Month: November 2012

-> According to the Fall 2012 FHWA Pedestrian Forum, "The FHWA strongly encourages the use of ‘road diets’ (roadway reconfiguration) where appropriate. The classic ‘road diet,’ involves converting an undivided four lane roadway into three lanes made up of two through lanes and a center two-way left turn lane. The reduction of lanes allows the roadway to be reallocated for other uses such as bike lanes, pedestrian crossing islands, and/or parking. Road diets have multiple safety and operational benefits for vehicles as well as pedestrians, such as:"
Decreasing vehicle travel lanes for pedestrians to cross,
Providing room for a pedestrian crossing island,
Improving safety for bicyclists when bike lanes are added,
Providing the opportunity for on-street parking,
Reducing rear-end and sideswipe crashes, and
Improving speed limit compliance and decreasing crash severity when crashes do occur.
"Roadways with Average Daily Traffic (ADT) of 20,000 or less may be good candidates for a road diet and should be evaluated for feasibility. It has been shown that roads with 15,000 ADT or less had very good results in the areas of safety, operations, and livability."
"Driveway density, transit routes, the number and design of intersections along the corridor, as well as operational characteristics are some considerations to be evaluated before deciding to implement a road diet. Road diets can be low cost if planned in conjunction with reconstruction or simple overlay projects, since a road diet mostly consists of restriping."
https://1.usa.gov/T0ZvA8
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.

[B’ Spokes: Attention all cycling advocates.]
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by Tanya Snyder, Streets Blog
Big congrats to the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition, which had a “pretty cool success” Thursday, in the words of Policy Director Sarah Clark Stuart. The entire Streets and Services Committee of the City Council voted to approve a complete streets bill, advancing what could be one of the strongest municipal complete streets policies in the nation.
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What makes this complete streets bill uniquely enforceable, said Stuart, is that projects will be held up against a checklist to determine whether they are making the maximum possible accommodations to all users.
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https://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/11/19/philly-bike-win-complete-streets-bill-sails-through-city-council-committee/

B’ Spokes: Maybe this is an idea we should try next time Baltimore tries to remove a bike lane without input from the cycling community…
https://streetsblog.net/2012/11/13/photos-toronto-protesters-meet-bike-lane-removal-crews-head-on/

Bethesda, Maryland–(ENEWSPF)–November 7, 2012. Leisure-time physical activity is associated with longer life expectancy, even at relatively low levels of activity and regardless of body weight, according to a study by a team of researchers led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study, which found that people who engaged in leisure-time physical activity had life expectancy gains of as much as 4.5 years, appeared Nov. 6, 2012, in PLoS Medicine.
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This bar graph displays the years of life gained when participants met various percentages of HHS guidelines for physical activity. 50% = 1.8 years. 100% = 3.4 years. 200% = 4.2 years. 300% = 4.5 years.
Physical activity has been shown to help maintain a healthy body weight, maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints, promote psychological well-being, and reduce the risk of certain diseases, including some cancers.
"We must not underestimate how important physical activity is for health
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https://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/health-and-fitness/38129-nih-study-finds-leisure-time-physical-activity-extends-life-expectancy-as-much-as-45-years.html