Kansas Cyclist - Kansas Bicycle Guide and Reference

The Missouri Bicycle Federation is reporting that several new bicycle-related pieces of legislation are working their way through the Missouri house and senate:

• Missouri “Complete Streets” Bill advances - Missouri’s “Complete Streets” bill, HB 2206, passed the House Rules Committee and is now on the House Consent Calendar. That means it is awaiting a vote of the full House. The nationwide Complete Streets movement is based on the idea that state, regional, and local agencies should plan, design, and build our transportation network to meet the needs of all users.

• Dead Red for bicycles and Safe Passing of Bicycles provisions pass Missouri Senate - SB 761, a bill with two important provisions for bicyclists, was debated and passed the Missouri Senate. The “dead red” part of the bill allows motorcyclists or bicyclists who come to a traffic signal that will not change for them, to proceed through the signal, when safe, without any danger of receiving a traffic ticket. The “safe passing” part of the bill includes a provision that motorists may cross a solid yellow “no passing zone” line to pass bicyclists, when it is safe to do so. The idea is to encourage motorists to change lanes when passing, rather than trying to squeeze both a motor vehicle and a bicycle within a single lane of traffic. After passing the senate, the bill moves on to the House.

• Safe Streets Bill has hearing in Missouri House - HB2205, the “Safe Streets” bill with enhanced penalties for those whose careless driving injures or kills, had a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

It takes a tremendous amount of time and hard work to get bills proposed, written, sponsored, and moving forward. Thank you MoBikeFed, for your dedication in supporting this important legislation.

The city council of Liberty, Missouri has approved construction of a mountain bike trail in the city’s Stocksdale Park and the neighboring Walnut Woods Conservation Area. The trails are being built with volunteer labor by the nonprofit Earth Riders Trails Association, and will be about three miles in length initially, with another 3+ miles planned for the near future.

The Stocksdale and Walnut Woods Trail blog contains current information on the project (including directions), and the Kansas City Star has an article discussing the trail (Mountain bike trail proposed for Walnut Woods Conservation Area, Stocksdale Park:

Under an agreement with Missouri Conservation, which owns Walnut Woods, the trail would cover two miles in the conservation area and about a mile in Stocksdale Park. Construction of the all-natural, 18-inch-wide trail could be completed soon after City Council votes on the plan, Liberty Parks Director Chris Deal said.

“To me, it’s a very clear opportunity for a group of volunteers to add an amenity to a park with little affect on the neighborhood or cost to us,” Councilman Greg Duncan said.

The trail group anticipates that the trail can be completed and open to the public very quickly — sometime during the month of April 2008, with additional mileage within 2 to 3 years.

See also: Volunteers blaze mountain bike trail through Walnut Woods area from the Liberty Tribune.

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.

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!

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…

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.

On February 5th in Kansas City, Missouri, the City Planning Commission met to discuss the new development code that regulates planning, zoning, parking, and other aspects of development in the city. One of the topics scheduled to be discussed was bicycle parking — long-term and short-term, and whether to include bicycles, pedestrians and transit in traffic analysis that is routine for motorized vehicles.

Let’s Go KC, an advocacy group that promotes transportation choice in the Kansas City region, invited members of the local cycling community to attend the meeting to show their support. Their blog reports that:

More than a dozen supporters of a livable Kansas City showed up at City Hall to advocate for the new development code. Despite opposition from big developers like Hunt Midwest and McBride & Sons, the City Plan Commission approved the addition bicycle parking for new apartment and condo buildings.

The Commission also approved a provision to include pedestrians, transit, and bicycles in the traffic studies that developers do to analyze the impact that new development will have on traffic. This is a huge step towards creating a full integrated transportation system that includes all modes.

The next step is the City Council and hearings before their Planning and Zoning Committee.

Visit the Let’s Go KC web site for detailed discussions of the proposed development code and the related issues. Eric and Noah have additional coverage of the meeting.

The route for the second running of the Tour of Missouri, September 8th through the 14th, has been announced:

1. St. Joseph to Kansas City: 90 miles
2. Clinton to Springfield: 125 miles
3. Branson: 18 miles (individual time trials)
4. Lebanon to Rolla: 105 miles
5. St. James to Jefferson City: 100 miles
6. Hermann to St. Charles: 110 miles
7. St. Louis: 75 miles (circuit race)

Compared to the first year’s event, the 2008 edition of this professional stage race adds new towns to the tour, as well as another day of racing. The race will cover 623 miles and feature 120 of the world’s top cyclists.

Last year’s Tour of Missouri featured 15 professional cycling teams, including the last American appearance of the Discovery Channel team, which included Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, U.S. National Champion Levi Leipheimer, and the eventual winner of the race, George Hincapie. The race produced an economic impact of more than $26 million for the state, as over 350,000 spectators turned out to watch the race, lining streets and roads all along the route.