Kansas Cyclist - Kansas Bicycle Guide and Reference

February 26th was Missouri Bicycle Day in Jefferson City, organized by the Missouri Bicycle Federation.

Dozens of Missouri bicyclists, walkers, runners, and trail users visited the capitol to talk with their legislators and express their support for legislation to make Missouri communities safer and more inviting for walking and bicycling. Citizens spoke in support of the Safe Streets bill (HB2205) and the Complete Streets bill (HB2206).

MoBikeFed also presented awards to Governor Matt Blunt, Lt. Governor Peter D. Kinder, Attorney General Jay Nixon, Department of Natural Resources Director Doyle Childers, Speaker Rod Jetton, Representative Mike Sutherland, Representative Shannon Cooper, Representative J.C. Kuessner, Representative T.D. El Amin, Senator Charlie Shields, Senator Bill Stouffer, Senator Joan Bray, Senator Kevin Engler, and Senator Wayne Goode (retired).

Additional information: MoBikeFed’s summary (Missouri Bicycle Day at the Capitol a big success), Kansas City infoZine (Missouri Bicycle Federation Honors Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon), Jefferson City News Tribune (Bicycle Day at the Capitol), photo gallery.

According to the League of American Bicyclists, Lawrence, Kansas is a bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community and “is a leader in encouraging cycling and educational efforts to improve the safety of the activity,” and “The city stands out among cities in Kansas and the Plains region for its high level of bicycle use. According to the 2000 census, 1.3 percent of Lawrence’s population regularly bikes to work—almost three times the national average.”

But what do residents think?

In a post on the Media & the Environment blog (a collective effort of students and professors at the University of Kansas), Denzyl quotes Michael Hajdu, a member of the Lawrence Bicycle Advisory Committee:

“In America, the leading cause of death is lethargy and bad dietary habits. Americans are obese and diabetic and what we should be doing is looking at healthier living. Cycling is free. All people have to do is get out their cars and start riding their bikes.”

That’s all well and good if you have a bicycle friendly city, something that Lawrence is not. Cycling along 23rd Street, the pedestrian and bicycle trails end abruptly at different intervals. It occurs along many other streets and often there just aren’t any trails at all. It’s a situation that Dr Hajdu knows all too well.

“I found that being on the (Lawrence Bicycle Advisory) committee, that we are fighting an insurmountable battle because the entire society is so entrenched in the belief that cars are the only way to get around. And the city is limited in putting any effort into changing things.”

If its citizens are this discouraged, does Lawrence’s status as a Bicycle Friendly Community really mean anything?

Other Bicycle Friendly Communities in the region include Shawnee, Kansas, South Sioux City, Nebraska, and Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins and Longmont in Colorado.

How do these compare to Lawrence?

The St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation is a bicycle advocacy group that serves the St. Louis area. They have produced a series of Public Service Announcements that are currently running on local stations. The spots aim to promote bicycling as a viable transportation alternative.

Very nicely done!

Cedar Falls, Iowa is looking at ways to enhance bicycling as transportation and to make the city more friendly to bicycle commuters.

Bob Morgan, a member of the committee studying the proposal, said that use of bicycles as practical transportation could grow. “Bicycling can do more for the city. It can reduce traffic. Bicycles don’t send noxious fumes into the air, they doesn’t pollute.”

The committee has asked the City Council to look at a comprehensive plan for bicycle transportation, including things such as bike lanes on new or reconstructed roads. It also asked the council to look at pilot projects to start this year and to plan for long-term adaptations to make streets more hospitable as bikeways.

Bike corridors would include more places to park bicycles, designated bicycle routes, bike lanes and separated facilities. In addition, an important part of a plan would be to educate cyclists and drivers to safely coexist. Statistics show commuting by bicycle is safer than by car, but that is not the perception.

In addition, the committee hopes that Cedar Falls can incorporate on-street bike facilities on the roads connecting Cedar Falls to nearby Waterloo, making bicycle transportation a practical alternative for commuters between the two communities.

Source: WCFCourier.com

The Missouri Bicycle Federation has released a document called A Vision for Active Transportation in Missouri (PDF). A post on their site describes the document and provides a summary:

The vision encapsulates much of what MoBikeFed members have been telling us and what the MoBikeFed board has been working for over the years into a single document. The vision lists concrete, measurable things we want to accomplish in Missouri in the next 5-10 years.

On February 26th, this detailed and ambitious vision will be part of the material presented at Bicycle Day at the Capitol, where bicycling advocates visit with state representatives and senators in Jefferson City to ask them to help make a more bicycleable and walkable Missouri.

Coincidentally, KCBike.info has published a copy of the Kansas City Bikeways (PDF) plan from 1980, a very interesting historical document detailing KC’s plans for a network of bikeways that would cover the entire city. It’s amazing (and discouraging) how little things have changed in 30 years…

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has proposed a plan to allow open admission to state parks. The current daily summer fee is $4.20 per motor vehicle ($3.70 during the remainder of the year, with an annual pass also available). That fee level is half of what it was two years ago, when the state legislature reduced the fee in an effort to encourage more people to use the park system.

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks secretary Mike Hayden said that the free entrance would bring thousands of new visitors to Kansas’ 24 state parks. Free admission, he said, “could be a great tourism promotion.”

The state parks offer 32,500 acres of land, 25,000 acres of water, and nearly 500 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.

State parks with mountain bike trails include Crawford, Cross Timbers, El Dorado, Elk City, Fall River, Fancy Creek, Hillsdale, Kanopolis, Perry, Scott, and many more.

Fortunately, the existing entrance fees only apply to motor vehicles, so bicycles already get in free, though many facilities do charge camping fees (and those would remain in place even with free entrance).

If approved by the state legislature, free admissions would begin in 2009.

Additional information: KDWP, Lawrence Journal-World, Wichita Eagle.

America Bikes is a national group that advocates for federal transportation funding for bicycling. They have some interesting bicycling statistics for all of the states in the nation.

Here is their data for Kansas and neighboring states:

Where:

• Number = Estimated number of adults riding bicycles at least once a month in the summertime
• Funding = Transportation Enhancements funds since 1992
• Projects = Number of bicycle/pedestrian projects since 1992, including multi-use paths and walkways

Even though the number of Kansas cyclists compares favorably to other states in the region, its share of federal funding, and the number of projects built, falls woefully short.

According to an article in the Ottawa Herald (Officials taking neighborly position on rail trail deal), Franklin County commissioners have decided to delay completion of the Flint Hills Nature Trail in their county by failing to respond to a bond offer from the Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy. The trails group has offered a bond of $200 per mile of trail, which would total about $5,000 for Franklin County. This is in line with the amounts that several other counties have agreed to.

However, Miami County, which is just east of Franklin County, has demanded a $76,100 bond for the small amount of trail within their borders. Miami County and the Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy are currently involved in a lawsuit to settle the matter.

According to county commissioner Don Stottlemire, he wants to delay acceptance of the proposed bond to avoid “stepping on Miami County’s toes,” because “They’re our neighbors,” and accepting the proposed bond from the Kanza group would “undercut Miami County’s position.”

But what about the thousands of county residents and visitors who’d use the trail? They don’t seem to be part of the discussion.

How very neighborly.

William Petroski of the Des Moines Register has a nice article profiling some winter bicycle commuters in Des Moines (Cold doesn’t deter tough cyclists):

Gary Hlavka, a civil engineer for the city of Des Moines uses a mountain bike with studded tires when his commute requires maneuvering through snow. He rides a recumbent bicycle after the streets are cleared.

Chris Guevara, who lives on Des Moines’ south side, is also a regular winter bicyclist, riding downtown daily to his job at Principal Financial Group.

Ernie Fisher of West Des Moines has been riding his bicycle to work daily, year-round, for 42 years. Most of those years involved a 17-mile round trip when he taught at Monroe Elementary School in Des Moines. Now it’s back-and-forth jaunts totaling about five miles to his post-retirement job as a West Des Moines school bus driver.

Petroski reports that, although there are no official statistics, estimates are that perhaps a few dozen ride in Des Moines, and that winter bicycling is gaining serious momentum in other Midwest cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis, and Madison, Wisconsin.

Here in Kansas, we have Dave, Jack, Keith, Noah, and Warren writing about their commuting experiences, and surely many other who don’t have their own blogs. Anyone else care to share?

On February 8th, the first Springfield Area Bicycle Summit was held in Springfield, Missouri. The event, organized by Ozark Greenways, the Ozarks Transportation Organization and the Advocacy Committee of Springbike Bicycle Club, brought together area business leaders, transportation planners, and bicycling and pedestrian advocates to discuss how the Springfield area might become a more bicycle-friendly community.

The goal of the summit was to build interest and support for developing the Springfield area as a bicycle-friendly community through public policy, community involvement and agency partnerships, which encourage both public and private investments.

The keynote address at the summit was given by Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission Chair James Anderson.

Springfield is also discussing a proposal for a network of bicycle paths, bike lanes, and bike routes throughout the city. Today, the city has about three miles of marked bike lanes and about 57 miles of marked bike routes. The plan would add 130 miles of marked lanes and 100 miles of signed routes. Many of the proposed bike lanes and paths are envisioned on roads that are currently too narrow to accommodate them. Widening the roads is a process that may take 50 years and over $50 million dollars, although advocates say that federal matching funds and grants to encourage sustainable transportation are available that would significantly reduce the size of the local investment.

The Missouri Bicycle Federation has additional coverage of the summit.