AnnArbor.Com reports that the City of Ann Arbor recently acquired some federal stimulus dollars that will allow for some new bike lanes near downtown Ann Arbor.
The locations of these new bike lanes will be along Catherine Street, North University Avenue, Ashley Street and First Street.
Since many people feel better about biking when bike lanes are present, these new additions should be a good move.
A new community bike group known as Common Cycle is looking to raise some money via Kickstarter.
Common Cycle is “a community-based organization empowering Ann Arbor to ride bicycles by providing access to education, workspace, and resources.”
They regularly set up a Mobile Bike Repair Stand at the Ann Arbor Artisan’s Market on Sundays in the Summer and just conducted their first bike repair workshop.
If you are looking for a place to get your bike repaired that is close to downtown, you might want to check out Sic Transit. They are located a little under a mile from downtown Ann Arbor on Broadway.
Their specialty is fixing up vintage bikes, but they also do repairs of all sorts.
Check out their new website at sictransitcycles.com
For a complete listing of all of the Bike Shops in the Ann Arbor area that sell quality bikes and do quality repairs, check out our Guide to Bike Commuting in Downtown Ann Arbor.
While we might not be as big of a city as Toronto, we certainly have to deal with cycling with traffic. Biking Toronto is providing a series of 10 “secrets” (not really secrets but definitely great tips) for biking in traffic.
Click here for a rundown of all of the Secrets.
Read on and stay safe!
This just in:
From 1990 to 2009, the number of trips taken on foot more than doubled from 18 billion to 42.5 billion. Similarly, the number of bike trips increased from 1.7 billion to 4 billion. (from Ray LaHood’s Blog)
That’s according to a recent Federal Highway Administration Study. And in other good news, at the same time as walking and biking trips has increased, the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed is decreasing.
While all of this is great news, it’s clear we still have a ways to go to make it both practical and safe for people to bike and walk to their destinations. But these numbers are encouraging!
Recently, the getDowntown Program surveyed bike commuters to learn more about them.
In that survey, we asked two open-ended questions:
So what do bike commuters want? Not much, actually. But what they do want, while pretty simple to say, is much more difficult to implement.
Out of the 213 bike commuters who took our survey, the majority said the following would make it easier to commute to work in Ann Arbor:
More Bike Lanes and Paths
This was by far the most requested improvement. Cyclists would both like to see bike lines on more city streets as well as more paths that allow cyclists to get around Ann Arbor without having to be in the street. The interesting thing about this is that Ann Arbor does have a plan to add more bike lanes. The City’s Non-Motorized plan was adopted in 2007 and every year, the City implements some parts of that plan. So the biggest reason we don’t have more bike lanes and bike paths is not because we don’t want them, it’s because we need to get the funding for them. That’s why the City is pushing hard for the Rails to Trails 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation. A couple of years ago, the City submitted a proposal to this campaign to receive 5o million dollars for non-motorized improvements. Now we just have to wait for the Transportation Bill to be reauthorized. In the meantime, if you’d like to see the City dedicate more funding to bike lanes, you can always let your Councilperson know.
More Bike Parking, especially covered parking, secure parking and lockers
As many survey respondents recognized, getting your bike from point A to point B is just one piece of the puzzle. You next have to find a place to park it. That can be a much harder proposition if you are trying to find bike parking outside of downtown Ann Arbor. However, the City does have bike parking standards for new construction, which means that at least there will be bike parking when something new is created. If you have a place in mind where you’d like to see bike parking downtown, you can let the DDA know with this handy form.
More education for cyclists and motorists on the rules of the road
It isn’t surprising that many bike commuters would like to see more opportunities for cyclists and motorists to learn how to play well together on the road. The Washtenaw Biking and Walking Coalition (WBWC) continues to work on this issue and it always happy to have others help them out!
Better maintained bike lanes
Many survey respondents noted that bike lanes are great, but it doesn’t help if they’re full of leaves, snow, or potholes. I bet if we asked motorists what could be done to improve commuting by car in Ann Arbor they’d also talk about fixing out streets. Clearly this is a problem for the Ann Arbor area (and Michigan in general) that doesn’t have easy solutions. However, if you are a cyclists and do see a road maintenance issue you can report it to the City of Ann Arbor. Click here and go to the Report a Maintenance Issue section in the right sidebar.
Designated bike boulevards and corridors that are geared towards cyclists rather than cars
Bike commuters would also like to have places in Ann Arbor that are specifically geared towards the needs of cyclists. It’s an interesting idea and I could see many ways to do this, from simply designating certain places in Ann Arbor bike corridors, to actually creating separated streets specifically for cyclists.
So these are the thoughts of bike commuters. Does this jive with what you’d like to see for bike commuters in Ann Arbor?
Here’s a listing of folks who got a prize for logging a bike commute during the Commuter Challenge:
LED Bike Light Dan B Michigan Theater Foundation
LED Bike Light Nigel B moosejaw mountaineering
LED Bike Light Christina B Google
LED Bike Light Andy B Washtenaw County – IT
LED Bike Light Loulie M Rosebud Sol McKesson Corp
LED Bike Light Emily S Menlo Innovations LLC
Espresso Royale – $5 gift card Sean H U.S. EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory
Espresso Royale – $5 gift card Gene D U.S. EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory
Espresso Royale – $5 gift card Jeremy S Mathematical Reviews
Espresso Royale – $5 gift card John W University of Michigan – MLibrary
FYI:
A local ride to remember those who have been killed on public roadways will be held tonight. Gather at Wheeler Park 6:30pm for a 7 mile ride.
Have you been thinking you’d like to go on a bike ride but don’t want to ride on busy streets? Have you heard of the B2B trail but don’t know where it goes? Come join me for a casual ride on Washtenaw County’s Border to Border Trail (B2B) linking Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and contribute to a local food bank at the same time.
Next Saturday, May 22, 11am, join me for a leisurely family-friendly ride along part of Washtenaw County’s Border to Border trail. Stop in Depot Town for lunch. Its just 22 miles round trip, so put on your helmet, pump up your tires and fill your backpack, panniers and Burleys with nonperishable food items. Meet at 11:00 am at the Mitchell Field parking lot near the trail to Gallup Park, 1900 Fuller Road. We’ll ride to Hope Food Bank in Ypsi via the B2B. I will be pulling a bike trailer, so bring extra food to fill up my trailer. For current needs at Hope Food Bank, go to www.thehopeclinicorg/givehope/wishlist.htm. Questions? 734-717-9583.
This blog post is from Commuter Challenge Ambassador E. Tidd.
