Sunday, February 28 by JerryFoster
Andy Clarke NJ Bike Summit 2010 Denville
The first New Jersey Bike Summit was held in Denville on Saturday February 27. About 150 attendees, including four from the WWBPA, heard the latest about what’s happening in the world of bicycle (and pedestrian!) advocacy. There was even a cameo appearance by the Bike Lane Fairy!
National speakers included Andy Clarke of the League of American Bicyclists, Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong, Sharon Roerty of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking and Jeff Miller of the Alliance for Biking and Walking.
New Jersey Assemblywoman Grace Spencer, sponsor of the three-foot safe passing bill, which was passed by the Assembly last year but died in the Senate Transportation committee, addressed the group about legislative matters. Sheree Davis, who leads NJ DOT’s Bicycle and Pedestrian program and is a key advocate within NJDOT, followed up with the state of the state from NJDOT’s perspective, including the new Complete Streets policy.
Success stories were related by many groups, including our own President Chris Scherer and Laura Torchio of Bike&Walk Montclair, who first showed pictures of the elusive Bike Lane Fairy at an event there. But would she make an appearance?
The courtroom in Denville’s Town Hall was sold out, and the agenda was very full, including in-depth presentations about “complete streets” by Mike Dannemiller of the RBA Group and bicycling education by Leigh Ann Von Hagen of Rutgers’ Voorhees Transportation Center. Read more about the day here.
Brendan Poh of the New Jersey Bicycle Coalition did a fantastic job organizing and putting on the event. It was a lot of work, and we all thank you and look forward to next year.
And the Bike Lane Fairy? We had to wait outside the room until the very end, but she made a brief appearance, posing for her many admirers. Alas, this reporter’s camera batteries were dead. To see her, click here.
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Posted in Advocacy |
Saturday, February 27 by silvia
Philadelphia and South Jersey came up big in the stimulus-money sweepstakes. A $23 million grant will help complete a network of biking and walking trails throughout the region, focused on connections to urban hubs in Philadelphia and Camden. It will fund several missing links on the popular Schuylkill River Trail, links in Camden to the Ben Franklin Bridge and parts of the East Coast Greenway in Pennyslvania. Read more.
Just how tough was it to get funded? Only 51 projects (3% of those submitted) were selected. Only two bicycle/pedestrian networks were funded. Unfortunately, $13 million sought for bike paths in Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties didn’t get approved. There is still more work to do before a route from Trenton to Philadelphia is completed.
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Posted in Advocacy, Bicycle routes, Bikeability, East Coast Greenway, Walkability |
Friday, February 26 by JerryFoster
In December 2009, the New Jersey Department of Transportation adopted a Complete Streets policy, designed to ensure that roadways are designed with all potential users in mind.
According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, such policies can offer many benefits in all communities, regardless of size or location.
Complete streets make economic sense. A balanced transportation system that includes complete streets can bolster economic growth and stability by providing accessible and efficient connections between residences, schools, parks, public transportation, offices, and retail destinations.
Complete streets improve safety by reducing crashes through safety improvements. One study found that designing for pedestrian travel by installing raised medians and redesigning intersections and sidewalks reduced pedestrian risk by 28%.
Complete streets encourage more walking and bicycling. Public health experts are encouraging walking and bicycling as a response to the obesity epidemic, and complete streets can help. One study found that 43 percent of people with safe places to walk within 10 minutes of home met recommended activity levels, while just 27% of those without safe places to walk were active enough.
Complete streets can help ease transportation woes. Streets that provide travel choices can give people the option to avoid traffic jams, and increase the overall capacity of the transportation network. Several smaller cities have adopted complete streets policies as one strategy to increase the overall capacity of their transportation network and reduce congestion.
Complete streets help children. Streets that provide room for bicycling and walking help children get physical activity and gain independence. More children walk to school where there are sidewalks, and children who have and use safe walking and bicycling routes have a more positive view of their neighborhood. Safe Routes to School programs, gaining in popularity across the country, will benefit from complete streets policies that help turn all routes into safe routes.
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Posted in Advocacy, Bikeability, Road Signs, Safety, Speed limits, Walkability |
Thursday, February 25 by JerryFoster
Mercer County Park XC Skiing
We regret to have to cancel tonight’s meeting, but weather and safety concerns prevail. The new annual meeting date will be announced in the near future. In the meantime, please send us an email with any questions or concerns, and enjoy the snow!
We are working to reschedule with Andy Clarke, our keynote speaker, who leads the League of American Bicyclists, the oldest organized bicycling organization in the country. The League was founded as the League of American Wheelmen in 1880. Bicyclists, known then as “wheelmen”, were challenged by rutted roads of gravel and dirt and faced antagonism from horsemen, wagon drivers, and pedestrians.
The agenda this year will also feature an optional interactive session, where WWBPA Trustees will collect your ideas for making West Windsor more a more bicycle and pedestrian friendly community.
Stay tuned – we hope everyone will be able to make the new date!
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Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, February 23 by silvia
1. Hear Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists, explain why creating a bicycle-friendly community is a good economic-development strategy and boosts property values.
2. Brainstorm about ways the WWBPA can achieve its goals. This year, we want to expand our popular “Walk to Hawk” on International Walk to School Day to other schools, highlight existing safe walking and bicycling routes and advocate for missing links. What do you want to see on the list?
Walk to Hawk, October 2008
The WWBPA’s annual meeting begins at 7:30 pm on Thursday February 25 at the West Windsor Municipal Center, 271 Clarksville Road. We need your support, and your ideas! Together, we can make our vision of a safer community for bicyclists and and pedestrians — for you, your family, your friends and neighbors — a reality.
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Posted in Advocacy |
Friday, February 19 by sandy
by Michael Ogg
February 18, 2010
I didn’t know Edward. I learned of his Tuesday death in East Windsor yesterday. Edward had Cerebral Palsy, CP. I don’t know the extent of his disability but he was riding a tricycle which is about halfway between a bicycle and a wheelchair. Cyclists probably relate to him as a fellow cyclist; I relate to him as a disabled person using a mobility device. Edward was riding his tricycle on Dutch Neck Road, a not especially busy suburban road, although there are some straight stretches where cars go quite fast. He was riding in the shoulder, or rather what was left of the shoulder after incomplete snow removal. He was struck from behind by a car and was thrown off his tricycle. He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital but was dead on arrival. The driver has since been charged with vehicular homicide; that’s little comfort to Edward.
I have Multiple Sclerosis, MS, and use a power wheelchair. Although MS and CP are very different diseases, there are many similarities in their symptomatologies. As with several acquaintances of mine with CP, I try to live life to the full despite my disability. I go everywhere in my wheelchair in all weather, even in the snows we’ve been having in the last few weeks. I haven’t been able to drive for a few years now so the wheelchair is all I’ve got. Very often I have to use the road: often there’s no sidewalk, or the sidewalk is too badly damaged by broken paving slabs or tree roots, or it’s impassable because residents haven’t cleared brush, or, as now, residents haven’t cleared snow or snow plows have used curb ramps as convenient dumping places for snow, or, also as now, I have decubitus ulcers and the jarring and bumping from even a passable sidewalk is too painful. If there’s a shoulder or bike lane I’ll use it. I have a fast wheelchair: not as fast as an average cyclist but faster than a slow cyclist or average runner, so if there’s no shoulder nor usable sidewalk I’ll use the road. I’m sure this sort of calculation was familiar to Edward.
Tomorrow I have to go to the Kessler Institute in West Orange for Occupational and Physical Therapy. I made my transportation arrangements on Tuesday. I have to take the train to Newark and then made a reservation with NJ Transit’s disability service, Access Link, to take me from Newark to West Orange. I don’t particularly like Access Link: apart from having to make arrangements at least 24 hours in advance, the pickup time is only within a 40 minute window, the driving time is very unpredictable (it could be 20 minutes or if there are other pickups as much as one and a half hours), and it is unusual to get exactly the times one needs. For this trip, either it was too early (I have a home assistant who comes at 6 a.m. to wash and dress me: I’m not ready until 7:30 a.m.) or it was too late and I’d miss half the appointment. I had no choice but to take the later time. I don’t know whether Edward used Access Link, but even if he did, I’m sure he preferred to cycle whenever possible, just as I prefer to use my wheelchair whenever possible.
There is a bus from Newark to West Orange that I’ve sometimes used when I couldn’t get a convenient Access Link pickup. However, the last half mile is on a busy four lane county road. When I was there on Monday, the shoulder was full of snow. I was about to cancel my Access Link reservation and take the bus instead. Then I thought of Edward. Dutch Neck Road is a much quieter road. I called Kessler to say I’d be late for my appointment. I’d keep my Access Link reservation but get there alive. Edward, I’m sorry I never knew you. I think we’d have both enjoyed sharing fish stories over a beer.
Read the previous post Cycling Tragedy in East Windsor.
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Posted in Advocacy, Bikeability, Disabilities, Pedestrian, Safety, Walkability |
Thursday, February 18 by silvia
The WWBPA is saddened by the tragic death of a cyclist killed by an overtaking vehicle on Dutch Neck Road in East Windsor on February 16. According to local newspaper accounts, the East Windsor man, Edward Boye, relied on his bicycle to get around because he suffered from cerebral palsy. The driver, Margaret Corrigan, also of East Windsor, is reportedly facing vehicular homicide charges, among others.
This is the second serious accident on Dutch Neck Road this month involving a cyclist or pedestrian. Earlier this month, a cast member of ‘Sesame Street’ who lives in the area was hospitalized after being hit by a car while crossing Route 130 at Dutch Neck Road.
Please drive safely within the speed limit and give bicyclists plenty of room when passing – half a lane is a good rule of thumb. Under New Jersey law, bicyclists have the right to ride in the travel lane. Motorists, please share the road with bicyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable users of the roadway, such as the disabled, crossing guards, police officers and maintenance workers.
Please join us in extending our condolences to the families of everyone involved in this collision.
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Posted in Safety, Speed limits |
Wednesday, February 17 by silvia
After all this snow, it’s time to start thinking about what to do when it warms up. Why not a bike adventure? Whether you’re looking for a one-day or one-week organized ride, it’s easy to come up with a list after a little bit of looking. Here, without any endorsement from the WWBPA, are just a few not far from home:
Bike New York’s TD Bank Five Boro Bike Tour, on May 2 this year, is 30,000 riders enjoying a car-free, 42-mile ride through New York City. It hits all five boroughs and takes bicyclists on roads they usually can’t ride, including across the Verrazano Bridge. Registration has begun. The spots fill up quickly; last year, the ride sold out two months in advance. Bike New York organizes several other one-day rides in the region over the summer.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s annual Greenway Sojourn this year will meander across 250 miles in southeastern Pennsylvania and along the Delaware River valley from July 17 to 24. It includes overnight stays on the Battleship New Jersey on the Camden/Philadelphia waterfront and on Bulls Island on the Delaware.
Looking to ride and raise money for a cause? One local ride is the Tour de Cure, which supports the American Diabetes Association, on June 6. Routes range from 10 to 62.3 miles.
You’d rather plan your own ride? Head out on the East Coast Greenway or New Jersey DOT’s High Point to Cape May route. Both skirt West Windsor. The state also has developed a number of shorter loops around the state.
And don’t forget West Windsor’s own BikeFest, this year on May 29. It’s a great family event, with many different rides for different kinds of riders, and the WWBPA will be there.
What organized rides and tours would you recommend? Tell us about some in which you’ve participated.
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Posted in Bicycling Trip |
Monday, February 15 by silvia
You don’t need to open up your wallet very far to get an effective bicycle helmet. The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute hired a firm to run tests on six helmets. Three sold for under $20, and three sold for more than $150. The conclusion? The impact test results were virtually identical. The extra bucks may get you an easier fit, more vents and snazzier graphics, but not more safety.
Regardless of how much you spend, your helmet needs to fit properly to protect your brain. As the BHSI asys, you want the helmet to be comfortably touching the head all the way around, level and stable enough to resist even violent shakes or hard blows and stay in place. It should be as low on the head as possible to maximize side coverage, and held level on the head with the strap comfortably snug.
Watch these videos for more tips, or come ask the WWBPA for help this summer at the West Windsor Farmers’ Market. (We sell helmets too!)
And remember–always wear a bicycle helmet when biking, not a helmet for skateboarding or some other sport.
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Posted in Helmets |
Friday, February 12 by silvia
Times Square, courtesy of NYCDOT
After an eight-month trial, New York City officials said those new public spaces around Times Square and Herald Square (and the sections of Broadway closed to motorized traffic) will become permanent. They noted that accidents have decreased and overall traffic speeds have increased (though not as much as city officials had hoped, the New York Times noted). Of course, these plazas also have been wildly popular, particularly during good weather, and the changes are generally backed by area businesses.
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Posted in New York City, Safety |
