Challenge

The Shasta County region and City of Redding, California, have been working to build a comprehensive walking and biking network for the region and city to provide more transportation options. With more people walking and biking for everyday needs, developing a safe, comfortable bike network that connects the cities and communities of Shasta County to the region’s key destinations and activity centers has become a key objective for the Shasta Regional Transportation Agency (SRTA) and City of Redding. How can SRTA and the City of Redding identify and prioritize bikeways to create a comprehensive regional bikeway network?

Solution

As part of a consultant team, Kittelson worked with the agency and city to develop a series of maps identifying existing biking conditions and key locations across the region that could benefit from bicycle and pedestrian connections. Kittelson also developed an adaptation of the Bicyclist Level of Traffic Stress methodology to evaluate bicyclist stress in both urban and rural contexts. These analytic components were combined with a series of walking audits, public meetings, and online webmap comments to develop a recommended network focused on low-stress bikeways and pedestrian improvements for the city and region. The recommended network will allow residents of Shasta County to travel within their communities and between key destinations on uninterrupted, low-stress bike routes while also providing key focus areas for pedestrian improvements.