Remember when …
24 February, 2009
Remember when you were a kid and you got your first bike? Do you remember the feeling of freedom that you had when the training wheels came off and you finally didn’t need to have your Dad hold you up as you rode and he ran for all he was worth? What a feeling that was. Do you remember going to the corner store on your bike, or perhaps to the local swimming hole or swamp like I did to mess around and hope you didn’t get caught by the “cops”? Those were great days weren’t they. If you are like me, and I suspect that you are in at least some small way, your bike was your freedom, it was your transportation. Of course, you probably didn’t have much choice because at 8 years old there was no way your mother was going to let you drive the station wagon, or if you grew up in the 90′s, the minivan. Then came the big 16th birthday and you haven’t been on a bike since. It probably didn’t matter that much when you were in your early twenties and still single. There is an amazing thing that happens when one finishes college and gets married and starts working for a living. The gut grows, the muscles get flabby, the couch and the TV become your best friends after spending a long day stuck in that chair and then that seat of your ultra efficient car. You probably live 30 miles away from your job in some suburb or exurb and there is no choice but to drive 15 miles to the nearest anything except for other tract houses that look remarkably similar to yours, even if they were built by a different company. Remember when you were a kid? That bike? That freedom? Do you realize that they still make bikes?
Today I went for a walk …
21 February, 2009
Today I went for a walk to pick up my bike. I left it at work last night for various reasons, and I had to go get it. I only live a mile from work, so I decide to use my two feet to get there. Besides, I didn’t have a bike that would carry another bike(they do exist), and my wife had the car. So, I walked. Why am I writing about my walk? Well, because it was notable. It was short, and it was utterly dull, lifeless, and it is no wonder more people don’t walk around here. It only took me 20 minutes to walk to work. I could do that every day if I chose too. I discovered that we need to do a much better job with our sidewalks. The street I walked along was boring, and lifeless, and full of traffic. There were no trees,(I know, it is February in Utah) no grass, no flower beds, no street furniture, no art. There weren’t even any porches, and if there were, they would have been 30 feet from the sidewalk. I was walking down what is classified as a collector street by our city and there is not a business on it for the majority of its length. We need to fix this. We need to make it better for pedestrians. We need to make it more comfortable to walk. We need to slow down traffic. Why don’t we? I think our Mayor and City Council and City Manager need to go for a walk a bit more often. Maybe their eyes would be opened. Maybe. Mine sure were. Along the same lines, I’ve been looking at handicap access and facilities a bit more lately. A blind man came past the store the other day, and we work with people in wheelchairs a lot. I’ve been noticing that sidewalks don’t get shoveled, and handicap parking areas are full of snow. How do people with disabilities get around in the winter time? I’m surprised that more businesses and cities aren’t sued for violation of Federal law. We have a lot to improve on, for all users of our transportation system.
Why we Build Roads Instead of Transit
14 January, 2009
Image Courtesy of UTA
This past week I read this interesting article about the Wasatch Front Regional Council’s(WFRC) plans for Foothill Boulevard in SLC. The article talks about the desire of the Salt Lake City council to have a light rail line on that route instead of reversing lanes and BRT. I am very pleased to see the vision of the council on this issue, but they may be fighting a loosing battle, at least until this new administration gets its feet under it, and perhaps a lot longer if the highway and auto lobby’s have their way. This is why. When an entity such as WFRC or MAG, which are the regional transportation planning agencies, go to plan transportation infrastructure, they look at population densities as part of their process to determine what to build. Population density determines what gets built as does zoning and population projections. These entities, called Metropolitan Planning Organizations or MPO’s, determine what to study based on population projections as well. So, by estimating population increases based on computer models and looking at city zoning, they decide what type of transportation infrastructure to build. By decree from the Feds, if density is low, you build a road. If traffic along the corridor is projected to be heavy, you build a big road. So, by examining all of the current zoning in the vast majority of this country, not to mention Utah or Utah County, we will automatically build roads. This seems on its face to be perfectly rational and logical. But I submit that it is not. Let’s look at the results. If you build a road that is five or seven lanes wide, like many of the new roads being built in Utah county, you can carry a lot of traffic. If you build that road to mostly empty country such as Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, and other such places, you allow people easy access to vacant land and they will build there. They will build large homes that are on 1/4 acre lots,or bigger, and they will commute to work. If on the other hand you build light rail out to those communities and only a two or three lane road, people will build smaller homes much closer together so they can be closer to the train station. More walkable communities tend to develop. If you do the same thing in more developed places, like Orem and Provo, redevelopment occurs. Density, the all important catalyst of transit investment soon follows. Basically, we have two self-fulfilling prophecies going on here. If you build roads you get sprawl. If you build trains, you get walkable compact development. The problem is, the Feds won’t allow transit unless density requirements are met, and they won’t be met around here, unless there is a catalyst. Great chicken and egg story right? So, now you know why there will likely not be light rail on Foothill. In speaking to the team doing the studies on the Provo-Orem BRT, I learned a valuable lesson. If Orem changed its zoning along University Parkway to allow mixed use higher density development in place of strip malls and big box stores, we would be in line to easily qualify for Light Rail instead of BRT. As it is, we don’t have the density. Density is, by the way, the worst seven letter word you can ever say in a place like a Utah County neighborhood meeting. Let me know what you think we should have. Would you rather live in a townhouse or condo with a great park nearby and the ability to walk or ride a bike or take transit everywhere, or would you rather have the 1/4 acre lot in Eagle Mountain and a long commute? I really would like to know.
1972
17 November, 2008
I was looking at the editorial section of the New York Times yesterday when I saw an op-ed about transportation entitled “Have You Driven a Bus or a Train Lately?” Of course I have not driven either lately, or ever, though I have ridden on both, so I clicked on the link and enjoyed very much what I read. It was fascinating! There seems to never be any ideas that are new, just recycled. It turns out that former Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, wrote an article in 1972 for The Atlantic entitled “The Last Traffic Jam” that this current op-ed is based partly upon. Both are great reads and I highly recommend them, especially in light of the current crisis that GM is going through and the higher gas prices of this last summer. I’ll sum up for those who don’t have a lot of time. Basically, the argument goes that we should wean ourselves from big heavy inefficient cars and retool to produce smaller, more efficient ones, as well as investing not on more roads but on transit, particularly rail transit, and more compact development patterns that foster walking and transit use. That also means better for bicycles as a given. All I have to say is AMEN! These ideas are far from new. Mr. Udall was advocating this all in 1972! Give them a read and let me know what you think.
Frontrunner South Status Update
1 November, 2008
The following email from UTA in my inbox this week:
Greetings,
Construction is progressing on UTA’s FrontRunner South Provo to Salt Lake Commuter Rail line. Below is the FrontRunner South quick construction update for the week of October 16. For a more comprehensive construction update, click here.
· Area 16 — Downtown Salt Lake City to 4500 South (Murray)
Construction Activity:
Fiber optics will continue to be relocated between Murray and Salt Lake City.
· Area 15 — 4500 South (Murray) to 7800 South (Midvale)
Construction Activity:
There are no construction activities to report in Area 15.
· Area 14 — 7800 South (Midvale) to Bangerter Highway (Draper/Bluffdale)
Construction Activity:
Construction is gearing up in Area 14. On Sunday, October 19th, a crane was set up at the track crossover near 144th South and the Union Pacific Railroad. A construction fence has also been installed behind Salt Lake Community College’s campus at 9800 South.
· Area 13 — Bangerter Highway (Draper/Bluffdale) to Thanksgiving Point (Lehi)
Construction Activity:
Crews continue to establish access in this area and prepare the site along the railroad corridor in Bluffdale and Lehi and throughout the Jordan Narrows. Work on the South Jordan Canal and embankment improvements will begin toward the end of October. Earthwork along the Union Pacific Railroad is also scheduled to begin in this area during the first part of November.
· Area 12 — Thanksgiving Point (Lehi) to Main Street (American Fork)
Construction Activity:
Extensive excavation work has taken place at the Lehi Park and Ride Lot near Thanksgiving Point as crews continue to clear and grub the area and begin drainage improvements. Construction is also taking place along the rail corridor in this area just south of 11000 North in Lehi.
· Area 11 — Main Street (American Fork) to 800 South (Orem)
Construction Activity:
Drainage improvements are currently taking place along the Union Pacific Railroad tracks from Orem to American Fork. Crews are also clearing and grubbing along this area in preparation for earthwork scheduled to begin the first part of November.
· Area 10 — 800 South (Orem) to Center Street (Provo)
Construction Activity:
FrontRunner construction continues to take place in Area 10 along the Union Pacific Railroad corridor between University Parkway in Orem and West Center Street in Provo. Drainage and irrigation structures are being improved by extending existing box culverts and waterways to accommodate the new FrontRunner track. Existing signal poles located in the right-of-way have also been removed in this area.
Crews have removed old railroad ties and rail all the way from 500 West in Provo to University Parkway in Orem. Materials removed from this area are either reused or recycled.
Thanks again for your interest in the FrontRunner South project. If you have construction related questions, please call our 24-hour construction hotline number at 1-888-800-8854. If you have specific questions about the FrontRunner South project, my contact information is listed below. To unsubscribe to this list, please click here.
Sincerely,
Marc Bowman
UTA Community Involvement Specialist
www.rideuta.com
801.236.4784
801.867.4573 (mobile)
Something
28 October, 2008
So, I did get to go to the City Council meeting after all. I spoke up about a lack of public input on road stripping projects. I think the council agrees with me. The city engineer came up to me during a break and told me that he disagrees with me. I expected nothing less to be honest. Old engineers like him were trained and have grown up with the idea that the way to solve all of our transportation problems is by adding more lanes, and citizen involvement isn’t necessary, or even wanted I’d expect.(Us citizens don’t know what we are talking about generally speaking anyway.) Traffic flow is the all important goal! As most current thinking and studies show, that is absolutely not the case. Anyway, then the city council tackled a mixed use development proposal. I won’t go into details here, but sufficeth to say, I cheered inside when my favorite Council member, KM, voted against it. Don’t get me wrong, I love mixed use. This one was all wrong. Wrong look, wrong concept, etc. Perhaps someday, we’ll get things figured out. I’m really interested in what Provo does with their plans near the intermodal center there. To conclude the evening, I spent a very interesting hour speaking with the mayor and the aforementioned city council member about development and transportation in Orem. It was very enlightening for me and has given me some serious food for thought. So, today there was something. I can’t wait to see what I’ll write about tomorrow. A new blog perhaps?
My Dream for Orem
23 October, 2008
I am a resident of Orem city. I grew up here, my family is here, and I really like it here, except for one thing. There is way to much traffic and congestion here in Orem now, and it is taking it’s toll on the population. Road rage is increasingly in the news, congestion causes stress which can lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and, I’m learning through my own family experience, a whole lot of other physical and mental problems that you may not think of. The pollution, both of the air and of our ears, that cars produce can contribute or exacerbate many of the same problems. So, in response to this and in response to the fact that I’d really rather my children inherit a different world than this, I’m sharing with the world my dream of what transportation in Orem could be, my Utopian vision of Orem City’s future in the transportation arena if you will. First, people would rule, not cars. Speed limits would be drastically reduced. Basically, on residential streets, five miles per hour. In Germany, these streets are called Speilstrasse, or play streets. People own the streets, not the cars. Secondly, bikes and pedestrians would rule. Dedicated space on all collector and arterial streets for people, with very wide sidewalks and very wide separated bike lanes. Third, mass transit would be affordable, convenient, and would take you where you want to go. I’d like to see the BRT that is planned for University Parkway turned into a Light Rail or LRT system such as TRAX in Salt Lake County. I’d like to see the same type of system on 800 North that looped down to University Avenue and hooked up with the line where the BRT is supposed to go, and went alongside the Frontrunner tracks to the Orem intermodal center. The other terminus would be at the Frontrunner intermodal station in Provo. Another LRT line would run up State Street or Highway 89 starting at the Provo intermodal center all the way to the downtown Salt Lake City intermodal center. Streetcars would run on 400 North, South, East, and West, and up Center Street. Maybe on the 800 streets as well. This would enable you to walk no more than one half mile in this part of Orem to get to a transit stop. We shouldn’t neglect the far north or south parts of Orem, but I haven’t thought through those area’s yet. The goal would again be to not have to walk more than one half mile to get to a transit stop. By doing this kind of transit system in Orem, Provo, and every other community, there would be no where you couldn’t go by bike and by transit. What an amazing concept, and admittedly a dream, but one that is possible. If I saw even a fraction of this in my lifetime, I’d be surprised. That is my Utopian dream. I hope that someday it can come true. Bikes and trains. What more could a boy want?
Transportation Open House Report
21 October, 2008
For those not able to attend the Mountainland Open House last week, here are a few observations. First, UDOT is still UDOT and they are still focused solely and completely on roads. UTA is UTA and focused on transit, though I really wish BRT wasn’t such a big focus. Rail transit has so many other benefits for the communities through which it passes that I can’t believe that those communities aren’t raising a big fuss. I was really pleased to see what Orem City is hoping to do for cyclists. Look for more on that in the coming months.(I serve on Orem’s Transportation Advisory Commission so I kind of know in advance what is coming down the pipe, at least in Orem.) I was super impressed with what Provo is planning to do as far as redevelopment around their intermodal center based on the BRT and Frontrunner. For those of you who know the area of Provo right next to the University Avenue viaduct, you know that it is pretty blighted. The city is planning to rezone the are for Transit Oriented Development and mixed use. That is such and awesome thing to see happen here, and I hope it goes well for them. I spoke with Provo’s Community Development Director and was super impressed with the vision he outlined for me. I look forward to seeing how things progress in that area over the next few years. MAG is still MAG in that they have to do what the Fed’s want them to do. That means that they still are projecting $10 Billion in new roads and less than $1 Billon on transit and other alternative modes of transportation. I really don’t have anything against roads and cars exactly, as long as they are used for what they are good for which is long distance travel, but I want to have a choice as to how I get to where I need to go, and right now I only have the choice of my car and my bikes. I like those two choices, but would prefer to have the choice of better sidewalks and transit options. ( I don’t consider our current bus system an option because I can go anywhere the bus can take me faster by bike or by car, usually twice as fast. I don’t consider that an option.) All in all, it was a good open house and worth my time as it is every year. I have been going to this open house for five years now and it is how I have learned the ropes in transportation planning, transit, and how to decipher what is going on in this world. If you would like to have a discussion about any of these issues or ask me any questions, reply to this post. I’m planning to do better. Look for a review of a great bike tomorrow. Thanks for sticking with us.
Mountainland Transportation Planning Meeting
8 October, 2008
This is the grandaddy of all transportation meetings in Utah Valley. This is the meeting that got me started in advocacy, and it is a great place to learn. It is in an open house format, so you can come and go as you please. Your city or town will be there, along with MAG, UDOT, UTA, Utah County, and probably others. This is a one stop shop to get all of your questions answered, and I highly recommend that you come. The Orem version is the big one, and the other two will showcase communities in the north and south of the valley. It is one week from today. I’ll be there, and I hope you will be too. By the way, they usually have little candies which is why my wife likes to go!
A reminder and a crash
17 September, 2008
First, a reminder. Tomorrow night in Orem is the UDOT open house where you can tell UDOT all about what roads need to be more friendly to bicycles. I posted on this previously and you can read about it here. I spoke with the consulting engineer last night and he told me that the study includes roads owned by UDOT as well as those owned by other entities, so what ever roads you may wish to talk about, they will listen. I highly encourage you to read the PDF linked here prior to coming if you can. It will give you some good background on how things work and what the processes and procedures are in the world of transportation design. Since the time is short, focus on section 6 first, and move on to the rest as you have time. I highly recommend this for all advocates of cycling.
In other news, an American Fork school teacher was nearly killed this week by a motorist who wasn’t paying attention. I don’t know to many details, but you can read what KSL reported here. I hate to see this happen, and it happens all to frequently. I hope by working with our political and planning officials we can make things safer for everyone. See you all at the meeting!
