Dear Governor Davis,
The Napa Sierra Club is heartened by the Jameson Canyon Widening Project.
We will campaign for its inclusion in next year's State funding for highway
improvements.
Safety is the most pressing issue at Jameson Canyon. Emergency personnel
have told me that they dread a call that comes in from Jameson Canyon,
because they fear and know it will be a bad one, notably because they are
usually head on crashes where somebody is killed or severely injured. Killer
Alley, they call it.
For that reason we would like to see well marked bike lanes so that cars
and bicycles are not likely to come in contact with each other. Also we
would like to see a Bike Park half way between the Napa Airport and Highway
80 so that you can safely off load your bikes from their cars rather than a
mere shoulder with swishing cars breezing your backsides and a slightly
weaving motorist could spell tragedy.
We are hoping in the future for the establishment of the Green Valley
Fault State Park consisting of Skyline Park with its 850 acres owned by the
State of California and the Vallejo Lakes Area, with 2700 acres and owned by
the City of Vallejo. This would be the first Park in the world dedicated to
an active earthquake fault. We envision a Southern entrance into the Park at
a ranch midway along the project route when the park is finally established
and if the owners become willing sellers. A Bicycle Park and easement should
be created now for such an eventuality.
There is also a plan in the future to allow for a trail crossing over Jameson
Canyon from Lynch Canyon as part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. We believe the
Bike Park is also the ideal location for a safe transit for hikers and
bikers, perhaps as an overpass or an under passage transversing the roadway
without interrupting traffic flow.
Last year I was driving along a seemingly endless desert highway outside
of Las Vegas when I saw a 12 inch high, what appeared to be a fence, running
for miles along the desert. I wondered what in the world it could be for.
Rabbits could hop over it, snakes could slither through it. It was puzzling
until a local inhabitant told me it was to keep the endangered Desert
Tortoise from crossing the road. The Jameson Canyon watershed is a Federally
declared Critical Habitat for the endangered California Red Legged Frog. As
such a 300' set back must be maintained from the creek that parallels the
roadway since the frog is long ranging. Recent studies have found roadways
decimate localized animal and insect populations, we believe a frog barrier
should be constructed that prevents the frog from inadvertently crossing the
highway to find new territory. Also all waterway culverts should be designed
to funnel the frog safely on both sides.
Our human population and our animal population, should both be made as
safe as possible when designing this highway.
Sincerely,
John Stephens
Chair, Napa Sierra Club