August 1999 Newsletter
Contents
Calendar
Announcements
Local News/Get Involved: 28th St., 63 Rd St.
Information Items:
Boulder TurnPike, Voice your Opinion
Boulder Police Bike Patrol
Boulder Police Bike Ed. for Schools
Electric Bicycles
BikeWay Maintenance
News from Bicycle Colorado
Contacts
Thur., 8/26/99 – U.S. Hwy 36 Corridor Public Meeting (possibly last public input)
From 4-7 PM. East Boulder Senior Center. See reprint article below.
.
Monday, 9/13/99 – BBC Sept. Meeting
From 7-9PM, at the Boulder Public Library, 11 th and Arapahoe. No food or drink is permitted.
Note: The following meeting date/times may change; See Announcements for more:
Monday, 10/10/99 – BBC Oct. Meeting
From 7-9 PM, at NIST.
Monday, 11/14/99 – BBC Nov. Meeting
From 7-9 PM, at NIST.
Monday, 12/13/99 – BBC Dec. Meeting
From 7-9 PM, at the Boulder Public Library, 11 th and Arapahoe. No food or drink is permitted.
Proposed General Meeting Time Schedule Change:
BBC needs to choose a new time for our regular monthly meetings because of a conflict with the TAB meeting schedule. The evening of the third Monday of each month is proposed, starting in October. If you have alternate suggestions, please contact Dave Allured at 499-7466, or discuss them at the September BBC meeting.
GreenWay Bike Rides:
The City is sponsoring rides on:
Th. 9/9/99, Fourmile Canyon & Wonderland Creeks. Meet at Boulder Meadows Mobile Home Park Community Room, 19 th &Violet.
Th. 9/23/99, Goose & Skunk Creeks. Meet at Municipal Service Center, 5050 East Pearl.
Th. 9/30/99, Bear Canyon & South Boulder Creeks. Meet at Martin Park Shelter, 36 th St & Eastman.
All rides depart at 5:30, weather dependent. Call 441-3266 for info.
MS BikeToberfest:
Sponsors of the Multiple Sclerosis MS-150 bike classic are having a "mini" MS ride this fall: a 1-day event called BikeToberfest on Sunday, September 26th, in Fort Collins. There is an 8-mile family ride, a 25-mile ride and a 63-mile challenge ride. Registration is $20 with a $75 minimum pledge. For more info. visit web site: http://www.fightmscolorado.org/fest/festindex.htm
Local News and Get-Involved Opportunities
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28 th Street Design Project:
The next meeting of the city's 28 th Street Design Committee will be the MORNING of Wednesday, Sept. 8 th from 7:00AM to 9:30AM. The location is the Chamber of Commerce (Pearl and Folsom on the SouthWest corner). All of the 28 th Street meetings are open to the public. BBC members watching the 28 th Street project include Premena and Dave Allured. The city contact is Bob Whitson, Senior Transportation Planner, phone 441-4155.
BBC has adopted and forwarded a position urging the city to include both on-street bike lanes and wide multi-use sidewalks for the entire length of the 28th Street project. These facilities must be of adequate width, and must be included on both sides of the street. Wide verges between the curb and sidewalks are also required, so that snow can be plowed onto the verges, not in the bike lanes or medians.
63 rd Street Design Project:
The city has begun a street redesign project for 63 rd Street from Arapahoe Road north to Stazio Ballfields. The preliminary design includes on-street bike lanes. Dave Allured recently attended a review meeting on behalf of BBC. He also recommended that the single sidewalk planned for the west side of the street be made at least 8' wide, and designated as a multi-use path to accommodate off-street riders.
Reminder: New Broadway Underpass at Skunk Creek
Noreen Walsh of the Transportation Dept. asked for BBC to consider plans for a new bike/ped underpass under Broadway to Basemar Shopping Center. If you are interested in this or any other projects mentioned, please contact the City Transportation Dept. at 441-3266, to get maps and other relevant information.
Information Items
Boulder TurnPike: "Last Chance To Voice Opinion"
The following letter to the Editor was first published on 29-July-99 and is reprinted here courtesy of the Boulder Daily Camera and its author, Ms. Sue Anderson of Boulder:
"I serve on the U.S. 36 MIS Technical Advisory Committee and found the article ‘Turnpike commute might get faster' (July 20) rather misleading. There are currently three options on the table:
1.Bus Rapid Transit/HOV including carpool access at Louisville/Superior and Broomfield.
- Bus Rapid Transit/HOV plus roadway improvements such as acceleration/deceleration lanes, ramp metering and ramp improvements.
- Bus Rapid Transit/HOV plus roadway improvements plus regional commuter rail.
Option #3 is by far the most important one to consider because studies have shown that in the very near future, perhaps within the next five years, U.S. Highway 36 will be gridlocked, especially in the Interlocken area, even with HOV lanes all the way to Table Mesa Drive. If commuter rail is not built, there may be no alternative way to get from Boulder to Denver and points in between.
Under Option #3 rail can be done incrementally, beginning with three stations (30 th & Pearl, 96 th Street, and Denver Union Terminal). Rail is infinitely expandable: add more passenger cars to a train; increase the number of trips as demand warrants; increase the number of stations. HOV is not expandable. The pavement will only hold so many buses and carpools and then it will be full (2,000 cars per hour maximum).
Option #3 is multi-modal. It includes both commuter rail and Bus/HOV. It integrates with the North Front Range Plan for Larimer and Weld counties, with a rail connection to Longmont and the potential for future connections to Fort Collins.
Rail schedules are reliable because they are not subject to weather conditions as HOV lanes are. Rail can lead to better land use planning by encouraging increased density around rail stations.
Survey after survey has shown that the public wants rail. If the final plan eventually goes to the voters for funding, they will be more willing to vote for it if rail is included.
The U.S. Highway 36 corridor has a projected construction budget of $450 million dollars. None of the options above come anywhere near that amount. Options #3, which is the most expensive of the three, is estimated to cost about $308 million.
There will be a public presentation on the options on Aug.26 at the East Boulder Senior Center from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. It is VERY important to come and express your views because this may be your last opportunity. Final decisions will be made by the MIS Advisory Committees in September with RTD board action scheduled for October.
Rebecca Struik Adds: Scholarly documentation on the advantages of fixed rail can be found in the books by Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy entitled: "Winning Back the Cities" and "Sustainability and Cities, Overcoming Automobile Dependence." The authors are Australian scholars who have studied the transportation systems of cities in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia. Rebekka has copies of these books, and recommends them.
Boulder Police Bicycle Patrol:
Rebecca Struik recently interviewed Officer Mitch Trujillo of the Boulder Police Department to get information about their "Bike Patrol Program."
Rebekka says: "There are four full-time officers on the bike patrol, two men and two women; and here is a sergeant as well as some officers who spend part of their time on bike patrol. They patrol along the Boulder Creek path and on the downtown mall including the perimeter of the downtown mall. They travel approximately from Mapleton to the Hill and from the mouth of the Canyon to Folsom. Among the advantages of being on a bike are increased mobility; on bike an officer can get quickly around the city, often more quickly than an automobile (no news to BBC members). Sometimes they have been called to a local park; officers on bikes can get rapidly to such a park, and a potential disturbance can be quickly prevented from becoming serious. Officer Trujillo would like to see the bike patrol expanded."
Officer Trujillo adds: "We as bike officers are more approachable by the public by the nature of our patrol (we're perceived as less threatening). We lack the four walls of steel found on patrol cars (less authoritarian). Citizens tend to find officers on bikes a more novel idea, and kids love us (contacts with citizens are less confrontational). In reference to our response to criminal acts, we have more access to sidewalks, parks, crowded areas, limited access areas, etc. Therefore, our response time is usually less in dense areas. In addition, the bike is an enforcement tool that returns the cop to the neighborhood. We can hear, see, and smell more. We have the means to be visible when we should be, invisible when we want to be (without having to worry about hiding a police car). Lastly, our bike officers are highly trained. All are certified by the International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA). Two of the members are instructors. We conduct an annual class for new bike officers in the region, and routine training."
Rebecca mentions that these officers are also members of the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) and remain abreast of information distributed by LAB about other police on bicycle programs.
For more information on the Bike Patrol program, contact:
Ofc. Mitch Trujillo
Boulder PD Mall/Bike Unit
1805 33rd St.
Boulder, CO 80301
(303) 786-8007
TRUJILLOM@ci.boulder.co.us
The editor adds: The Police Department still provides bike registration stickers for free. IMHO, everyone should support and take advantage of this opportunity. I once had my bike stolen, and subsequently recovered because it had a sticker.
If you are interested in the Bike Registration Program , please call the Boulder PD Det. Div. (303)441-3330, Det. R. Guzman. Bike registrations can be issued through the Downtown Community Police Center (AKA Annex), 1401 Walnut, at (303)786-8007, and the main department at 1805 33rd St.
Boulder Police Bicycle Education for Schools:
Rebecca Struik also recently interviewed Officer Mike Reznik of the Boulder Police Department concerning what bicycle education and safety programs they provide for school children.
Rebekka writes: "I asked what does the police department do about teaching ichildren bike safety? Do they go into the schools? No, they do not go into the schools to discuss bike safety, but they do go to the Boy and Girl Scouts. The children get training with cones, instructions on turn signs, rules of the roads, lights at night, and of course wearing helmets. Is there some kind of bike safety program in the schools? Officer Reznik did not know. Do the police go into the schools? Yes, they give workshops on violence prevention, laws about which the children should know, about drugs and alcohol, and conflict resolution. The police department does not have the person-power to also give instruction on bike safety.
BBC members may remember that Spence Havlick came to a meeting years ago and urged us to go into the schools and discuss the importance of using alternatives to the automobile. We should contact EcoCycle to find out their techniquest for reaching children. Children enjoy correcting their elders: recycle that newspaper, don't throw it in the trash. Wouldn't it be great if these kids were also saying: let's walk or bike on this errand, we shouldn't take the car."
As Rebekka mentions, BBC should consider work ing with either the Boulder Police Dept. or Go-Boulder to offer suggestions and provide volunteer assistance for these programs in the future. Meanwhile, Officer Reznik and other members of the Boulder PD will be attending a large-scale 'bike-Ed session' sponsored by the Lafayette Police Dept. in September to learn more about how these types of programs are run and to generate ideas (apparently Lafayette has more experience with such programs). This ‘Bike Rodeo' is part of the Lafayette Festival and BBC members along with other interested members of the public are invited and welcome. The ‘Bike Rodeo' is on:
Saturday, September 11 th , 12-4 PM
Corner of Michigan and Simpson in Lafayette.
For more information about the bike rodeo, contact: Lafayette PD Community Services Officer Phil Lukens. For more information about the Boulder PD bicycle education activities contact: Officer Mike Reznik, 303-441-3385. For more information about GO-Boulder education activities contact: Noreen Walsh at Go-Boulder.
Electric Bicycles
The issue of ‘electric bicycle' definition and possible access to the paths and streets of Boulder dominated the August meeting of BBC. It generated quite a bit of discussion and many ideas and opinions were shared. The following is an editorial by Premena who has been tracking this issue. This issue will likely be revisited during the September meeting with an attempt made to formulate an ‘official' club position. Premena writes:
"Recently the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) has considered two ordinances which might change the definition of a bicycle to include electric assisted bicycles.
This would result in allowing such bicycles in bike lanes on street and on multi-use paths. Proponents suggest this would be a possible solution to automobile congestion and opponents are concerned about disruption of the quiet and ambiance of our multi-use paths.
This issue is more complex than it would initially seem as there are a variety of variables. Therefore the TAB has asked for more information and is supposed to have a study session Sept. 13 th and consider another ordinance Oct. 11 th . BBC considered it also considered it during the August meeting. A legitimate concern about having a national standard and being consistent with what manufacturers are marketing came up in the TAB meeting. There are many different models presently and it looks like more to come. Perhaps the most national press has been given to a model Lee Iaccoca has been promoting.
A basic question is should the electric assisted vehicles be limited and some considerations are:
- power? (input or output 200-1000 watts)
- weight?
- maximum level speed?
- demonstrated use need from age or physical disability?
- must have pedal operation an option?
- may only be electric assisted when pedals are being turned?
- minimum user age?
- place of use? (In on-street bike lanes? On multi-use paths? As posted?)
- maximum operating noise level?
- time of day and place?
The range of electric two wheelers commercially available now is anywhere from wimpy to muscular (see www.motorobike.org), with vehicle + power pack weights from 60 pounds to way over 100 pounds. Top level speeds from 10 - 50 MPH. It looks like some of these units probably should not be operated in public bikeways, and some only by mature drivers.
There are quite a number of states with laws regarding electric bicycles. These include considering 20 MPH and 100 pounds as upper limits and hydrocarbon fuels are excluded. The California law has been suggested as a model.
Whereas I welcome lower power light weight motor vehicles, it seems prudent to give this very thorough consideration. There is also the factor that once people have purchased $1000+ machines expecting to use them in certain areas it would be difficult to exclude them from these allowed areas. The machines are noisier than human only powered machines.
My own opinion is that we should not allow general use of these electric assisted machines in general on multi-use paths but require need either by aging (55+ years) users or people with physical disability. Their power outputs often way exceed human power, thus leading toward speeding and their noise is objectionable. I'm for their general use in the streets and would put a minimum age on this type of use (14?)."
The editor adds: Out of curiousity I asked Officer Mitch Trujillo of the Boulder PD Bike Patrol what his opinion of electric bicycles is. He is opposed to the use of electric bikes for patrol use because they are heavier and harder to maneuver over technical obstacles. He also notes it is more important to develop the physical skills needed for the job rather than to rely upon an electric motor which could inhibit such abilities.
BikeWay Maintenance:
At the July 12 th meeting, BBC passed a resolution asking the city to create a roving field bike coordinator. Dave Rhodes, director of the Public Works Dept. in response asked for examples for where maintenance needs have gone unnoticed. Ten bicyclists responded in July to BBC's request for bikeway maintenance trouble areas. The combined response was forwarded to the Public Works Dept. on July 30. Several of these people did not know how to contact the city about such concerns.
The city's response so far has been to take care of most of the items in our big maintenance list promptly. The transportation department is also evaluating the effectiveness of its inspection and maintenance system. However they are not considering creating a field coordinator position at this time. The city definitely welcomes additional input on trouble spots and also comments on their overall operations. The best contact concerning creation of a bicycle coordinator position is: Acting Assistant Director of Public Works for Transportation Mike Gardner-Sweeney at 303-413-4261or email sweeneym.@ci.boulder.co.us. The best contact concerning the maintenance program is: Stephanie Grainger at 303-413-7118 (also see contacts at the end of the newsletter). Stephanie quickly responded to the maintenance list with the following comments:
"- All sweeping requests have been completed. We sweep on-street bike lanes once a week and aim for 1/week for bike routes. We also sweep on a request basis.
- All pothole requests have been completed.
- All underpasses have been cleaned since last week's rain. (If we get more rain, except more flooding and debris.)
- Tree trimming is underway.
- Surface discontinuities are being checked out and scheduled for work where needed. These will take more time to respond to -- unless an area is deemed dangerous, work will occur after chip/seal program is completed (anticipated for the end of August).
- Guard rail off of Jay and Spine - not done yet.
- Median on Folsom at Walnut - passed on concern to Transportation project manager to see what might be able to be done to address sight line issues."
Editor's Note: the text of BBC's ‘Bike Coordinator' resolution is not included here frankly because I pulled a bone-head move and deleted the wrong email message; many apologies.
News from Bicycle Colorado:
Editor's Note: Martha Roskowski, Executive Director of Bicycle Colorado sent the following message to her email distribution list. If you are interested and not already on her list, you can contact her at:
Martha Roskowski
Executive Director, Bicycle Colorado
PO Box 698, Salida CO 81201
719-530-0051 ph
martha@bicyclecolo.org
IMHO, she and the other Bicycle Colorado people are doing a wonderful job promoting and supporting the cause of Bicycling in our state and deserve much credit for the work they do:
"First, CDOT will update their statewide bicycling map in the near future. BC will be involved, and we're looking for a few riders who like maps and know Colorado's roads to give input. Let me know if you are interested.
Second, CDOT passed a shoulder and rumble strip resolution last week after three years of vascillating and much behind-the-scenes input from BC. The resolution is somewhat problematic, but BC and others should still find it a useful tool in our battle for bikes.
The resolution increases CDOT's commitment to building shoulders on state & federal highways, and it improves the standards for rumble strips from a bicycling perspective, though CDOT has provided themselves with lots of outs if they don't want to comply. We will take full advantage of the good parts and try to curtail their use of the 'weasel clauses'! A somewhat lengthy analysis and text of the resolution follows.
CDOT PASSES SHOULDER RESOLUTION
Last Thursday, June 17th, the Transportation Commissioners of the Colorado Department of Transportation passed a resolution regarding shoulders and rumble strips. The complete text of the resolution follows this message. It is also posted at http://www.bicyclecolo.org
The resolution is the culmination of several years work by the CDOT bike/ped program and the bicycle community. It is a compromise document, but on the whole is probably good for bicycling. It will be useful for agencies and individuals who are wrangling with CDOT over accommodating bicycles and for those working on rumble strips.
On the good side, it starts by saying "Bicycling and walking are integral components of Colorado's multimodal transportation system and shall be considered when scoping all CDOT projects." This is the first time I've actually seen CDOT commit, in writing, to considering bicycles and pedestrians in all projects. Their compliance probably won't be automatic, but we can encourage it.
The resolution also says "...shoulders should be an integral transportation element of transportation projects; efforts to expand shoulders should not be restricted, even if minimum standards cannot be met." This answers concerns that CDOT would not build shoulders at all if the minimum 4' width could not be achieved (we told them that even a 6" shoulder was better than nothing!).
The resolution also says CDOT will include shoulders (minimum 4') in all new alignments, major reconstructions, bridge replacements, reconstruction or rehabilitation and minor widening. The minor widening commitment is new. Also, the resolution says "Existing shoulders shall be included in resurfacing projects where needed." We pushed hard to include this phrase, the weasel-words "where needed" were snuck in at the last minute. We hope this will reduce the instances when they repave just the travel lanes, leaving a big lip between the lane and the shoulder.
On rumble strips, the document commits CDOT to following AASHTO's guidance on rumble strips for the most part. AASHTO recommends a minimum 6' shoulder where bicycle use is expected and requires a minimum of 4' clear between the edge of the rumble strip and the edge of the pavement. This is an improvement over CDOT's existing 3' clear, and should protect a lot of shoulders around the state, as 4' is standard width on many highways.
But CDOT also added a weasel clause to this section. It says "Rumble strips may be installed on shoulders which are 4 feet or narrower only when there is a history of run-off-the-road crashes consistent with the system-wide evaluation." The system-wide evaluation is explained in the resolution: "Region and bicycle/pedestrian program staff, with input from the bicycle community, are directed to evaluate the State Highway system for accommodation of rumble strips and their impact to bicycle use of shoulders." In short, there will be a process to identify roads which are unimportant to bicyclists which will then be open season for rumble strips. So fellow bicyclists, we'll need to give good input t
o this process! Stay tuned for details.
Our short-term challenge is to make sure that CDOT follows AASHTO guidelines on rumble strips until the 'system-wide evaluation' is completed. Our fear is that a lot of projects already scheduled for this summer don't meet AASHTO's guidelines, and getting regions to actually review projects for compliance and cancel those that don't comply may be a feat. BC is preparing a letter to the regions and Commissioners encouraging them to take immediate action. Stay tuned for names and phone numbers of who to call to reinforce the message.
The resolution also says that the existing system of High Priority Bicycle Corridors will be revised to include higher and lower priority bicycle corridors. This came about because CDOT did not want to commit to bringing the existing network of HPBC network up to 4' shoulders because it would be too expensive. So we agreed to review the system and identify priorities, in hopes these projects will actually see some funding. Gay Page will be leading this process (and also the 'system-wide' evaluation for rumble strips) and she has committed to working with BC and the bicycle community."
Please contact Martha if you have any more questions about these items.
Contacts
Bicycle Colorado: www.bicyclecolo.org
TAB Agenda:
http://publicworks.ci.boulder.co.us/depts/trans/
about_trans/tab/tab_agenda.htm
Street Maintenance:
Phone Hotline: 303-413-7177
Via Email: GraingerS@ci.boulder.co.us