Last night, the "Resolution on the Policy for the Design of Public Streets and Rights-of-Way in Los Alamos County", Resolution 10-32, passed Council on a vote of 6-1. Thank you to all who worked on this, especially to T-Board member Janie O'Rourke and Community Development Director Rick Bohn, and to Council for its patience and constructive criticism as we muddled through in order to get this ready for Prime Time.
This document will be of considerable help as we look forward to considerable change in the downtown area and in the NM-502 Corridor, just as the 2005 "Los Alamos bike plan" (not the official name) gave us the neccesary guidance for rebuilding Diamond Drive. This stuff matters.
Khal Spencer, Transportation Board Chair
Text is here, at least for now. I'm including the "Whereas" jazz below.
WHEREAS, the Los Alamos County Council has established six (6) main Strategic Goals, three (3) of which are “Enhance Environmental Quality and Sustainability”, “Improve Transportation and Mobility”, and “Diversify the Economy/Revitalize White Rock and Los Alamos Downtowns”; and
WHEREAS, the Council has established a series of Strategic Objectives to carry out these goals, including objectives to “Incorporate smart growth concepts”, “Pursue community-wide independence from hydrocarbon energy sources”, “Promote and expand regional transit organization”, “Develop a Transportation Master Plan”, and “Improve downtowns by attracting at least $30 million of private investment and making available $6 million of public funds”; and
WHEREAS, recent advances in the practice of traffic engineering and urban planning have developed new “best practices” for the design of streets that better accommodate the needs of private vehicles, transit riders, pedestrians, cyclists, and those with disabilities, while enhancing safety and convenience for all users; and
WHEREAS, a consistent policy on the development of streets and rights-of-way in the County that supports consideration of all modes of transportation during the design process will help to achieve Council’s three aforementioned Strategic Goals.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Incorporated County of Los Alamos that the “Policy for the Design of Streets and Rights-of-Way in Los Alamos County” (Attachment “A”) shall be adopted as the official policy of the County.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 9th day of November, 2010.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Why the Tea Party should support cycling as transportation
From NPR: Sharp Rise in Oil Prices Could Hinder Recovery
The pace of a national recovery will be challenged as a healthier economy needs to increase transport of goods and services (and people as they go back to work) but the cost of gas and diesel go up in a global oil market no longer dominated by the West and USA alone. As the NPR story says, the price of a barrel has nearly tripled since January, 2009. With other economies competing for that finite supply of barrels, supply vs. demand will have its way. According to a source in the NPR story, "a $10 increase in the price of oil is like a $200 million tax on the economy a day." or $73 billion per year, much of which goes overseas. With oil at $32/bbl in Jan '09 and closing in on $90/bbl today, that's a cool half trillion dollars.
That is one reason why replacing a car trip with a bike trip is a national energy strategy and national debt issue. Not to mention, that bike trip may keep you out of the doctor's office from sedentary-related diseases, making it a better health care solution than simply handing out medical care cards.The list goes on, but only if the bike is on the road instead of being an ornament on a car's roof rack.
Have a nice day, and remind your Congressman that conservation is more than "...a sign of personal virtue...". It may be a sign of a national will to survive and prosper in an increasingly challenging world.
(with acknowledgments to Andy Cline over at Carbon Trace for instigating this post)
The pace of a national recovery will be challenged as a healthier economy needs to increase transport of goods and services (and people as they go back to work) but the cost of gas and diesel go up in a global oil market no longer dominated by the West and USA alone. As the NPR story says, the price of a barrel has nearly tripled since January, 2009. With other economies competing for that finite supply of barrels, supply vs. demand will have its way. According to a source in the NPR story, "a $10 increase in the price of oil is like a $200 million tax on the economy a day." or $73 billion per year, much of which goes overseas. With oil at $32/bbl in Jan '09 and closing in on $90/bbl today, that's a cool half trillion dollars.
That is one reason why replacing a car trip with a bike trip is a national energy strategy and national debt issue. Not to mention, that bike trip may keep you out of the doctor's office from sedentary-related diseases, making it a better health care solution than simply handing out medical care cards.The list goes on, but only if the bike is on the road instead of being an ornament on a car's roof rack.
Have a nice day, and remind your Congressman that conservation is more than "...a sign of personal virtue...". It may be a sign of a national will to survive and prosper in an increasingly challenging world.
(with acknowledgments to Andy Cline over at Carbon Trace for instigating this post)
Monday, November 8, 2010
In Vail, Colorado, the connection between money and justice couldn't be clearer
This one simply takes one's breath away.
EAGLE, Colorado — A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.
There is a petition drive started on the web, if that will make any difference in reversing this money-buys-justice travesty. Or as Keri Caffrey says, "What other craven felonies can a person commit and be let off easy because felony convictions have “serious job implications?”
EAGLE, Colorado — A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.
There is a petition drive started on the web, if that will make any difference in reversing this money-buys-justice travesty. Or as Keri Caffrey says, "What other craven felonies can a person commit and be let off easy because felony convictions have “serious job implications?”
Sunday, November 7, 2010
John Allen: A Review of Bicycling Designs in Davis, CA
John Allen has put up a page documenting an examination of the long history of bicycle facility R and D in Davis California. As John says, "...Davis has the longest experience with a bicycle program of any city in the USA, and a large population of cyclists thanks to its being the home of the University of California at Davis..." You may surf to his table of contents page for the Davis documents — but also, lest we make the same mistakes as well as enjoy the same successes elsewhere, please read the rest of his post.
John has updated his blog with an additional Davis post. Davis Planners Opine on Sidepaths
John has updated his blog with an additional Davis post. Davis Planners Opine on Sidepaths
Standard Time is back with us
...So please, PLEASE make sure your bike is actively lit up if you are commuting home after work. It should be pretty dark by shortly after five p.m. tomorrow. Be ready and be visible. Reflectors alone are not enough, says John Schubert. I can't say that emphatically enough and don't have to because John Allen says so too.
For lights, the sky is the limit as far as the market goes; dollars generally correlate with light output. But prices per lumen are definitely coming down. You can save some money buying a headlamp at a local hardware or home appliance store or an LED flashlight pair at Costco or Sam's and lash together a mount with a buck's worth of zipties. Or consider this. Some of the new high output tactical flashlights can pump out up to 900 lumens for a tenth the price of a comparable spec bike light (perhaps with a less optimal beam pattern) and with innovation, can be mounted in a trick fashion.
 |
| One way to kludge together a handlebar mount. |
Bottom line is you want to see and be seen. Being seen might be a lower standard. Seeing ahead requires that you analyze your route, your speed, and your willingness to risk hitting something. Pick a light that illuminates the road far enough ahead and well enough for you to avoid a hazard. Anyone wanting a quick discussion of that is welcome to contact me and we can arrange a little tutorial.
Ankle reflectors, some shown here, are good choices because they move and when illuminated, catch motorist attention. I put a pair on my wrists as well to use when signaling a turn.
For winter use, I have the Black Diamond Icon, available at REI, ziptied to my helmet. Works great; I can point it to where I want to see something (or at a side street with a motorist waiting at a stop sign). The main beam on the handlebar is a slightly dated but quite powerful (a claimed 675/550 lumen but the light pattern is iffy) Light and Motion Arc-HID headlamp.
And don't forget your back! Both John Allen and John Schubert discuss the limitations of rear reflectors, including that they may be dirty (hence fenders can keep them free of road grime) and only work well under optimal conditions of following traffic. On the bike right now is a five LED Cateye rear light (an older version of this). I augment that with a belt beacon. In addition, I have a 3" reflector from the local hardware store and a bunch of stick-on reflective dots.
Lights are so much better than in the old days. Enjoy the advantages of technology. If it seems I'm overdoing this, perhaps I am. But I've been commuting in the dark for 31 years. There is something to be said for taking safety into your own hands.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Morning in America?
"Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right."
--H.L. Mencken
Acknowledgments to Steve A. for posting that quote on his DFW Point to Point site.
As Andy Clarke says on the BikeLeague blog, Jim Oberstar,chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a longtime champion of a lot of Federal support for cycling programs, projects and infrastructure, was one of the casualties of the Tuesday Night Massacre, with the Dems playing the part of Gen. Custer's 7th Calvary and the Republicans and Tea Party folks playing the part of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people.
For me, this morning was the political equivalent of a cheap-whiskey hangover. My sense is that the American people may have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Be that as it may...
One can cut the size and scope of Government, but when translated into real world terms, you may find yourself doing without things you have quietly taken for granted. The problem is not just the size of government but the shrinking of our tax base with the sagging U.S. economy to the point where it can’t easily support things we are used to having. Like good roads, good schools, and medical care. Somehow we have to grow our economy and tax base back, pay our bills, end our wars, and start building and exporting things again. I'd like to hear someone from either party offer something constructive here.
Greed and mistrust are separate issues. Americans are being brainwashed by extremist politics, esp. outlets like FAUX News (and during the Bush administration, by MoveOn and its ilk), into not trusting their government as far as they can throw it. Not surprising we would not trust it with our tax dollars. As far as greed? Look no farther than resistance to marginal tax cut increases and compare our taxes to other nations. Greed and mistrust have to go, too.
As far as bicycling. Bicyclists who use their bikes as real-world transportation rather than cartop decorations already know something about being conservative. As I said yesterday on the League's blog, I think bicycling advocates are going to have to be ready with some compelling arguments on why using bicycling (and other alternatives to the car) are cost-effective in a new political era where the House (which originates Federal spending bills) looks at every Federal expenditure with a sharp knife. That is going to mean talking to a lot of new Republicans who have been elected on the promise of shrinking our government. They and their constituencies often look critically at transportation alternatives, see bicycling as quaint and irrelevant, have made some bike-specific projects the laughing stock of the TV networks, and were elected yesterday. They will have to be convinced that there is value in some of this stuff and cycling advocates will have to be a lot more selective in what they ask for.
Perhaps more cycling advocacy should be delegated to the state and local levels, since bicycling as transportation is local. The Bike League might want to concentrate on key projects that have the most bang for the buck, such as LCI network expansion and core missions of preserving our cycling rights in an uncertain era. Trained and confident cyclists can ride on most roads, set good examples to non-cyclists, and are not highly dependent on new bike-specific infrastructure that might or might not be funded by this new and conservative Congress.
As Andy said, one of our best friends in Congress is gone. Single point failures, as we say in my business, are not good. Cycling should not rise or fall on the fickleness of one election cycle or on the promise of continued Federal funding. Like our bicycles, we will have to be quick and manuverable. We need to learn from the past. Check out this link to the history of the Physical Fitness movement under President Eisenhower.
--H.L. Mencken
Acknowledgments to Steve A. for posting that quote on his DFW Point to Point site.
As Andy Clarke says on the BikeLeague blog, Jim Oberstar,chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a longtime champion of a lot of Federal support for cycling programs, projects and infrastructure, was one of the casualties of the Tuesday Night Massacre, with the Dems playing the part of Gen. Custer's 7th Calvary and the Republicans and Tea Party folks playing the part of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people.
For me, this morning was the political equivalent of a cheap-whiskey hangover. My sense is that the American people may have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Be that as it may...
One can cut the size and scope of Government, but when translated into real world terms, you may find yourself doing without things you have quietly taken for granted. The problem is not just the size of government but the shrinking of our tax base with the sagging U.S. economy to the point where it can’t easily support things we are used to having. Like good roads, good schools, and medical care. Somehow we have to grow our economy and tax base back, pay our bills, end our wars, and start building and exporting things again. I'd like to hear someone from either party offer something constructive here.
Greed and mistrust are separate issues. Americans are being brainwashed by extremist politics, esp. outlets like FAUX News (and during the Bush administration, by MoveOn and its ilk), into not trusting their government as far as they can throw it. Not surprising we would not trust it with our tax dollars. As far as greed? Look no farther than resistance to marginal tax cut increases and compare our taxes to other nations. Greed and mistrust have to go, too.
As far as bicycling. Bicyclists who use their bikes as real-world transportation rather than cartop decorations already know something about being conservative. As I said yesterday on the League's blog, I think bicycling advocates are going to have to be ready with some compelling arguments on why using bicycling (and other alternatives to the car) are cost-effective in a new political era where the House (which originates Federal spending bills) looks at every Federal expenditure with a sharp knife. That is going to mean talking to a lot of new Republicans who have been elected on the promise of shrinking our government. They and their constituencies often look critically at transportation alternatives, see bicycling as quaint and irrelevant, have made some bike-specific projects the laughing stock of the TV networks, and were elected yesterday. They will have to be convinced that there is value in some of this stuff and cycling advocates will have to be a lot more selective in what they ask for.
Perhaps more cycling advocacy should be delegated to the state and local levels, since bicycling as transportation is local. The Bike League might want to concentrate on key projects that have the most bang for the buck, such as LCI network expansion and core missions of preserving our cycling rights in an uncertain era. Trained and confident cyclists can ride on most roads, set good examples to non-cyclists, and are not highly dependent on new bike-specific infrastructure that might or might not be funded by this new and conservative Congress.
As Andy said, one of our best friends in Congress is gone. Single point failures, as we say in my business, are not good. Cycling should not rise or fall on the fickleness of one election cycle or on the promise of continued Federal funding. Like our bicycles, we will have to be quick and manuverable. We need to learn from the past. Check out this link to the history of the Physical Fitness movement under President Eisenhower.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)