News
Advocates worry that Louisville’s pursuit of $50 million Smart Cities award is ‘hijacking’ local efforts.
“It’s hijacking transportation planning in favor of the automobile industry,” Hixson said. “That’s something most scientists and advocates of sustainable transportation say we need to move away from.” He said CART also wants the city to articulate how Smart Cities will address issues such as climate change, racial segregation, joblessness in low-income areas and access to efficient transportation for the poor. Local advocates are also asking about the status of an overdue study, Move Louisville, a consultant-aided project set up to determine the community’s long-range transportation plans. “Am I worried? No. Am I angry? Yes,” Green said. “It’s just typical, we still don’t have a vision for a foundational issue, which is transportation.” Image: courtesy of Courier-Journal...
Media on bicycling advocate rejecting deals on traffic charges
Image courtesy of WAVE 3 TV http://www.wave3.com/story/31052598/bicycling-advocate-offered-deal-on-traffic-charges http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2015/12/14/biking-advocate-rejects-plea-offer/77309418/ http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2015/11/13/cyclists-risk-jail-time-not-using-lanes/75723738/...
Cyclist Rejects Court’s Deal
First, the timeline… November 13 – cyclist charged with: 1) Disregarding Traffic Light and 2) Obstructing a Highway… December 14 – Traffic Court – the defendant rejected the deal offered by the court… January 25 – Pre-Trial Conference – Prosecution amended the Obstruction charge (???), then, again proposed dismissing the Obstruction charge if the defendant pleaded guilty to the Disregarding Traffic Signal charge, took an online traffic course and paid $179 in court costs. The deal would have achieved two objectives: 1) avoiding a 90 day jail term on the Obstructing a Highway charge and 2) establishing that cyclists do not have to use bike lanes. The deal, however, would have denied the court the opportunity to wrestle with two issues: 1) the laws (Kentucky and Metro) which convey to cyclists the latitude to take measures which increase safety, and 2) the double standard where a motorist who just hit and killed a pedestrian can avoid prosecution on the plea “I did not see the pedestrian”, while a cyclist, pleading “I did not see the light” is prosecuted for moving safely through an intersection unaware of the color of a light… March 10 – Second Pre-Trial Conference – prosecution wants to review dash cam and body...
Shop owner challenges interpretation of law
Bike shop owner cited while cycling on residential street…two charges…Obstructing a Highway (riding outside a bike lane) and Disregarding a Traffic Light…Obstructing a Highway charge will be dropped…KY law clearly gives cyclists the right not to use a bike lane…Disregarding a Traffic Light…defense will challenge the interpretation of law and use the same argument that motorists use after killing a pedestrian or cyclist…”I didn’t see the pedestrian/cyclist/light.”...
KY Transportation Cabinet vs. local community needs
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...
35 mph speed limit in this death trap
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...
Cycling advocacy and other public events should not hinder public transit
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,...
Beyond Bike Lanes – Community & Safety
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...
Winter & bike lanes
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...
Louisville ranks low on active transportation
“Kentucky and Louisville consistently rank near the bottom on surveys that relate to active transportation like walking and cycling, so it’s no surprise that we rank near the top in obesity and heart disease.” In the city this failure is a function of policies related to vehicle speeds, land use, density, surface parking lots, public transit. Fischer has failed us....
Reasons you should ride a bicycle
Petroleum Free Transportation
combats global climate change
improves local air quality
leaves no oil on our streets and in our drinking water
keeps local dollars local
frees our military from protecting foreign oil
promotes global peace
Bikes Are
healthy exercise
smart personal economy
great traffic calming influences
family-friendly
not electric (coal or fracked gas fueled) vehicles
fun!
