By Ken Koerner
Register Staff

1-31-2008

For Bishop bicyclists, including many Native American students heading to and from elementary and middle school classes, prospects for a safer ride are nearer at hand.

City of Bishop Public Works Director David Grah recently advised the City Council of the details for a proposed project identified as the Seibu to School Bike Path, which would create a paved bike-path linking Seibu Lane on the Bishop Paiute Reservation, with the Bishop Union Elementary School District’s campus complex.
Grah also advised the City Council of a second proposed pedal-power project, identified as the Pine Street to City Park Path. “That stretch of paved path,” Grah said, “would extend from the first alley east of North Third Street on East Pine Street to the already paved path in the City Park near the South Fork of Bishop Creek and Spruce Street … which is basically across the street from the park’s Senior Center.” Grah noted that the Pine Street to City Park Path’s chosen route had an ancillary and important additional benefit. “This would be right atop a main branch of the city’s sewer system,” Grah said, “and this would aid in us accessing this branch for maintenance, too.”
At this juncture, Grah further advised the council, he was only seeking an approval that would allow for a funding application to pursue these two City of Bishop Transportation Enhancement (TE) Projects. The Public Works documentation Grah supplied noted that the preliminary paperwork had already been reviewed and accepted by the Inyo Local Transportation Commission (LTC) for the two new TE projects.
“Funding is available,” Grah said, “through the LTC and through Caltrans for transportation-related enhancement activities that are not a part of normal transportation projects.” Grah noted that “normal” projects are often street improvement projects funded with State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) funds. “However,” Grah said, “one category of transportation enhancement project is defined as ‘Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities,’ which is why this application would be a good fit for these projects.”
Currently, many students do walk or ride their bikes along the basic route that would become the Seibu to School Path, which would be accessed from See Vee Lane.  At this time, their trip is made across an undeveloped landscape on a trailway that is unpaved. “Kids ride on a mud path now which is impacted by bad weather,” said Grah, “plus, there are a lot of bushes and vegetation growning up all along that route that create a security concern for the community.” 

A proposed “transportation enhancement” approved by the Bishop City Council would transform a route commonly used by students making their way to and from school into a paved, safer path. Currently, cows stand sentry near the entry to be located just east of See Vee Lane on Seibu. Photo by Ken Koerner

Grah pointed out that this particular bike route was not merely a goal for Public Works. “The city, in conjunction with the Bishop Paiute Tribe, hired a consultant to look at the potential for the Seibu to School Path … and the tribe subsequently hired that consultant to continue working with them to develop an even more in-depth look at pedestrian and bicycle options for the reservation as a whole.”
Grah noted that the safety aspects for children using this bike path was an important one for the Bishop Union Element-ary School District, too. “Because of the school’s concerns about non-students using existing paths and school grounds to get to and from downtown,” said Grah, “the plan for the proposed path will connect to the north sidewalk of Keough Street, at the far north end of the campus.” Grah explained this would allow for easier monitoring of access to the school grounds, while still providing the full advantages of the bike path to both students and the general public.
With an eye toward maximizing bang-for-buck, Grah explained that the current plan for the Seibu-to-School project will be a lane of sufficient width and construction that it would also accommodate emergency vehicles, should there be an occasion where entry was desirable. “This path would offer another option for first-responders.” said Grah. “It’s envisioned as two, four-foot-wide paved lanes with one-foot paved shoulders, alongside a five-foot unpaved shoulder for pedestrians and equestrians. Any fire truck we have could get down that, no problem.”
On the opposite side of Main Street, the Pine Street to City Park Path has also been the result of cooperation among agencies. “On the two-wheeled front, Inyo County has played a lead role,” Grah said, “with the development of the Inyo  County Collaborative Bike  Plan that was done in concert with the City of Bishop and with the Bishop Paiute Tribe, as well.” The Pine Street to City Park Path, Grah said, “ … was one of six possible Bishop routes under consideration. We’re just getting started with these two first.”
The project to improve pedestrian and bicycle access to the City Park, explained Grah, is expected to proceed on the same timetable as the Seibu path, as they share much in common.
One difference can be found along the path that is expected to be followed for the park connection: there’s a private fence and storage building currently straddling what would appear to be the midline of the project’s intended route. “We learned recently from LADWP,” Grah said, “that there’s an expired lease that had been in place at the location where the city’s alley leads north to the City Park lands.” Grah explained that with all civic projects taking a protracted time to fully implement, “ … an expired lease and a small outbuilding are not of great concern at this point along the project’s path.”
The estimated funding to be requested that would allow for the projects to be fully completed is: $117,000 for the Seibu path and $230,000 for the Pine to Park path.  (These are the dollar amounts that will be used on the applications for state-funding.)
The Bishop City Council delivered its unanimous approval. Grah advised the council an indication should be received by the end of April as to whether the appropriate federal and state approvals have been obtained to formally request the funding. “At that point there’ll still be some important steps and approvals that will have to occur before the money could be received.”