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Re: [Bikeboard] Unicycles on sidewalks/streets
by Frank Gmeindl 31 Jan '12

31 Jan '12

Dear Mr. Ferris, I know this is short notice but if you can, please attend the Bicycle Board's regular monthly meeting tomorrow (Thursday) night at 6:30 pm in the Public Safety Center Conference Room. Attached is the agenda. Since the attached agenda was created a week ago, you won't see the unicycle topic on it. However, we will address the unicycle issue under topic #5, ripe bananas at 6:48 pm. Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles On Jan 31, 2012, at 8:13 PM, Wesley Nugent wrote: > Dear Roy and Frank, > > At the Committee of the Whole meeting on January 31, the issue of unicycles riding on streets and sidewalks was referred with Council consensus to the Bike Board for further investigation. Once the Bike Board has explored the issue, It's requested that recommendations be presented to the Traffic Commission for consideration and afterward have the Traffic Commission forward recommendations to Council for full consideration. > > Mr. Scott Ferris, whom I've included on this correspondence, is interested in working with the Bike Board on this issue. > > Please work with the City Manager's office to receive additional information and direction in this regard. > > Thanks in advance for your assistance. > > Sincerely, > Wes > > -- > Wesley "Wes" Nugent > Morgantown City Councilor > Connect online @ WNugent.com > > Confidentiality Notice: This email, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. > >

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Fwd: Unicycles on sidewalks/streets
by Frank Gmeindl 31 Jan '12

31 Jan '12

Anyone know who Scott Ferris is? Begin forwarded message: > From: Wesley Nugent <wes(a)wnugent.com> > Date: January 31, 2012 8:13:01 PM EST > To: Roy Nutter <roy.nutter(a)mail.wvu.edu>, Frank Gmeindl <fgmeindl(a)gmail.com> > Cc: scott.r.ferris(a)gmail.com, "Terrence R. Moore ICMA-CM" <tmoore(a)cityofmorgantown.org>, City Council <CityCouncil(a)cityofmorgantown.org>, Damien Davis <ddavis(a)cityofmorgantown.org> > Subject: Unicycles on sidewalks/streets > > Dear Roy and Frank, > > At the Committee of the Whole meeting on January 31, the issue of unicycles riding on streets and sidewalks was referred with Council consensus to the Bike Board for further investigation. Once the Bike Board has explored the issue, It's requested that recommendations be presented to the Traffic Commission for consideration and afterward have the Traffic Commission forward recommendations to Council for full consideration. > > Mr. Scott Ferris, whom I've included on this correspondence, is interested in working with the Bike Board on this issue. > > Please work with the City Manager's office to receive additional information and direction in this regard. > > Thanks in advance for your assistance. > > Sincerely, > Wes > > -- > Wesley "Wes" Nugent > Morgantown City Councilor > Connect online @ WNugent.com > > Confidentiality Notice: This email, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. > >

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Unicycles
by Frank Gmeindl 30 Jan '12

30 Jan '12

Dear Terrence, The proposed amendments of the City code to control unicycles on sidewalks and streets could damage our efforts to reduce traffic congestion and to make Morgantown a Bicycle Friendly Community. Our concern is that those who are bicycling on the sidewalks and get tickets will end up driving cars. The Bicycle Board recognizes that sidewalk bicycling is dangerous to bicyclists as well as to pedestrians. Our approach to getting bicyclists off the sidewalks and onto the streets is to educate them that the law gives them same rights to the road as motorists and subjects them to the same duties. We produced 5,000 police information cards (http://bikemorgantown.com/articles.php?str=2012/01/ticketing-cyclists.html) and gave them to Chief Preston and WVU police for this purpose. We encourage police to give these cards to bicyclists as well as motorists that violate laws that jeopardize bicyclists' safety. Now, I recognize that the subject for Tuesday's Committee of the Whole is unicycles but since one of the code amendments is to article 373. Bicycles, specifically 373.08 Riding on Sidewalks, the discussion is likely to stray from unicycles to bicycling on sidewalks. I explicitly request that you consider our points above if discussion does stray to sidewalk bicycling. Perhaps you could even distribute some police information cards. One element of the procedural guidelines under which the City chartered the Bicycle Board is "review and support the implementation of Article 373 on Bicycles of the Morgantown Municipal Code." We have been working on this for years and have preliminary recommendations for code updates but we are not yet ready to propose them to the Traffic Commission. One of those recommendations is to remove 373.08 (d) from 373 since 373.08 (d) has nothing to do with bicycles. Another reason for removing the language of 373.08 (d) from 373 is that doing so would diminish the grouping of bicycles with skateboards, roller skates, and soon, unicycles. We need to recognize that one reason residents may choose to bicycle on the sidewalks rather than on the streets is that they perceive the streets to be more dangerous. Until we can educate them that they can ride safely on the streets and until we can make the streets safer for bicycling, e.g. by enforcing laws whose violation endangers cyclists, we could consider amending the 373.08 Riding on Sidewalks to make riding on sidewalks safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. One such measure could be to amend 373.08 to permit bicycling on the sidewalks at a speed no greater than the prevailing speed of pedestrian traffic. I hope that we will discuss this matter before Tuesday's Committee of the Whole meeting. Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles

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Re: [Bikeboard] Sidewalk cycling
by director 30 Jan '12

30 Jan '12

Frank, et al, At one time it was possible to find the Uniform Vehicle Code (UVC) online and as near as I can remember it had language to the effect of... Safety is determined by operator behavior rather than conveyance. If a cyclist rides on the sidewalk at pedestrian speeds, aware of and yielding to pedestrians, then there will be no difference in safety than if he were a pedestrian. I thought that seemed pretty sensible, and it agreed with my experience. If one of our transportation professionals has access to the UVC please look this up and verify it. If that language is still in there I recommend that any new law be modeled on this language for these 2 reasons... - It will guide cyclists and pedestrians in safe behavior - It is enforcable and justifiable - It is based on a national criteria that might be followed by other municipalities, instead of the current nutty patchwork of vigilante sidewalk laws that are impractical to know and often selectively enforced. Nick Hein LCI# 1705 Director, Positive Spin 803 East Brockway Ave Morgantown, WV ph 304-276-0213 -----Original Message----- From: "Frank Gmeindl" <frank.gmeindl(a)comcast.net> Sent 1/29/2012 6:57:09 PM To: "Bicycle Board" <bikeboard(a)cheat.org> Cc: "Christiaan Abildso" <christiaan.abildso(a)mail.wvu.edu> Subject: [Bikeboard] Sidewalk cycling Bicycle Board Members, At this Tuesday's meeting, City Council will discuss riding on sidewalks. See Agenda. WHAT SHOULD WE DO? We have 2 days to decide. Primarily, in response to a request from Chief Preston, they're banning unicycles from sidewalks and streets, effectively banning unicycles. I imagine this will lead to discussing bicycling on sidewalks which I imagine could lead to police ticketing bicyclists who ride on sidewalks. IMO, that won't exactly help us realize our vision of every resident being able to bicycle safely and fearlessly anywhere, anytime for any reason or to achieve our goal of having 1 or every 20 vehicles on Morgantown streets be a bicycle by 2020. I would like to turn this around from being negative to some kind of positive action to support our vision, goal, objectives and recommended action but I don't know how. Ideas? Specifically, they're going to revise two parts of the code: 311.02 TOY VEHICLES ON STREETS and 373.08 RIDING ON SIDEWALKS, specifically 373.08 (d). Personally, I've always had a problem with 373.08 (d) because 373 is entitled "Bicycles" but 373.08 (d) is about skateboards and roller skates and soon to include unicycles. If they had asked me about this ordinance change, I would first have recommended that they remove part (d) from 373. (See Bicycle Law .) Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles _______________________________________________ Bikeboard mailing list Bikeboard(a)cheat.org http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/bikeboard

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Sidewalk cycling
by Frank Gmeindl 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

Bicycle Board Members, At this Tuesday's meeting, City Council will discuss riding on sidewalks. See Agenda. WHAT SHOULD WE DO? We have 2 days to decide. Primarily, in response to a request from Chief Preston, they're banning unicycles from sidewalks and streets, effectively banning unicycles. I imagine this will lead to discussing bicycling on sidewalks which I imagine could lead to police ticketing bicyclists who ride on sidewalks. IMO, that won't exactly help us realize our vision of every resident being able to bicycle safely and fearlessly anywhere, anytime for any reason or to achieve our goal of having 1 or every 20 vehicles on Morgantown streets be a bicycle by 2020. I would like to turn this around from being negative to some kind of positive action to support our vision, goal, objectives and recommended action but I don't know how. Ideas? Specifically, they're going to revise two parts of the code: 311.02 TOY VEHICLES ON STREETS and 373.08 RIDING ON SIDEWALKS, specifically 373.08 (d). Personally, I've always had a problem with 373.08 (d) because 373 is entitled "Bicycles" but 373.08 (d) is about skateboards and roller skates and soon to include unicycles. If they had asked me about this ordinance change, I would first have recommended that they remove part (d) from 373. (See Bicycle Law .) Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles

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Critical vote for West Virginia's representatives
by Frank Gmeindl 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

Please urge our representative, David McKinley to support the amendment which will protect Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Take Action here: http://capwiz.com/lab/issues/alert/?alertid=60787356&PROCESS=Take+Action TE is the fund that supported our education program. SRTS is a high priority SRTS recommendation in our Bicycle Plan. On Thursday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is going to vote on an amendment to preserve Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Please see this blog post for more background http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/2012/01/house-bill-threatens-to-eliminate-b…. In addition, Rep. Rahall, http://www.rahall.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=91 is the ranking member of the T&I committee and his vote could make or break the outcome of the amendment vote (it could also sway others’ votes). It is very, very important that he hears from his constituents. Help spread the word to people living in Rep. Rahall’s district 3 or, as I did, write him. (I just copied the message that LAB has at the link ahead.) Congresswoman Capito (WV-2) also has an important vote (but I couldn't figure out how to send her an e-mail). If you have any questions, please follow up with Darren Flusche at LAB Darren Flusche <Darren(a)bikeleague.org> or Caron Whitaker at America Bikes Caron Whitaker <caron(a)americabikes.org>. This is an issue that has wide ranging impacts for safety, health, transportation, and beyond. Frank

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Complete Streets legislation
by Frank Gmeindl 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

This is a WV bill that would require municipalities and the WVDOH to create Complete Streets. http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4074%20in… Frank

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Agenda for this Thursday's BB meeting
by Frank Gmeindl 28 Jan '12

28 Jan '12

Bicycle Board Members, Please find attached, a suggested agenda for this Thursday's BB meeting. If you'd like any changes, please reply-to-all. Frank D. Gmeindl Chairman, Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board LCI #1703 491 WilsonAvenue Morgantown, WV 26501 304-376-0446 Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles

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Fwd: Take action now - save funding for bicycle programs
by Frank Gmeindl 28 Jan '12

28 Jan '12

Begin forwarded message: > From: "Colin Dierman" <colin(a)wamsleycycles.com> > Date: January 28, 2012 9:59:25 AM EST > To: <frank.gmeindl(a)comcast.net> > Subject: Fw: Take action now - save funding for bicycle programs > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: "John Burke - Trek Bicycle" <john_burke(a)trekbikes.com> > Sent 1/27/2012 5:00:00 PM > To: colin(a)wamsleycycles.com > Subject: Take action now - save funding for bicycle programs > > Contact your state representative today to help save funding > > Login to dexdealer.com > View this email in your browser > Trek Retailers, > > Over the past ten years many Trek retailers have made a difference in helping to make America a bicycle friendly country. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we have a long way to go. Unfortunately, as a movement, we are facing some real challenges in Washington. Next Thursday, the House Transportation Committee is voting on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funding for biking and walking. We stand to lose $1.2 billion and over 3000 potential bike and pedestrian projects, including Safe Routes to School programs. > > I need your help to preserve these dedicated biking and walking infrastructure funds. > > What should you do? > > 1. Pick up the phone and contact your elected official. Find their number here. > 2. Send an email to your elected official. Find their email here. > 3. Send your customers an email asking them to also contact their representative. > 4. Ask your fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter to take action. > > Your message can be as simple as this… > > My name is Jim Smith and I am the owner of Jim’s Bike Shop in Madison Wisconsin. I’m contacting you today to asking you to protect the dedicated pedestrian and bicycle funding in the new American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. > > This bill is expected to eliminate the two largest programs that fund bicycling and walking infrastructure—Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities in our district and all over the country will lose access to resources to build the facilities that keep people safe. > > Bicycling and walking are critical to keeping our communities moving with healthy, safe, and accessible transportation options. > > As a small business owner in your district the success of my business is directly affected by the quality and the amount of safe bicycle infrastructure. > > Biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips, but only 1.5 percent of federal funding. > > And bicycling is good for health and the environment. > > Thank you for your support. > Jim from Jims Bike Shop > Madison, WI > > A call will only take five minutes out of your day, but it could be the difference between no funding and a billion dollars in funding. > > When you call your representative’s office, you will most likely get voicemail or talk to the representative’s staff member. That is okay. Still leave the message. Every call counts. It is vital that every Trek Retailer step up and make a call. > > Your phone call matters. Last year, when the Transportation extension was at risk, Bikes Belong called upon 20,000 California residents through the peopleforbikes.org campaign. They were each asked to contact Senator Pelosi and ask for her support of dedicated bicycle infrastructure funding. Within 48 hours they had over 2,000 calls to her office. 48 hours later Senator Pelosi called press conference and publicly announced her support of the bicycle funding. This new multi-year bill is critical. We need every representative to hear from their constituents. > > After you call, please send me a note. I am a firm believer in what gets measured gets done. We have 1500 Trek retailers across the country. My goal is to get 500 business owners to make the call by next Tuesday. > > Thank you, > John Burke > > Click here for more information regarding the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. > Update your preferences for Trek Bicycle emails. > This email was sent to: colin(a)wamsleycycles.com > Trek Bicycle | 801 W. Madison St. | Waterloo, WI 53594 | United States > ©1995-2011 Trek Bicycle Corporation. All rights reserved. > > > >

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Fwd: Transportation plan
by Frank Gmeindl 27 Jan '12

27 Jan '12

Bicycle Board Members, FYI. I sent the message below to Mon Bike Club and Country Roads Cyclists. Please attend the meetings and advocate for the Bicycle Plan. I'm planning to at least attend the Wednesday meeting at South Middle School since it's close to my house. Frank Begin forwarded message: > From: Frank Gmeindl <frank.gmeindl(a)comcast.net> > Date: January 23, 2012 10:14:23 AM EST > To: monbikeclub(a)googlegroups.com, CRcyclists(a)googlegroups.com > Subject: Fwd: Transportation plan > > Wednesday, Jan. 25 South Middle School, 7-9 pm > Thursday, Jan. 26 North Elementary School, 7-9 pm > > Please attend one or both of these meetings and tell planners what bicyclists need. > > In City, County and State government, we now have officials that are more receptive to bicycling than we've had in my 38 years here. If we show up and tell them what we need, they will put it in the transportation and land use plans. To be sure, they will get plenty of input from non-cyclists. Like racing, we can't win if we don't show up. > > If you don't know what to say, tell them to implement the Greater Morgantown Bicycle Plan, http://db.tt/2NaSlSZ4 . Or, choose something you like from it and advocate for that. > > Today's Dominion Post had this editorial about it: http://tinyurl.com/7yr5qku . > And, this article about it (note, two pages): http://tinyurl.com/7grzq2k AND http://tinyurl.com/7pcg28e . > > 4ank > > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: Frank Gmeindl <frank.gmeindl(a)comcast.net> >> Date: January 11, 2012 10:53:29 PM EST >> To: monbikeclub(a)googlegroups.com, CRcyclists(a)googlegroups.com >> Subject: Transportation plan >> >> The Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization is developing a transportation plan for our area. The attached flier describes meetings that they've scheduled for Jan. 25 and 26 to get public input. This is a chance for cyclists to tell planners how to make our transportation system good for bicyclists. >> >> 4ank >> > >

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