Davis Flow

Photo by Iggie Walsh 

By Michelle Jillian Bailey

As I sit here, in my air-conditioned home, the high will reach 106* today. I am reminded of other hot summer Saturdays of my youth. My summers, ages 10- 12 (that’s too many years ago to attempt the math!), consisted of lessons at Happy Horse Riding School. Happy Horse was located on Road 96 and was the idyllic camp for young horse lovers. It consisted of riding lessons in a covered arena, vaulting lessons (gymnastics on horseback) and even written horse education.

If you are familiar with Davis, you know that Road 96 is way out there. Even today, on Google maps, there is Davis, and then there is a lot of blank lines before you reach Road 96. In fact, it is just shy of six miles from my childhood home. Six miles. In 106*. For a 10-year-old. On a bike. Let that sink in for a minute.

I made this weekly Saturday trek before helmet laws, before water bottles were a thing, and long before Russell Blvd had a usable bike lane. How did I navigate the wild streets of Davis with Russell as a four-lane road? How?! Well, I road down 6^th street. Did you audibly gasp? Can you believe I survived to adulthood? Are you looking up the number to CPS to retroactively report my mom?

Photo by Iggie Walsh 

I love bikes. I always have. I grew up on a bike. In my before-children days, I paid an obscene amount of money for a titanium bike that weighs less than 15 pounds. There are more bikes in my garage than cars in my driveway. The bike paths in Davis are wonderful, and I have no problem sending my kids off to ride around. However- driving is convenient too.

Is it too much to ask that there is ONE thoroughfare in Davis? On Covell in less than a two mile stretch there are nine, yes, nine, stop lights. NINE! And they are NOT timed! Between my house and my best friend’s house there are eleven lights. Our homes are a little over three miles apart and it takes me nearly fifteen minutes to get to her house. If I go four extra miles out of my way, by taking Road 29, it only adds three minutes to my trip. Now admittedly my friend claims I have bad light karma, however, I have had two instances where I actually caught ALL ELEVEN lights red. Now, I’m not a math major, but I’m thinking those are some pretty wild probabilities! (And, in case you are wondering, I have NEVER caught all eleven green.)

Photo by Iggie Walsh 

I’ve been in Davis a long time, since my birth, and one of biggest changes I’ve witnessed is the increased difficulty in driving. Back in my younger days, you could travel down F street between Covell and 1^st, and there were only lights at 8^th, 5^th, and 3^rd. Now there are stop signs at every block between 5^th and 1^st. Stop signs are frustrating. While pedestrians mostly understand and respect stop lights, they are incapable of grasping or complying with the red octagon. We have all slammed on our brakes halfway through the intersection as some pedestrian steps out in front of us. While pedestrians have the right of way in California, they are still required to follow the traffic laws.

There are two things that I would love to see change, making Davis traffic flow far less frustrating. First, I think downtown should be pedestrian only. Approximately 4^th and G to 1^st and D, should be completely traffic free. Second, there should be both an east/west and a north/south thoroughfare. Two roads in which cars can travel 45 MPH and not have to stop every 1/16 of a mile. This would be similar to 2^nd street but go from one end of town to the other. I’m not a city planner, or an engineer. However, I think if someone can figure out how to make Russell more congested and painful to drive (by making it a two-lane road instead of four) then surely someone smarter than me can configure a road to make traffic better.

While we are at it, maybe a third request? Why are the lights from Covell to Denali and Mace to Alhambra protected lefts? Can’t we just have a blinking red left turn? Okay, maybe I’m pushing my luck here!

Photo by Iggie Walsh