City Council will soon vote on the Bicycle Master Plan

Over the course of the last year or so, many of you who read this blog have been involved in one way or another with the development of the Greenville Bicycle Master Plan. During the development cycle, there have been community workshops, a major bike count, online surveys, and many other ways for the community to get involved. All of that work has culminated in what I think is a great outline of the future of bicycling infrastructure in Greenville, and I encourage you to read the Executive Summary of the Master Plan website to learn more about it. Greenville City Council will be voting on the plan in August, so please contact the City Council member for your district  (as well as the Mayor and City Manager) to let them know what you think of it. If you support the bicycle master plan, now is the time to make sure that your voice is heard

Update 8/17: The City Council vote is now has been scheduled for September 26th. More information to follow soon in a new post.

An article published last week in the Greenville News point out that “some leaders are cautious on the city’s bike plan” (you can read the full article at the Asheville Citizen Times website if you don’t subscribe to the Greenville News).  When I first read the article, there were quite a few comments and points that I found troubling, so I will try and address a couple of those issues in this post.

According to the article, Mayor White states that the “city intends to act deliberatively and focus on off-road trails”. He says “he doesn’t foresee bike lanes on heavily traveled thoroughfares such as Stone Avenue.”  Based on the success of the Swamp Rabbit, I agree with the Mayor that we should build more greenway trails. Personally, I enjoy riding on the Swamp Rabbit with my kids, but I consider that type of trail to mainly be a recreational component. In order for bikes to be included as a part of the overall transportation plan, we need a comprehensive network that includes off street trails, on street bike lanes, sharrows, and other bicycle infrastructure components. To me, that is what the Master Plan offers…a guideline to create a REAL network that will allow more people in the community to safely travel by bicycle. Sure, there are people like me (and many of you) who are out riding no matter what, but to address the 60 percent of residents who are “interested but concerned” about cycling (according to recent city survey), a comprehensive network of routes needs to be established.

I am a bit confused at the apparent distinction that is made in the article between the bicycle master plan and the City’s Complete Streets policy. The idea with both is to accommodate all types of traffic on our roadways, and to make those streets safer for ALL users. Knowing that South Carolina ranks as one of the worst states in the nation for cyclist and pedestrian fatalities per capita, I would hope that making our roads safe for everyone would be a priority. Councilwoman Amy Ryberg Doyle understands that. She points out in the article that “the city isn’t rearranging streets just for bikes,” and that a “complete streets policy is designed to make more roads that reduce car speed, improve the safety of pedestrians and offer alternate transportation.” The example of East North Street is mentioned. Based on the city’s traffic engineering department usage studies, that road was reduced from 4 lanes to 2 and bike lanes were added. According to city officials, that lane reduction “added 20 seconds to the drive time, which was part of the goal, while continuing to move roughly 10,000 cars per day.” Mayor White states in the article that the road diet has “made traffic more efficient”, so overall it sounds like the East North street project was a success. So why does Councilwomen Susan Reynolds not agree?  She is glad that traffic has improved, but says, “that wasn’t our intent. Our intent was to put bike lanes.” That statement really puzzles me. Personally, I don’t think the intent should ever be to JUST put in bike lanes. A holistic approach to traffic planning needs to be considered, and that was the case with the East North Street project. Furthermore, that is why the master plan has been carefully developed by urban planners, civil engineers, and with much input from concerned local citizens. No one is advocating painting bike lanes on every road without considering the factors that affect traffic. The goal is to improve safe traffic flow and benefit everyone. Mrs. Reynolds does say that she supports bike lanes, but that the city needs more information such as bike counts (during the development of the master plan, I participated with many others in the city’s first major bike count). She goes onto to say things like, “I just think it’s really short sighted to start picking streets…we on council are not engineers. We should be sticking with the original policy, which is complete streets”, and “We can’t make all our roads bike lanes…there’s got to be some roads that we leave intact for traffic.” Knowing the research and planning that has gone into the current proposal, I find those statements very puzzling. 

It is not my intent to pick on Mrs. Reynolds, who you may remember I supported in the recent election. She says that she is “all for bike lanes and believes in their economic value to the city” and I believe she is sincere in her support. What I don’t understand is why is she is unaware of the research and design work that went into the current bicycle master plan to make sure that any changes improve traffic and benefit cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.  Perhaps we in the cycling community have done poor job of communicating that fact to our elected officials. In my opinion, the goal of the plan is to improve the safety of our streets and allow more people to choose alternative ways to get around. It is not just an amenity for the people who currently ride bicycles in Greenville, but an opportunity for those 60% of concerned but interested potential riders to safely and comfortably get out on bikes.

If it is ever going to happen though, now is the time to let our elected officials know that this is something we care about. Again, I urge you to voice your support and help to make this plan a reality in Greenville.

Federal bike and pedestrian funding in danger!

If you are an LAB member, PCC member, or People for Bikes subscriber, you have probably already heard that House Transportation Chairman John Mica (R-FL) announced yesterday that his transportation bill will eliminate dedicated funding for bicycling and walking, including Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School, and the Recreational Trails Program. He stated that these programs support activities that are “not in the federal interest”, and encouraged states not to fund them either. This proposed halt to funding for sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways comes at a time when, as the LAB points out, “two-thirds of all pedestrian deaths are on federally funded highways” and “one-third of children’s traffic deaths happen when children are walking or bicycling and are struck by cars.”

The LAB also provides some good talking points on this issue:

• Biking and walking are important forms of transportation, and funding for bicycle and pedestrian improvements is a very efficient use of federal transportation dollars.  Portland, OR built 300 miles of bike lanes and trails for the cost of one mile of highway. 
• These projects create jobs and build local economies.  Building bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure creates 46% more jobs than building road-only projects per million dollars spent.  Cities that invest in bicycle and pedestrian projects turn downtowns into destinations, and capitalize on increased business activity.
• Eliminating the 1.5% of transportation funding spent on bike/ped would have no meaningful impact on the federal budget, but instead, decreases transportation options for American families in a time of rising gas prices and an uncertain economy.  

Please take a few minutes today to write your Senators and Congressional representatives to express your support for continued bicycle and pedestrian funding. See the message below from Rachael at the Palmetto Cycling Coalition for more information and/or visit the page that People for Bikes has set up to send a message. This could be a major setback for bicycle and pedestrian transportation, so we all need to speak up now.

Good evening,

  

We just found out some very bad news, which we urge you to take action on immediately: dedicated funding for bicycling and walking is in jeopardy based upon House and Senate Transportation proposals released today. 

This funding has supported projects that we all know and love--like sections of the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston, pathways in Hilton Head, mountain bike trails (FATS and others) in the Central Savannah River Area, and parts of the Swamp Rabbit in Greenville. Without this funding, these projects and similar ones in the future will be in jeopardy. 

Today, Congressman John Mica of Florida, Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, outlined his plans for the new transportation bill and called for the elimination of dedicated funding for biking and walking programs, which he suggested are "not in the national interest."

In the Senate, James Inhofe of Oklahoma is leading a similar attack. Inhofe, a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said that one of his top-three priorities for the next multi-year federal transportation bill is to eliminate "frivolous spending for bike trails."

If Representative Mica and Senator Inhofe get their way, dedicated funding for three crucial programs -- Safe Routes to School, Transportation Enhancements, and Recreational Trails -- will be eliminated. The cost-effective federal investment in bicycling that is making our nation better will shrink dramatically.  

We can't allow this to happen.

Visit the League of American Bicyclists' action center to send the message to Sen. DeMint, Sen. Graham and your Representative in Congress. In a year when South Carolina is on track to break a new record for bicycle and pedestrians deaths, we must stand up to protect bicycle and pedestrian funding. 

Thanks for your support and quick response. 

   

Rachael Kefalos

Palmetto Cycling Coalition 

City Council candidates on bike lane funding

An article in today’s Greenville News, Greenville City Council at-large candidates split on city goals, points out a few notable differences in opinion between candidates for an at-large City Council seat that is up for grabs in the election this coming Tuesday (June 14th). The city’s bike plan is mentioned in the article, and quotes from each of the two candidates clearly indicate their views on funding for bicycle transportation projects.

Susan Reynolds, the incumbent, states that she wants, “parking and business license improvements to help attract more companies and pedestrian-friendly work to improve neighborhoods for residents. She also wants to closely examine where the city is putting bike lanes to be sure they are useful.” Making sure that the bike lanes are placed where they are useful is the point of Greenville’s Bicycle Master Plan, so I hope that Mrs. Reynolds will, if re-elected, continue to support the progress toward complete streets in the city.

According to the Greenville News piece, her challenger, Jan Williams, “is skeptical of the need for city-funded bike lanes, saying he grew up on a bike and learned to look out for himself. Those who want them should donate to the cause, he said. The only tax money he would use is the hotel tax designed to fund tourism projects.” To me, his reference to tourism projects indicates that he considers bicycling to strictly be a recreational activity, not a component of the transportation plan. I would just like to remind Mr. Williams that bicyclists, like motorists, DO pay the income, sales, and property taxes that currently fund our road construction and maintenance projects. I seriously doubt he would ask drivers to ‘donate to the cause’ if they want improvements designed to make our roads safer, but the fact remains that vehicle registration fees and gas taxes do not even come close to paying for the transportation infrastructure that we all use. South Carolina ranks as one of the worst states in the nation for cyclist and pedestrian fatalities per capita, and I am afraid that 'learning to look out' is not going to be enough to turn that around. I wish it was that easy, but we do have a real safety issue on our roads that needs to be addressed.

To be fair, I am sending an email to both candidates to give them a chance to respond. If I hear back from Councilwoman Reynolds and/or Mr. Williams, I will update this post with their response.

…and regardless of which candidate you choose, I encourage you all to get out and vote next Tuesday. Ride your bike to the polls if you can.

Update 6/11: I received an email from Councilwoman Reynolds late last night expressing her support for bike lanes. I appreciate her quick response, so I want to share it with you in its entirety:

James. Ben asked many questions for the article. And I elaborated on all of them, including the one about bicycle lanes and I was very clear.   I support bike lanes, I am in favor of continuing them.  I do know that we have the bicycle master plan coming up.  I am not a cyclist at the moment. I have had 6 knee surgeries, which prevents me from riding right now.   So I am the first one who needs an education on sharing lanes, why some lanes are better than others- why some are used more than others.   So my comments in completion were about how I am looking forward to being educated on the whole thing.  I do think we need to do a better job of educating the public on how to share the road and I want to be the first to learn.  There is no doubt that bicycle lanes are important to this community.  Having the Pro cycling event here for the last 6 years has been a huge asset to our community. I am optimistic that we will do what it takes to keep it here.   I have no doubt that all of council wants to continue making Greenville a top notch cycling community.  I am eager to see where we have done a good job, and where we need to improve.  And for the record, I am a very visual person- I can read all the information in the world, but I am much clearer when I can actually 'see' the lanes and see how they look on the roads,etc.   I am well known to staff for having them ride me around to actually look at why something is working, how it can be improved, or when it doesn't work. I have no doubt I will be taking a tour around to become educated on the lanes.

I appreciate the opportunity to share my complete thoughts.  Ben and I  talked about many things and of course he could not print all of the things that I said, but it is frustrating when people read one comment on any subject and assume they have heard all that I said. So again, thank you for the opportunity to comment further.  And just FYI, I  look forward to riding a bike again soon, and I sincerely hope by the time I do, I will be much better educated about cycling- that is my intent!  

Susan Reynolds

Update 6/12: I also received an email response from Mr Williams clarifying his position on bike lanes, and I want to share that with you here:

Mr. Thomas,

Thanks for your inquiry. As you probably know, what is heard is not necessarily what was said or intended.

As a child we were taught to ride our bikes and assume all cars were going to hit you because they could not see you since you were so much smaller than a car. And to always allow the car to have lane priority and be sure to signal when slowing down or turning. And of course we did not have any bike lanes in the 1950’s. Courtesy by bike riders and car drivers is necessary for all safe riding.

Since most of our population does not ride bicycles, and we keep hearing how this is a draw for visitors to the city, it makes sense to use the hospitality tax as a source of funding.

Additionally, there are other resources of money, such as “Complete Streets” and the FTA. Some of these provide matching funding at 1% to 20%, which means a group can raise $1000.00 and get a grant for $9,000.00 at 10% rate. The GTA Board was able to provide some grant assistance to the city for bike lanes within 3 miles of public transportation at the rate of 1% and 10%. Placing bike racks on the Greenlink buses has increased ridership, and I am on the Board of Directors for the GTA.

If a group of local bicycle enthusiasts raised some money and helped the city of Greenville provide funding for bike lanes, more residents would appreciate and maybe understand their direction for local riding as a form of transportation instead of just for recreation. And Andrew Meeker, Landscape Architect, City of Greenville, who has participated in the bike lane design, would be a good connection since he knows about these grants.

I hope this helps clarify my position about bike lanes and bikes. Any questions, please feel free to call me at 299-6341.

Jan Williams

Note: As I mentioned to Mr Williams in response to this message, the Greenville Spinners have, in the past, donated significant amounts of money to the city for the design and implementation of bike lanes. The Spinners and local bicycle advocates have also been active in pursuing grants to improve cycling infrastructure in Greenville.

Bike lanes on Pelham and Roper Mountain Roads this summer?

When I served as the advocacy chairperson for the Greenville Spinners several years ago, the club worked with the city to develop a small, downtown bike lane plan that was primarily focused on the central business district. That was definitely the right place to start, but at the time I often heard from Spinners members and other local cyclists who wanted to see those facilities expand beyond the city limits into the suburbs and other parts of the county. Since that time, through the work of many people, bike lanes in Greenville have expanded beyond the CBD… and if you attended any of the Bicycle Master Plan community meetings, you know that the plan is to eventually expand those bikeways much further in order to create a viable network for those of us who want a safe way to get around the city (and county) by bike. That is a long-range plan, but in order for that to happen, we NEED to take advantage of key resurfacing opportunities as they arise.

According to a recent Greenville News article (the same one I mentioned here), the South Carolina Department of Transportation is scheduled to resurface portions of Pelham Road (from Haywood Rd. to the Publix near East North) and Roper Mountain Road (from Blacks to Verdae) sometime this summer. I believe that bike lanes on both of those sections of road could provide critical connections from the heavily populated eastside of town to existing bike infrastructure in the city. Along with the new bike lanes and sharrows on East North, bike lanes on Pelham would feed to the current bike lanes in the downtown district and the Swamp Rabbit trail. Roper Mountain is also very important as it provides a route from eastside neighborhoods to the existing bike lanes at ICAR, where many people choose to ride. Personally, I have noticed a significant increase in the number of bicyclists on that currently dangerous section of Roper Mountain in recent years, so I believe the issue of safety for all users needs to be addressed with the resurfacing.

I am not alone in supporting the idea of bike lanes as part of these resurfacing projects. These sections of road are included in the Greenville-Pickens Area Transportation Study’s (GPATS) Long Range Transportation Plan, and Dan McGee, Transportation Planning Manager for the county, has recently publicly expressed support for including bike facilities in the Pelham Road resurfacing project. The Greenville Spinners board has also expressed support for bike lanes on both of these projects by sending a letter to the SCDOT and the Greenville City Manager on behalf of the club’s 800 plus members. I won’t list them all here, but a number of major employers on the eastside of Greenville have also expressed support for bike lanes as part of these resurfacing projects (Update 6/22: Flour, GE, and Hubbell Lighting are just a few of the companies that have already sent letters of support for these bike lanes). When you look at all the supporters who have taken an interest in these projects so far, it is clear that bike lanes on these roads are something that many people want to see.

In addition to the community support, I believe there are a couple of policy documents in place that support the inclusion of bike lanes as part of these resurfacing projects.

Greenville’s Complete Streets Resolution, adopted by City Council in 2008, states that the city endorses a complete streets policy (with accommodations for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and motorists) when feasible for new transportation projects as well as re-channelization projects and major maintenance. In both of these cases, observed bicycle traffic points to a need for facilities such as bike lanes on these roads.

SCDOT’s “Bicycle Accommodation Policy”, which is similar to the city’s complete streets policy, states that “ bicycling and walking accommodations should be a routine part of the department’s planning, design, construction and operating activities, and will be included in the everyday operations of our transportation system” and that bicycling and pedestrian improvements should be “an integral part of their transportation planning and programming where State or Federal Highway funding is utilized.”

Ultimately, the decision whether or not to include bike lanes as part of these projects will be made by the SCDOT, but certainly community support will be a factor in their decision.  If you agree that bicycle accommodations should be considered with both of these projects, please leave a comment here expressing your support…and feel free to contact me if you wish to get involved further.

Update: It was mentioned in the comments, but I want to reiterate that bike lanes have previously been proposed on both of these sections of road as part of the Greenville Bicycle Master Plan. These are not just random resurfacing projects...both are important components in both the Greenvilly city and GPATS long range plans. See the map on page 58 of the presentation that was given at the March public meeting to see these, and other, identified bike routes.

US Pro weekend in Greenville

This blog is usually focused on bicycle advocacy issues, but I’ll venture a little off topic and mention racing today. If you are in Greenville, you already know that it is time for the US Pro races again (you can find the schedule of events here). As I have in previous years, I’ll be watching the time trial and the road race with a particular focus on the bikes. Look for coverage this weekend at my Bicycle Design blog if you are interested in that sort of thing. Also, be sure to follow Carolina Cycling News throughout the weekend if you want to read about both races from a local perspective.

If you are interested in riding to the races, the Greenville Spinners will be leading a community bike ride to the Time Trial on Saturday, departing from the Zoo in Cleveland Park at 10am.  The Spinners are providing free bike valet for the TT at ICAR, so your bike will be secure once you get there.  

For the Road Race on Monday, Bikeville will be providing free bike valet from 10am-5pm in front of City Hall on Main St.  Speaking of Bikeville, they are hosting the monthly Critical Cruise ride around downtown tonight at 5:30.  Meet next to Barley's for an hour long cruise around downtown “respectfully celebrating bicyclists right to the road.”

Update 6/2: It was another great US Pro weekend in Greenville. Check out a few of my pictures from the races here if you are interested. 

Bicyclists are not a burden

I hope that some of you caught the article that ran in last Friday’s Greenville News titled, Greenville bike plans proceed in low gear. The piece, by Ben Szobody, discusses the Bikeville events throughout the month, the new bicycle master plan, and future plans for bike friendly infrastructure in Greenville. Overall, it is a very positive article, but it does cover all sides of the issue by mentioning some of the public criticism for bike projects in Greenville. Regarding possible bike lanes on Stone Avenue, local civil engineer James Freeland is quoted as saying, “I can't understand the reasoning to put so many drivers at a disadvantage to serve very few bicyclers.” To me, statements like that should serve as a reminder that we need to stress the point that complete streets are for people. The idea is not to disadvantage one group, but to make streets safe for ALL users (with over 40,000 traffic fatalities in the U.S. each year, safer streets should be a priority for everyone). Detractors like to trivialize complete streets and bike lanes by labeling them as recreational amenities for “lycra clad bikers.” In reality, the idea of making roads safer for all users affects that group as well as children, the elderly, families…really everyone. Unfortunately, stories about kids and young teens being killed on bicycles are much too common in this country. It is a trend that we need to stop, and I really hope that there are not many people out there who would disagree with that.

If you read the comments left in response to the online version of the Greenville News article, you will see that the same old argument about cyclists not paying their fair share surfaces again. The majority of us know that is not the case, but for anyone with doubts, I’ll link to a couple of old posts on that subject again. I know that I probably sound like a broken record, but I just don’t understand why all of those people who are so quick to cry foul about bike projects don’t also complain about our heavily subsidized infrastructure for automobiles. If every user is to pay his or her fair share for use of the roads, why are these people not pushing to raise the gas tax to cover the road construction and maintenance money that currently comes from our property and income taxes? I think it is pretty clear that fairness is not really what they want, but the old “cyclists don’t pay for roads” argument seems to be the best they can come up with.

A few of the commenters referred to bicycle infrastructure projects as wasteful spending by the Mayor and city government. Apparently they didn’t read far enough to see that the cost of several current bike lane-striping projects in the city are “mostly covered by a 95 percent match in federal transit funding.” I shouldn’t be too surprised though…I know that members of the vocal anti-bike minority don’t want to get too bogged down in facts. They just hate the presence of cyclists on their roads, so they keep rehashing the same old flawed arguments every time bicycle related projects are discussed.

Maybe it is time for a change in the discussion though. Instead of referring to bicyclists as a burden on the tax system, we should talk about the economic benefits of bicycle infrastructure. If you don’t want to read the entire pdf file from the League of American Bicyclists study, check out a good summary of the report here. Locally, you only have to look as far as the revitalization of downtown Travelers Rest to see real economic benefits from an investment in bike/ped infrastructure. Ask the owners of any of the new businesses that have popped up near the Swamp Rabbit trail what they think about cyclists and pedestrians. I seriously doubt that any of them will refer to us as a drain on society. The Liberty Bridge in Falls Park is another great example. When it was proposed, there were people who predicted that removing the old Camperdown Bridge to build a pedestrian bridge would mess up traffic and completely wreck downtown. Those same people are probably now taking out of town guests to Falls Park to show off what has become a symbol of the city.

The fact of the matter is, bike infrastructure really is a good investment, and the ROI can be seen in cities like Portland, Palo Alto, or Austin that have committed to those projects. Like any other town that wishes to attract innovative businesses and talented, creative people, Greenville needs to make those investments at some point. I think the city is doing the right thing by realizing that now…and I hope that the Mayor and City Council’s commitment to complete streets and other bike/ped improvements will continue.

Bike to Work week events

Bike to Work week in Greenville is underway. We got off to a rainy and cool start, but the weather is looking up for the rest of the week (well…better for Thursday and Friday at least). Remember, you can check the Bikeville bike month page for details on everything that is happening, but I want to quickly remind you about the events planned for the rest of this week

Tonight, Wednesday the 18^th, plan to attend the Greenville Ride of Silence. In past years, Greenville and Spartanburg have participated in a joint Ride of Silence. This year, the Greenville ride will start on Main Street at City Hall. Plan to be there at 6:30 to ride in a silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways.

After the Ride of Silence, ride your bike to the Peace Center Amphitheater for the Moonlight Movie (from 8 – 10). I will be there, with other Bikeville volunteers, to provide free secure bike parking while you watch the movie. Before the movie starts, you will see the Greenville premier of the four short Palmetto Cycling Coalition's Safe Streets Save Lives videos, which are intended to educate both bicyclists and motorists on the rules of the road.

Friday, May 20^th, is Bike to Work Day, and the theme this year is Bike Shop Rest Stops. Drop by any of the participating local shops on your way to work for refreshments, coupons, and prizes.

On Saturday, Upstate SORBA and Bikeville will host a Mountain Bike Skills Clinic at Cleveland Park (shelter 5) starting at 11 am. They will have the wooden ramps and see-saws to ride and will lead guided tours of Cleveland Park’s three miles of mountain bike trails. Helmets are required to participate. Find out more at Upstate SORBA.

Don’t forget the ongoing initiatives this month as well. The bike month page has details on everything.