safe-routes-to-school

The TV coverage for the Tour of Missouri this year has taken a huge step forward, with LIVE local coverage of the STL & KC stages (KMOV & KMBC, respectively) and with daily 30-minute wrap-ups on Versus and Fox Sports (cable).

That is in addition to the regular live online video coverage and the other regular media coverage and the longer Versus special that will come out after the Tour.

And--Paul Sherwen and Frankie Andreu as announcers.

Note: The online coverage does not start until the race is within about 50 miles of the finish line (longer than that & they can't transmit the live video signal).

So if you tune in online at race start time, you'll likely find no video there yet.

Try again about two hours before projected race finish.

Recently in discussions with congressman Emanuel Cleaver's staff, they recommended we take a careful look again at the transportation vision for America articulated by US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

So I did look at the video of LaHood's speech to the National bike Summit again, and here is my summary:

- He envisions an America where housing, land use, & transportation planners work closely with citizens to create walkable, sustainable neighborhoods

- Bicyclists should be integrated and recognized and can safely share roads, bridges, & trails

- Encourages livability, improve character of individual communities; encourages integrated solutions

- Particularly endorses use of economic stimulus (ARRA) funds to improve cities for bicycling

- USDOT is committed to investing in programs that encourage bikes to coexist with other modes and to safely share our roads and bridges

- In the Department of Transportation, bicyclists have a full partner in working toward livable communities

- The Federal Highway Administration is looking at best practices in Europe to improve safety and mobility for walkers and cyclists

- They are pleased with the progress of the non-motorized pilot projects like the one in Columbia, MO

- Bicycles are a critical part of a cleaner, greener future in American transportation

This is some strong stuff, coming from the very top administrator of America's transportation system.

The challenge we all have now is to actually implement the Secretary's vision.

This week Columbia had public hearings about creating a bicycle boulevard on Ash and Windsor streets.

KOMU TV reports:

"A bike boulevard is a concept that's from the west coast where you take a residential street that has through traffic and you do the best you can to eliminate through traffic and make it more friendly for bikes and pedestrians," GetAbout Columbia Bike Program Manager Ted Curtis said.

GetAbout Columbia is hoping a bike boulevard on Windsor and Ash streets will help make traveling safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.

According to a recent study by the Brookings Institution, St. Louis ranks 7th worst and Kansas City 17th worst among the 100 largest U.S. cities in average greenhouse gas emissions per resident.

According to an article about the report in Wired:

The authors attributed the variations between cities to efficiencies generated by density and compact development, weather and access to mass transit.

According to the KCStar article:

The metro regions with the smallest carbon footprints were Honolulu, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. Generally, the best performers have a few things in common: high-density, compact development and newer or expanded rail transit. . .

To a broad spectrum of civic and city leaders, both the new study and the coming local commitment show the growing need to address the environment to keep our quality of life competitive with that of other metro areas.

“When it comes to retaining and attracting young workers, one of the things they look for is a community committed to a sustainable environment,” said Peter Levi, president of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and a member of the climate protection committee. “They look for an environmentally friendly place to live.” . . .

The city’s climate protection steering committee, plus about 80 citizens helping it, has been meeting regularly for 1½ years. A draft plan was presented just this week to the steering committee and is expected to go to the City Council by early July. . . .

The plan includes hundreds of recommendations, including:

•Making streets more compatible for pedestrians and bicycles.

•Reducing vehicle miles traveled. The plan suggests working with businesses and organizations to commit to car sharing. It suggests implementing a pass program in which a company invests in transit passes and employees can use the passes to ride anywhere in the community.

A Maryville Daily Forum article outlines recently progress in developing Maryville's citywide trails system:

With approximately $630,000 in grant funding, members of the Trail Committee are making plans for final review of trail design by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The trail network was originally planned and a committee formed to provide hiking and biking access to all municipal parks and public schools in Maryville. . . .

The Mozingo trail portion is approximately 7,500 linear feet, while the Safe Routes portion is approximately 6,000 linear feet.

While the city has to wait for approval, Northwest Missouri State University announced plans to have their three sections of bicycle paths on the campus completed by late summer.

While the projects are separately funded, Lezlee Johnson, associate director of Environmental Services at Northwest, has been a part of the Trail Committee meetings from the beginning. The campus paths will eventually connect to the trail network the city is working on.

Earlier this week the first route proposal for day one of the Tour of Missouri was released. Although only in the preliminary stage of development, the route begins at the City Hall in St. Joseph across from the famous Pony Express statue in City Hall Park. The famous Statue originally sculpted by Hermon Atkins MacNeil and dedicated in 1940 celebrates the legacy of the First attempt to transport postage from locations east of the Mississippi river in the 1860s to the West Coast of the United States Territory and California.

The proposed route then travels along much of St. Joseph's park system before heading to Weston and Platte City on its way to Kansas City. Actual routes for the Tour of Missouri will be released in later May or June. Weston, Missouri, the oldest settlement west of the Mississippi river incorporated in the mid 1830s and originally called "West Town". Famous frontiersmen such as William "Buffalo" Bill Cody were residents of Weston. Much of the original town still exists as it was in the mid 1800s and is a favorite tourist waypoint in the area.

Click on the following link to view the proposed route.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mo/saint-joseph/639661895

St. Joseph's City Commissioners and city management are excited about the Tour of Missouri coming to St. Joseph. There is even talk of a permanent start point being constructed for future road and track events for bicycle racing and triathlons. St. Joseph has a long heritage being one of the earliest departing points to cross the Missouri river en route to the California and Oregon territories in the mid 1800s.

St. Joseph is currently in the development stages creating a North/South corridor to connect the Katy Trail with existing trails in Iowa and Nebraska. Quad States Trails of St. Joseph, Inc. and Saint Michael's Meadow Trail Foundation, Inc. are leading the effort. The corridor will be a hard paved scenic byway and follow parallel to the Missouri River traveling through the bluff hills that line the river.

St. Joseph has an active bicycle club. The St. Joseph Bicycle Club conducts meetings on the third Tuesday each month at the Rolling Hills Library on the Belt Hwy. Everyone is invited to all group rides on Saturdays and Sundays at 8:00AM meeting at Bode Middle School. There are also group rides on Sunday's at 2:00PM. Their web site can be found at: http://www.stjoebikeclub.org/ . Check their newsletter "The Seat Post" for a calendar of scheduled events each month.


The following are a few news links:
Cycling TV: http://www.cycling.tv/
http://cycling.tv/race-information/tour_of_missouri
VeloNews: velonews.competitor.com/
Big Shark Cycling: https://www.bigshark.com/page.cfm?PageID=22
2008 Tour of <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Missouri: http://www.tourofmissouri2008.com/
Wikipedia.org, Tour of Missouri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_of_Missouri
Cycling News.com: http://www.cyclingnews.com/
Missouri Bicycle Federation, Tour of Missouri 2008: /TourOfMissouri
VeloNorth.Ca (MTB News): http://www.velonorth.ca/
Heartland Challenges: http://www.heartlandrace.com/
USA Cycling Pro Championships: http://www.usacyclingchampionships.com/index.php
2008 Amgen Tour of California: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/
2008 Tour of Georgia: http://www.tourdegeorgia.com/index.php
Union Cycliste Internationale: http://www.uci.org?MenuId=MTYxNw
USA Cycling: https://www.usacycling.org/

Related:

TourOfMO: Tour of MO report--from 2nd place GC winner

TourOfMO: First Proposed Route for Stage 1 St. Joseph to Kansas City

permanent link to article: "First proposed route for the Tour of Missouri St. Joseph to Kansas City"
posted by W Revels at 2:15 AM comment on this article

Earlier this week the first route proposal for day one of the Tour of Missouri was released. Although only in the preliminary stage of development, the route begins at the City Hall in St. Joseph across from the famous Pony Express statue in City Hall Park. The famous Statue originally sculpted by Hermon Atkins MacNeil and dedicated in 1940 celebrates the legacy of the First attempt to transport postage from locations east of the Mississippi river in the 1860s to the West Coast of the United States Territory and California.

The proposed route then travels along much of St. Joseph's beautiful park system before heading to Weston, Platte City and Parkville on its way to Kansas City. Actual routes for the Tour of Missouri will be released in May or June.

Weston Missouri, is one of the oldest settlements west of the Mississippi river being incorporated in the mid 1830s and originally called "West Town". Famous frontiersmen such as William "Buffalo" Bill Cody were residents of Weston, Missouri. Much of the original town still exists as it was in the mid 1800s and is a favorite tourist waypoint in the area.

Click on the following link to view the proposed route.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mo/saint-joseph/639661895

St. Joseph's City Commissioners and city management are excited about the Tour of Missouri coming to St. Joseph. There is even talk of a permanent start point being constructed for future road and track events for bicycle racing and triathlons. St. Joseph has a long heritage being one of the earliest departing points to cross the Missouri river en route to the California and Oregon territories in the mid 1800s.

St. Joseph is currently in the development stages creating a North/South corridor to connect the Katy Trail with existing trails in Iowa and Nebraska. Quad States Trails of St. Joseph, Inc. and Saint Michael's Meadow Trail Foundation, Inc. are leading the effort. The corridor will be a hard paved scenic byway and follow parallel to the Missouri River traveling through the bluff hills that line the river.

St. Joseph has an active bicycle club. The St. Joseph Bicycle Club conducts meetings on the third Tuesday each month at the Rolling Hills Library on the Belt Hwy. Everyone is invited to all group rides on Saturdays and Sundays at 8:00AM meeting at Bode Middle School. There are also group rides on Sunday's at 2:00PM. Their web site can be found at: http://www.stjoebikeclub.org/ . Check their newsletter "The Seat Post" for a calendar of scheduled events each month.

The following are a few news links:
Steephill.TV: http://www.steephill.tv/
2008 USA Cycling Pro Tour: 2008 USA Cycling Professional Tour
Cycling TV: http://www.cycling.tv/
http://cycling.tv/race-information/tour_of_missouri
VeloNews: http://www.velonews.com/
Big Shark Cycling: https://www.bigshark.com/page.cfm?PageID=22
2008 Tour of Missouri: http://www.tourofmissouri2008.com/
Wikipedia.org, Tour of Missouri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_of_Missouri
Cycling News.com: http://www.cyclingnews.com/
Missouri Bicycle Federation, Tour of Missouri 2008: /TourOfMissouri
VeloNorth.Ca (MTB News): http://www.velonorth.ca/
Heartland Challenges: http://www.heartlandrace.com/
USA Cycling Pro Championships: http://www.usacyclingchampionships.com/index.php
2008 Amgen Tour of California: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/
2008 Tour of Georgia: http://www.tourdegeorgia.com/index.php
Union Cycliste Internationale: http://www.uci.org?MenuId=MTYxNw
USA Cycling: https://www.usacycling.org/

Velonews writes:

The 2008 Pro Tour features five major multi-day stage races across the country, giving spectators around the nation an opportunity to witness the sport at its highest level of competition. With Tours of California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Missouri on the calendar, cycling enthusiasts from the West Coast, the Deep South, the East Coast, the Rockies and the Midwest can follow cyclists as they race through local communities across the country. . . .

Finally, after a successful debut in 2007, the Tour of Missouri will again close the calendar, September 8-14, as many of the world's top international teams are expected to return to America for the season finale. After racing from Kansas City to St. Louis in the inaugural edition, riders will again pass through many of the state's major communities while hoping to secure the final points necessary for an overall USA Cycling Professional Tour title.