Tag: bicycling

Seven years after fatal bike crash, a Chico doctor is still missed

It was the driver's second collision with a bike; was county, too, at fault?
by Yucheng Tang | Posted July 28, 2025
Doherty was participating in Cycle Oregon. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Whipple.

On the morning of a windless Saturday in late July 2018, Chico surgeon William Doherty parked his car at the Chico airport, unloaded his Trek Domane road bike, and rode northeast along Cohasset Road.

Cycle Oregon—a weeklong ride Doherty had participated in for many years—was around the corner. Doherty was training on Cohasset, where the road climbs up to the town on the ridge, to get ready for the Oregon trip.

He rode on the narrow bike lane at the beginning of the route. After about 7 miles, the road narrows and the lane on the shoulder disappears. Cyclists consider this part of the road dangerous, and Doherty had even created a term for it—“Paranoia Alley.” read more

Maze gates and right-of-way rules worry cyclists

South Park Drive makeover to be reconsidered
by Ann Bykerk-Kauffman, guest writer | Posted July 24, 2025
A driver on South Park Drive where cars would not be allowed. Photo by Yucheng Tang.

Opposition to the recent Chico City Council decision for South Park Drive near One Mile Recreation Area has been immediate and fierce, mostly focused on the plan to extend the car-free portion to the entrance gate.

On June 17 the Council approved the following proposal for that portion of South Park Drive:

  1. Repave it, maintaining its current width
  2. Extend the motor vehicle-free portion westward to the Bidwell Park entrance gate at Cypress Street 
  3. Repave the driveway to the Sycamore Pool parking lot and build two new driveways to the Sycamore Field and Caper Acres parking lots
  4. Pave the parking lots with permeable pavement
  5. Abandon and re-vegetate the parking areas along the north side of South Park Drive and the egress driveway located just east of Caper Acres.

But the Chico Safe Streets Coalition, an active transportation advocacy group, opposes the plan, too. Why? Although, on the face of it, the closure of South Park Drive seems to facilitate bicycle and pedestrian transportation, the current implementation plan does the opposite – the devil is in the details.  read more