Conversation with an Engineer
7 December, 2010
Watch this. It is 8 minutes, but it says exactly what I hear constantly from engineers. Watch this. It is 8 minutes, but it says exactly what I hear constantly from engineers
Consultant Selection!
5 August, 2009
The consultants that want to work on the Central Utah Valley Bicycle/Pedestrian Study(Orem Bike/Ped Plan) are due to turn in their proposals tomorrow! That means that we’ll be getting started picking one of them later this month and they should be getting to work real soon! I’ll keep you all up to date, and thanks for those of you who have contacted me about being involved. Tell your friends and family members who ride. We’ll need lots of help and support! More to come, so come back for details.
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!
We need your help!
3 September, 2008
Okay, the time is rapidly approaching where changes are going to be made to our transportation infrastructure and we need your help to make sure that those who are against bicycles, sidewalks, and transit, don’t drown out those of us who would like to see more of that kind of thing. What I am asking is this. If you live in Orem and ride a bike, or want to be able to ride a bike but are afraid to without a bike lane or other facility, send me an email with your name and contact information. I’ll be adding you to an email list and will only email you with important information about bicycle infrastructure in Orem. I am in a position to know that there is going to be a great need for positive input from Orem citizens in behalf of bicycle infrastructure of all types in the coming year. This will need to be a commitment on your part to attend a few public meetings or city council meetings, or perhaps writing a letter or filling out an online survey. All of this will mean big things for the future of Cycling in Orem. Please contact me with the information of any friends that may be interested in doing the same. I am not a spammer so I only want information for people who are genuinely interested. This is important. There is a very vocal group out there who will oppose this type of improvement. Help us make a difference and counter their opposition. Thank you to all who read this blog. We’ll post upcoming events here so keep an eye on your RSS feed. You can contact me at brad at bikeuv dot org.
A new Train of Thought
25 August, 2008
I borrowed the title to this post from the Deseret News. I rarely agree with much of what editorial boards say in this state, but lately they seem to have become more enlighted. The latest to suffer from this bout of insanity is the editorial board of the aforementioned news organization. I invite you to read the result of this momentary lapse by clicking here. I also came across some other interesting information that I had previously not seen this past week. It comes from the public comment section of the Mountainland Association of Governments’ Transportation Master Plan. Have a gander at these.
“Current plan appears comprehensive, involving the appropriate organizations. On the whole, non-vehicular elements of the plan appear to have a very limited emphasis. I would recommend and favor a much more aggressive mass-transit major interconnect between Salt Lake and Utah counties. A rail system should be implemented at the earliest date before growth rates exacerbate the task and right of way decisions complicated. This should be done even if current vehicular plans need to be compromised to the minimum absolutely necessary. Financial resources will be under increasing pressure over time. Tourism will likely increase as will population increases within Utah county. I urge an improved central element of the draft plan to include a much more aggressive mass-transit element.”
“I would like to see a greater emphasis given to public transportation: expansion and improvement. Also, I would like to see cycling and walking facilitated and encouraged. We must think about solving the congestion problems instead of simply facilitating them.” (I love this comment!)
“Although commuter rail and the BRT system are mentioned in this document, the overall feel is that transit is treated as a nice accoutrement, while roads are give a much higher priority. I do not believe that our continued focus on a predominantly road- and car-based transportation system is the best use of my taxpayer dollars.”
These are just a few. In almost every case, the comments were against more and bigger roads and for increased mass transit, walking, and cycling. This was three years ago. Think about what gas prices have done for this kind of thinking! It has to be much bigger than I even thought it could be. I hope that more of us will speak up to our elected officials and if they don’t listen, I hope we have the willingness to kick them out of office, no matter the party affiliation. If you want to read the rest of the comments, click here and scroll down. To read the entire master plan to see what they were talking about, click here. And to visit the home of the Mountainland Association of Governments on the web, click on the link above. By the way, sorry for the drought. I’ve been traveling and on vacation. More to come real soon.
