BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

(grrrr. Trying flickr links instead of Google Photos links, this time) I biked in Akron, Ohio a few days ago, and found: themed bike racks outside their baseball park (click to see full photo - more grrrr) https://flic.kr/p/Liiowj a two-way bike lane on Main St. protected by planter boxes https://flic.kr/p/M5P5iU

Columbus, Ohio is a nice city (economically healthier than the rest of Ohio) with some very nice parks along the Scioto River, https://flic.kr/p/MB84fQ   with clean, wide paths with few geese. https://flic.kr/p/MB84wb   I visited Columbus to take part in their Bike-the-Cbus ride (http://www.yaybikes.com/bike-the-cbus/), which is their equivalent to Pedal Pittsburgh. I recommend their 28 mile ride. Columbus has a nice trail network that follows several north-south creeks away from downtown https://flic.kr/p/ME8Tur   with many nice bike-ped bridges that appear to be built in the past decade. https://flic.kr/p/MB84kj   I don't know all the details, but get the impression that most of the trail-building in Ohio is driven by city, county, and state government and funded by explicit park taxes and maintained by paid government workers (whereas in Pittsburgh, it's nonprofits like Friends of the Riverfront or Steel Valley Trail Council scrounging on scraps of funding from foundations or the state, and relying on volunteer labor, much of the time). So Ohio has built a lot of nice connector ramps that strengthen their trail network https://flic.kr/p/ME8Ts2   and some of their trail shelters are quite impressive (this one had a fix-it station). https://flic.kr/p/ME8TqP   The trail signage is pretty good. https://flic.kr/p/MB84z7   Traveling east-west by bike is not as easy, but they've got some bike lanes (mostly unprotected) and a few designated "bike boulevards" (streets where share-the-road cycling is encouraged boldly). https://flic.kr/p/MB84qE   The city has some bike racks, but clearly not enough near the Ohio State University stadium. https://flic.kr/p/MB84js   Columbus has a healthy restaurant scene, which I encourage you to check out.

The Netherlands has figured it out! Junction design in the Netherlands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpQMgbDJPok

The Dutch video is great. But there might be difficulties in doing likewise in our region. Most of the scenes feature infrastructure that requires significant space. It helps that the Netherlands is basically flat. Around here it might be ideal once bicycling becomes a significant mode of transportation in suburban areas. In town is more difficult. We don't really have boulevards that might easily accommodate segregated pathways as seen in the video. On the other hand I really like the idea of crossing-light switches accessible to bikers and not just peds. For example, at Wild & Butler the light takes forever. But if you waddle over to the ped crossing switch and press you can get a light in quite reasonable time. Why can't we have bike-side access at key intersections?

The description of the design approach is valuable for American planners. This should be pounded into their heads; "First draw the carriageway (the motor vehicles) AS NARROW AS POSSIBLE...". Also, re: Paul Heckbert, yeah, Cbus is fabulous, I am so loving that city.

Not purely bike infra, but I was recently up at the UPMC/Lemieux facility up in Cranberry (!) and the roads in the new development are signed and sharrowed as "Bike Lanes". And there is a new roundabout. I felt a bit like I was in some unexpected alternative universe (as opposed to the actual alternative universe that I assume Cranberry to be). http://www.google.com/maps/@40.6870514,-80.0923877,449m/data=!3m1!1e3

I was just up there. Unfortunately 1) they use the bike lane as Construction parking and it was covered in mud and dirt, and 2) the area around it (route 228) is a peds / bike nightmare. Very wide, highway speed cars, zero sidewalks. Also, I saw zero bike parking infrastructure. But maybe I didn't look hard enough. It is a beautiful facility, though.

Cranberry started their bike/ped thinking with their athletic fields a few years ago https://goo.gl/maps/xQi4gX5Ywhw ; the south hills bike committee got a tour from their planning folks who were very proud of it.  While these may be "islands" at the moment, they have actually written sidewalks and such into their building codes so that any new construction will allow for walkability & connecting of housing plans and work/retail.  It may be thirty years too late for most of Cranberry, but I think they have good intentions moving forward. Oh, they even have a speed-table on the drive in https://goo.gl/maps/utLQyn3yALC2

Now that I know that this thread exists, I will have to take photos in Burlington. I did take a street that has an on street weight sensor for a cyclist to activate a traffic light.

I was in Tucson last week. For about 40 years, Tucson has been building a Loop trail that makes a big circle around downtown, following dry creeks. At cross-streets, the trail dips down into the flood zone, passing through culverts to get under each bridge. They've built 100 miles, to date, and spent over $100 million. It's nice! https://flic.kr/p/T1nsXU The city and county are leading the trail development and maintenance effort, reflecting a long-term commitment to building, maintenance, and promotion of the trails and parks. They've put a lot of work into landscaping, sculptures, connections into neighborhoods ... they've done a lot of things right. This reminded me a bit of the relatively strong governmental commitment to trail-building that you see in Ohio, and it contrasts with Pennsylvania, where state and county have paltry interest in such things, typically, our state transportation department treat bikes as an afterthought, and many trail groups are volunteers constantly scrounging for funding scraps. The Loop planners estimate that their return on investment with trail building is 900%, between health care costs averted, increased real estate value, recreational benefit, and increased sales tax. See Loop map & economic info: http://www.apwa.net/library/meetings/congress/9606.pdf But Tucson is not bike heaven; much of the city is car-crazed and ridiculously sprawled, in the L.A. mold. Many of its streets have more lanes than Pittsburgh's interstates! Mitigating the sprawl some is the designation of a few streets, such as Third Street, shown below, as bike boulevards, meaning they have speed bumps, roundabouts, 20mph speed limit, leading to a very bike-friendly street. https://flic.kr/p/SSCGfi Where a bike route crossed a busy street, I encountered a HAWK beacon (High-Intensity Activated crossWalK beacon). I tried it and it worked: when I pushed the button, the light for cars turned yellow immediately, then red, allowing me to cross. https://flic.kr/p/SSCGeM Tucson also has a Bike Church. (click for uncropped) https://flic.kr/p/T1nsX3

Bike Box covered bike parking in Shaker Square (Cleveland, Ohio)

Took a bad photo but kudos to blawnox for a new? and very visible 4 feet to pass sign on Freeport Road inbound in front of Curbside Coffee.