I’ve been called a ball buster more than once, a fact I’ll attribute to my East Coast upbringing. But balls aside, it’s the Napa Valley roadways that are the backbreakers. A fact that baffles me here in the land of high rollers because despite all the loot that lingers in these hills, our roadways are in a constant state of disrepair. In Calistoga, it looks like an earthquake aftershock zone, with enough potholes, cracked sidewalks and crevasses to swallow up a small toddler or hound. In a land as rich as ours, why is it near impossible to find a smooth roadway?
Thankfully, I’m not the only one to have noticed the perilous conditions. The state has posed legislation that if passed could lead to as much as $52 billion towards California transportation projects, of which an estimated $6.2 million could float our way to combat the pothole crisis. But with all good news comes the bad: a potential 12 cents per gallon gas tax hike and additional new vehicle fees. As much as I hate tax increases, if these road problems go untended, my back might not make it to see my next birthday. If you don’t believe me, a Metropolitan Transportation Commission report rated our city road conditions a 66 out of 100. If that wasn’t bad enough the unincorporated areas were ranked at 53, which put our roads in the “at-risk” category. Considering wheel realignment has become a recurring line item on our yearly expenditures I concur.
Pass the pipe
Speaking of dreams, I never thought I would live in a place where pot would be legalized. Denial on my part perhaps, but not without merit given my father worked for the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). On bring-your-parents-to-school day, he would arm me and my classmates with Dino-the-don’t-do-drugs dinosaur coloring books. The only thing about the November election that shocked me more than Prop 64 was, was the Trump-set. Talk about denial. I went to bed that night, despite all the evidence to the contrary, thinking there was no way The Donald would become our president, yet here we are. Reality show kingpin as president, and pot is as legal to smoke as wine is to drink. The screws turned further in April when the Calistoga City Council voted in favor of an ordinance that allows residents to grow as many as two pot plants outside and four inside. This seems like a bad idea, for reasons I don’t have enough time to articulate. If nothing else, it will ensure that my family will have yet another reason to not visit, what they dub “crazy” California. It’s hard to know where to stand on this issue, with my twins toddling around town and the threat of reefer wafting through the air, but one thing is certain, as most eloquently put by Mr. Bob Dylan, “The Times They Are A-Changin.”
Stirring the pot
Despite these changes, controversy stands when it comes to the Walt Ranch development project and Syar quarry expansion. Despite county approvals, each remains tangled in legal uncertainty. Walt Ranch progress could be thwarted by lawsuits from the Living Rivers Council, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Circle Oaks Homes Association and Circle Oaks County Water District over the validity of the associated environmental impact reports. Syar Industries gained approval to expand the 497-acre quarry by an additional 106 acres. Yet lawsuits from Stop Syar Expansion and the Skyline Park Citizens Association (who also question findings from environmental studies), threaten to hamper the expansion.
Happy Trails
Beyond the brouhaha some were eager to hit the cycling happy trail for the Petal and Party event in April that originated at Clif Family Winery. The event spanned a 10 to 35-mile bike trek to raise $47,000 (in honor of Earth Month) for the Vine Trail Coalition. Funds raised will assist with trail maintenance and development of the yet-to-be-built legs of the bike/pedestrian path from St. Helena to Calistoga, and from American Canyon to Vallejo.
While I’m uncertain on where to stand on pot proliferation, I’m a thumbs-up for the Vine Trail. Perhaps because I used to make the trek from Calistoga to St. Helena, via a beach cruiser on the perilous, barely-there shoulders and bike lanes. As a newbie to the valley, I was so taken by the amazing views, I must have failed to notice that I could have been sideswiped off the road at any moment. Now that I’m older, wiser, and ride with my eyes wide open, I no longer make this trek. I likely won’t until the Vine Trail links my towns together because whether by car or bike, these Up Valley roads are treacherous in more ways than one.
