Kansas Cyclist - Kansas Bicycle Guide and Reference

The Missouri Bicycle Federation has released its first annual Missouri Walking and Bicycling Report Card, which gives grades to Missouri’s efforts to improve the environment for walking and bicycling in the state.

The current situation is pretty grim:

“The overall grade for Missouri’s walking and bicycling environment for 2007 was a D,” says Missouri Bicycle Federation Executive Director Brent Hugh. “We are quite frankly behind most other states in accommodating for safe walking and bicycling. With gas prices near $3.50 a gallon and rising, it’s hitting us right in the pocketbook.”

But they see reason for hope:

People are working hard all across Missouri to turn this situation around, with some real, tangible, positive results this year. And the very fact that Missouri has ignored bicycling and walking for so long presents an opportunity: Even simple, basic changes will create very noticeable improvement and a rapid increase in the amount and safety of walking and bicycling in Missouri.

The report is a comprehensive and amazingly detailed look at the state of walking and bicycling in Missouri, giving grades in over 40 specific subject areas tracked by MoBikeFed.

Read the full report (PDF).

Additional coverage: MyFox Kansas City, Joplin Independent, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Roger Kramer.

A 4-year-old boy riding a bicycle with training wheels was hit and killed by a delivery truck May 8th in Blue Springs, Missouri.

Mason P. McBride died when the truck hit him and ran him over in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he lived. The truck was a delivery vehicle for Rent-A-Center, and was driven by a 21-year-old from Lee’s Summit, who said he did not see the small child on his bike.

The driver remained at the scene and was taken to police headquarters for questioning, though police characterized the child’s death as a “tragic accident,” and the driver will not face charges.

“To our knowledge the driver was not impaired during our investigation. I think it was just a mistake. The little boy just crossing the street and the truck being bigger and the driver maybe not paying one hundred percent attention like we all do sometimes, and didn’t see the little boy until it was too late,” Officer Jeremy Dickstein with the Blue Springs Police Department said.

Police said the driver was “devastated” by what had happened.

The boy’s family planned a vigil for Mason at their apartment complex Friday night.

Read more: Kansas City Star, MyFox Kansas City, KCTV-5, KMBC-TV9.

Photo courtesy KCTV-5.

As part of its plan to install approximately 1,000 bicycle spaces downtown, Columbia, Missouri is replacing an automobile parking spot with a “bike corral”, but keeping the parking meter, hoping that cyclists will chip in a few coins to help offset the income from the “lost” parking space.

The bike corral marks the first time the city has replaced car parking with bike parking. No fines will be handed out if the meter expires, but contributions to the meter will influence future decisions on providing bicycle parking downtown.

“It’s a vote for bike parking is what I would call it,” Ted Curtis, senior planner for Columbia’s Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program said. “We don’t know if people will donate. We’re just asking.”

Fred Schmidt, 49, was on hand while city workers attempted to secure the corral into the ground on Thursday afternoon. Although his bike wasn’t locked to the corral yet, Schmidt still obeyed the sign hanging on the meter that reads, “Donate your change for more bicycle parking in the future!”

“I was very proud to put in the first quarter. It was a historic occasion,” Schmidt said. “My quarter is a small payment for what the city is doing for me.”

Read more: New downtown bike corrals ask for voluntary meter payments from the Columbia Missourian.

The family of Cheramara Motley is mourning the loss of the 5-year old girl, and praying for her brother, 14-year old Greg Womack, who is in critical but stable condition at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.

The two children were critically injured in St. Louis on Monday, April 28th, when they were hit by an SUV while riding their bicycle, the impact of which threw them into the path of a Metro bus coming from the opposite direction.

Greg had picked up his sister from a Head Start program, and they were headed home, with Greg pedaling the bike as Cheramara stood on the “pegs” of the back wheel.

The driver of the SUV has admitted to inattention, according to police. “He was traveling southbound on Sarah, when he looked up the kids were in front of him on the bicycle,” said Lt. Col. Reggie Harris of the St. Louis Police Department. The only skid marks on the street appeared to be from the bus.

Police investigators are looking into the incident, and no charges have been filed. Harris said the accident reconstruction team would be reviewing video from the bus’ on-board camera. Some reports indicate that the police are leaning toward declaring it “just a tragic accident.”

Members of the community gathered at the scene of the tragedy for a vigil on Wednesday evening, and the family thanked people for their support and asked for prayers. Cheramara and Greg’s mother, Carrie Motley, led the crowd in a song to remember her five year old daughter, and candles were lit in Cheramara’s honor.

“Just keep my baby in your heart and your mind and in your prayers, and keep them going up for my son,” said Motley. “For those parents out there that have babies, cherish them,” she said. “Because you never know.”

Read more: Crash kills girl on bike, injures brother, Girl Killed, Boy In Critical Condition After Being Struck By SUV, Prayer Vigil For 5 Year Old Killed In Tragic Crash, Mother of Children Hit by Car and Bus Speaks Out, Crowd prays for children struck by car.

Image courtesy KSDK.

It’s hard to surpass springtime on Missouri’s Katy Trail, particularly near the historic and scenic town of Rocheport. You can enjoy beauty, and help to raise money for HIV/AIDS research and services in Mid-Missouri, on the Trail to a Cure, a ride/walk/run event that takes place on May 4th, starting at the Katy Trail State Park trailhead in Rocheport.

You can choose to ride from Rocheport to McBaine, a round-trip of 18 miles, or from Rocheport to Easley, a round-trip of 32 miles. There is also a 10K walk, a 10K run, and an 18-mile run. The starts for the various activities are staggered so that everyone gets back to the trailhead by about 2pm, where all participants can partake in a post-event celebration with their friends and family at the Les Bourgeois Winery.

The event is a fundraising benefit for two AIDS-related organizations: amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, and Rain of Central Missouri. 100% of the funds raised by participants are passed along to the beneficiaries.

amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy.

Rain of Central Missouri is the region’s leading STD prevention resource focused on education, early detection and compassionate care facilitation. In addition to high quality education and prevention services, Rain offers compassionate case management to persons with HIV/STD and HCV in the form of counseling, physician referrals, housing, social services, nutritional planning, risk reduction counseling, and treatment adherence counseling.

The event is organized by Larry Horning, owner of the Trailside Cafe & Bike Shop, located right across the street from the trailhead in Rocheport.

Learn more: New AIDS Benefit in Missouri To Depend on Pedal Power from CampKC.com

Joplin, Missouri is planning to expand the city’s trail system this summer, adding six miles of walking and biking trails to the existing 3.5 miles of the Frisco Greenway Trail.

The city has scheduled an open house to allow residents to view plans, offer comments and ask questions about the new trails, which are being built starting in July and August. 80 percent of the cost of the trails is being paid for with federal matching grant money, while the city is supplying 20% of the funds.

The new projects include trails that extend from downtown to the east and then northwest through Landreth Park across Main Street and along the Murphy Boulevard corridor. Other trails will extend from the Frisco Greenway Trail’s west trailhead and fork to provide trails to Ewert Park downtown, and Joe Becker Stadium. A trail in the southern portion of Joplin will connect to an existing trail of the Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center and travel along the south banks of Shoal Creek.

The Missouri Bicycle Federation reports that “Joplin is becoming one of the most progressive cities in the state for having the vision to extend its trails plan to all parts of the city.”

Read more: Open house scheduled for Joplin’s trail plans from the Joplin Globe, and Joplin to build several trails throughout city from MoBikeFed

Columbia, Missouri is embarking on an ambitious plan to add 1000 new bicycle racks around the city over the next few years. Currently, there are just 113 spaces in the downtown district. As cycling gains in popularity in Columbia, more bicycle parking places will be needed. The lack of secure parking keeps many people from using their bikes for basic transportation.

An article in the Columbia Missourian (City hopes to add 1,000 bike racks) says:

The proposal calls for the city to purchase bicycle racks with federal money and loan them to businesses and property owners at no cost. In return, the businesses and property owners would be responsible for installation and maintenance of the racks and would be required to keep them open to the public.

Funding will come from the GetAboutColumbia project, which was established in 2006 when the city received $22 million after it was designated as one of four communities for the Federal Highway Administration’s nonmotorized transportation pilot program. The project is designed to encourage more bicycling and walking.

The program is modeled after one in Minneapolis, one of the four cities involved in the nonmotorized federal initiative. Donald Pflaum, bicycle coordinator for Minneapolis, said the program has been extremely successful.

See also: Downtown Bicycle Parking Plan (PDF) from GetAboutColumbia

The Missouri Bicycle Federation and Let’s Go KC are asking for your help in some upcoming bicycle advocacy efforts:

• Hwy 45 Bike/Ped Access: MoDOT is building a new highway through Parkville, Missouri (just north of Kansas City). Guess what? Their plans for accommodating bicycling and walking are inadequate, plus they forgot to include any funding for them. Send email to MoDOT.

• Paseo Bridge Bike/Ped Access: MoDOT is building a new quarter billion dollar bridge in the heart of Kansas City. It could provide the first safe bicycle/pedestrian crossing of the Missouri River near downtown Kansas City. Advocacy groups have been working on this for years and now it’s going to move or die forever in the next month or so. Send email to MoDOT or attend the groundbreaking ceremony and show your support for this vital link.

• Bicycling License Plate: Many other states have ‘Share the Road with Bicycles’ license plates. Why not Missouri, too? In 1 minute you can show your support. Express your interest in Missouri Bicycling License Plates.

Learn more from MoBikeFed: Hwy 45–Stop MoDOT from building another road without good bike/ped accommodations, Bicycle to the Paseo Bridge Groundbreaking April 18th

Learn more from Let’s Go KC: Paseo Bridge Groundbreaking, Take Action! - Paseo Bridge and Route 45

It looks like Missouri’s “Complete Streets” bill is dead.

Despite being passed by the Missouri House by a vote of 139-9, and being poised to pass the Senate Transportation Committee this week, the bill, which would have required the Department of Transportation “to provide full consideration for bicyclists, pedestrians, disabled persons, and transit users in its plans, programs, and projects”, stalled when MoDOT Director Pete Rahn voiced opposition to the measure.

Although MoDOT’s research group had returned a fiscal note indicating the impact of the bill on MoDOT’s budget would be $0, Rahn apparently became concerned that the bill would require MoDOT to pay more attention to the needs and safety of bicyclists and pedestrians than it wishes to. The agency could face real consequences for failure to safely accommodate for pedestrians, bicyclists, and people with disabilities, where now it faces none.

Rahn subsequently met with the bill’s sponsor, Representative Mike Sutherland, and personally promised that MoDOT would implement internal policy changes to make the Complete Streets bill unnecessary.

Sutherland then then stated that he will monitor the situation and can re-introduce the needed legislation if progress as promised does not materialize.

This is a discouraging development, especially after the original version of the bill had been watered down to appease MoDOT concerns.

For more detailed information read the Missouri Bicycle Federation’s coverage of the issue: MoDOT halts Complete Streets bill; promises to implement it via internal policy

Cliff Drive, the only urban Scenic Byway in the state of Missouri, twists and turns along the limestone cliffs high above the Missouri river in Kansas City. Originally built for Sunday rides in horse-and-buggy, Cliff Drive will now once again be free of motorized vehicles, at least on the weekends.

The Kansas City park board approved “Car Free Weekends” at the request of local citizens, closing Cliff Drive to motorized vehicles on weekends from May 16 to October 27 in an effort to promote family and group activities. The historic roadway will be reserved for pedestrians, bicyclists and skateboarders, and it is hoped that this will prove popular and lead to car-free days in other parks and boulevards in the city.

Cliff Drive is located in historic George E. Kessler Park and is approximately 4.25 miles in length, running from Indian Mound in the east to The Paseo and Independence Avenue in the west.

Learn more: Kansas City Star, Missouri Bicycle Federation, Let’s Go KC, BlogKC
(Image courtesy of Legends of America.)