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It’s not secrete, we just can’t tell you

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

To call this “secret” and a “vehicular tunnel” implies that the county was trying to pull a fast one over the community, and that just isn’t true.

…
Because the conceptual renderings are the company’s proprietary intellectual property and cannot be made public at this time

If I am reading this right there are two plan sources being discussed.

[1}Metro produced a report in July 2009 that analyzed five designs to address pedestrian access between the Naval Medical Center and the Metro station. All plans excluded consideration for bicyclists and integration of the needs of the surrounding communities. After the Metro report was published, [2]a local builder [Clark Construction Group] submitted an unsolicited proposal that was far superior to any of the Metro designs. The builder’s concept would serve every rider arriving at the station — rail, bus, car/vanpool and cyclists. The concept took into account concerns from the community.

But

That proposal [the one that included cyclists???] wasn’t included in the TIGER grant application. In fact, under the new process, the proprietary concept cannot be considered as part of the alternatives to be developed and evaluated.

I’m not sure if I am reading that right or not but it sounds to me that the plan that did not include cyclists (which is against MD State Law) is seeking a TIGER grant and the “far superior” plan has been put on the back burner.

Continue reading “It’s not secrete, we just can’t tell you”

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The “Enhancer” – Say thank you to people who obey the law

[Baltimore Spokes: This sounds like something out of “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” with annoying overly friendly automated messages. If the sole responsibility of making crossing a road safer lies with the pedestrian then we should consider other options, my personal favorite in the “If this is the best we can do then lets get crazy with the idea” category is have a supply of red capes for pedestrians on the corner and as the pedestrian attempts to cross they attempt to misdirect the car into charging the cape with shouts of “El Toro.” Cyclist could act as as picadores by using colorful suction cup plunger like devices to attache to cars to help increase the entertainment value. If the pedestrian successfully crosses he would get an automated score card that would allow them to compete at local, state or national championships that would be televised as pedestrians attempted to get the best scores as they cross some of the busiest car centric roads. If crossing a road requires great skill to avoid death then people should get some glory from their death defying talents.]

by Sarah Goodyear

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we’ve got a post from M-Bike.org weighing in on a new crosswalk treatment in a Michigan town:

home_pic2.jpgCan this crosswalk penetrate a driver’s consciousness? (Photo: R.D. Jones)
crosswalk signs
(the “Enhancer”), with lights, flashing beacons, and a pleasant spoken
instructions have recently been installed in Lyon Township where the
Huron Valley Trail crosses both a newly constructed road as well as
Grand River.

They’re expensive, obnoxious, and as far as we can tell, somewhat ineffective.

As for the obnoxiousness, here are the instructions. “Hello. You’ve activated the crosswalk signal. Wait for traffic to stop before you cross. To show traffic you want to cross, place one foot near the curb line. And remember to thank the driver as you are crossing the roadway.”

Why are pedestrians and cyclists instructed to thank
motorists just for following state and local crosswalk laws? Shouldn’t
that be a basic expectation?…

[W]hile testing them on Grand River, a van never slowed
when the sign was activated and we were trying to cross. It appeared
they were texting.

Maybe we should thank those drivers that aren’t driving while distracted, too.

…

Continue reading “The “Enhancer” – Say thank you to people who obey the law”

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MPD officer tells cyclist to get into non-existent bike lane

by washcycle

Reader Patrick relays a story from this morning,

I wanted to relay a scene I experienced this morning involving some DC
metro police. It took place on 16th street, going south on the hill
coming down from Euclid to U street, along Meridian Hill Park. As you
know, this hill is pretty steep and during rush hour traffic al
three lanes are clogged. Basically the whole street is filled with cars
all the way to the curb, leaving little to no space for bikes. To get
around this, I, and almost every other biker I’ve seen on that road over
the past two years, usually ride between the lanes until after W St., at
which point more room opens up on the right side of the road. The only
issue I’ve ever encountered with this strategy is the occasional car
changing lanes without signaling.

This morning as I rode this stretch, everything was going fine
until I had to stop short due to an MPD car abruptly cutting me off
by turning toward the adjacent lane. This was a potentially dangerous
move and I grudgingly chalked it up to the cops simply not seeing me. However, as I tried to
weave around their car, they gave a short burst of their siren and told
me to pull over to the side of the road. I reluctantly obliged, moving
around two lanes of traffic to the corner of 16th and W, and watched as
the cops tried to do the same. After a minute, they realized that they
probably wouldn’t be able to traverse the same two lanes of clogged
traffic and instead got on their loudspeaker. They blasted the
following statement at me: “You are required to bike in the bike lane!”

There is no bike
lane on 16th Street. This cop was ordering me to bike in a non-existent
bike lane. Thankfully, by this point, a few other bikers had gathered on
the corner so I had some backup as we all pointed out that there was no
bike lane in which we could bike. Their response was that if there
wasn’t a marked bike lane, we should consider the right-hand side of
the road  to be a bike lane. We then pointed out that the right-hand
side of that stretch of 16th was very dangerous since cars drove so
close to the curb. Their response: “It doesn’t matter, follow the law!”
And they drove off.

Cyclists aren’t required to ride right when they’re moving faster than traffic.

Continue reading “MPD officer tells cyclist to get into non-existent bike lane”

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Western County Pedestrian & Bicycle Access Plan

Richard Layman, Bicycle & Pedestrian Planner
410-887-3524
rlayman@baltimorecountymd.gov

Western County Bike and Ped Map.

The Western Baltimore County Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Plan will be an “action plan” for constructing pedestrian and bicycle improvements in the urban sections of the western part of Baltimore County.

The plan is being developed by an advisory committee composed of representatives from the community and county and state government, and will be based on the needs and desires expressed by the citizens who live or work in the area. It will identify specific projects to be implemented and provide recommendations for phasing and funding.

The main impetus for undertaking this plan comes from Baltimore County’s Master Plan 2010.  The master plan describes the need to improve the variety of transportation options available to its citizens.  It calls for a county-wide plan for developing and improving bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Master Plan Goal for Pedestrian Facilities

Develop and maintain pedestrian facilities that provide desirable levels of accessibility and safety for pedestrians, and encourage walking for both utilitarian and recreational purposes.

Master Plan Goal for Bicycle Facilities

Develop and maintain bicycle facilities that provide an adequate level of convenience, mobility, and safety for bicyclists at all levels of experience, and encourage bicycle trips for utilitarian, recreational and commuting purposes.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning E-newsletter

Sign up to receive mailings about “County Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Plan” by subscribing to the Baltimore County Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Newsletter.

Walking and Biking Survey

Please take this online survey to identify areas for walking and bicycling improvements in the Western plan area. 

Continue reading “Western County Pedestrian & Bicycle Access Plan”

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Boy Scouts test life-or-death skills

"Today we went on a bike trip where we had to shoot BB guns and do archery," said Greg Streeton, an eighth-grader at New Market Middle School and a scout in Troop 268."
[I got this summery in my Google news alert and it made me think of a new style of self-defense riding skills class much like what was needed in the wild west where one would have to defend their rights in a very assertive manner because no one else would but it is simply the annual Klondike Derby. (Though riding your bike can at times seem like the wild west with every man for them self and the police getting involved is virtually unheard of.)]
Continue reading “Boy Scouts test life-or-death skills”

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Bicyclists May Fight Back

[Add this to my wish list.]
Picture the perfect walk, run, or ride on a gorgeous Missouri morning spoiled by a frighteningly close encounter with a motorist who is angry just to see a bicyclist on the road. In the past, many of us were frustrated by our inability to take self-protective action or to incite others to protect us unless we were severely damaged by the encounter.
The Missouri Bicycle Federation offers its members an option that can be very satisfying…Report that safety threat! In an effort to make our state a safer place to walk, run, and bicycle, the Missouri Bicycle Federation (MoBikeFed) has established a program in which the details of the incident are reported to us and a letter will be sent to the offending motorist.
Details of the incident should include: motorist license tag number and description of the incident (time, place, description of vehicle & driver, what happened).
The letter sent to the motorist is accompanied by a summary of the Missouri state statutes and Missouri Driver Guide sections related to bicycling. The summary was compiled by the Missouri Bicycle Federation and may be freely reproduced without copyright restriction. The summary is available for viewing/download in MSWord format and PDF format.
In addition, the offender’s name and address will be keep on file in case the unsafe action is repeated and legal action becomes necessary. The names of both the offending motorist and the reporting bicyclist are kept confidential.
This program is open to all MoBikeFed members, including members of affiliated clubs.
Continue reading “Bicyclists May Fight Back”

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Too Late for Jack Yates: The Maryland Legislature Considers a 3-Foot Passing Law—Again

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By Michael Byrne | Posted 1/28/2010

Last summer, cyclist Jack Yates was killed at the intersection of Maryland and Lafayette avenues. He was riding to the right of the right lane of Maryland as a truck passed him, also in the right lane. That is, both vehicles were smooshed into the right lane as the truck instigated a right turn onto Fayette. The accident that resulted is a classic “right hook,” one of the most dreaded occurrences in urban bicycling—and one of the most common.

Whether the driver didn’t see Yates or didn’t look, the turning truck sealed off the cyclist’s passage, and there are then only three things possible: 1) The cyclist veers right, impossible in this situation; 2) the cyclist stops, also impossible in this situation because there wasn’t enough time to react; 3) the cyclist crashes into the turning truck. Jack Yates—a regular bicycle commuter and by all accounts an experienced, safe, and responsible cyclist—met the latter fate, hitting the truck and becoming entangled in its rear wheels, which dragged him several feet across the intersection. He died on the scene, in the middle of a city intersection on a city-sanctioned bike corridor, and the truck drove off.

According to the Baltimore Police Department, Yates was the one at fault. Yes, Yates hit the truck, but he had no other option. Was he supposed to take the whole lane, and not yield to the right? That seems to be the message. And, in the immediate, that is the message received.

“You have the same rights as a motor vehicle and also the same obligations,” BPD Lt. Leslie Bank wrote in a letter responding to an inquiry about the incident from a member of local bike collective Velocipede. Indeed. If only we cyclists had any reason to believe that the Baltimore Police Department would have our back if we acted “properly” on city streets and took, always, the full lane.

Yates’ deadly empty-set could and should been have preempted. For a number of years, the Maryland legislature has considered what’s known as a 3-foot passing law. It’s just what it sounds like: If a motor vehicle passes a cyclist on a road, the driver must allow 3 feet of clearance. If such a law had been in effect, the truck driver would have been legally obligated to allow the cyclist following behind to proceed through the intersection before making the turn. And Jack Yates might be alive. In 2009, it was the House Environmental Affairs Committee that shot the bill down—citing “unenforcability”—after the Senate passed the bill 45 to 2.

The bill is once again in the legislature, sponsored by Del. Jon Cardin (D-Baltimore County) and Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery County). It is not only a smart and sensible piece of legislation, it is a matter of public safety, as last year’s tragic event ably proves.

Continue reading “Too Late for Jack Yates: The Maryland Legislature Considers a 3-Foot Passing Law—Again”