There’s no doubt Truckee, Calif., is among the most scenic towns in America.
It’s just too bad cyclists can’t always enjoy it.
That’s because throughout much of the town automobile traffic whizzes within inches of cyclists in bike lanes. That means a rider who gazes too long at the scenic Sierra Nevada peaks above or the Truckee river below could pay a high price for the distraction.
“We need more safe trails off the road, us older riders don’t want to deal with the traffic,” said Chicago transplant Charles Timinsky, 68. “If it means the wife and I riding on the road, we won’t do it.”
That’s why a coalition led by the Truckee Trails Foundation wants residents to approve a sales tax increase within the town that would generate an estimated $10 million to build new trails and maintain existing routes.
The increase proposed in Measure R would raise the town’s sales tax rate from 8.125 percent to 8.375 according to town manager Tony Lashbrook. And the money would be earmarked for adding to a network of trails that’s included in a Truckee master plan but hasn’t yet been built out.
The increase works out to 25 cents on every $100 spent in Truckee on goods and services already subject to sales tax, that’s everything from restaurant meals to furniture and things in between. The vote is scheduled for June 3, and the measure needs support from 67 percent of voters to pass.
Lashbrook said Truckee currently has about 15 miles of paved trails and 14 miles of dirt trails. If the master plan were to be completed, a dream that would cost more than the tax would raise, the town would have 29 miles of paved trails and 39 miles of dirt, he said.
Lashbrook estimates about $8 million from the tax would go to new trail development with the remainder toward maintenance. The entire amount will stay within the town of Truckee if the measure passes.
If the tax increase passes, one of the most significant improvements for Truckee riders and walkers would be an extension of the town’s Legacy Trail.
Paco Lindsay, a 40-year Truckee resident, owner of Paco’s Bike and Ski and an advocate for the trails tax, said the Legacy Trail is a showcase for the town, giving residents and visitors a safe, scenic and pleasant place to walk or ride.
“It is beautiful down there,” Lindsay said of the trail. “You can go down there, the water is running, it is fantastic views, you are home.”
The route along the river near the historic downtown, however, creates a lot of demand, and people who use it would like it to have more connections to other trails and local neighborhoods.
“Every study that has been done trails have come up as the number one wanted recreational amenity,” Lindsay said. “We have some trails now, but they’re not all connected. The main goal of a lot of people in Truckee … is connectivity.”
And much of that demand relates to the Legacy Trail, he said.
“It is kind of like the backbone of our trail system,” Lindsay said of the trail, which backers hope will eventually connect the Glenshire neighborhood to the east with downtown Truckee and continue to Donner Lake in the west. The connection to Glenshire already is being built without the tax. If the increase passes, it could support the connection to Donner Lake.
Lindsay thinks expanded trails would be good not only for residents but visitors and people seeking to relocate from bigger cities to the scenic Sierra Nevada.
“They’re looking for a town that has trails; that is very important to them,” he said.
So far, there doesn’t appear to be much organized opposition to the proposed tax increase. The Nevada County elections department didn’t even receive a rebuttal statement to the proposal in time for a recent deadline for printing ballots.
And polling suggests residents are more concerned about improving amenities than preventing tax increases.
A December poll conducted for the Town of Truckee by True North Research and TBWB Strategies showed 67 percent of respondents said they would definitely or probably vote in favor of the sales tax, with 29 percent saying they would definitely or probably oppose the measure.
When pollsters asked about priorities, 83 percent of respondents said protecting the environment and natural, open space was extremely or very important. On the same question, 59 percent said preventing local tax increases was extremely or very important and 56 percent said improving local recreational services was extremely or very important.
Dave Leer, a longtime friend of Lindsay, bike shop employee and avid cyclist, said he supports the proposal despite the increase in the cost to buy goods in town.
“Taxes are a way to pay for a benefit to the community or society,” Leer said. “If it really is going to be a benefit like this, I don’t see this as a negative.”
