Hey you, yes YOU! Step up and help the Austin bike community!

There are several things going on right now that require each and every one of your's immediate attention. First off, Rob D'Amico and the League of Bicycling Voters are going full-steam ahead with their Project Catapult initiative. His latest request is a call for volunteers to join a number of working groups that will be focusing their efforts into 6 specific projects/areas:

1. Nueces Bike Boulevard
The group will provide a vision of how the boulevard should enhance bicycle transportation by outlining key components to the facilities (e.g. removal of stop signs, removal of parking, limiting auto access, signage and striping, possible phases for implementation, etc.)

COA has just started initial planning for what a Nueces Bike Boulevard would look like, and so a report at this juncture from the bicycling community is timely and welcomed by the city.

2. Downtown Bike Zone Plan
The group will re-evaluate the LOBV Downtown Bike Zone plan to provide recommendations for “first steps” toward implementation. Additionally, the group will develop more comprehensive recommendations for the “Commuter Club” concept.

3. Public Education
The group will pull recommendations from the Street Smarts Task Force and outline steps and projected costs for implementation for the next fiscal year.

4. South Austin “bikeway” facilities on Congress Avenue
The group will inventory past proposals for bicycle/pedestrian improvements and will examine such issues as reverse angle parking, possible separated facilities inside of parking, climbing lanes, and short-term solutions to enhance safety.

Additionally, the group will examine past “roadblocks” toward changes on South Congress, such as concerns from businesses over parking.

5. Analysis/Recommendations for Bike Parking Downtown and at Major Activity Centers
COA currently is finalizing plans for removal of parking meters and retrofitting some meters as bike racks. However, converting some of the meters has been deemed infeasible due to cost and location, and COA has ordered some 400 “U racks” for placement around the city. The group will examine current proposals and develop recommendations for both bike racks and other possible “bike stations” downtown and at other major activity centers.

6. Transportation User Fee Allocation
The group will examine the feasibility and develop recommendations for allowing COA utility customers to designate their transportation user fee (which varies, but runs about $5 a month for residential users) to bicycle programs. Currently, those who do not own or use a car can request a waiver to the fee. The designated fee could help track bicycling and provide revenue for public education and “Commuter Club” projects.

Of these projects, the first three are big priorities to me. I use Nueces regularly as a north-south corridor and it would be incredibly nice to have facilities on that side of town that were more conducive to cycling. The downtown bike zone plan is a major re-striping/re-vamping of the downtown area in an effort to greater enable efficient and safe cyclist utilization. The plan as it stands looks solid, but steps need to be put in place to start executing the vision. The third point is more far-reaching than any of the others, in my opinion. Educating drivers, cyclists, school students, law enforcement officers, and many other members of the public sector on effective cycling and dealing with cyclists will probably do more for cyclists safety than a hundred miles of bike lanes. I eagerly await seeing what is going to be done to further cycling education in Austin. Way to champion these issues, Rob! I'm glad someone's doing it. If you're interested in helping him out, drop him a note: info@lobv.org

Next up, Nadia Barrera of the City Bicycle/Pedestrian Program sent out the following email regarding the upcoming bicycle road marking study that the City of Austin is conducting. I'll let her say it because she always has better words than I do:

Greetings Austin Bicycle Community,

The City of Austin, via the help of the Center of Transportation Research, is conducting a research investigation of four new transportation devices to enhance safety for bicyclists. The City needs your help in locating test sites for each of the four devices. Detailed below is a brief description of each device and what you can do to help.

Shared Lane Markings (Sharrows)

The Shared Lane Markings designates areas where bicycles and motor vehicles have little room to share one lane and there is insufficient room for striping a bicycle lane. Shared lane markings are also frequently used adjacent to parked vehicles.

Identify sites where bicycles and motor vehicles compete for the same space.

Colored Bicycle Lane Markings

The colored bicycle lanes ensure better safety by helping to delineate bicycle lanes from motor vehicle lanes. They are most commonly used at intersections and other areas of potential motor vehicle/bicycle collisions.

Identify areas where bicycle and motor vehicle lanes can be better delineated with colored bicycle lanes.

Advanced Stop Lines (Bike Boxes)

Advanced Stop Lines provide an area for cyclists to wait at traffic light intersections. Bicyclists in the designated Bike Box have first access to the road when the light turns green.

Identify intersections where bicyclists cluster to wait for traffic lights.

Bicyclists “May Use Full Lane” Signs

Bicycles have the right to use the entire lane when traveling.
This sign helps inform drivers of cyclists on the road, while reminding cyclists of their right to the road.

Identify areas where this information can be most beneficial.

Please direct your suggestions for the implementation of these four devices to Nadia.barrera@ci.austin.tx.us by March 1, 2009.
Thank you! Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Thanks to a sound decision by the Austin City Council, the Bike/Ped program is going to be spending $97k to study the use of the above traffic markings locally, and it's hoped that if the program goes well in Austin, not only will it be expanded in-town but it'll be used to set precedent throughout the rest of the state. If you know of an area that could benefit from these markings, let Nadia know. The deadline for this is the first of March, so get to it!

Finally, Sarah Krause (chairperson of the Urban Transportation Comission) sent out the following plea for emails. It looks like 2009 may just be the year in which the Ladybird Lake trails is completed, that is if we all write our City Council members and tell them that we'd like it to happen. Check out what she has to say and if this sounds good to you, crank up your electronic messaging machine and get to writing:

Dear Friends, I wanted to personally reach out to you because of your dedication to our beautiful city, and one of its most important treasures: the Trail around Lady Bird Lake. This email pertains to the proposed Boardwalk that would complete the trail. This is an incredibly important project in many respects and will be an important recreation and transportation opportunity for bicyclists and pedestrians.

In the weeks ahead, the City Council will consider the Riverside Boardwalk Trail and its concept plan. On February 12, the Council will receive a briefing on the Boardwalk from the Parks and Recreation Department and the Public Works Department. On February 26, the City Council will vote on the concept plan.

Please show your support for completing the Trail by emailing our City Council today:
will.wynn@ci.austin.tx.us
lee.leffingwell@ci.austin.tx.us
mike.martinez@ci.austin.tx.us
randi.shade@ci.austin.tx.us
brewster.mccracken@ci.austin.tx.us
sheryl.cole@ci.austin.tx.us
laura.morrison@ci.austin.tx.us

For more information on the propsed boardwalk visit the Trail Foundation’s site: http://www.townlaketrail.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=65

While many consider closing this gap in our lake-front Trail to be a laudable civic goal and critical for Austin’s park and trail system, it is one of many issues the City has an opportunity to address in 2009. For the Trail to be finally completed, everyone who supports it needs to be heard from now.

There are still issues of construction methods, segment routes, environmental impacts, and funding to be considered in the months ahead during the design stage. Advancing the concept plan to the next stage does not mean the work of designing, funding and building the best boardwalk trail for Austin and Lady Bird Lake is finished. But it will mean we would be closer than we have ever been to providing safe, continuous pedestrian and bicycle access along the entire lakefront.

Please help make the Trail the best it can be for all of Austin. Show your support on or before the 12th and mark February 26 on your calendar and plan to attend the Council meeting. Thank you all, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Sara Krause

Three opportunities to benefit local cyclists of this generation as well as the ones to come. If that's not enough to keep you busy, you can always get off your duff and adopt a bike lane. Be a part of the solution! JUST DO IT!