Missouri Bicycling, Walking, Running, and Trails News

St. Louis-area traffic plan opposed by business owners

STLToday reports: Everyone in the Southampton neighborhood agrees the area has a serious speeding problem, but not everyone sees eye to eye on how to solve it. . . .

Businesses say they would not endorse the multi-phased plan developed by the neighborhood association. The association last January put together a task force that worked with engineers and traffic experts to design the plan. . . .

"Neck downs'" force drivers to slow down by reducing lane width by extending the curb into the street along the corners.

Businesses owners fear that narrowed-down street corners will take away needed space for deliveries and parking.

Neighborhood association president Phil Klevorn said neck-downs would be only placed on the corners and would not narrow down the entire street nor would they take away parking space.


If I may editorialize:
  • A nationally known urban designer found that "in all the surveys he has done around shopping districts, the biggest problems are not security issues. They are traffic issues-the speed of vehicles, the noise of vehicles, the congestion." (See Dom Nozzi's page.)

  • Traffic calming often has such a beneficial effect on neighboring businesses that the increase in tax revenues alone pays for the traffic calming project.

This means that business owners ought to be the biggest supporters of the road calming measures. It is unfortunate that they were not brought into the decision-making process sooner. If they understood the reasons for the changes and the benefits they will bring, and if they felt themselves a part of the decision-making process, their opinion of the project would likely be far different.
  • Study after study has shown that posted speed limits, enforcement, and even stop signs and stop lights have very little effect on vehicle speed. Drivers set their speed by how the road looks. To change vehicle speed, you must change the way the road looks to drivers.

This means that the business owners, in opposing the "neck downs", are likely opposing the part of the project that is likely to benefit them the most--by having the biggest effect on lower traffic speed and making the area more comfortable for pedestrians.

Traffic calming has been used successfully in various cities around the U.S., Europe, and the world. The idea is new to much of the Midwest, and so traffic-calming proposals often face opposition. But once well-designed traffic calming measures are in place, residents--and especially business owners--often find themselves supporting what they previously opposed. Here are typical results:

Read the entire article about the traffic plan for Southampton on the St. Louis Today web site.
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America Bikes' "Haikus to Congress" campaign

Poetic cyclists are invited to sharpen their pencils for the "Haikus to Congress" contest, sponsored by America Bikes. "While haikus aren't a traditional advocacy tool, they capture the magic of bicycling." says Martha Roskowski, campaign manager for America Bikes. "We're using every means available to convince Congress to include strong provisions for bicycling in the 2003 federal transportation bill. While we won't be wandering the Halls of Congress spouting Haikus, we may find the perfect moment for one."

Entrants are invited to submit Haikus on any of America Bikes priorities: Safe Routes to School, trails and pathways, or safe roads for all users. Haikus contain three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables. Haikus can be submitted at www.americabikes.org until midnight on January 31st.

Haikus will be judged by an assemblage of literary geniuses hand selected from the bicycle community for their in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Haiku. The winner will receive rain gear, courtesy of Burley Design Cooperative, designed to shed water and to be lightweight, comfortable and stylish.

America Bikes is inspiring more people to ride bicycles by creating a safe, efficient, and well connected transportation system for bicycling and walking as an integral part of healthy communities. America Bikes is a coalition of eight major national bicycling organizations focused on the reauthorization of TEA-21 in 2003.

In additional to submitting Haikus, America Bikes encourages businesses, organizations and individuals to endorse the America Bikes agenda and learn other ways to get involved by visiting www.americabikes.org.

Susan Byrne Klasmeier
Program Manager
America Bikes
202.833.8080
susan@americabikes.org
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Satellite imagery of KC-area mtn bike trails

"Olathe Joe" used his GPS unit to track his rides on several KC-area mountain bike trails, then used the TrekAnalysis web page to overlay his movements on actual satellite photos of the area. The result is a series of neat satellite maps of the trails.

You can compare the satellite maps to descriptions of, directions to, and maps of the same trails on Earthriders.org.

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"Sharing the road" in Press Journal

The following letter by Paul Wojciechowski appeared in the St. Louis-area Press Journal last week:

Dear Editor:

There were comments recently regarding interaction of motorists and bicyclist in the West County area of the St. Louis Metro Region. Many of the critics of bicycles using the area roadways have some valid points, but mainly they very close minded to the benefits and assets bicycling and bicycle accommodations on roadways are to the general public. Here are health and transportation benefits to bicycle use.

I myself am a certified effective cyclist, which means I ride my bicycle on area roadways and behave like a typical vehicle on the roadway. This means I stop at stop signs and traffic signals, ride with the flow of traffic, signal all turns, ride right, ride single file and respect all vehicles and pedestrians on the roadway. All of these apply when I am in my car or van also. It is the way licensed drivers behave. There is no exception for cyclists. I see cyclists run red lights and stop signs, it frustrates me, mainly because it really gives motorists an uncertain feeling when a bicyclist is present. Bicyclist must obey the basic rules of the road and behave like another vehicle; this is the way they fare best.

I do not ride on trails for the most part. Yes, they have there place in the transportation network, but for the most part, do not carry cyclists to real destinations such as school, work and other activity centers. This is why many cyclists use roads. Cyclists also use roadways when their speeds are too hazardous for trails. Many road riders travel at 17 to 25 miles per hour average speed, which is much too fast for the recreational trails that accommodate joggers and people walking dogs, or children riding their bikes.

The sooner motorists realize that roadways are multi-modal facilities, the sooner we can all get along together and “Share the Road”. I pay gas tax just like most other bicyclists and yes my family has two motor vehicles, I have a right as a citizen in the community to use our roadways for transportation purposes. Whether I walk, ride my bike or drive my car, as long as I respect the rules of the road, I have a right to use the roadway.

When making a bike trip to the store or work you are taking a step in reducing traffic on the roadways, something we should all strive to accomplish. Our older kids should be able to ride their bikes to a friend’s house safely, and not depend on mom or dad.

In general, most roadways with good shoulders or wide outside lanes, such as Clarkson Road or Clayton Road, can accommodate cars and bikes safely. Next time you see a cyclist on the road, don’t get angry that you have to share, or yell and honk at the cyclist, you are slowing down traffic doing so. Just share the road, and realize that there is one less car on the road you have to sit behind at a traffic signal.

Sincerely,


Paul L. Wojciechowski, AICP, P.E.
16939 Westridge Oaks Drive
Grover, MO 63040

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"Crazy" transportation ideas?

Road intersections should be raised to pavement level to give priority to pedestrians . . . in 1971, 80% of seven- and eight-year-old children went to school on their own, by 1990 only 9% were making the journey unaccompanied, with more than four times as many seven- to 11-year-olds being driven in 1990 compared with 20 years earlier . . . [the] view that the roads are safer because the accident rate has gone down is deeply flawed . . . Quite the opposite. Child road deaths have fallen because there aren't many children near them any more. . . .Children's lives have been evolving in a way that mirrors the characteristics of the lives of criminals in prison. They, too, have a roof over their heads, regular meals and entertainment provided for them, but they are not free to go out. . . . Fifty years ago, cycle mileage exceeded car mileage. Now it's the other way around. While most children own a bicycle, few are allowed to use it as a means of transport . . . Compared with walking, bicycling has the potential to expand a person's geographical catchment area 10- to 15-fold . . . A new Danish road traffic act in 1976 made it the police and traffic authority's responsibility, in consultation with schools, to protect children from traffic on their way to and from school. They created a network of traffic-free foot and cycle paths, established low-speed areas, narrowed roads and introduced traffic islands. Accidents fell by 85%. In Denmark, more than 20% of all journeys are made by bicycle . . . for every life year lost through accidents [while bicycling], 20 are gained through improved health and fitness.

Crazy or prophetic? You be the judge--but a surprising number of the "crazy" ideas of British thinker and transportation planner Mayer Hillman have become "common knowledge" and the basis of policy in various countries around the world. Read more about Hillman in the Guardian.
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Bike tour of KC-area Christmas lights . . .

My six-year-old son, Jonathan, and I decided to take advantage of a nice 60-degree December evening and take a bike tour of the Christmas lights near our home in Raytown. Click here for photos and story . . .
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A powerful reason to work for wider lanes and wider shoulders on Missouri roads

Here is a powerful reason to give Missouri's roads wider lanes and wider shoulders:

"Missouri’s traffic fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT) is 1.72, while the national average is 1.52. Studies show that roadway conditions are a factor in an estimated 30 percent of traffic fatalities nationwide.

"A variety of roadway improvements have been found to improve safety, including widening lanes and shoulders, adding or improving medians and upgrading roads from two lanes to four lanes. Widening a lane by one foot can reduce accidents by 12 percent. Widening a lane by two feet reduces accidents by 23 percent. Widening a shoulder has been found to reduce fatal accidents by 20 percent. Also, adding intermittent passing lanes to two-lane roads have reduced fatalities by 30 percent."

Just coincidentally, wider lanes and wider shoulders are two of the most important items in making the road network safer and friendlier for cycling. This might be worth bringing up next time someone asks why we should "waste" money making the roads safer for cyclists . . .

Read the full study and recommendations on the TRIPnet web site.
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January forum to focus on new policy for Missouri transportation funding distribution

From MoDOT:

JEFFERSON CITY – Public comments on options for statewide distribution of transportation funds will be the focus of a public forum scheduled Jan. 6 in Jefferson City.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission is sponsoring the forum to get additional input from planning organizations, chambers of commerce, interest groups and legislators regarding the commission’s process for allocating highway construction funding.

The forum is the first opportunity for rural and urban interests to hear views from different parts of the state on funding. The forum will be from 1 – 4 p.m. in Room 490/492 of the Truman Office Building, 301 W. High St.

Commissioners have been considering four options that would allocate funds based on need rather than the current method of dividing money evenly between rural and urban areas. Additional options are being prepared, based on input received from local and regional meetings with stakeholders.

"Our goal is to move from an arbitrary system to one using objective factors such as pavement condition, miles traveled, population and employment to determine where highway money should be spent," said Henry Hungerbeeler, the Missouri Department of Transportation’s director. "New allocation methods should recognize and help address the diverse needs of all parts of Missouri."

Following the forum, commissioners have announced their intention to choose a funding option at their regular monthly meeting Jan. 10. A consistent funding distribution method is necessary for MoDOT to honor its commitments as well as increase its emphasis on taking care of the existing highway system, a goal Missourians have said should be emphasized by the department.

"People all over the state are understandably concerned about funding distribution because they all have highways that need to be funded. Unfortunately, there’s not enough money to make anyone happy. That’s why this decision is so tough," Hungerbeeler said.

"Over the past few months, Missouri Department of Transportation staffs have met with more than 50 organizations, including local and regional planning groups and others interested in transportation improvements, to get comments and suggestions on funding and needs. This input will be coupled with comments from the forum," Hungerbeeler said.
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Rebuilt McKinley Bridge over Mississippi to include bike lanes

The McKinley bridge, near the city of Venice, will be rebuilt by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The old bridge had two center lanes for truck traffic and two additional outside lanes for lighter vehicles.

"The renovated bridge will have only two traffic lanes, one in each direction, without any weight restrictions," Lamie said. "The outside lanes will be for bicycles (only).


Read the full story in the Illinois Business Journal.
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"Stunning" bike-ped bridge to link Omaha and Council Bluffs

The design for a bicycle-pedestrian bridge crossing the Missouri River to link Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, was unveiled recently.

The bridge is part of the effort to turn the riverfront from an industrial zone to an appealing area for tourists and for leisure activities such as bicycling, walking and running.

"It's a bold design," Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey said. "It's a welcome mat to our communities." . . .

Hanafan said Omaha-Council Bluffs is the only metro area he could think of that hasn't significantly capitalized on its nearness to a big river.


(I can think of another such city, but then I live in Kansas City, where we have mostly capitalized on the riverfront as a handy place to dump garbage, lead, and toxic waste . . . luckily KC has a stunning new bike-ped bridge of its own, and is starting construction on a new riverfront bike-ped trail--mostly built, not coincidentally, on riverfront brownfields).

Read the whole story in the Omaha World-Herald, including a drawing of the proposed bridge.

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Since we're on the subject . . .

Walk San Francisco, which is working to ban "personal transportation devices" from the sidewalks of San Francisco, has an amusing page of cartoons about the Segway . . .

(By the way, why doesn't Missouri have more organizations like Walk San Francisco? There is the "Walk the St. Louis Area" web site--which lists ten St. Louis-area walking clubs--and Columbia-based PedNet. Are there any other Missouri pedestrian advocacy groups? I would love to hear about them!)

UPDATE: The San Francisco City Board of Supervisors did vote to ban Segways from the sidewalks of San Francisco, by a vote of 8 to 2.
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St. Louis writer on Segway vs. walking

Christopher Orlet, a St. Louis writer, had this to say about the new Segway Personal Transportation device, in an article in Salon:

Truly what is needed is not another gizmo that provides otherwise healthy men and women with another reason to remain sedentary, but more sidewalks and walking trails, safer intersections, the reappearance of street-side shops and sidewalk cafes that once made urban walking enjoyable, and flatfoot cops on the beat that made that sauntering safe. What is needed are bicycle lanes and routes like the ones you still find in European cities. It is unfortunate that a man as ingenious as Dean Kamen has dedicated the last decade to working to make walking obsolete, when he might have put his considerable intellectual gifts toward creating something to improve, not diminish, the quality of life.

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