City Councilman Tom Beiker held a public forum at The Hub yesterday — first in a series of planned public discussions. The main topic was bicycling and helping make Springfield a bicycle-friendly community. I was unable to attend the meeting. The News-Leader published an article today. It’s difficult to tell how much talk there was [...]
Last year I reported here, based on a conversation at a STAR Team meeting, that the city was uninterested in painting more bicycle lanes. With the creation of new lanes on Division and Benton and the discussion at night’s STAR Team meeting, it has became clear to me that painting more bicycle lanes is in [...]
Please be careful what you ask for, that is. There’s a movement afoot at the Bicycle Friendly Springfield group on Facebook to have Springfield bicyclists send postcards to the mayor requesting more bicycle friendliness in Springfield. The post cards are available at local bicycle shops. Fill it out. Send it in. Be heard. Good idea! [...]
My thanks to Keri Caffrey, of Commute Orlando and CyclingSavvy, for creating these graphics to help explain the situation on Benton Ave. Click to enlarge. Graphic #1: Current situation on Benton Ave. Graphic #2: Benton Ave. with sharrows. Also see this excellent series of graphics explaining Best Practice Bikeway Design for a 23 ft. Lane with Street [...]
I visited the bicycle lanes on Benton Ave. this morning to observe and photograph car and bicycle driver behavior. I also measured the facilities. Sidewalk: 6′ Green space: 10′ Parking lane: 7′ Bicycle lane: 6′ Travel lane: 10′ These measurements are the same for both sides of the roadway from the beginning of the bicycle [...]
A new bicycle lane has appeared on Benton Ave. from roughly Central St. to Commercial St. I say “appeared” because I had no idea this was coming. I’ve been operating under the impression that the city was uninterested in painting new lanes. Now, I have been busy this summer and traveling. I missed the last [...]
But first … Vilnius Mayor Crushes Car in Bicycle Lane with a Tank. I’m in Delaware this week and noticing that some roads I used to ride a bicycle on as a kid now have bicycle lanes — or at least partial lanes. I’ll also visit New York City on this trip. It’s my goal [...]
The Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation is looking for feedback on its proposed 2012 legislative agenda. Below is a graphic showing my suggestions (click for larger image). For more on my opposition to the 3-foot passing law (why it is a really bad idea), check out these posts: I Want More Than three Feet What [...]
I have a question about bicycle lanes. It is a real question. I am entirely serious. And I hope the discussion that began in my posting of an open letter to a local city councilman can carry on here with a focus on an answer. What is the purpose of a bicycle lane? [Note: [...]
An open letter to city councilman Tommy Bieker: I read with interest what you wrote on the Bicycle Friendly Springfield Facebook page yesterday: Good Afternooon Bicycle Friendly Springfield. I recently had a luncheon with staff and requested we take a more serious approach to a dedicated bike lane system. I had a video that I showed [...]
The rationale for segregation is deficiency. The rationale for control is deficiency. We call for the segregation of bicyclists and motorists because both are presumed deficient and unwilling or unable to avoid colliding with one another. We call for our governments to control motorists and cyclists with increasingly prescriptive laws and enforcement for the same [...]
The Holy Grail of bicycle advocacy is numbers of kiesters in saddles on two wheels on the road. Some advocates are willing to do almost anything to increase participation — including putting novices in danger. There’s a “but”: It appears rather clear that the more people who ride bicycles in a given area the safer [...]
You want to increase bicycle participation and safety for all road users? Apparently the way to do it is create a bicycle-friendly city — one with a dense grid pattern, narrow streets, and calmed traffic. That almost sounds like the urban core of Springfield. Beyond Safety in Numbers discusses the work of Norman Garrick and [...]
During our STAR Team visit to Columbia we got to see how PedNet operates and get an overview of its programming. We came away with many great ideas. You can check the PedNet website for details. The STAR Team members who participated in the field trip met for lunch yesterday to discuss what we saw [...]
Five members of the STAR Team of Ozarks Greenways toured the bicycle/pedestrian facilities in Columbia, Mo. on June 23-24. Columbia has earned a silver level Bicycle Friendly Community award from the League of American Bicyclists. GetAbout Columbia is the city program primarily responsible for the infrastructure. From its website: In 2006, Columbia, Missouri was selected [...]
