Category: Biking in Baltimore

Saturday, July 10, 2010; 12pm-5pm
Location: Herring Run Park, Belair Road & Shannon Drive, 21213

The Herring Run Watershed Association’s annual Berry Festival is back and sweeter than ever! Come on out for live music, BBQ, beer & wine, berries, kids games, local arts & crafts, and lots of information on living la vida local. Other features include a Dessert Contest and a raffle, with the top prize an eco-friendly, battery-powered mower! This event is FREE.

For more information or to register for the Dessert Contest, visit: https://baywatersheds.org/events/berry-festival/

By Gordon Steen

Look around Baltimore and you might notice that some city residents have a slightly different aura. They stand out for their demonstrated ability to shine above the rest for their grassroots, community work promoting sustainability with everyone they meet. They want us to walk and bike more and drive less, eat local and even plant our own gardens. They think companies should lead the way to a more environmentally-friendly future. Though you may not know their names, they are business owners, activists, government officials and urban farmers all working to make Baltimore green.

Nate Evans, Baltimore City, Department of Transportation, Bike and Pedestrian Planner

Most people think city streets belong to cars. Not Nate Evans. His dream is a landscape in which pedestrians and bikers sharing the city’s byways and highways with motorists. His quest is to plan and rejuvenate sustainable bike transportation in the City of Baltimore.
As he works to map out a way for cyclist and motorists to share the road, Evans also hosts the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee along with Greg Hinchliffe, Chairman. The group holds monthly meetings during which bike advocats gather to discuss city plans and initiatives that will affect the quality of life for everyone in Baltimore.

Evans and the committee are also behind two fun annual events focused on getting Baltimoreans on their bikes. The committee plans and organizes "Bike to Work Day" and the Tour Dem Parks, Hon! bike ride that was held on June 13th that gives city residents the opportunity to show their support for safe, healthy and sustainable biking in Baltimore. And the Baltimore’s new bike map has just rolled off the presses.

Encouraging citizen advocacy for a sustainable Baltimore by ingendering community support is what Evans strives for. "Biking has a near zero carbon footprint. The more we make Baltimore bikeable, the more people will choose to ride. The more people ride, the less they drive which improves our air quality, reduces traffic congestion and our dependence on fossil fuels," he states.

And with, the US Department of Transportation’s, Secretary Ray La Hood on the record now supporting the nation’s cyclists and pedestrians, Evans has gained an ally in a high place. The timing of Sec. Hood’s announcement is just right because Baltimore’s funding for the projects like bike lanes, bike parking, bike mapping and bike events runs out at the end of 2010. Another key ally is City Councilperson Mary Pat Clark who supports important new bicycle legislation for Baltimore.

As funding for alternative transportation and other green initiatives dwindles, public support becomes even more imperative for those battling on the front lines. Without it their hard work, community organizing and continued promotion of quality of life initiatives could die from a lack of funding. Evans is hopeful that that will not happen. Community support for his work will make a difference. Baltimore’s new Bike Map and city bike events are available on Facebook at Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee
…
Continue reading “Baltimore’s Green Masterminds”

Baltimore, MD / July 1, 2010 – Baltimore Police are seeking public assistance in investigating a fatal hit and run @ 700 Woodbourne Avenue on 6/13/10 at approximately 0258 hours.

Police are looking for a dark colored 2007 Chrysler 300 with possible front-end windshield damage. The vehicle has a Maryland tag.

Anyone with information should contact Detective David Simms at 410-396-2606.

SAMPLE CAR BELOW

Continue reading “BPD Seeks Public Assistance in Fatal Hit & Run”

by Nate Evans

Continue reading “Zipcar comes to B’more”

When people identify me as a cycling advocate the conversation usually turns to scofflaw cyclists and I usually respond with the question "Do you always obey the speed limit as a motorist?" Which gets an affirmative response so I query further "Even on 83 or the beltway?" Now the responses get interesting as they usually follow the lines of "Of course not, you’d get killed if you did the speed limit there."

Well at least one reader of Michael Dresser’s column calls for a different approach… more enforcement.

"Maryland’s drivers must be re-educated that the speed limit does not mean it is the minimum speed! "

"People are going to die because of this lack of enforcement. The State, the County, and the City; and all of their executives OWN THIS PROBLEM! Re-educate the people."

Even Michael Dresser says "As one who had a near-terminal experience on the Jones Falls Expressway when a speeding driver spun out in front of me, I can sympathize."

I really have to ask when are we going to look at traffic "accidents" differently? 80-90% of them are preventable and the cost on human lives is not worth trying to shave a few minutes off of travel time.

Continue reading “Scofflaw motorists”

Department responded to the Valley Road at Forest Avenue for a motor vehicle crash with injuries. The crash involved a juvenile on a bicycle. The child was traveling on Forest Avenue and was unable to stop prior to the intersection with Valley Road. Susan Lee, of Cumberland, was traveling south on Valley Road when the cyclist struck the side of her vehicle. Cumberland Fire Department ambulance responded to the scene and transported the juvenile to Western Maryland Regional Medical Center for injuries sustained in the motor vehicle crash. Investigation continuing.
Continue reading “Crash involved a juvenile on a bicycle.”

On the way home from the BBA meeting I was riding up Roland Ave about to cross W 40th and I see the ped signal nearing zero as I approach. Now by State standards at Zero the light should go yellow so I look for cross traffic and see none so I decide to "run the yellow." But as I entered the intersection and the countdown hit zero the light was still green and the ped light was solid red. About 5 seconds later I look back, and the light is still green … WTF? (Walking I can cross a street twice that size in 5 seconds.)

So I am posting this in case the police give anyone a hassle about not obeying a ped signal as ped lights need to adhere to standard and telling someone that it is unsafe to walk when it is still safe to walk is lying and makes for unsafe conditions. And with so many ped lights that lie it is no wounder we have such a low compliance to them.

But investigators found that the cyclist was at fault because he was riding in parking lanes and tried to pass the truck on the right, which is illegal in Maryland, according to a city police spokesman.

The law:

§ 21-101. Definitions.
(v) Shoulder.- “Shoulder” means that portion of a highway contiguous with the roadway for the accommodation of stopped vehicles, …

§ 21-1205.1. Bicycles, motor scooters, and EPAMDs prohibited on certain roadways and highways; speed limit.

(b) Roadway with bike lane or shoulder paved to smooth surface.-

(1) Where there is a bike lane paved to a smooth surface or a shoulder paved to a smooth surface, a person operating a bicycle or a motor scooter shall use the bike lane or shoulder and may not ride on the roadway, except in the following situations:

(i) When overtaking and passing another bicycle, motor scooter, pedestrian, or other vehicle within the bike lane or shoulder if the overtaking and passing cannot be done safely within the bike lane or shoulder;

---

By my reading a “parking lane” is still a shoulder and one cannot leave the shoulder unless you are passing something in the shoulder. And there is this from Bicycle Law:

Imagine you’re driving your car on a road with multiple lanes. You’re in the right lane, and for some reason, the lane to the left of you backs up, and traffic stops. No problem, your lane is still open, so you continue driving, passing all of the cars stopped in the lane to your left.

Then you see the lights in your rearview mirror—you’re pulled over by a law enforcement officer, who issues you a citation for passing on the right. Later, in traffic court, you explain to the Judge that traffic in the lane to your left was stopped, while your lane was open, and that is why you were passing on the right. Despite your defense, the Judge decides that you were in violation of the law, and tells you that you should have either merged into the left lane, or stopped in your lane and waited for traffic in the left lane to begin moving again.

An absurd interpretation of the law? Absolutely. The decision is not only contrary to what the law actually says, it also leads to a result so absurd that any Judge should realize that it is obviously not the law.

---

So what are your thoughts? Are the police right and are we forbidden to ride in parking lanes? Are we forbidden to pass on the right in a separate lane? And should a commercial truck driver that fails to signal a turn be the lesser “at fault” party?

Please post your thoughts.
Continue reading “Was the cyclist at fault?”

Assault – 3500 Blk N. Charles Street (Westside) – On June 21st at 11:51 AM, a staff member was riding his bicycle to work when he stopped to pick up an item on the street. A white van stopped and an unknown male exited and approached the staff member. The unknown male became verbally abusive and then struck the staff member for no apparent reason. The unknown male then left the area in the same vehicle. No injuries were reported. Investigation continuing.
Continue reading “Assault – 3500 Blk. N. Charles St.”

A 0.7 mile pedestrian and bicycle loop between Franklin, Mulberry, Fulton and Calhoun Streets.

Mark Brown –

I’m a City Planner with the Baltimore Department of Transportation. I’d like to have communities be more involved in Baltimore DOT projects and give folks an opportunity to review and comment on plans early and often.

Event:	West Baltimore Ped/Bike Loop Design Workshop
	www.socializr.com/event/39004972
Hosted by:	Mark
When:	Jul 8, 2010, 6:00 PM
Location:	Bon Secours Community Center
	26 N. Fulton Ave, Baltimore, MD

Continue reading “West Baltimore Pedestrian-Bicycle Loop Project”