Humboldt People Powered Pathways

Humboldt People Powered Pathways (hp3)

Photo Credit: City of Arcata

This year, Humboldt County, cities, tribes, Caltrans and community organizations have come together to craft a vision for an ‘active transportation’ network. The initial summary of this vision is provided below.

The package below was submitted along with those of many cities and counties across the nation as part of the ‘2010 Campaign’ to advocate for monies to be set-aside in the next federal transportation bill reauthorization for non-motorized transportation infrastructure and programs.

There are two steps ahead of us: first, in the coming year, the HP3 vision will be coalesced with other communities’ visions to compel the federal government to fully fund in 2010 a pilot program that was established in the last federal transportation bill of 2006. Second, HP3 is competing to be one of the proposed 40 programs across the nation to be awarded $50 million by this fund.

Download the related documents:

Summary of the HP3 Vision.pdf
HP3 Case Statement Challenges.pdf
HP3 Case Statement Successes.pdf
HP3 Case Statement Maps.pdf
HP3 Case Statement Support Maps.pdf
HP3 Case Statement Resolutions.pdf
HP3 Case Statement Letters.pdf
HP3_CaseStatement6 Times-Standard Article.pdf

Help HP3 Compete for $50 Million!

We need your help! The Trails Trust is the main fundraising support for this unprecedented local advocacy effort. If you have long wanted a regional trail system connected to bike and pedestrian facilities in our communities, supported by education and outreach campaigns, we need your membership and your financial support. There is much left to do to make sure the federal government approves of this program and funds Humboldt County when it does; next is to send a representative to Seattle in September, see below.

Tune into Happy Trails on KHUM every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. to get HP3 updates. Listen to podcasts to hear more about the effort from participating communities.

Next Steps

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy staff in the Washington D.C. office who accepted the 2010 ‘Case Statements’ were impressed by the HP3 submission. They will post HP3 and other submissions online in the near future; check back for the link. They are asking communities who submitted case statements to meet at the International ProWalk/ProBike Conference in Seattle in September, and then RTC will coalesce submissions into one national case statement to Congress in September.

The HP3 Story

Last year, the paid staffer to both the Trails Trust and Humboldt Partnership for Active Living, Brooke Sayre, was sent to the national ‘TrailLink’ Conference in Portland. At the conference, Brooke attended a meeting of primarily government representatives from around California to discuss what regions had ‘active transportation’ needs that could help persuade the federal government to set aside a small chunk of the next transportation bill reauthorization ($2 billion) just for non-motorized systems and programs. As they discussed all the criteria for such a competitive program, Brooke realized that Humboldt County not only had what it took, it excelled, in some ways beyond metropolitan areas.

Brooke knew Humboldt County stood a chance at a $50 million piece of that ‘set-aside’, and returned to set a meeting at Congressman Mike Thompson’s office with Bay Commissioner Mike Wilson and Jennifer Rice of Redwood Community Action Agency. The opportunity was presented to Thompson’s field representative, Liz Murguia, who asked that the local jurisdictions meet with her when they take the lead in the effort. Hearing this, Assemblywoman Patty Berg’s office called a meeting attended by County Public Works and Supervisor Bonnie Neely, City of Eureka, City of Arcata, City of Fortuna, Caltrans, the Humboldt County Association of Governments, the State Coastal Conservancy and RCAA. It was determined at this meeting that County Public Works would take a lead agency role in submitting the package for the 2010 Campaign, that RCAA would put the package together with Trails Trust fundraised resources and consulting support, and that Mike Thompson’s office would help the coalition seek funding.

Out of this meeting, the Coastal Conservancy decided to pursue an implementation strategy for the California Coastal Trail and Caltrans decided to pursue a similar strategy for inland trail systems so that plans could be more complete when the federal government determines who to fund. Local governmnts also passed resolutions of support for the effort. A group of community members met to volunteer their time for HP3 tasks. Winzler & Kelly and Planwest Partners offered consulting support to RCAA.

A workshop was held at the Caltrans District 1 office in April for local jurisdictions and tribes to set down together and join their respective plans into a county-wide vision. They also agreed they liked the name HP3 for the coalition. The Headwaters Board provided $5,000 for development of the HP3 package. Community members and organizations provided photos, letters of support, grantwriting assistance and donations to help pull all the details together.

Does Humboldt Really Stand A Chance?

Humboldt County has competitive potential to secure these funds. A wealth of prior planning work; established unique partnerships like HumPAL; and the County of Humboldt’s commitment to lead the effort attracted the attention of other trail managers around the state at the national trails conference. With a compelling package from Humboldt County, we will help Congressman Mike Thompson’s and Senator Barbara Boxer’s offices effectively campaign for these monies. In addition, even if federal monies are not realized, this unprecedented level of planning and organization for a regional trail and active transportation system will allow local jurisdictions to be better able to compete for many state grants available.

Download the related documents: