Rhode Island Feeds

According to to a report posted on the Target 12 website, the recently passed Move Over law, requiring motorists to change lanes or at least slow down when passing an emergency vehicle, simply isn’t working.  Target 12

wired up a state police cruiser and went undercover to put the law to the test. We also had Trooper Jacques “pull over” one of our undercover cars on a local highway.

One car passed dangerously close to Trooper Jacques as he got out of his cruiser. A tractor trailer passed so close to our car that it rocked the hidden camera. And the trend continued, car after truck, blatantly ignoring the law.

Why does this matter?  If motorists don’t bother to obey a law, even when this law directly involves how they should interact with police, what makes anyone think they will head a 3-foot law for bicyclists?  Representative Gemma, Newberry, Fox, and Schadone have introduced such legislation (H7243), which would introduce something similar to other state 3-foot laws into our motor vehicle codes.  We worked with Representative Gemma last year to try and amend this 3-foot legislation into something, which we felt would be more effective, and will be doing so again this year.

The current bill is scheduled for a house hearing on Wednesday March 24th in the House Judiciary Committee.  We will release our revised suggestions prior to this hearing and may be asking for cyclists to come out in support of the changes.  Stay tuned…

TRANSPORTATION: Lawmakers to examine Obama’s ‘livability’ efforts

Josh Voorhees, E&E reporter

President Obama’s “livability” initiative will be under the microscope this week as two congressional panels hear from federal and state officials about transportation planning and land use.

The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee will meet Wednesday to take a closer look at the livability portion of the president’s fiscal 2011 budget request. On Thursday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will discuss how the federal Transportation Department partners with state and local transportation agencies in the decision-making process.

Obama is asking for more than $500 million for his effort to help state and local governments make more sustainable transportation investments. In addition to the funding request, Obama has also pledged to recast the nation’s overall transportation strategy to focus more heavily on such efforts and has created an interagency partnership between DOT, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. EPA to work on the issue.  DOT took its first major livability action earlier this year when it rewrote selection criteria for transit projects to emphasize reduced carbon emissions and increased economic development.

A handful of key lawmakers who will play prominent roles in crafting the next highway bill have embraced the overall livability effort. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar’s (D-Minn.) bill would create an Office of Livability within DOT’s Federal Highway Administration to “establish a focal point within FHWA to advance environmentally sustainable modes of transportation, including transit, walking and bicycling.”

EPW Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) only recently began work on her version of the next major highway bill, but she has backed the overall livability effort and has said her bill will be based heavily on Oberstar’s.
Still, the livability effort has drawn its share of critics, mostly from conservatives who have expressed concern over federal involvement in state and regional land-use decisions. In a Newsweek column last May, conservative George Will called LaHood the “Secretary of Behavior Modification” and said the effort was an attack on Americans’ right to chose where they live and how they travel.

“[L]ong before climate change became another excuse for disparaging America’s ‘automobile culture,’ many liberal intellectuals were bothered by the automobile,” Will wrote. “It subverted their agenda of expanding government — meaning their supervision of other people’s lives.”

LaHood provided critics with further ammunition that month. Responding to a question about whether the livability effort was an attempt to “coerce” Americans out of their cars, LaHood said, “about everything we do around here is government intrusion in people’s lives.”

Lawmakers representing mostly rural districts or states have also expressed concern that the livability initiative — as well as other DOT efforts — focuses to much on urban areas. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) quizzed DOT officials about the program last week (E&E Daily, March 5).

John Porcari, DOT’s deputy secretary, attempted to calm Begich and Thune’s fears, telling them that rural areas stand to benefit just as much as large cities do from the administration’s plans.

“It’s clear that livability really applies to rural areas as much as it does anywhere else,” Porcari said, adding that one of the initiative’s goals was a return “to the quality of life that many of us enjoy in small towns.”

Yesterday was the first day of the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC.  For those who haven’t heard yet,

The League of American Bicyclists is proud to be the forum for Google to announce what all bike riders have been waiting for – Grab Your Bike and Go with Google Maps.  Google is announcing at the Opening Plenary Session at the National Bike Summit that they are adding biking directions in the U.S. to Google Maps.

According to Google this has been the most requested addition to Google Maps. This new feature includes: step-by-step bicycling directions; bike trails outlined directly on the map; and a new “Bicycling” layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads.

You can visit http://maps.google.com/biking to try out this new feature.  As with all things Google, the biking directions for Google Maps is currently in Beta, but this doesn’t mean it’s not full featured!

A Boston Herald article is reporting that a boy was struck while riding his bike along Bark Street in Swansea around 3pm this afternoon.  The boy was rushed to Hasbro.  No additional information has yet to be released.

UPDATE: a WPRI article has now released word that an eyewitness saw the boy dart out onto the road in front of the car.

Our thoughts go out to the the boy, his parents, and the driver of the automobile.   Yet another incident between a bicycle and automobile in our “local” area.

Are you one of the many people plagued by the recent automobile recalls?  Plagued by stories about sudden acceleration and failing brakes, the press is reminding us how danger it can be to drive an automobile.  A recent segment on NPR discusses the current Toyota recalls and the fact that, while the mechanical and electrical difficulties with the car are not to be ignored,

studies show that the vehicle itself is almost never the sole cause of the accident. Drivers, on the other hand, are wholly to blame most of the time.

One of the panelists, Leonard Evans is a physicist, a former employee of GM and author of the book Traffic Safety.   He believes that

the whole history of U.S. traffic safety has been one focusing on the vehicle, one of the least important factors that affects traffic safety.

Evans says his review of the data show that in the decade ending in 2008, about 22,000 people were killed in vehicles made by Toyota or Lexus.  All these people were killed because of factors that had absolutely nothing to do with any vehicle defect.

Why isn’t the American public up in arms about the loss of life caused by daily traffic accidents?  Why doesn’t the American public react seriously when a person takes another person’s life with their car?  Where is the outrage people?

For those drivers who are affected by one of the recent recalls, may I suggest looking at a bicycle or other alternative mode of transportation.  You might be surprised and actually find that you enjoy getting around without your car.  Yes, there are recalls that affect bicycles, but I have yet to be in a situation where my legs simply refused to stop pedaling or I couldn’t find some way to safely stop my bicycle.

We’ve had two months off, hopefully, everyone has taken advantage of the break and visited the RI VeloSprints!  With March, we return to our regularly scheduled advocacy meetings… with a brand new location.

We will be meeting at the Brown Bookstore (244 Thayer Street, Providence) in the community meeting room @ 6pm.  If you enter through the doors off Thayer, the room is straight ahead on the far side of the bookstore.  If you don’t see it, just ask someone at the help desk near the entrance.  The room has plenty of seats and is big enough to support significant growth.

On the agenda for this meeting:

• Merger Update
• Henderson Bridge and Linear Park Updates
• Bike-to-Work Day
• Brainstorming for 2010 Projects

… and anything else you would like to discuss.

After the meeting, we can head down as a group to join in the fun at the RI VeloSprints.

OK!  Now that we have the helmet issue settled (not), let’s move on to something increasingly germane as this part of the globe warms and more folks begin to ride.

Here’s a situation you may face as a cyclist…

Uphill light.  Right lane turns right only.  Left lane for going straight on or turning left.  Through the intersection there are cars parked along the right side of the road.  The left side is free from parked cars, however.

As a cyclist going straight through (down Waterman) where would you position yourself at the light?  Would you ride down the right or left side of the road after you crossed the intersection?

Exciting! From the City of Providence’s “Art Culture & Tourism Newsletter”:

The 2nd Annual Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities
March 9 @ Trinity Rep
Hosted by Mayor David Cicilline

City of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline invites you to a panel conversation with musician, artist and author David Byrne; urban historian Samuel Zipp, Assistant Professor at Brown University; Thomas Deller, Director of the City of Providence Department of Planning and Development; and a local bicycle advocate (TBA) about how bicycles transform our urban experience.  Initiated by Mayor Cicilline in 2009, the memorial lecture honors recently deceased Claiborne Pell (1918-2009), who represented Rhode Island in the United States Senate from 1961-1997.

This is a free but ticketed event.

Beginning Thursday, February 25th, tickets will be available at the Trinity Repertory Company box office, 201 Washington Street, and must be picked up in person (no phone reservations).  Four ticket limit per person.  Due to limited availability we suggest advance pick-up.  For box office hours and directions, call 401-351-4242.  For answers to questions about the event, please call 401-421-2489 x456.

Full press release here!

From John Powning:

RECYCLE-A-BIKE is a volunteer-based community bike education and maintenance collective that promotes bicycling as a safe, fun, sustainable, and empowering mode of transportation. We provide the greater Providence community access to the skills and resources to maintain, repair, and build bikes in a workspace where all are welcome. We are currently located in the Steel Yard.

RECYCLE-A-BIKE is working to assemble a board of directors that would have responsibilities relating to:

- periodic review of organization goals, and progress towards those goals
- suitability of location and facilities
- fundraising
- review of educational and community offerings
- review of the organization’s vision and mission statement and progress
- legal consultation
- communications to the greater providence and wider bicycling community
- continuing leadership development

We hope this opportunity is of interest to you. If so, and you would like to discuss this further, please contact me by email or phone.

Thanks for your consideration,

John Powning
401-273-9244 (Home)
jpowning@hotmail.com

The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute recently released data on some safety tests they had performed against a variety of helmets along a considerable price range ($9.96 – $206.99).  The results show that the helmets tested stood up equally well to the destructive onslaught of the masses dropped on them – regardless of their retail price.

That’s good news because it confirms that effectively protective helmets are available to virtually everyone.  It also points to the potential value of the youth helmet program that the RI State Health Department and the U.S. Open Cycling Foundation have been providing for the past couple of years by delivering and individually fitting hundreds of helmets to kids around the state.  All good news to those concerned about society’s health care cost burden.

One caveat – these tests, where a mass is dropped onto a helmet strapped to a simulated head, are only part of the appropriate measurement of a helmet’s effectiveness.  Whether you are a rider or the parent of a rider, you must consider three additional issues:

1. Does the helmet fit and is it adjusted correctly – some studies show that over 90% of riders wear their helmet incorrectly

2. Is the helmet comfortable and will it be worn when it is hot outside

3. Does the intended wearer find its styling attractive enough to wear?

In fact, with the tests showing that helmets offer the same amount of crash protection regardless of price, these three are, perhaps, the only questions you need to ask.

When, during Cycle-for-Health programs in schools around the state, I ask kids why they don’t wear helmets, they usually say because they are good riders.  So we talk about famous, helmeted athletes ranging from Tom Brady to Tony Hawk to Lance Armstrong.  I try to make one point: that being a great rider – or athlete – doesn’t mean that you are immune from things you can’t control…like wayward dogs, potholes or drivers…the avoidance of which can cause you to fall and bump your head.

The good news from these Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute tests is that – as long as it is on your head correctly – one helmet is as good as the next.

- Durishin

Last night’s (Feb 8th) hearing was… interesting.  The City’s proposal was quite good, I thought, addressing only that section of PVP between Rosebank Ave and Justice St.  Currently, the roads on both sides of the median/stream have 2-way traffic, leading to tight squeezes and high confusion at intersections.  Where the road meets Rosebank (at the east) and where it meets Justice (at the west), there are wide expanses of asphalt, with no striping to guide roadway users; while there haven’t been a great many accidents along the street, neighbors report that near-misses are a daily occurrence.  Needless to say, there is limited room for bicyclists, particularly when there are cars parked and cars both coming and going.  The city’s proposal has 3 general elements: (1) shrink the large asphalt areas by Justice and Rosebank by extending the median at the east end and adding an island at the west end, (2) alter the traffic pattern, creating a single lane of one-way traffic on each side of the median (eastbound on the south side, westbound on the north side), painting in travel lanes, stop lines and crosswalks, and (3) adding bike lanes to the stretch between River Ave & Justice St, between the parking lane and the car lane.  Between River and Rosebank, the roadway is narrower, not leaving enough room for the bike lane; share-the-road signs will be installed here.  If I recall correctly, the city is also proposing changing the posted speed limit from 15 mph to 25.

Per the normal pattern, those opposed to the city’s proposal spoke earliest, loudest, and most stridently; so loudly, in fact, that it might have seemed like the crowd was mostly opposed to the plan, even though there were really only 6 or 8 people stridently opposed.  Ultimately, many voices also spoke in favor of the city proposal, thanking the City Engineer’s office and DPW for presenting a thoughtful plan which brings the “complete streets” ethos to the neighborhood.  Word is that Councilman Solomon has already determined to support at least some elements of the plan, and will meet with the City Engineer for fine-tuning.  What the end result will be is anyone’s guess at this point.  It’s not too late, however, to ask Councilman Solomon to support the plan in its entirety; he can be reached at his city email address: ward5@providenceri.com.

Study area

View Larger Map

Tired of riding outside in the cold or alone on the rollers in your basement? It’s time for the next installment of RIVeloSprints! Come join us on February 8th @ 6:30pm for some fun on rollers.  Rumor has it that someone from the Providence Journal will be joining us this evening, let’s show RI how much fun you can have indoors on a bicycle!

RI VeloSprints is an indoor bicycle roller racing tournament. Two cyclists climb aboard bicycles securely mounted to rollers and pedal as hard as they can for 500 meters. There will be nightly, monthly, and tournament-wide winners in various categories.

Proceeds from the event go to support the US Open Cycling Foundation, East Coast Greenway Alliance, & the RI Bicycle Coalition; organizations working to make cycling safer and better in Rhode Island.

The folks over at Greater City Providence did a great job summarizing the alternatives RIDOT presented this past Monday for the Wickenden St./195 interchange.  I wasn’t able to attend the meeting and am hoping that anyone who was in attendance would add their thoughts to this post.  My understanding was that the following option was most widely accepted by everyone:

I’d encourage everyone to take some time and submit any thoughts or comments you have to either Melanie Jewett in the Planning Department and/or Lambri Zerva at RIDOT.  They will be accepting comments until the close of business on Tuesday, February 16th.

Looking at these designs, it’s still not clear to me how a bicycle is expected to navigate from the mulit-use path coming from India Point Park, through the intersection, and continue down to the bicycle path on South Water Street.  Clearly they are going to need to use the pedestrian signals, because crossing over two plus lanes of traffic, coming off at highway speeds, is going to be a death wish.  I just hope RIDOT has the sense to build some sort of large catchment area for bicycles, as people riding along paths can often be families with children.

I’m also seriously concerned about how RIDOT and the city plan to encourage motorists to slow down to the posted 25mph speeds after coming off the highway.  I don’t see any sort of traffic calming built into the plans.  I’m also dismayed to see that no thought, once again, has been given to HOV lanes in either direction.

We’ve got a shot at real, good improvements to Pleasant Valley Parkway!  Please join the forces for good!

When: Monday Feb 8, 6 pm

Where: Capital Ridge (assisted living facility) 700 Smith St

Early word is that the new plan calls for one-way movement on each side of the stream, removal of one car lane, and addition of bike lanes on each side.  It would end up looking like a small-scale Blackstone Blvd, if this is true.  Currently, the roads on both sides of the median/stream BOTH allow 2-way traffic, with little room for cyclists and walkers, and extreme confusion at intersections.

See you there!  We’ll all head to RI Velosprints (at McFadden’s, on Pine St) afterwards!

Everyone that I work with knows that I ride my bicycle to work. By now they don’t even give a second look when I walk in the building in spandex (for the most part). A recent comment made me stop and consider what folks must be thinking. For the second time in a month someone asked me, ” Do you even have a driver’s license?”.

It stopped me. Do my coworkers think that I ride my bike becuase I’ve had my license taken away? And the drivers out on the road, what are they thinking? Usually, I don’t much care what others think but this might be a case where it’s a bit more important.

What if people knew that I decided to ride my bike to work one nice Summer day about 3 years ago. Heck, I didn’t really have time to ride as much as I wanted to and parking is always an issue… so why not ride? I had a shower waiting for me at work along with a change of clothes so I tried it a couple times. The more times I rode to work the more I liked it. Of course, there are political, environmental and other reasons to ride instead of driving and I won’t list them all, but the bicycle has turned into my primary form of transportation.

My question is about descrimination. What do you see out in the world? In the workplace? On the road? How are you treated as a Bicyclist in the different places that you go?

Tired of riding outside in the cold or alone on the rollers in your basement? It’s time for the next installment of RIVeloSprints!  Come join us on February 1st @ 6:30pm for some fun on rollers.

RI VeloSprints is an indoor bicycle roller racing tournament. Two cyclists climb aboard bicycles securely mounted to rollers and pedal as hard as they can for 500 meters. There will be nightly, monthly, and tournament-wide winners in various categories.

Proceeds from the event go to support the US Open Cycling Foundation, East Coast Greenway Alliance, & the RI Bicycle Coalition; organizations working to make cycling safer and better in Rhode Island.

Wicked Local Natick, is reporting that a Natick man, Colin D’Aguiar,  involved in a bicycle SUV accident on January 16th died from complications recently.  As usual the press reports that the man was

riding his bike when he was struck by a Ford SUV.

It’s amazing how many vehicles suddenly turn on cyclists and run them over.  Come on press, it’s time you at least acknowledge how an accident happens, the driver of the SUV struck the cyclist with the SUV!  This may seem like a minor point, but it’s not.  Driver’s need to take responsibility for their actions.  Yes accidents do happen, but it’s not the car’s fault!

It will also come as no surprise to readers of this blog, that

the driver of the SUV has not been identified by authorities because he has not been charged.

The article has very few details about the accident, so it’s impossible to know who is at fault.  [Addition]  As an astute commenter pointed out, the picture shows the accident scene at night.  It’s entirely possible that this cyclist was riding without any sort of reflective gear or lights, in which case, there may truly have not been enough time for the motorist to respond.  [/Addition]  However, I do still wonder if this will be another case where it’s deemed an accident, another innocent cyclists looses their life, and a motorist just goes on driving their death mobile as though nothing happened.  As usual, we will try to post a follow-up if further details emerge.

We should all spin a few miles in silence in honor of Colin D’Aguiar and his family.

Our very own Dick Durishin in an article today on Daily Peloton.  In it, Dick discusses his plans to host the return of the US Open of Cycling in Rhode Island.  He has

a date with the UCI and USACycling for 2010 and a planned course, here in Rhode Island, that takes in the dramatic beauty of the coastline and the historic grandeur of our capital city, Providence.

Hopefully, Dick and his helpers, I’m sure many of us will be hearing from him , can pull it off.  This would be a big boon for cycling in Rhode Island and certainly help to put cycling front and center on the minds of the Mayor and, perhaps even, Governor.  Yes, even us humble bicycle commuters can benefit from professional cycling.

An article in today’s Projo lists eight new projects RIDOT announced will be funded with Federal stimulus money.  From an advocacy point of view, I think it’s important for our group to stay on top of lists like these, review areas RIDOT is working in, and see if there are any infrastructure improvements that can be made to help cyclists.  Below you find the list of projects.  If you happen to live in one of these areas or your daily commute takes you by one of these areas and you can suggest specific improvements RIDOT could work on during their construction, please let us know!  We can then lean on RIDOT to include improvements for cyclists while other work is being done.

• Foster: Rehabilitation and resurfacing of Moosup Valley Road from 0.9 miles west of Route 14/Plainfield Pike to Cucumber Hill Road (1.4 miles, $800,000).

Rehabilitation and resurfacing of Route 14/Route 102 from Briggs Road to Old Plainfield Pike (1.2 miles, $800,000).

• Glocester: Replacement of the Chestnut Hill Road Bridge, which carries Chestnut Hill Road over the spillway that flows from the Sayles and Smith Reservoir to the Chepachet River. The project includes construction of a replacement spillway structure and wetlands restoration ($1.5 million).

• South Kingstown:  Repair work to the roof at the historic Kingston Station, located in the village of West Kingston. ($300,000).

• Statewide drainage improvements: Various drainage improvements in the following communities: East Greenwich (First Avenue at Division Street), Providence (North Main Street), Scituate (Danielson Pike) and Tiverton (East Road and Crandall Road) ($300,000).

• Warren: Installation of new curbing, sidewalks, minor drainage improvements and street tree preservation and replacement on Main Street (Route 114) from Cherry Street to 160 feet south of Beach Street (0.3 miles, $700,000).

• Westerly: Resurfacing of Route 91/Westerly Bradford Road/Bradford Road, including curbing, sidewalks, guardrail, minor drainage improvements from Westerly Maintenance Facility to Bradford Railroad Bridge/800 feet north of Church Street (3.8 miles, $3 million).

• Woonsocket, Cumberland and Lincoln: Resurfacing of Route 99/Woonsocket Industrial Highway, including curb replacement, minor drainage rehabilitation, new signs and structures, guardrail replacement and minor bridge work from Route 146 to Route 122/Mendon Road (3.75 miles, $5 million).

RIDOT and PVD city planning have scheduled the follow-up meeting for street designs emerging from the teardown of “old” I-195.  Changes to the earlier design (based on earlier public feedback) will be presented, including new alternatives for the Wickenden/Point/Benefit/South Main/South Water clusterf#*k interchange.  Your participation is crucial to ensuring livable streets in Fox Point and the Jewelry District!

Monday, Feb 1, 6-8 pm, at Vartan Gregorian Elementary School Community Room (that’s the Bath House to you that have been living here for a while), 455 Wickenden Street.

Here’s a flier, courtesy of PVD Planning & Development, that you can forward around, stick on your fridge, pin to your office bulletin board, etc.  (Right-click image to open separately or save to your computer.) See you there!