Saturday, January 5, 2013

Project Update

Members of the community give input on the Uptown Regional Bike Corridor Project.


Beth at SANDAG has uploaded a project schedule with a good summary of our portion of the regional bike project for Uptown. The next meeting is Feb 6, and it will cover design ideas and review existing conditions.

Last year we blogged about some design ideas when we toured Washington street with some of the trustees from the Mission Hills Town Council.  

In SANDAG's first meeting, staff did a great job of explaining how communities would like to bike more, but the vast majority feel unsafe on the roads.  In fact, surveys show that 60% of people are interested in riding, but are concerned and so they don't. Of course this means communities continue to have more cars on the roads, more traffic, more parking issues, worse air quality, less exercise for folks that want it, more wear and tear on infrastructure, etc. etc....  Only 1% of people have no fear when it comes to sharing the road with cars.  SANDAG showed an excellent powerpoint with the great information on bike lane designs, and explained how roads are for everyone, not just cars.

They finished the meeting by asking what are the opportunities for our community as we build out this enhancement?  And, what types of facilities be implemented in certain areas?  Check out the powerpoint for ideas, and tell us what you'd like to see in Mission Hills.




The danger of cycling next to parked cars

This is a great video that shows the danger of cycling next to parked cars, or what's known as the "door zone."




The safest lane to travel in is the bike lane, and reduces injuries by 90%.  You can read a good summary post and link to a new study here.

According to the study, the most dangerous roads are "wide streets with parked cars and no bike infrastructure".  Hey, that sounds like Washington Street!