Category: Biking in Baltimore

In anticipation of Saturday’s May Day Roll, co-sponsored by The Baltimore Brew and Baltimore Bicycle Works, here’s the history behind what you’ll see on the first leg of our journey – the old mill towns of Woodberry and Lower Hampden. (Information on the Roll)

 

by MARK REUTTER

Nestled below the bridge pylons and roaring traffic of the Jones Falls Expressway lies the cradle of Baltimore industry.

The mill towns of Woodberry and Lower Hampden once produced 80 percent of all cotton duck used throughout the world, to say nothing of twine, yarn, lamp wick, twill, shirting and calico prints. The Poole & Hunt Foundry, at the foot of Union Ave., cast the three-foot-wide columns supporting the U.S. Capitol dome.

These stone-faced factories remain remarkably intact, finding new uses today as artists’ studios, offices, restaurants and small manufacturing units, while the miniature houses built for mill workers shelter a new generation of Baltimoreans.

…
Continue reading “Biking int Baltimore History: Part 1”

By Michael Byrne | Posted 4/21/2010

In the past year, two new bicycle shops have opened in Baltimore. Bike-repair collective Velocipede is frequently over capacity, resorting to waiting lists shortly after opening in the evenings, year-round. The City of Baltimore is poised to release its first-ever comprehensive bike map; official bike routes, lanes, and other improvements are sprouting on city streets like grease stains or potholes. Four landmark pieces of bike-policy legislation passed in the state legislature just last week. Bicycling magazine just placed Baltimore in its "Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities." And this is all recent–the evolution of cycling in our city over the past few years is on par with the evolution of fish growing legs, learning to crawl, walking on land, and standing upright.

It’ll take lots more to get up to par, or even close to it, with our closest bike-forward neighbor, Washington, D.C., but we can imagine a time soon when bike saturation in Baltimore will hit a point where we just won’t have any choice but to build up a bike infrastructure on par: Imagine a 5 o’clock rush hour on the beltway crammed instead up North Charles Street. Our 2010 Bike Issue isn’t meant to take the temperature of, or summarize the state of cycling in Baltimore, but to give a snapshot of it. Two riders, both hopelessly devoted to cyclist-as-way-of-life, a peek into the state of bike advocacy in Baltimore, and a rundown of what it might take to outfit for riding in this here 48th "Most Bike-Friendly City."
Continue reading “Peddling Faster”

Legislative
Update

Mary Pat
Clarke     Baltimore
City Council 14^th

 

 

“Bike
Bills” Scheduled for Hearings

Thursday,
May 6, 2010

4:00
PM

Community
Development Subcommittee

City
Council Chambers

City
Hall, 4^th Floor

 (Picture ID
Required for admission to City Hall)

 

Resolution

09-0175R Police and
Bicyclists

Calls for training of police officers to respond to
bike accidents in informed manner, to systematically file reports on
bike-involved accidents and to foster improved relations between BPD and the
bicycling community.

 

Legislation

09-0429 Required
Parking for Bicycles

In new and expanded premises where NEW offstreet
parking is required for 5 vehicles or more, requires 1 bike parking space
(accommodating 2 bikes) for every 10 vehicle spaces, permitting an offset on
required vehicle spaces up to 30% of required vehicle spaces. Requires
mandatory bike parking for employers with 10 or more fulltime/parttime
employees @ 1 bike
space (accommodating 2 bikes) per every 10,000 square feet of workplace floor
area.

 

09-0430 Bike Lanes

Authorizes Transportation (DOT) to create bike
lanes. Prohibits vehicular parking/stopping in bike lanes. Requires grates in
bike lanes to be perpendicular to traffic flow. Requires bike lane
exclusivity.

 

09-0431 Bike-Safe
Grates

All paving/repaving contract must require that all
street grates be placed perpendicular to the flow of traffic.

 

(MCC Resolution)

09-0433 Complete
Streets

Planning, design and construction of streets must
take into account the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and
people of all abilities as well as freight and vehicle users — to encourage
walking, biking, transit use and to promote safety for all users. Requires
annual report on implementation by director of the Department of
Transportation (DOT). Part of a national movement.

 

 

 

The Following BMore Streets for People resolution
and legislation have already been approved by the City Council Land Use and
Transportation Committee.

 

09-0177R BMore Streets
for People

Supports Spring 2010 implementation of BMore Streets
for People, a program for periodically closing main neighborhood streets for
certain hours to promote their recreational use by joggers, walkers, bikers,
etc. Based on Ciclovia model in Bogata, Columbia ,
now adopted by cities across the
USA . Resolution calls upon
Department of Transportation (DOT)  to take the lead, working with
Police, Health, General Services, Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts,
Sustainability — and neighborhood leaders of proposed BMore Streets venues.
Supports measures to ensure the affordability of BMore Streets events.
Supports creation of BMore Streets Advisory Committee.

 

10-0436 Bmore Streets
For People

Establishes a BMore Streets for People Program and Advisory Board.
Establishes the Department of Transportation as the City Administrator.

 

 

For
full text and agency reports on these bills, please go to https://legistar.baltimorecitycouncil.com/mattersearch/

 

Special thanks to the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory
Committee and Baltimore
Bike Coordinator Nate Evans for recommending and critiquing and supporting
our legislation.

 

 

Thanks.
Mary Pat

 

Mary Pat Clarke

550
City Hall

100 North Holliday Street
Baltimore,
Maryland 21202
410-396-4814 (o)
410-545-7585 fax
Marypat.clarke@baltimorecity.gov
Staff: Kara Kunst, Cindy Leahy

(first name.last name@baltimorecity.gov)

Long Distance Bike Riding and Randonneuring Talk at Velocipede Bike Project on Tuesday, May 4th at 7PM

Ever wanted to just get on your bike and ride to the mountains, to the Chesapeake Bay or to some neighboring city or state, and then be back home at the end of the day? To have a bicycle adventure of a hundred miles or more that’s self-supported, self-propelled and self-reliant?

Velocipede Bike Project is hosting a talk on Tuesday, May 4th, 7pm. explaining how to ride your bicycle long distances unsupported. The talk will provide you with helpful tips to make riding 100+ miles possible and even comfortable. It will give you information on appropriate bike frames and equipment, improving your performance on the bike, eating and drinking during the ride, tips on handling weather and darkness and how to find safe routes from the Baltimore area. We will also cover some of the history of long distance riding and Randonneuring.

The talk will come two days after the scheduled “Monument to Monument” ride going from Baltimore’s Washington Monument to DC’s Washington Monument and back on Sunday, May 2nd. We can get reports about that ride from members of Velocipede who are planning on riding it. For more information about this ride or the talk contact Velocipede or bobwag"at"gmail.com

Bob Wagner rides more than 150 miles per week commuting from his home in Hampden to work in Owings Mills as well as riding longer distances on weekends. He designs 100+ mile routes from Baltimore City to far-off places in MD and surrounding states and has been leading The Rando Ramble, a century ride, each month for the Baltimore Biking Club. Last year he rode 18 centuries.

Below are the bills being heard on May 6th beginning at 4:00 p.m. that are related to bicycle safety, etc. Beginning at 4:00 p.m and continuing until completed.

The public is invited to attend and to register to speak for or against these proposals.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Hearing: Community Development Subcommittee

4:00 PM Du Burns Council Chamber, 4th floor, City Hall
09-0429 Required Parking for Bicycles
09-0430 Transit and Traffic – Bike Lanes
09-0431 City Streets – Bike-Safe Grates
09-0433 Street and Transportation Projects – Complete Streets

from TheWashCycle by washcycle

Full Lane for Bikes, originally uploaded by Michael Neubert.
Continue reading “Full Lane for Bikes Sign in Arlington, VA”

Favor Placing Bikelanes on Lefthand Side of One Way Street

Putting the bikelanes on the Lefthand side of one way St Paul Street would: (1) Avoid conflicts w/ buses & taxis (2) reduce chance of getting doored (3) decrease chance of getting right hooked. From the photo, it looks like bicyclists who use the righthand bikelane have conflicts with buses, ride in the risky door zone, and face dangers of getting right hooked from right turning traffic. I definitely favor a leftside bikelane.
Continue reading “St Paul Street Bikelane”

Come out and make Baltimore
greener, while being green!   We’re delivering trees by bike trailer!

 

Event starts 9AM at
Walter P
Carter Elementary School
– 820 E. 43^rd St

 

If you can make it, please contact Nate Evans or Anne
Draddy

 

Nate Evans

Bike & Pedestrian Planner

Baltimore City Department of Transportation

417 E.
Fayette St, Rm. 555

Baltimore,
MD 21202

443.984.4094

www.baltimorecity.gov/bike

By cyclosity:

Reader Jed wrote in to let us[cyclosity] know about an update to the St Paul street bike lane / BoltBus parking situation. If you’ve ridden in the new lane, you might have encountered some large charter buses intruding into, or outright blocking the lane.

Their response is interesting to read for perspective, and is probably the best you could ask for short of “we will cease operations until we can stop blocking the bike lane” (I don’t think anyone wants that. BoltBus is probably the best way to get between New York and Baltimore, and I think there is a way Baltimore City can provide a good home for BoltBus and a safe lane for Baltimore cyclists. Oddly BoltBus did not reply to my email and those of a few others. No idea why Jed got the special treatment.

Thanks for your email.  We have been addressing this issue with Nate Evans of the Baltimore City Department of Transportation.  There wasn’t a bike lane on St. Paul prior to the recent street resurfacing project.  Unfortunately, the taxi cabs staging in this area have made it difficult for us to pull on bus in completely parallel to the curb and that’s why sometimes the rear of our buses protrudes into the bicycle lane.  We have asked the city for guidance on this issue and have recommended possibly moving the cabs stand back 10 more feet to alleviate this issue.  We have also addressed this with our drivers operating from this location and our customer service staff to ensure that we don’t block the cycling lane while our vehicle is there.   Hopefully you’ll see some improvement on this situation shortly.  We are trying our best not to block this lane, however a 45 foot bus is not the easiest thing to maneuver in the limited space that the city has given us here.

I’ve only seen a few buses in the lane myself – but the times that I did, it definitely seemed like the taxis (or private vehicles) were not really blocking the bus standing zone, and the driver probably had the extra 20 feet needed to park flush to the curb.

[B’ Spokes: Has anyone thought about putting bike lanes on the left> side of the street on one way streets? It avoids problems like this and door zone bike lanes and it is in our tool kit for our bike master plan.]

Continue reading “BoltBus responds to St Paul bike lane issue”

One of my favorite lines: “If I ride the only oil I will need is for my chain and oil tankers will haul chocolate milk.”