I had wondered what those rocks along the river below the Watt Bridge were, and now I know, plus some good news about greening in store for ARC.
Carlos Alcalá: Prof sees sea of asphalt, thinks green
By Carlos Alcalá - Bee Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, July 12, 2007
Study between the lines: American River College is a classic car-commute campus. Acres of parking -- which fill to overflowing early each semester -- testify to the dominant way that students and staff arrive at ARC: the private auto. (Maybe it should be College of American River, CAR.) "It gets incredibly hot with all that asphalt," said John Bell. He is an English professor embarking on a study that is neither literary nor linguistic. He's working on a way to use that parking expanse better. He thinks spaces and aisles can be reconfigured to allow the same or more parking and add pedestrian paths and greenery in the lots. "It could run into some money but ultimately would pay great dividends," he said. It's part of an effort by ARC, and other Los Rios community colleges, to study ways to make things better for walkers, bikers and transit riders at their campuses. While the parking lot study benefits those who walk -- from their cars -- other things Bell is examining include a bike trail along the creek on the campus' south and east sides, a bike/pedestrian bridge across the creek, and some kind of improved transit stop that would eliminate the need for students to run across College Oak Drive to catch buses on the other side. "Someone trying to make a bus means taking their lives into their hands," he said. A community workshop to explore these ideas and others will be held tonight at the college. For more information, call Lindell Price at (916) 446-9255. ...
…Sisyphus rocks! For many years, folks crossing the American River on Watt Avenue could look over to the west side of the bridge and see some mysterious piles of rock. They are no longer there. "It's been a while," said Dave Lydick, deputy parks director. It isn't that his department stopped it. "We never had any problem with it." (One person did complain once about the piles, thinking they represented some kind of "pagan thing," Lydick said.) For years, officials allowed one fellow to come down to work on it almost daily, replacing formations that were knocked over and building new ones. "He was a little different," Lydick said. In 2004, however, the rock-piler was arrested. Officials said he assaulted a juvenile elsewhere in the parkway. His parents told us he no longer lives in the area. The piling stopped. Entropy rules. ...
