Humboldt County cities to see a `walk audit'
A “walk auditor” will patrol four cities in Humboldt County this week looking for ways to improve pedestrian safety.
Dan Burden, who heads Walkable Communities, Inc., has provided advice to thousands of other cities about how to reorganize streets around the needs of pedestrians and cyclists rather than cars. Burden's time in Humboldt County will end with a presentation next Monday where he will deliver localized recommendations based on his observations.
Burden's walks — the full schedule of their locations and starting points can be found at hcaog.net/ announcements/walk-audits-danburden-july-22-25-2023 — aim to recognize how Arcata, Eureka, McKinleyville and Blue Lake can redesign their streets to make walking safer and more enjoyable.
The Humboldt County Association of Governments invited Burden to take a look through local streets and share advice. Eureka and Arcata are currently attempting to facilitate additional, denser housing construction via the Gateway Area Plan and the Waterfront Plan, potentially adding more people — and likely their cars — to city streets.
After several walks, Burden's presentation will be on Monday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Wharfinger Building, at 1 Marina Way in Eureka.
In 2018, Humboldt County was the worst county in California for pedestrians killed and injured per capita, with 71 injuries and fatalities that year and 2,211 people injured in traffic accidents over the past four years.
In 2013, Humboldt County's fatal accident rate was double the national average and almost triple that of California, according to a Facebook post from Humboldt Bay Fire. That year, the county's per capita motor vehicle fatality rate was 20.72 per 100,000 people, second only to Montana, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The post added that in 2017, the county had jumped to 25.26 deaths per 100,000 people.
“Our rates of vehicle-versus-pedestrian fatalities are also some of the highest in the country. In 2013, the last year for which data is available, California recorded 1.83 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents. Nationally, the rate was 1.34. In Humboldt that year, it was 4.44,” the post said.
Jackson Guilfoil can be reached at 707-441-0506