravine trails

One thing you quickly discover outside the metal bubble is that our transportation infrastructure is hostile to the human body, from sidewalks that end abruptly, intersections without pedestrian crossings and construction blocks without detours. Such oversights would never be allowed for vehicular traffic, but for the foot soldier or cyclist, the hazards are many. Another gross neglect to being human is that bike lanes and sidewalks run, virtually always, adjacent to busy roads. By design efficiency this makes sense, but experiencing it as a person is an affront to the senses. The traffic flying by assaults your ears (and could kill you), cars whip you with wind, straight lines and concrete degrade the eyes. Nobody wants to commute a number of miles regularly with those conditions, a giant barrier to getting people to ditch vehicles for the health of themselves and the planet. Sacramento County offers plenty of alternative examples. I'm giddy having discovered I can get from Antelope to downtown Sacramento along the Dry Creek Trail Parkway and Sacramento Northern Bike Trail, flanked by farming fields and oaks. It's a 60-minute leisurely bike ride, the same time others sit in traffic. Some stretches showcase heart-wrenching poverty, but that only bothers those who sacrifice compassion for judgment. For me, it's a reminder God's work is still to be done. Placer County also has shared-use trails tucked away in greenbelts. Miners Ravine Trail carries you from Historic Downtown Roseville all the way to Sierra College Boulevard, sparing people the horror of Douglas Boulevard. If we developed more of these paths, one could travel between Sacramento to Auburn accompanied by a visual feast of flora and a soundtrack of birds. Our local civil servants see this potential. The Placer County Regional Bikeway Plan attests to the shifted focus from isolated loops to connecting communities. But public will is crucial, a fickle thing in good times and nonexistent in economic recessions. Parks & Recreation budgets are being slashed, tax revenue is dangling from a cliff, and we live in a country of Montgomery Burnses who buy new ivory back scratchers at the expense of people eating. A large infrastructure program may be implemented at the federal level to get people back to work, New Deal style, but it will focus on roads and bridges, i.e. cars. We can do better! It's time for the electric bike revolution. I've owned one for three years and regularly commuted 10 miles with 1,000-foot elevation gains. A weekly ride from the corner of Gold Hill Road and Hwy 193 to downtown Folsom was a 90-minute breeze. In cool weather, you can scamper up Baxter Grade Road without breaking a sweat. I've saved thousands of dollars in gas, maintenance, superfluous travel and impulse buying but spent more money in local cafes and boutiques. There are flat tire fiascos, motor upsets, a bee that stung me in the chest, but inconvenience is about perspective. Plus, the bragging rights are exquisite. For mass adoption of e-bikes, we need a concurrent revolution in shared-use trails. People cannot be expected to ride alongside racing cars, especially children. Understanding this can inform infrastructure development that actually puts people ahead of cars, and there'd be a wave of positive transformation. Improved mental and physical health. Improved environment health. Improved tax budget health. It's a transportation and civil design shift where we lose nothing and gain everything. There's no good argument against it.