Bike Items that Have Little to Nothing to Do With DC - Just Super

A Super man for Super Bowl Sunday.

Kim Sherwood makes quite a sight commuting 62 miles round trip by bicycle from his home at Newman Lake to his job in north Spokane.

It takes him more than two hours to commute each way, in part because he takes the long route from Newman Lake to the Centennial Trail at Liberty Lake before turning right and heading to Spokane.

Y'know how every year there is a story about the guy, and it's always a guy, who has the longest commute in America? Someone should figure out who does the longest regular bike, walk, transit commute in America.

More about plowing the Minute Man Bikeway in Massachusetts (both these links came from Richard Layman)

after problems plowing the path in Lexington last year, a new trial program using funds raised by bicycle advocates is showing early signs of success this winter.

Difficulties with plowing the path in Lexington arose last winter after residents and bicycle enthusiasts approached selectmen to ask whether the board would be willing to use town money to pay for it. The board declined, citing the town’s tight budget, but agreed to a trial program in which the Department of Public Works would hire a contractor to clear the path, using funds raised by a private group, the Friends of Lexington Bikeways.

But before the contractor could go to work clearing the bikeway, the town wanted its sidewalks to be cleared. As a result, Enders said, it would sometimes be five or six days before the bikeway was cleared, and by mid-January last year the town and bicycle advocates suspended the program because of growing concerns about ice and snow on the path.

In an effort to fix the problem this winter, the Friends of Lexington Bikeways is making its own arrangement with a contractor to plow the path, with the approval of the town.

Plowing the path in Arlington costs about $34 per mile per storm, said Jeff Roth, a member of Arlington’s Bicycle Advisory Committee. Over the course of a winter, that adds up to a few thousand dollars, Roth said; he considers it well worth the cost to keep the space accessible for recreation, bicyclists commuting to work, and children going to school.

Bicycle hauling business- for picking up trash from trash cans.

Kids who bike to school are healthier than those who don't. Yawn.

Once again, the bike/ped lane pushes a bridge from affordable to too expensive.

A new, $300 million toll bridge on I-95 over the Delaware River might not have room for bikes or pedestrians.

The 180-foot-wide replacement Scudder Falls Bridge, between Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County, and Ewing Township, Mercer County, is to have nine lanes for auto and truck traffic (up from the current four), two 14-foot-wide dedicated lanes for buses, and two 12-foot-wide shoulders.

But a walkway on the bridge, which crosses over canal paths on both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey sides of the river and would offer the only pedestrian river crossing for seven miles, might be prohibitively expensive, says the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, which will build and operate the bridge.

"The commission understands the benefit of the bike path, but it's a cost issue," said Pete Peterson, a spokesman for the commission. A walkway would cost about $17 million to $19 million, and boost the cost by about 6 percent, from $290 million to $309 million, Peterson said.

New Jersey last year joined 17 other states with a "complete streets" policy that mandates bike and pedestrian facilities on most future road projects.

Those policies typically define a "reasonable" expense for adding pedestrian and bicycle facilities as 20 percent of a project's cost.

Dallas,TX is one of the few places to have a helmet law for adults. They suspended enforcement of the law due to a court decision that it was unconstitutional, but recently began enforcing it again as they appeal the case. A second case which claimed it was unconstitutional was recently declared moot since the municipal court dismissed the case after the defendant bought a helmet. 

"The law is unconstitutional because it conflicts with the law passed by the Legislature, and I have the vested property right not to spend my cash on the helmet and a vested property right to use my bike in accord with state law."

Though he is white, Woodfield also worries the law may be abused. In his suit he asked the city to admit the police department "used riding without a helmet as a pretext to stop people for searches."

Portland is expected to approve its 20-year, $613M plan to build 681 miles of bike lane. But not until next week.

Critics think the mayor and cycling advocates are dreaming. For starters, the plan would require a new steady revenue stream.

"They want to make bicycling more attractive than driving for all trips of three miles or less," says John Charles, president of the Cascade Policy Institute. "Nothing they do is going to make that happen for most people."

The plan calls for an expansive interconneted bicycle network, new street designs and an array of education programs. It also mandates studying funding concepts in coming months.

Some ideas — licensing and registration fees for bicyclists, a citywide sales tax on new bikes and advertising in bike lanes — would target just cyclists. But a proposed "green transportation" bond would ask everyone to pay.

Where the 1996 plan emphasized bike lanes on busy streets, the 2030 plan proposes 314 miles of new separated bikeways and 256 miles of new bike boulevards with low automobile traffic that link to key destinations.

Comments

[SJE]

Thanks for the numbers for plowing the Minuteman. If it is $34/mile per storm, then it's about $168/storm for the CCT. We are now on our third storm, and would just be hitting $500. Tell MoCo and DC I'll pay the $168.

[Ron Alford]

We just need to build some bike plows.

[Richard Layman]

Does anyone know the story behind how the pedestrian/bike bridge was constructed at Georgia Ave. and the Beltway (on the west side of the street)? It was done in a manner that separates walkers/bicyclists from having to cross the entrance and exit ramps at grade?

[Froggie]

Is that last bit a sentence or a question? If the latter, then yes that is correct.