Bikeboard August 2007

bikeboard@lists.bikelover.org

9 participants
18 discussions

Grant
by Frank Gmeindl 10 Aug '07

10 Aug '07

Bike Board members, Those of you who printed and posted flyers for this weekend's Road I course, please accept my gratitude. Nobody signed up. The next offering is September 8-9. Attached is the flyer updated for these dates. Would you please replace the flyers you posted with this one? Perhaps with a little more exposure time, the flyers will bring in a minimum of 4 participants. Yesterday, I met with Jeff Mikorski, Assistant City Manager. He is quite supportive of pursuing a WV Transportation Enhancement grant to support our Education recommendations. To submit a grant on our behalf, Mr. Mikorski needs us to define what the money would be spent on, how much would be spent on each item, and the transportation impact. Our chances of getting the grant depend on how substantive and credible a case we can make. Who will work with me to do this? Intent-to-propose applications are due 15-November. Grants are $30K minimum and must be spent in 12-15 months. The state provides 80% and the municipality or county must contribute 20%. The application must be approved by City Council. Proposed projects must fit into one or more of 12 categories. Category #1 is "provision of facilities for pedestrians or bicyclists". Category #2 is "provision of safety and educational activities for pedestrians and bicyclists". Proposals are due 15-Jan. Awards are announced 6-9 months later. Mr. Mikorski has a good rapport with Harold Simmons the WV coordinator of transportation grants. He will talk with Simmons to find out who applied for category 1 and 2 grants in the past, who received them, who didn't and why they did or didn't get them. He'll feed guidance back to us. Anytime the City spends over $10K on one project, they must request competitive bids. Mr. Mikorski emphasized that the state won't pay salaries but will pay consultants. We should recognize that the City will probably end up hiring consultants rather than funding Bike Board members. I will talk with Ron Eck about the best way to balance this out. Dr. Eck is Chairman of the Traffic Commission, a WVU Civil Engineering professor, and, I believe, a member of a consulting group. In our February recommendations, we recommended that the City get a $10K grant to be spent over 24-months to purchase, develop and deliver training. We didn't define any more detail than that. If we flesh out our education details and they total to less than $30K, we could include infrastructure. That we convince City Council and the State that they will realize substantial value for their investment is crucial. My next meeting with Mr. Mikorski is 22-August. Let's have a substantive case to present! I look forward to your reply. Frank Cyclists Fare Best when They Act and Are Treated as Drivers of Vehicles

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Fwd: Safe Routes to Schools Program
by Greg Good 10 Aug '07

10 Aug '07

Hello all, I just received this notice from the MPO that the coordinator of the Safe Routes to Schools program for the WVDOT will be in town next, Thursday, August 16. It's an open invitation, so it is legit to let anyone know who wants to promote pedestrian or bicycle travel to school for grade school and middle school. NB: not applicable to high schools. Greg >>> "Kelli LaNeve" <klaneve(a)moncpc.org> 8/10/2007 9:45 AM >>> Members: The MPO would like to invite you to the next Policy Board Meeting on Thursday, August 16, 2007 at 7:00pm in the City Council Chambers to hear a presentation on the Safe Routes to School Program. This is a national program created by Section 1404 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). It provides federal funds to West Virginia to substantially improve the ability of primary and middle school students (K-8) to walk and bicycle to school safely. The purposes of this program are to enable and encourage children to walk and bicycle to school, to make walking and bicycling to school a safer and more appealing transportation choice and to facilitate the planning, development and implementation of such projects. Please join the presenter, Rebecca Davison (WVDOH) and the Policy Board for this informative meeting. Also, please feel free to pass this invitation along to anyone who you feel might be interested. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact the office at 291-9572. Thank you, Kelli LaNeve Office Manager Monongalia County Planning Commission Greater Morgantown MPO 180 Hart Field Road Morgantown WV. 26505 304 291 9572 304 291 9573 (FAX) www.moncpc.org <http://www.moncpc.org/>

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MHS Parking
by Frank Gmeindl 09 Aug '07

09 Aug '07

Dear Frank Devono, Substituting bicycling for driving to MHS is one solution to the parking problem reported in today's Dominion Post. Providing secure sheltered bicycle storage, a shower, and a locker to store commuting stuff would facilitate cycling to school. MHS currently provides driving students who drive and park on school property a $45/month benefit. The benefit may not be on the books but it is nonetheless real. Please consider reallocating at least a part of this benefit to students who ride their bikes to school in the form of a cash payment, voucher, or some other tangible reward. Have you considered some physical education credit? Morgantown has 2 League of American Bicyclists certified Cycling Instructors who would be happy to teach students to ride safely and confidently to school, if you need help. Students who travel 5 miles or less to school, certainly 1 mile or less, could bicycle to school almost as easily and quickly as driving. Promoting the health and environmental benefits of riding a bike to school coupled with a student-led campaign to make it "cool" could possibly eliminate the parking problem as well as improve the health of the students. Please contact me by replying to this message or by calling me at 304-376-0446 to realize this solution. Frank Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board

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Pictures of bike facilities
by director 08 Aug '07

08 Aug '07

Good evening, I just came across this photo resource for bike facility pictures. Couldn't remember if it had been mentioned before. http://www.flickr.com/groups/bicyclefacilities/pool/ It was mentioned on the website... http://mplsbikelove.com/forum/index.php under (blush) bikeporn Interestingly, bikers in MSP haven't been nearly as inconvenienced by the I35W bridge collapse as drivers. When I was a student at the UofM I lived a few blocks from this bridge. Traffic got jugged up then (1980). Fortunately MSP has been establishing some outstanding bike paths and routes. I was there a few years ago and the city is like 2 different places depending whether you bike or drive. The biking city is much friendlier, more relaxed and functional. Nick Hein

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Re: [Bikeboard] Bicycle Storage
by Chris Fletcher 07 Aug '07

07 Aug '07

Mr. Gmeindle: Thank you for submitting your recommendation. I will incorporate same into the proposed revisions that the Planning Commission will be reviewing this Thursday at their regular monthly meeting. Respectfully, Christopher M. Fletcher, AICP Planning Director City of Morgantown 389 Spruce Street Morgantown, WV 26505 304.284.7431 (o) 304.284.7534 (f) cfletcher(a)cityofmorgantown.org _____ From: Frank Gmeindl [mailto:fgmeindl@verizon.net] Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 9:21 PM To: Chris Fletcher Cc: Ron Justice; Dan Boroff; Don Spencer; bikeboard(a)cheat.org Subject: Bicycle Storage Christopher M. Fletcher, AICP Morgantown Director of Planning 389 Spruce Street Morgantown, WV 26505 Chris, Following is a response to your request of Don Spencer for the Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board's recommendation on bicycle storage space for multi-family dwellings in areas zoned B-4. Based upon precedents set by cities of similar size and demographics, we recommend the following MINIMUM guidelines: * 1 indoor, secured, sheltered bicycle storage space per dwelling unit should be provided. (Ideally 2 spaces per dwelling unit should be provided.) * Each space should be a minimum of 3-feet x 6-feet x 4-feet * Each bicycle should be able to be individually secured with a lock to a permanent structure. * There should also be sufficient space for easy access to each bicycle. Please feel free to contact me at my e-mail address or phone number below to discuss. Also, please reply with confirmation of your receipt of this letter. Sincerely, Frank Gmeindl, Chairman Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board Email: fgmeindl(a)verizon.net <mailto:fgmeindl@verizon.net> Phone: 304-376-0446 Betsy Shogren, Secretary Email: edz4(a)cdc.gov <mailto:edz4@cdc.gov> Phone: 937-602-4483

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Bicycle Storage
by Frank Gmeindl 06 Aug '07

06 Aug '07

Christopher M. Fletcher, AICP Morgantown Director of Planning 389 Spruce Street Morgantown, WV 26505 Chris, Following is a response to your request of Don Spencer for the Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board's recommendation on bicycle storage space for multi-family dwellings in areas zoned B-4. Based upon precedents set by cities of similar size and demographics, we recommend the following MINIMUM guidelines: * 1 indoor, secured, sheltered bicycle storage space per dwelling unit should be provided. (Ideally 2 spaces per dwelling unit should be provided.) * Each space should be a minimum of 3-feet x 6-feet x 4-feet * Each bicycle should be able to be individually secured with a lock to a permanent structure. * There should also be sufficient space for easy access to each bicycle. Please feel free to contact me at my e-mail address or phone number below to discuss. Also, please reply with confirmation of your receipt of this letter. Sincerely, Frank Gmeindl, Chairman Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board Email: fgmeindl(a)verizon.net <mailto:fgmeindl@verizon.net> Phone: 304-376-0446 Betsy Shogren, Secretary Email: edz4(a)cdc.gov <mailto:edz4@cdc.gov> Phone: 937-602-4483

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Re: [Bikeboard] Bike Class Flyer
by autumn bliss 03 Aug '07

03 Aug '07

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Thu, 2-Aug, Bike Board Agenda
by Frank Gmeindl 01 Aug '07

01 Aug '07

Bike Board Members, Please find attached 2 files: the minutes of our last meeting and the agenda for this Thursday's meeting. The Traffic Commission won't be meeting on their regular day this month, the day before our meeting. They'll probably have it shortly after our Thursday meeting so this Thursday, we'll have a chance to craft anything we want to deliver to them this month. The minutes of the July TC meeting aren't out yet and I'm wishing I'd written a summary right after the meeting because I forgetting. But, here's my best recollection: At the July TC meeting, all but one or two of the TC members showed up an hour earlier than their regular starting time to participate in my 1-hour lecture on Transportation Cycling for Planners and Public Officials. Everyone was quite engaged and we had lively discussion about effective cycling and how transportation planning can facilitate or thwart effective cycling. I think most of the members now have a much better idea of how cyclists should ride in traffic and how planners, public officials and motorists should treat cyclists. During their normal course of business, the TC unanimously voted to request the City Manager to implement the bike-and-chevron shared lane markings that we recommended for the streets over which the City has control. They also voted unanimously to ask the City Manager to meet with the State DOH to arrange to implement the markings on the streets that we recommended within the City that the state DOH controls. During my presentation, Frank Devono, Superintendent of Schools, and Ted Shriver of Williams-Shriver architects presented their plan to move Prairie Avenue to accommodate Morgantown High School expansion. Trying to score some points I think following my presentation on cycling, they reported that they were going to retain the existing bike rack but move it across the street. After a long discussion, the TC practically directed them to include indoor bicycle parking in their design. See you Thursday! Remember, rehydrate at every tee;) Frank

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Bikeboard August 2007