Missouri Bicycling, Walking, Running, and Trails News

Volunteer Opportunity: MoBikeFed's Elmwood Bike Rodeo May 6th in Kansas City - giving away 150 kids bikes

This year the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation is organizing the Elmwood Bike Rodeo May 6th in Kansas City.  We will give away 150 bicycles to area kids who need them, fit the bikes, and have bike safety information and an area for kids to ride their new bikes safely - and a LOT more. The event will be held at Elmwood Cemetery, 4900 E Truman Road, Kansas City MO. 

We need about 15 volunteers to help with bike fitting and to run the bicycle safety rodeo.

Could you help Saturday, May 6th?

----> Sign up to volunteer with the bicycle safety rodeo in KC Saturday here

The Health and Wellness Fair generally has over 1000 in attendance and gives away about 150 bikes to children.

None of the volunteer jobs is hard, but they are IMPORTANT and we need your help.

Details:

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ALERT: $2.9 million Rock Island Trail funding eliminated by Missouri Senate - federal funding will be lost if not spent this year - pls contact your Missouri legislators

Please contact your Missouri Senator and Representative this week and ask them to support the Rock Island Trail funding in HB 6.  A $2.9 million in federal grant has been approved for the Rock Island Trail. However, the grant must be  appropriated by the Missouri legislature.  The governor requested the appropriation, the Missouri House approved it, but the Missouri Senate, led by Springfield Senator Lincoln Hough, zeroed out the funding. 

If the $2.9 million in federal funding is not allocated by the legislature, it cannot be spent elsewhere.  It will simply be returned to the federal government and lost to Missouri.

We have one last chance to restore the funding.  When HB 6 goes to Conference Committee, the committee can decide to follow the House version (which includes the $2.9 million funding) or the Senate version (which zeroes out the funding). 

This decision will be made by Friday, May 5th, 5pm - when all 2024 budget bills must be complete.

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Public invited to give feedback on MoDOT's Unfunded Needs List - including many pedestrian, bicycle, trails, and public transit projects - in upcoming meetings round Missouri

Since the proposals to increase Missouri's fuel tax and federal transportation funding have been under discussion, MoDOT has been working with its local districts and representatives from the states Regional Planning Commissions and Metropolitan Planning Organizations - representing every county and city across the state - to determine the priorities for spending that funding.

Because of the advocacy work MoBikeFed and like-minded organizations across the state have been engaged in over the past couple of decades, MoDOT has now incorporated pedestrian, bicycle, trails, and public transportation projects directly into these funding discussions from the start.  This includes individual bike, ped, trail,  and public transit projects that might receive funding as a separate project, but also bicycle, pedestrian, and public transportation features that may be included as part of another, larger project.

Every rural Regional Planning Commission and every Metropolitan Planning Organization has been honing its priority list of projects, waiting for the day funding for them might be available.

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Free Training for Rock Island Trail Communities - Building the Trail: Advocacy, Planning, Funding, Current Updates Oct 24th, Jefferson City

Free Training for Rock Island Trail Communities:

Building the Trail  

Join city and county elected officials from Rock Island Trail Communities and local Rock Island Trail advocates/supporters in a free training to learn about:

  • Advocating for the trail 
  • Steps for creating a community active transportation plan and why a plan is important for securing funding
  • Funding sources and opportunities
  • The latest Missouri State Parks Rock Island update
  • Opportunities for networking with other Rock Island Trail Communities 

The training is funded by Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Active Living Community of Practice (ALCP) grant. Nine communities along the Rock Island Trail have received ALCP grants, which will help them develop the Rock Island Trail through their communities, and use the development of the trail as an opportunity to build active living opportunities and bike/ped connections throughout their communities.

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Kansas City Cyclist Will Baumeister killed in hit-and-run; Relatives asking for help and leads tracking down hit-and-run driver; $500 reward offered

April 8th, 2022, Will Baumeister was killed by a hit-and-run driver while bicycling on Stadium Drive near the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Will and his partner, riding just feet away from him, were well lit and riding on a straight and well lit section of road with good visibility.  The speeding driver who struck and killed Will, paused briefly to survey the scene, and then drove off.

Will was a lifelong avid cyclist.  At the time of the crash, Will and his partner Wendy were bicycling as their primary mode of transportation.

Will was well aware of the importance of being well lit while bicycling at night. At the time of the collision, Will was pulling a bicycle trailer.  Both Will's bicycle and the trailer were very well lighted from the rear.

Police have been unable to identify the vehicle or driver, and Will's case has received very little attention in area media or from police.

Help us identify the vehicle and driver - $500 reward

Can you help us spread the word, or provide information to help identify the vehicle or driver involved in this hit-and-run fatality?

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Call for safety changes to popular KC-area Longview Lake cycling loop after cyclist and father of 10 killed in hit-and-run; Memorial Ride Sept 17th

The Longview Lake loop is one of the most popular cycling routes in the Kansas City area.  Much of the loop has been greatly improved for cycling safety in recent years, with wide shoulders, bicycle lanes, and even a section of separated bicycle now on the 10-mile loop.

However, one section on View High Drive just north of 3rd Street is a notoriously bad spot.  The shoulder ends just as a right-turn-only lane is added, the pavement is rough, sight lines are poor for both cyclists and motorists, and the road design encourages motorists to drive very fast up until this point.

It was just at the spot that Charlie Crinier, math teacher at the Martin City K-8 school, father of 10, and newly enthusiastic cyclist, was killed by a hit-and-run driver the morning of August 27th.

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Presentations and powerpoints from the 2022 Missouri Active Transportation Summit

Thanks to everyone who participated or presented - in person or virtually - the 2022 Missouri Active Transportation Summit in Jefferson City was a big success.  The program was packed with interesting and information presentations and information from agency staff, advocacy organizations, consultants and engineering firms, and community members.

Below are links to powerpoint presentations from some of the presenters at the Active Transportation Summit held August 12th, 2022.  More information about each session and presenter is below. Full 2022 Summit Program is here (PDF).

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2022 Missouri Active Transportation Summit Friday Aug 12 - in Jefferson City AND Online - lineup of engaging speakers and sessions - full Summit Program released

The 7th annual Missouri Active Transportation Summit is coming up this week:

 

Missouri Active Transportation Summit

Friday, August 12th, 2022, 9:00am-5:00pm

Jefferson City Municipal Complex
Jefferson City Police Department Building, 401 Monroe St
Jefferson City, MO

AND

Online Virtual Conference Via WebEx (Selected Sessions)

 

 

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Distracted driving/hands-free driving bill to be major emphasis for 2023 legislative session

Distracted driving, texting while driving, and electronic device use while driving leads to hundreds of fatalities and serious injuries in Missouri every year.  Missouri is now one of just TWO states that still allows texting while driving. 

Passing distracted driving legislation in Missouri has long been a priority of MoBikeFed members.  We have been working to support state legislation on distracted driving, texting while driving, and hands-free electronic device use for nearly two decades now.

In 2009, Missouri passed a law prohibiting texting while driving for drivers age 21 and younger. However, attempts to amend the law to include drivers of all ages, and more recent attempts to require use of hands-free devices while operating motor vehicles, have gone nowhere in the Missouri legislature.

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MoDOT installing J-Turns at rural intersections with no provision for safe bike/ped crossing - disconnecting rural bicycle routes

MoDOT has been installing an increasing number of "J-Turns" on rural highways. 

J-Turns convert intersections that are currently perfectly usable by people who bicycle and walk, into intersections that are, in many cases, essentially unusable.

Installing a J-Turn intersection takes a route that was previously an excellent, completely usable bicycle route and disconnects it.

Some J-Turn project examples:

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Rock Island Trail State Park: Missouri Legislature's final budget eliminates Gov Parson's $69 million funding proposal - but $1 million private funding restored

Today the Missouri General Assembly gave final approval to HB 3020, which included Governor Parson's proposal to spend $69 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to develop the most difficult and expensive part of the new Rock Island Trail State Park. 

The governor's proposal survived two votes on the House floor, but was cut by the Senate's version of the bill, which was also adopted by the House today.

"This is a lost opportunity and that is disappointing," said Brent Hugh, Executive Director of the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation.

"But communities along the old railroad and supporters from across Missouri line have been working for decades to preserve the corridor and develop it as a new State Park and cross-state trail, and have made tremendous progress.  We have a lot of optimism about the future of the trail and the many opportunities to develop it and benefit trail communities and Missouri as a whole."

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Joplin Globe Editorial: Restore Rock Island funding - Cutting it is a Poor Business Decision

Monday the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its version of HB 3020, allocating Missouri's portion of the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. The committee bill removed the entire $69.2 million Governor Parson had recommended for construction of the major "hard parts" of the 144-mile Rock Island Trail State Park. 

Thursday, the full Senate passed HB 3020 - and still, there was not even $1 for the Rock Island Trail.

The Joplin Globe let us know how they feel about this decision - and they didn't pull any punches:

The decision to zero out funding for the Rock Island trail is a poor business decision for Missouri.

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