Bicycle Board Members,
By April 8, we need to provide Bill Austin specific recommended projects to be included in subject plan. Please reply-all with your suggestions. I will roll them up and send them to Bill and the MPO Citizens Advisory Committee of which I am a member.
Attached is the current Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) that will be revised in the coming months. Please at least scan the first 5 pages. You will see that bicycling is mentioned throughout.
In general, for the revised plan, I would recommend more specific commitment to integrating bicycling into the transportation system.
Some examples;
1. The UPWP section entitled, Focus for Fiscal Year 2011, 4th paragraph, of the plan says, "Other major projects for the MPO will be the development of an ongoing traffic count database."
Recommendation: Count bicycles and include them in the database. (Traditionally traffic counts have ignored bicycles.)
2. The same paragraph also says, "It is anticipated that both the traffic counts and the travel time studies will be performed at a limited set of locations...".
Recommendation: Include bicycles in the studies. Focus on locations that could have significantly increased bicycle use and reduced motor use. For example, the roads between Campuses including University Av., Beechurst, Mon Blvd., Willowdale, Stewart St. Jones Av. and the rail-trail. Count the bikes. Create a baseline. Design experiments. Take data to see how experiments change bicycle use. (This recommendation also applies to UPWP section II-A-1 Traffic Counts.)
3. The section entitled, SAFETEA-LU Planning Factors, subsection 2. Increase the safety of the transportation system for motorized and non-motorized users, first paragraph says, "...working with local emergency service providers on transportation safety education when applicable."
Recommendation: Get commitment from Morgantown Police to complete International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA) training as currently taken annually by WVU bicycle police or get them to take one of the 7 other police training courses that the Bicycle Board recommended to the Morgantown police at the December 2, 2009 Traffic Commission meeting.
4. The section entitled, II-A-10 Mapping
Recommendation: Incorporate and continue to develop the Morgantown Bike Route map and develop greater Morgantown Bike Route maps. Classify all Morgantown area roads in terms of bicycling level of service.
5. The section entitled, II-B-17 Congestion Management Strategies
Recommendation: Seriously develop strategies that get people out of cars and onto bikes and their feet, especially where the congestion is highest: between and near campuses. Understand origins and destinations within that area. Identify obstacles to bicycling and walking. Identify attractions to driving. Make walking bicycling and walking more attractive. Make driving less attractive. (IMHO, we have always been doing the opposite.)
Since the MPO was created, it has always treated "bike-ped" separately from motorized transportation and transit. Consequently, most if not all of the built projects make cycling worse. Integrating bicycling and walking with other transportation modes, especially in the 5-mile cross section that constitutes Morgantown could optimize the transportation system for all users and make Morgantown a better place to live as well as a better place to bicycle.
Please send me your recommendations for the UPWP by April 6.
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