Built in 1955 in the middle of farms and ranches, American River College was designed as a commuter- and auto-oriented campus.
But according to a recent study that is nearly completed and another study just getting started, there are scores of potential improvements that can get people on their bicycles or on their feet.
The Los Rios Transportation Connections study and the updating of the 15-year-old Sacramento County Bikeway Master Plan, are guided by the principle that if it is more convenient to bike or walk, more people will get out of their cars.
Walt Seifert, executive director of Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates, said the Los Rios study and the updating of the master plan is a huge undertaking.
"This is novel," said Seifert, whose group had six members do legwork in the Los Rios study that examined the commuting habits of students to the county's four community colleges.
"When the master plan was put in place, global warming wasn't an issue and people weren't talking about peak oil production and there not being enough oil," Seifert said.
"The crisis we see with energy and obesity make what we are doing that much more important," he said.
"A lot time it is too dangerous or it is not convenient. It is not a real choice a lot of the time," Seifert said of bicycling as an alternative mode of getting where you have to go.
The Los Rios study looked at travelers to and from American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake and Sacramento City colleges.
The master plan, put in place in 1993, is being updated through a series of workshops to help county residents learn about the plan and to make suggestions for bikeway improvements in unincorporated areas.
The first workshop will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. today at the North Highlands Recreation and Park District office, 6040 Watt Ave., for the North Highlands and Antelope areas.
The second workshop, for Arden Arcade and Carmichael, will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Department of Human Assistance building, 2700 Fulton Ave.
"This is perfect timing," said Ron Vicari, a senior civil engineer who is working on the county master plan.
"They have given us a huge step forward. Their information will filter into our work," Vicari said of the Los Rios study, which will be considered in the update of the master plan passed in 1993.
The Los Rios study is especially helpful for transportation planners because of its focus, Vicari said.
"One of the biggest areas where you can find the largest number of people willing to turn to alternative modes of travel is around college campuses," Vicari said.
Anne Geraghty, executive director of WALKSacramento, said the Los Rios study began in October 2006 after a $140,000 grant was obtained from the state Department of Transportation.
"What we hope we are creating is a vision that can be used by other organizations for the walking and biking community," Geraghty said.
The report, which is expected to be done the last week of this month, involved Geraghty's group, the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates and the county Department of Transportation.
Included in the grant were stipends to pay faculty members to do research on certain facets of the study, Geraghty said.
"One geography professor at Cosumnes River College studied where the students lived, and an American River College faculty member studied their parking lot," she said.
According to the report, which is expected to be about 100 pages thick once completed, more can be done to make bicycling in the college district more appealing and therefore more commonplace.
The short-term biking racks on the campuses are generally outdated. The elementary school "comb" racks only lock the front wheel and not the frame and are not suitable for use with the newer U-shaped locks.
Based on student surveys, more students – 5.3 percent – ride bikes at Sacramento City College compared with the lowest number at Cosumnes River College – 1.2 percent. Folsom Lake College has 2.6 percent and American River College has 2 percent of its students bicycling to school.
All the campuses have unmovable barriers like freeways, railroad tracks and the Sacramento River that limit potential improvements, the report said.
But some things are as simple as changing policy.
Campus parking policies encourage subsidies for using cars, the report said. Students pay $30 a semester for parking. Faculty and staff members park for free. Yet a new parking garage at Sacramento City College cost $35 million to build. That is about $18,000 per parking space, the report said.
Of the four campuses, American River College, which has the highest enrollment at 33,634 students, also has more obstacles for bicyclists, the report said.
To the south, where most of the campus-bound street traffic comes from, there is Winding Way, which is jammed with cars during the commute hour and leaves little room for bicyclists or people on foot. There is no sidewalk and no bridge crossing Arden Creek into the campus.
To the east, a recently created 1.5-mile trail in Arcade Creek Park near Garfield Avenue south of Madison Avenue connects to the campus nature area but ends with no safe connection to the college campus. Pedestrians walk on a narrow aging sewer pipe to cross Arden Creek, the report said.
To the west, College Oak Drive and Myrtle Avenue have incomplete sidewalks. In the 31 acres of the parking lot, there are 10 entrances but only two provide sidewalk entrances for pedestrians.
The campus has 725 students who say they ride a bicycle to class, but there are only 360 bicycle parking spaces. There are 4,235 parking spaces for cars.
"Most of the other schools have fairly good sidewalks, but the problems are bigger at American River College," Geraghty said.
"We still have lots of work to do, but we are excited," Geraghty said.
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