Salters Road widening project

Salters Road, between Verdae and ICAR, will be resurfaced and widened soon by the SCDOT. According to the handout from a public information meeting that was held earlier this month, the “proposed project would widen the existing roadway to four 12-foot travel lanes and include a grassed median, bike lanes, and sidewalks.” A new wider and longer bridge would be required over I-85 as part of the project, which would also include bike lanes (and I assume a taller and safer guardrail).

I have been out of the loop on this project, but from everything I have seen the proposed road layout sounds great. You can read more about it in the SCDOT document mentioned previously and this article in the Greenville News (do a Google search for “Salters Road project may include bridge replacement” to see the full article if you are not a Greenville News subscriber). When the redesigned road is complete, it will be a great bike friendly connection to ICAR, but it is a major project that will take up to 12 months to complete. During that time, Salters Road will be closed completely with the detour shown above as the suggested alternate. Verdae and Laurens are not ideal roads for cyclists to use as an alternate route to ICAR, so Spinners advocacy chairperson Frank Mansbach has proposed a few good ideas that could make the detour safer for all users during the year of construction :

1) Adding share the road and /or bicycle route signs on Verdae Boulevard from Rocky Slope to Laurens.

2) Reduced speed limit on Verdae from current 45 mph.

3) Re-striping all or part of Verdae to add bike lanes or shared lane markings (sharrows).

Rather than turning from Verdae onto Laurens, Frank suggests that the designated bike detour would cross to Parkins Mill, then left on Ridge Road and left on Fairforest to get to ICAR (signage and/ or sharrows would be required on Ridge Road and Parkins Mill as well).

I personally think these are great suggestions that should be considered by the SCDOT as this project is being planned. They have opened the project to public comment until February 24th (this Friday), so if you agree that a safe alternate detour for cyclists is a good idea, contact SCDOT Program Manager Tommy Elrod at (864) 241-1010 or elrodjt@scdot.org to express your support for the ideas above and any others that you might have.


Switching gears, I want to mention an event that is taking place this weekend. The BMW Performance Center and the Greenville Spinners Bicycle Club are hosting a special showing of the movie “Chasing Legends” at the BMW Zentrum this Saturday, February 25th at 6:30pm. “Chasing Legends” Director Jason Berry will there, so don’t miss your chance to see the film, meet the director, and possibly win some great prizes. You read more about the event, and purchase tickets, at Go Green Events. All proceeds from the evening are going to the United Way of Greenville, so it’s for a good cause as well. I am looking forward to it, and I hope to see you there.

 

 

 

Moving Beyond the Automobile

“Moving Beyond The Automobile is a 40-minute series of documentary film shorts that highlights real-world solutions to address America's dependence on the automobile. The film series explore strategies that integrate active living and effective multi-modal transportation.”

UpstateForever and The Mary Black Foundation will be showing Moving Beyond the Automobile this Thursday, Jan. 26^th at Spartanburg Community College from 6 to 7 pm.  The event is free, but space is limited, so RSVP to Upstate Forever in Spartanburg if you wish to attend. More information and contact information can be found here.

Speaking of real-world transportation solutions, read about this plan for a superhighway for cyclists in Sweden. Interesting, but the last paragraph is what really grabbed my attention. Perhaps if Sweden goes ahead with this project, America will revive its superhighway system for cyclists. I won't hold my breath...but it COULD happen in my lifetime.

Update:  One more event that some of you may be interested in attending this week is the City of Greenville's Green Ribbon Advisory Committee Public Workshop. The workshop will take place tomorrow, Jan 24th at 6:30 pm in the Hughes Main Library. See the City's Sustainability webpage for more information.

Greenville Joyride with Mia Birk

Mark your calendars now, if you haven’t already. Just less than two weeks away, on Friday September 9^th, Portland-based bicycle transportation expert and author Mia Birk will be here in Greenville for the final stop on her Palmetto Joyride tour across South Carolina. After stops in Charleston and Columbia on Wednesday and Thursday, Mia will start her day in Greenville at 10:00am with an appearance on Your Carolina with Jack and Kimberly. Following the show, Mia will be busy meeting with local leaders to discuss how Greenville can benefit from investing in bicycling and pedestrian facilities. See the full agenda for the day on the Palmetto Conservation Foundation website for more information.

At 5:00pm, plan to join Mia for a community bike ride starting from the Zoo entrance in Cleveland Park. The roughly 2.5 mile ride will be open to the public and accessible for bicyclists of all ages and skill levels. The route will cover parts of the Swamp Rabbit trail as well as some of the downtown on-street bicycle facilities, and will end at the Greenville Little Theater at 5:30.

The Greenville Little Theater will be the site of Mia’s Key Note presentation, which will be open to the public. According to the Palmetto Conservation Foundation:

“Mia will share her observations of Greenville and discuss her experience working in Portland as well as in communities throughout the country. Attendees will have an opportunity to submit questions to Mia ahead of the presentation. Participants will also have the chance to win a Custom Fat Tire bicycle donated by New Belgium Beer. Participants will enjoy food and drink (served in biodegradable cups), as well as the opportunity to purchase a copy of Mia’s book Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet and have it signed by the author herself. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with Mia’s presentation at 6:15 p.m.”

This will be a fun and informative evening in Greenville that you won’t want to miss. Make sure to tell your friends about it too. We want a packed house at the Greenville Little Theater that evening, so I hope to see you there on the 9th!

Finally, I want to mention the great sponsors who are making this happen- the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, the Palmetto Cycling Coalition, SynTerra, Duke Energy, Piedmont Health Care Foundation, South Carolina Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, Livewell Greenville, the YMCA of Greenville, and TTR Bikes of Greenville.