Bike policy U-turn: Street to paths and back to streets

If the city of Cincinnati's bike-lane policy was an actual bike
lane,
it might be a lot of fun to ride, but there would be so many twists
and
U-turns, riders might get a little dizzy.

The city's bike policy was one thing, then it was about to become
another, now it is back to the original.

The city's bike program, up until about a week ago, emphasized a
regional effort to enhance and improve bicycle/pedestrian
transportation. There was a specific emphasis on: "bicycle lanes,
sharrows, bike racks, parking, signage, railroad crossings, traffic
improvements." A "sharrow" is a shared-lane marking on the street.

In his proposed 2015 budget, the city administration changed the
language of that policy. It still talked about improving
bicycle/pedestrian transportation, but it placed an emphasis on
off-road trails.

Paths and trails are different things.

For the most part, a "path" is on a city street. For many, it would
be
a means of transportation from one place to the next. Like going to
work, or visiting a friend, or shopping.

A "trail" is different. For the most part, it is off-road, perhaps
along a river or through woods. Bike people like trails, they are
just
not used so much as transportation. They are largely for recreation
and
exercise.

There is a perception that Mayor John Cranley prefers to paths.
That
perception is correct.

"He does prefer off-road paths to on-road lanes, and believes the
majority of the public does also," Spokesperson Kevin Osborne said.

But Osborne added: "It should be noted, however, that there is not
a
ban on lanes. The Mayor just prefers City Council vote explicitly
on
each project, rather than having a huge swath implemented
administratively.

"Also, based on community support, the Mayor supports the
completion of
two bike lanes: Woolper Avenue in Clifton, and Kellogg Avenue in
Mount
Washington. Sometime soon, the Mayor will introduce legislation to
complete both."

City Council member Chris Seelbach thought that the
administration's
proposal was a bad idea. So he brought a motion to revert the bike
policy back to the original. Then he got four others members to
sign
that motion. Those council members a Yvette Simpson, David Mann,
Wendell Young and P.G. Sittenfeld.

So, with those five votes, the city bike plan will not change.

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On Saturday, May 24, 2014 8:37:57 AM UTC-7, Garrison Hilliard wrote:

http://cin.ci/1gXke9E

(Heh. When I follow that link I get a popup ad for Honda
cars. When I close the popup there is an ad for Mercedes
Benz cars flanking the article text.)

There's been a law on the books here for a long, long time
that requires any new road construction to include bicycle
facilities as feasible (something like that).

It results in zany situations like a few hundred feet of
bike lane that begins and ends at the reconstructed part
of a road that otherwise goes on for miles with no bike
lanes. Philosophically opposed critics like to point to
these incomplete things as "proof" that facilities are no
good (and worse).

But to me it's a good sign. It's funny, but not silly.
Eventually there will be more (and more) bike facilities,
which ISTM necessarily means less emphasis on the kind of
infrastructure priorities of the past which only care
about cars and trucks and - along with everything else
wrought by the car culture - has gotten us to this very
deep car dependent hole we're in.

The only way out is incremental; and as the situation
there in Cinci makes apparent, it won't be steady, and there
will be backsliding. But it will all be cumulative, and we
will wind up in a different place.

The question is: Will that place look more like those
where bicycling is a natural part of the good life? Or will
it look more like those places where bicycling is a stopgap
compromise grimly endured by people aspiring to the car
culture version - a false and broken promise.

Cranley obviously doesn't get it at all.

But they have Major League baseball - woo-hoo! ;-)

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/bikes/linkservid/ED07932C-0DF6-B386-0861EBEC5ADBCC3F/showMeta/0/

There seems to be some sensibility in Cincinnati after all. I was
sure there must be.

(Better go check on Portland now; what with that identity crisis
they may be having... )

On 25/05/2014 06:23, Dan O wrote:

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/bikes/linkservid/ED07932C-0DF6-B386-0861EBEC5ADBCC3F/showMeta/0/

There seems to be some sensibility in Cincinnati after all. I was
sure there must be.

Sense or sensibility?

On Sunday, May 25, 2014 7:21:02 AM UTC-7, Clive George wrote:
On 25/05/2014 06:23, Dan O wrote:


http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/bikes/linkservid/ED07932C-0DF6-B386-0861EBEC5ADBCC3F/showMeta/0/

There seems to be some sensibility in Cincinnati after all. I was
sure there must be.

Sense or sensibility?

I dunno; maybe it's perspective.

"... in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, canals,
railroads, streetcars and inclines provided a more diverse
set of options. Street systems still played a lead role,
but even streets were more multi-modal in purpose and use."

"Cincinnati, not unlike most American cities, has lost much
of its multi-modal infrastructure . As a result, the arterial
roads and major highways that criss-cross the city and the
region dominate the landscape and limit transportation choices;
the trips taken on this system include predominantly single-
occupant autotrips and commercial truck use."