Bike items that have little to nothing to do with DC (11/22/09)

GGW has a link to a story about how Philadelphia is cracking down on cyclists after two pedestrians died in collisions with cyclists. This line would be funny, were it not so sad

And unlike reckless drivers, bike scofflaws typically get off free.

Hitting pedestrians is bad. Hitting them and running, as happened at least two of the incidents mentioned in the article, is inexcusable. It is a reminder that bad cyclist behavior puts other people at risk too. [In these cases wrong-way cycling and failure to safely pass appear to be the bad behavior in question]. Also in Philadelphia, a City Council member introduced legislation requiring cyclists to have license plates.

Manor, TX - just outside of Austin - bans bicycling on a farm to market road to protect cyclists.

More on the gender gap.

Another reason to promote cycling: Bicycles make bad get-away vehicles.

The Bike league identifies another source of bicycle funding, the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP).

HSIP funds can be used for all safety related bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects on public roads or trails, and provides 90 percent of project funds, with only 10 percent coming from local government or other sources.  Unfortunately, HSIP funds have been woefully underutilized since it began in 2006.  By the end of the 2009 fiscal year, $600 million in HSIP funds had not been spent.  This is especially disturbing when you consider that in 2008 the federal government spent a total of $550 million on all bike and pedestrian projects in the nation.

Build a bike trail? Not without union labor.

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.

Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

Balzano said Saturday he isn't targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city's decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said "there's to be no volunteers." "We are probably going to let this one go," Balzano said .

He got the idea for the trail while taking hikes along the partially complete, 165-mile Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. He noticed there were a few missing connections to the trail in Kimmets Lock Park, which is on the Lehigh River near Dauphin Street. He already has logged 250 hours trying to carve out a walking and biking trail along the river.

"I decided to do my part in completing this part of the trail. In that way, others could enjoy walking along the river, without having to walk on the busy road," Anderson said in an e-mail Friday.

Photo of Burrard Bridge off ramp(an experiment in Vancouver, BC) by Luton

Comments

[microzen]

Wrong-way cycling surprisingly is legal in Pennsylvania.

[Washcycle]

I think that's a misreading of the law. There's a good discussion of it at Bike-pgh.

http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/topic/one-way-law-strictly-speaking