Month: November 2011

Posted on

Baltimore County presses transportation projects to spur economic growth

Just to note that bicycling is nowhere to be found in the article. 🙁

Cycling projects create MORE jobs per dollar spent then other transportation projects, not to mention MDOT has $31 million of federal funds that can be used for bicycling projects just siting there not doing a darn thing. … but let’s spin our wheels looking for additional money for other things.

Seriously guys. spend what you have.

But if you are interested in reading what Baltimore County is up too: https://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/baltimorecounty/news/ph-tt-mdot-meeting-1102-20111028,0,6778767.story

Posted on

City launches circulator line from Hopkins Hospital to downtown

By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore added a third line to its free Charm City Circulator service Tuesday, with the launch of the new Green Route at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The Green line will run from Hopkins Hospital through Fells Point and Harbor East before heading north to City Hall and the Fallsway. It will then head back to Hopkins along the same route.
…
Continue reading “City launches circulator line from Hopkins Hospital to downtown”

Posted on

Amendments to Boxer- Inhofe bill

I’ll pull this out of America Bikes email:
"Senator Cardin (D- MD). His amendment addresses several concerns with the Active Transportation section of the bill, including removing road uses, increasing funding levels, as well as sub-allocating funds to local governments, and opening funding to an application process."
******************
The full email is in the Read More
******************
Continue reading “Amendments to Boxer- Inhofe bill”

Posted on

TELL THE SENATE THAT BIKES HAVE A RIGHT TO THE ROAD

From the League of American Bicyclists

I Bike I Vote

The draft of the Senate’s transportation authorization bill, S. 1813 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, includes language that would introduce a mandatory sidepath law on roads in our National Parks and other Federal lands. It requires cyclists on Federal lands to use a path or trail, instead of roads, if the speed limit is over 30 MPH and a trail exists within 100 yards, regardless of its condition or utility of the path. The provision sets a terrible precedent. Passing it would send the wrong message to transportation agencies that these policies are acceptable. Laws like this have been taken off the books in states over the past 30 years. This takes us in the wrong direction.

For more information, read Andy Clarke’s blog post. 

The League is working on many other aspects of the transportation reauthorization bill. This petition relates specifically to the mandatory sidepath law, which we felt deserved special attention. Stay tuned for news and action alerts related to this and other aspects of this critical legislation.


Please join us in telling the Senate that the mandatory sidepath law is a bad idea –

…
https://www.bikeleague.org/petition/

Posted on

Alert: Tell Anne Arundel: Trails are transportation

Anne Arundel County wants to spend $6 million to connect two segments of the WB&A rail trail, following a circuitous and hilly
route with an 800-foot bridge over floodplain wetlands. If they simply followed the old railroad bed, the route would be shorter, flatter, cost half as much, and built more quickly. The Parks and Recreation Department says it prefers the expensive and slow route because “No one has ever suggested that this trail will be used for transportation.” If that is true, we need to fix that now.

The Department is asking for comment on its 5-year plan. If you live or work in Anne Arundel (or ride on its trails) please tell the Department that the WB&A trail will be used for transportation.

1. Go to https://www.aacounty.org/RecParks/publicmeetings.cfm
2. Scroll to the form almost at the bottom.
3. on line 4 select Western Planning area
4. Fill out the rest of the form. If you work in Anne Arundel but live elsewhere, provide the Anne Arundel phone number. In the comments (using your words if possible), write something like:

Please extend the WB&A trail across the Patuxent River to Bowie with the shortest route and as few hills as possible. I use my bicycle for transportation. An extra mile on a bike is like an extra 5 miles for a car. An extra hill can be as annoying to a cyclist as a traffic jam is to a driver. Please build a straight trail on or near the old railbed, rather than a hilly detour.

5. If you do not live or work in Anne Arundel, we suggest that your comments mention the places where you spend money when you visit Anne Arundel parks.
6. If you want us to keep you informed, please send a copy of your comments to info@BaltimoreSpokes.org.