You are hereThe good and the bad of the City Council Meeting
The good and the bad of the City Council Meeting
First off, the public was HEAVILY in support of the Bicycle Plan Update. As in 294 to 11 in favor of passing the plan. We were actually able to intercept a ride-in-progress to add an additional couple dozen supporters, which was fucking incredible. At the outset of the meeting there were 60 people signed up to speak FOR the update, and only 4 against, of whom all of them actually approved of the plan with the exception of a small variance for their neighborhood.
Basically the plan calls for a bike bridge to be installed in a local park across a creek, bridging two neighborhoods. They're worried that the high crime rate of the near-by neighborhoods will spill over the bridge and affect them. I'm all for connectivity, but I guess they have their families and property values to worry about. A lot of it sounded like classism and even a smidge of unspoken racism with lots of "us" and "them" talk, and scary criminals with needles and condoms waiting for their children on the other side of the creek, but hey that's the way a lot of this world rolls isn't it? At least they actually offered some alternative solutions that sounded workable, if not as ideal as the original bridge plan. How this develops should be interesting.
Now, the big spoiler of the evening. Charlie McCabe of the Austin Parks Foundation tipped everyone off to this one as soon as it happened:
Hey, just letting you know that there will be a hearing but no action tonight on the bike plan. There was a quirk in the boards and commissions training that was supposed to happen (per a closed session) that city legal advised on and several actions are being delayed to June 11th - its not just the bike plan. The Mayor just announced this at City Council.
DAMMIT!!! So tonight pretty much ended up being a lot of back patting, clapping for each other, smiling and feeling really great about being politically active cyclists. Nothing was accomplished besides some really eloquent speaking, an homage to Jennifer Gale in the form of what can only be described as a Bicycle Spiritual sung by the YBP crew, and me stumbling over my words and wishing I'd written my points down on an index card or something. Next time. I really enjoyed what everyone had to say, and it's always a pleasure to see Tommy Eden tear it up at the podium.
The meeting wrapped up shortly after 10 with everyone who wanted to say something getting a chance to speak. We'd whittled down our original list of 60+ speakers to about a dozen people representing the various Austin bicycle organizations and interest groups, so as not to keep the City Council members out past their bed-times.
I don't know exactly who I represented but I appealed to the Council not on behalf of the majority of the cyclists present at the meeting, but for their kids, relatives and friends who may be getting back into cycling but who might not feel comfortable riding down Lamar or Burnet. I tried to get the point across that facilities and education will enable greater connectivity for the Class B and C cyclists. Most of us will get wherever we need to go whether they build us a bike lane or not, but will our parents take that leap? Co-workers? I think that beyond the additional bike facilities the Bike Plan Update calls for, the fact that it standardizes how bike lanes are to be striped in a way that helps protect cyclists' safety is a great improvement over the old system of narrow lanes filled with parked cars and trash cans. Also the provisions for education may go a long way towards helping people understand the other side of the windshield (for both motorists and cyclists), as well as how to more peacefully co-exist in a busy, overutilized and often unpredictable traffic system. I emphasized that Austin has been growing by leaps and bounds since the previous Bike Plan was written, and which has to-date only been 1/3 realized. Austin is in my opinion a world-class city, but the cycling facilities have lagged sorely behind. A world-class city deserves a world-class transportation system, not just for highway and toll-road drivers but for everyone. Unfortunately I stumbled over my words and didn't hit all the points I wanted to make, but what can you do?
There were news people there so I'm sure you'll hear more about it tomorrow (if it hasn't hit already), but really where else are you gonna read this kind of account of the festivities at 2:21am in the morning?
And speaking of I have to wake up and get to work tomorrow. Goodnight.
http://www.keyetv.com/news/local/story/Plan-to-boost-bicycle-use-in-Aust...
Forgot to comment on the bridge. I actually have been following this off and on for years. The NA president that doesn't want the bridge had a good argument for an alternative. But I'm not convinced yet. I'd like to see some numbers on where the kids north of the creek live. If you push too many of them over toward I-35 to cross at a bridge there, then you may defeat the purpose of providing a quick, short route to school at Hart Elementary.
Additionally, I am against setting a precedent that it's OK to block connectivity because of crime concerns. That's bullshit. I've seen it happen before with neighbors pushing back against trails because they think access near them will lead to crime. And it almost happened recently at a Hyde Park development of all places.
Criminals are going to cross the creek at will and don't need a bridge to do it. Parents with kids do need a bridge. So it's all about where it makes sense to put it.
I'll keep tabs on it. I gave the NA president my info.
Thanks for following up on this Rob. I don't think it's ever ok to block connectivity, and though I do understand their concern I don't support it or believe that it should warrant not building this bridge. What if they erected light posts on the sides of the bridge, and people *gasp* actually started using it on a regular basis to commute to school, work, or even for recreation? Would the park become cleaner and safer? Would those scary people who lurk in the dark recesses of Austin scurry away for another place to distribute condoms and used needles?
I can't imagine that all the criminals the NA is afraid of would want to hang out in a well-lit place that was regularly utilized by the local population. I was trying to find more information about their issue and came across a term that really applied: "drawbridge mentality". I think the time has come to lower bridges, not raise them.
Thanks Jason...you're comments were perfect. So often we forget about how kids are supposed to get around. We need some more facilities that pass the 5-year-old test. I've been seeing more and more kids taking their bikes to my kid's school. Originally it was just my son and another boy. Now I see six or seven everyday. There's momentum out there right now on all levels, and we need to capture it.
And thanks for rounding up some more cyclists. I can't say enough about how important that 294 number was. Believe me, the council WILL remember that number, and we'll remind them!
As soon as I stepped back from the podium I was kicking myself for forgetting several of the other points I wanted to cover like the fact that they can erect over a dozen overpasses in the last decade yet still haven't completed the LAB or the Pfluger bridge, and while the Mopac/BCGB cantilever bridge that WE PAID FOR several years back is still just a figment of our imaginations.
Another group of cyclists that I wanted to emphasize yet who slipped through the cracks of my brain (how appropriate) are the legions of commuters who ride to work in their workboots, seats slammed and a hard-hat draped over the handlebars or hanging off an ill-fitting backpack. I pass them every time I ride to work, yet never see them at the BAC meetings or showing representation at the big bike events like this. I believe that they are the silent majority of bicycle commuters, riding to their construction or day labor jobs on their bikes not for recreation or fun, but because it's their only option. The improvements laid out in the bike plan will GREATLY improve their quality of life, as it relates to commuting and transportation at least. The added connectivity to some of the outer-lying portions of Austin that they've been forced into through gentrification and cost-of-living increases will be a HUGE part of the updated plan's benefit to Austin bikers that a lot of us will probably never see or experience, yet it'll be a tangible benefit nonetheless. But as is typically the case, they were forgotten by all of us. Damn.
That's it, next time I'm writing notes on an index card. I can't rely on my brain to function in front of a microphone and an audience.
They ride their Magnas, their Roadmasters. If they have lights (which is unlikely), the batteries died months ago ...
Bicycling magazine wrote a great article about them called Invisible Riders about them a while back, and I highly recommend reading it.
(And they're another reason I support the YBP. The YBP benefits everybody who can't just drop their bike off at the bike shop with a credit card and say `fix it', though I suspect that a lot of these riders don't even know about it ...)
That's the truth about Yellow Bike. I've volunteered down there a bit (and need to get back to it once life settles down) and have been able to help out a TON of people by showing them how to repair their own bicycles and keep themselves running, and gotten to work on a bunch of bikes that I typically wouldn't ever get to. The service they provide to the east side is invaluable, and why it's of utmost importance to get the Weberville location up and running ASAP. I need to yell at more people to donate money.
Do you have some ideas on how to reach out to these other parts of the bicycling community? At some point, in some way, it would be good to find out what their needs/wants are for bicycling in Austin. Perhaps you could have hardcopies of critical parts of the bike plan on hand, or sample street cross sections to show what facilities are proposed.
first off thanks Jason for your tireless work covering the broad spectrum of bicycling in Austin town!
somehow you manage to make it to nearly every major event you are probably the most visible cyclist well/out spoken cyclist out there
we are fortunate to have you at the atxbs.com controls
even LA's main handler checks it on a day-to-day
thanks also to all the cyclists who took the time spoke their minds and hearts on camera last night at city hall we got some good footage
it was tripping to ride with you all out of epochs on a fixie with HVX200 camera
we have had nothing short of full access to every event with an openess/acceptance that is refreshing and vital to the video project we are working on
we met a bicycle advocate from one of the local shops last night
she is this close (index finger and thumb about 1/2" apart) to getting the go ahead for one local school to start teaching students about bicycle safety
totally hands on program funded through seed money from state/fed
Jason you mentioned the need for getting kids back on bikes back on city streets safe and happy - this is what really matters and hopefully we all can through our combined efforts make it happen!
Thanks for keeping the lazier of us apprised of the meeting... Shit, I guess I coulda at least watched it on TV and gotten fired up a little "with" ya'll. Thanks for getting up there & speaking too; all of you who did and might read this-THANK YOU!!!