by Bike Courier | Jun 20, 2015 | Advocacy
We sent the following to all KY State Legislators… Honorable Legislators, The following letter to Lexington’s mayor expresses a frustration that many of your constituents may experience. You can help solve this problem that many communities are experiencing. We invite your participation. Grateful. Jackie Green === Mayor Jim Gray, Is Lexington, like Louisville, experiencing a loss of freedom to improve local community due to restrictions imposed by KY Transportation Cabinet? I am working with an adhoc group including UofL, Manual/YPAS High School, Noe Middle School, Jefferson County Public Schools, Old Louisville residents, Metro Councilmembers, etc. who want a slower speed limit in the vicinity of those adjacent schools. KYTC says “No!”. “No!” seems to be a favorite KYTC expression. Downtown and surrounding neighborhoods want 2 way streets. KYTC says “No!”. KYTC says “No!” because of the OH River Bridges Project construction. KYTC says “No!” because of upcoming OMNI Hotel construction. KYTC says “No!” because of upcoming convention center construction. Construction will always be with us. Construction is no reason to delay improving our community. School zone speed limit concerns vs. KYTC concerns are not limited to the schools mentioned. This lack of municipal freedom extends far beyond downtown and the near neighborhoods. Further, I suspect Lexington and others local governments (KY League of Cities ??) are experiencing the same KYTC disregard for local community needs. Louisville Metro Public Works cannot take on KYTC alone. As a result LMPW must adopt KYTC policies/practices. Below is a recent letter from Public Works to Councilwoman Butler in response to our request for a safe speed limit around UofL, duPont Manual High School...
by Bike Courier | Jun 20, 2015 | Advocacy
Cars and trucks traveling over the 35 mph speed limit and cyclists, both flanked by concrete columns. This death trap is on the south side of the Manual/YPAS High School, Noe Middle School and University of Louisville corridor. On either side of the trap are hundreds of student housing units. Other cities have saner school zone speed limits. We, along with Jefferson County Public Schools, Metro Council Members and Old Louisville residents and businesses asked Louisville Public Works for a lower speed limit. Public Works refused the request. Stay...
by Bike Courier | Apr 18, 2015 | Advocacy
On Friday morning, an angry cyclist came into my bicycle shop, Bike Couriers, complaining that the city had closed the Clark Memorial Bridge (Second Street) and the Big Four Bridge for Thunder Over Louisville. He could not get to Indiana by bike. I asked him to consider the anger of the bus riders who will show up at bus stops this Sunday only to find a street-closing event,CycLOUvia, has rerouted and rescheduled the buses that take them to work. Once again Louisville will sabotage the public transit system, and TARC riders, already burdened by very infrequent service on weekends, will find both the TARC schedules and the TARC routes blown. People who depend on the bus will be late for work, may miss work entirely, could lose their jobs as a result. Grandchildren will not get to visit grandma. Mothers’ grocery shopping plans will be trashed. Public transit-subversive events are not limited to the cycling community. Charity runs/walks, races, fairs, parades all share responsibility. Such events take place nearly every spring, summer and fall weekend. Cities and citizens depend on the reliability of urban public transit systems. No compassionate city would do this to those dependent on public transit. Louisville would do well to apply to events the real estate adage “location, location, location.” River Road, for instance, is a beautiful corridor with no significant cross streets and no TARC routes. Why not make River Road, a park, or an equivalent venue the “parade route”? The question before us is one of venue; the question does not challenge the event. For those cyclists who are up in arms about my raising this issue,...
by Bike Courier | Aug 15, 2014 | Uncategorized
Published in Insider Louisville 12 August 2014 American cities are experiencing a backlash from drivers and pedestrians against bike lanes. Locally, drivers are complaining about the loss of travel lanes on Breckenridge and Kentucky Streets; pedestrians are complaining about cyclists on the Big Four Bridge; and cyclists are complaining about motorists, pedestrians and TARC buses in the bike lanes. We have become squabbling siblings in the back seat, “He’s on my side of the car!” Community is not built by isolating segments of society. Community is built by sharing common space peacefully and safely. The intent behind bike lanes is safety, and road safety is a function of mass and velocity. Remember physics? p=mv? The greater the mass and velocity, the greater the damage when things go wrong on our streets. Our road safety problem is simply one of mass and velocity. Louisville cannot readily change the mass of vehicles on the road. Louisville, however, can limit the velocity of vehicles traveling surface roads inside the Watterson Expressway. Slower, calmer traffic gives travelers more time to assess, more time to decide, more time to react. Slower, calmer traffic diminishes stress. Slower, calm, safe streets benefit the community of pedestrians, wheelchair users, young children in strollers, joggers, skate boarders, cyclists and motorists. Drivers are also more likely to embrace slower speeds for the benefit of the broader community than they are to embrace the loss of travel lanes to cyclists. Reducing the velocity of vehicles traveling surface roads inside the Watterson can be accomplished by eliminating one-way roads, lowering the speed limit inside the Watterson to 20 mph, and increasing...
by Bike Courier | Aug 4, 2014 | Advocacy
As one who cycles in the snow along the track of car tires, where the asphalt is clear of snow & often dry as a result of the car traffic, I wonder what winter holds for our bike lanes & cyclists who use or avoid them. Behind these questions is a desire to see year-round bike commuters in Louisville. Will the bike lanes be plowed & salted? Will the floppy ‘bollards’ obstruct clearing the bike lanes? Will the slush from passing cars drench cyclists in the bike lane? Will cyclists in riding in the clean tracks of the cars be splattered (or worse) by motorists impatiently passing by using the slushy, icy bike...
