Ray
11 August, 2010
Over the past six months, I have come to have a great deal of respect for Ray LaHood, the Secretary of Transportation in the current administration. He is a Conservative Republican, which isn’t a novel thing, but what is unique about him is that he understands the issues facing our transportation system and is willing to think outside of what has been considered normal for the past 50 years and actually be conservative instead of wasteful. A case in point would be his new policy on bicycling and walking. When I was in Washington DC in March at the National Bike Summit, I heard him speak. At the end he told us that we as bicycle advocates have a full partner in Ray LaHood. I’m really hopeful that a difference can be made between what we are doing here on a local level, and what others are doing on a State and National level. Having people in office and in appointed positions who “get it” doesn’t hurt one bit either. Read his blog. It is worth your time.
A Divine Wind
10 August, 2010
The Japanese word Kamakaze is literally translated as Divine Wind. It comes from Japanese history when in 1274 and in 1281, typhoons dispersed the invading Mongolian invasion fleets. (You can read all about it on Wikipedia by clicking here.) There seems to be a Divine Wind blowing in the vicinity of Orem and Provo these days. Last week, Provo passed into their city Master Plan a map that includes a significant update to their bicycle facilities plan. You can read about it at Bike Provo by clicking here. In Orem, we’re working on getting a bicycle pedestrian master plan passed. It is getting close to being finalized, and you can give your opinion on what has been suggested by those who participated in the first open house earlier this year. There is a lot of momentum going for bicycles in central Utah Valley right now. Here at Bike Utah Valley, I’ve been working very hard, behind the scenes, to help out, mostly in Orem. I know I don’t post much, but after long days working on bike advocacy, it makes it hard to find time to do so. In the coming months, things will slowly start to change here at Bike Utah Valley. You will see some new hands helping with the work, and this will become much more than just a blog. This will become a real organization. Over the past year, I have been working on transforming Bike Utah Valley from a blog into a real bicycle advocacy non-profit organization. It has taken a lot of work, and it isn’t finished yet, but it should be in the coming months. We will need your support as we move forward. You will become the Kamikaze, the Divine Wind, that will propel bicycling in Utah Valley into the future. Join us, and lets build the momentum that our movement has taken on.
An Update
7 August, 2010
There has been a lot happening on the cycling front in Utah Valley. Orem is in the midst of creating a Bike/Ped master plan, and Provo just adopted their city master plan which included a new update to their bicycle facilities map. The Provo Bike Committee and Bike Provo have been formed, and they have been doing great things to help the community become more aware of cyclists and cycling as a viable form of Transportation as well as recreation. I hope that you will help Bike Utah Valley keep this momentum going. Over the course of the coming year, we hope to gain Non-Profit status with the State of Utah and the Federal Government and start raising funds to forward advocacy in Utah Valley. That is all for now, but keep your eye open for updates, frequent or infrequent, and help spread the word! Visit our new page on Facebook and become a Fan.
A long long day
15 June, 2010
Today was a long day, as I said already. I left for SLC this morning at 10 for a Utah Bicycle Coalition meeting. I got home at 4:15. I then left at 4:30 to attend a Orem City Transportation Commission meeting. Bikes bikes and more bikes. It was a good day really, and tomorrow is more of the same. I have a meeting with UDOT’s CORE team. They are the folks rebuilding I-15 in Utah County. Orem City’s bike plan is really making some great progress, and I hope to have some things to post soon. The plan looks great so far, and with a few tweaks, it will be awesome. Be back soon.
At the CORE of it.
6 May, 2010
As anyone who lives in the northern half of Utah County knows, I-15 is going to be rebuilt, starting now and going through the next two and a half years, into a modern super-freeway of 12 lanes. There are in fact many good things to come out of this. Many bridges and overpasses are being replaced and upgraded, and a lot of those include improvements for cyclists. This probably comes as no surprise to you, but there is one road that I am aware of and probably several others that I am not aware of, that include no such improvements, and actually have the opposite effect. They will be less safe. Since I am an Orem resident, it makes sense that the one that I am aware of is in Orem, and it is University Parkway. Now, many would say that you have to be insane to want to ride a bike over that bridge even today, and you would have a valid point, so I can say that I am insane as I used to do it every day. I actually found it to be quite safe. There is plenty of shoulder, and if you time it right, which takes nothing but patience, you can avoid any real danger. The redesign of that area will dramatically change that, and make the access across I-15 deadly. I am surprised UVU hasn’t complained. Their students are the ones who live on both sides and they have campus buildings on both sides of I-15. So, I think that we need to do something about this. I have personally talked to the City of Orem about this issue, and I’ve written to the UDOT public involvement person for the Orem area of this project, Dave Asay(you can write him at daveasay at utah dot gov) to express my concern. So far, nothing has happened, and I don’t really expect it to, unless we as a cycling community really make a fuss. So, please do one or several of the following. First, if you live in Orem, call the Mayor & City Manager’s office and let them know that you are concerned about this issue. Second, contact any and all of the City Council members. Third, email Dave Asay at the email address that I posted above. Fourth, contact your State Senator & or Representative. If you don’t know who that is, you can look it up on utah.gov, or contact me and I’ll look it up for you. We need to do something about this issue, in every city in the state. UDOT says they are not just an agency for cars. Lets see them prove it.
Bike Skills Clinic, Ladies ONLY!
5 May, 2010
I’m teaching a bike skills and safety clinic tomorrow morning at Mad Dog Cycles in Orem. It will get started at 8:00 AM as a part of the weekly Ladies Road Ride which leaves Mad Dog at 10:00 each Thursday morning. Women only! Come if you would like to learn a bit about how to handle your bike in traffic and in sketchy situations. Then join in for a fun group ride. There is a lot in it for you or for the woman in your life, so come one come all and lets have some fun! I love cycling, but I’ll only be teaching the class. I’m not allowed on the ride!
Meetings Meetings Meetings
4 May, 2010
Tonight was a night of meetings. I sit on the Orem City Transportation Advisory Commission, TAC for short. Our monthly meeting was tonight. It was focused almost entirely on the study going on right now for a Bike/Ped master plan for Orem. What a lot to do. One and a half hours talking bikes is a great way to spend an evening. Things are going well, and we have the next public meeting tentatively scheduled for August 31st. Stay tuned for updates as we get closer. I’ll try to be a bit more active in posting updates on the study as I have the ability to release things to the public.
Following the TAC meeting, I went to the Provo City Council meeting. The Provo Bike Committee was there in support of bike lanes being installed along with BRT in Provo. I applaud their efforts, and we’ll see what happens. The council sure got an earful from the Provo bicycle community tonight. There is a lot of work to do there, but the folks in Provo are on top of things so it should work out for the best. More to come, so stay tuned!
Goings On
12 April, 2010
Well, things have been a bit slow in the writing department lately. Dead is perhaps a better word. Since I last wrote a lot has happened in the Utah Valley advocacy department. On January 19th we had a great open house in Orem to get public input on the Bike Ped Master Plan. We had over 100 people show up! In Orem! I still can’t believe it. Last month I traveled to Washington DC for the National Bike Summit. This was my second year going, and I love to go. It is really great to go their and get your advocacy batteries recharged. Also in March, I attended a meeting of the newly formed Provo Bike Committee. There is also a new blog of note, bikeprovo.org. If you live in Provo or ride there, check them out. This week is the second annual Utah Bike Summit held in Salt Lake City at the Main Library downtown. Register at utahbikesummit.org. Earlier today, there were 215 people registered to attend! The National Summit had only a bit over 700! This is great news! Other items of note, Provo & Orem will hold their Bike to Work day events in May, on the 18th and 19th respectively. It is in part sponsored by UTA, and there will be emails and fliers posted around town and in inboxes everywhere in about a week. Look for that and get it on your calendar. The Murdock Canal is going to be enclosed starting this coming fall, and the train project being built in conjunction with that enclosure should be completed sometime in 2013. The US Forest Service is putting together a trails working group right now. If you want to be involved, let me know and I’ll put you in contact with those responsible. Great things are happening for bikes in Utah Valley! Posting will no doubt continue to be sparse, unless for some reason I develop a strange blogging bug. I’ll continue to make announcements as I have time and memory to do so. If you want to know something, let me know. If you have a great topic, let me know that too. See you in Salt Lake this weekend.
Bike Planning Charrette – January 19th!
2 December, 2009
The first public meeting for the Orem Bicycle & Pedestrian Study will be January 19th at 7:00 pm. It will be at the Orem Senior Friendship Center, located at 400 East & Center Street in Orem. If you want to make a difference for cycling in Orem, put it on your calender and plan to be there. It should be a good experience, and it will make a big difference.
Focus on Bicycles & Pedestrians for good Health
25 November, 2009
I’ve seen this come across my screen a few times today. An article in the British medical journal, The Lancet, is one of the first well respected publications to call “green cars” for what they are and to call for a focus on Bicycles & Pedestrians as the only healthy and best use of our transportation funding. Further, it calls for policy makers to focus primarily on those means of transportation, even to the detriment of those who chose to drive. Additionally, the director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, followed the article with a commentary voicing her unbridled support. To read a more eloquent account, visit Copenhagenize and read Mikael’s take on it. Ready the full article here. Keep riding, and have a great Thanksgiving.
Brad
