I agree with George. We need to focus exclusively on creating bike routes
through the flats for people who live/work downtown. I don't care how people
choose to get into town - that's their problem. Commuting up/down the hills
is just not going to happen - ever. I bicycle commute every day from Fall
Creek to the west end. I'm pretty brave on a bike and I can totally see why
the average person would never bike downtown in the current situation. My
observations are:
1. The roads are narrow with lots of on-street parking (doors swinging
into your path are extremely dangerous).
2. Like George, I rarely see another commuter - perhaps a couple times a
week. I do see other cyclists but these are typically kids on sidewalks or
darting out across traffic. Although I frequently use the sidewalks myself
near fulton as it is much easier and allows me to get to work faster than if
I drove (as I pass by all those single occupant cars waiting at the lights).
3. I rarely see pedestrians either. I'd be curious to know how many
millions of dollars are spent on sidewalks that are rarely used - at least
roads are heavily used.
4. I find it very easy to navigate north/south on any street downtown at
any time of day. I own those roads!
5. East/West is another story. Each street has pluses and minuses.
1. State street is really narrow and parking on both sides is normally
pretty heavy. Traffic is very slow with frequent traffic lights and I can
easily stay in the middle of the lane and keep up (no need for a
bike lane).
State street businesses absolutely need those on-street parking spaces to
survive (Gimme, Mama Goose, Bishops, etc.). Let's not be too dramatic and
think state street could ever have a bike lane - that's just plain stupid
and as George pointed out 0.25% has little sway so don't even bother
fighting that one. It's bad enough that the commons is closed to traffic,
stretching that out further makes no sense.
2. Green street is actually a great route despite the faster traffic.
There are no stops until Cauyga and the street is pretty wide. There is
on-street parking but it is never very heavy because most properties are
commercial along this street with their own off street parking.
Residential
also have their own off street parking. Personally, I think this
is the best
candidate for a dedicated bike lane heading east. Removing
on-street parking
along the north side would have few if any complaints (Time Warner, Fire
Station, Ithaca Journal, DP Dough, etc.). These people have their own
parking lots and should not care too much if a couple dozen
on-street spaces
are removed.
3. Seneca on the other hand has a lot of properties that probably
depend on the on-street parking. I don't think you could remove parking
continuously from either side of this street without a lot of
controversy.
4. Buffalo and Court always seem to be crazy at commuting times - I
avoid these as much as possible. Way too many stop signs and
every stop sign
or traffic light is a potential bike-vehicle conflict. I much prefer a
straight shot.
5. Cascadilla is the best all around route. There is one stop sign at
Geneva and it's wide open with lots of visibility. Very little traffic on
this street and I can zip across town very quickly. I will go
out of my way
on either end of town just to take this route. Would love to see
a sharrow
on this street (not a dedicated bike lane). Once I get to Fulton
I take the
west sidewalk. I feel bad about being a cyclist on the sidewalk
but until we
have more cyclists and more signage I feel a lot safer and it's a lot
quicker.
6. Another thing to consider is bike routes should not have traffic
lights. The stupidest feeling I have ever experienced on a bike is when I'm
stopped at a red light with nobody in sight and a cat sleeping in the
road. This is bad enough when you're in a car but I'm not a threat to anyone
in this situation, I'm not in any danger of being hit by anyone yet the law
says I have to stand there for 30 seconds or more feeling like an idiot. And
then a kid comes up on his bmx and liesurely rides kitty-corner through the
intersection. In general we need to get rid of a lot of traffic lights.
Noah
h 607.273.3029
c 607.262.0305
405 E. Marshall Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
www.deviron.com
On Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 8:41 AM, George Frantz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Tony Del Plato wrote:
>
> I've been a commuter cyclist for over 50 years, both here and in NYC, and
> frankly, as much as bike lanes would be nice, we simply need to take to the
> road and be present and very visible.
>
> **************
> Tony,
>
> I agree wholeheartedly. It is a rare day when I see another bicycle
> commuter on my daily commute between West Hill and downtown and back, even
> now when the fair weather bikers have taken to commuting by bike.
>
> Yesterday morning however I did pass some 60 cars in the 3-4 minutes it
> took for me to get from my house down to the corner of Buffalo and
> Taughannock. (By the way 7 out of 8 of those cars, Priuses
> included, contained a single occupant.) Generally on my commutes I share
> the road with myself and about 400 cars and trucks. In other words I
> represent about one-quarter of one percent of the morning commuter traffic
> traveling to work via Cliff Street.
>
> If I don't see any evidence of substantive, sustained reliance on bicycle
> as a means of transportation on my daily commutes then I'm sure Common
> Council, Board of Public Works and planning and development Board members
> certainly can't see it from behind their steering wheels.
>
> One thing that has not changed in my 25 years in the public planning realm
> is that politicians may speak otherwise, but when it comes down to a vote
> they do not respond to logic or the interest of the environment and
> the public health and welfare. They respond to constituencies and the money
> behind them. That is a strue here in Enlighten City USA as anywhere else.
>
> Frankly, there is no real constituency for serious bicylcle transportation
> infrastructure here in Ithaca. We are a fringe elment and treated as such.
> That's why hundreds of thaousands of dollars are being sunk into
> recreational trail blackholes such as the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and the
> Bridge to Nowhere linking two segments of a future Trail to Nowhere at the
> south end of town, at the expense of real improvements to bicycle
> transportation infrastructure.
>
> That's why a decade after the Town of Ithaca adopted a plan for a 28-mile
> network of bicycle and pedestrain paths a mere .75 mile segment has been
> built and some three miles of potential future bike/ped paths won't happen
> because the Town Board and Planning have ignored the plan and let developers
> pave over the mapped routes.
>
> That's why in 2005 the Town of Dryden Town Board cut out about ten miles of
> proposed bicycle and pedestrian paths from their new comprehensive plan.
> Because nobody spoke up for the bicycle pedestrain transportation component,
> but senough people got organized to mount an opposition, it got cut.
>
> The fact is that here in Ithaca, as is the case through the US, the bicyle
> is viewed as nothing more than a recreational toy, simply because that is
> how 99 percent of bike owners use their bikes. No amount of Bike to Work
> days or Cyclovias to the Farmers Market are going to change that
> perception..
>
> The only thing that would are hundreds of bicycle commuters on the streets
> of Ithaca, on a daily basis, rain, shine or snow. It can happen, and has
> happened in places like Toronto, Seattle and Vancouver, but those are three
> very compact cities where distances between home and work are short enough
> to make biking competitive with the automobile
>
> That environment does not exist in Ithaca. Given
> the deeply ingrained sprawl mentality here, as exhibited in the negative
> reponses to my arguments for a more compact Ithaca, it doesn't have nmuch
> chance of happening here, either.
>
> But I'm still not giving up hope.
>
> Stupidly tenacious.
>
> George Frantz
>
> --- On Wed, 6/18/08, Tony Del Plato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> From: Tony Del Plato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Cyclovia and beyond
> To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" <
> [email protected]>
> Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 1:48 PM
>
> Re: Critical Mass rides here in Ithaca, they used to take place on a
> regular
> basis (last or first Fridays of month?). However I stopped participating a
> few years ago when a number of riders began blocking traffic on Fulton St
> causing some angry reactions from drivers. I thought this was both
> unnecessary and dangerous as well as putting riders a risk from drivers who
> "lost it" and did dangerous things like drive on the sidewalk by
> Agway to
> get around us. Now rides seem to occur irregularly.
> I've been a commuter cyclist for over 50 years, both here and in NYC, and
> frankly, as much as bike lanes would be nice, we simply need to take to the
> road and be present and very visible.
> Tony Del Plato
>
> On 6/18/08, Kent Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > Hello -
> >
> > The idea of closing streets to motor vehicle traffic to facilitate
> > bicycling has been mentioned to the City's Engineering Office and has
> been
> > thoughtfully considered by that office. This is a possibility.
> >
> > However, consider that the current Cyclovia event occurs on Saturday
> > mornings for a short period of time when there is relatively little motor
> > vehicle traffic and that to close the roads the City would need to notify
> > residents and post barricades at all of the cross streets during the
> event.
> > Also, the route would not be totally car-free since residents would still
> be
> > traveling to/from their homes.
> >
> > In the end it comes largely down to the points that though a benefit
> would
> > be provided to those bicyclists on the (mostly) car-free route, there
> would
> > be significant costs incurred by the City. Also, participants would still
> > need to ride on regular streets to get to the event and when arriving at
> the
> > Farmers Market. That's not to say that it can't be done though ...
> >
> > If anyone is really interested in pursuing this idea, please contact the
> > Engineering Office at 274-6528 - or just stop by (2nd floor in City
> Hall)..
> >
> > Furthermore, after participating in last weekend's Cyclovia event, I
> was
> > pleased to see how well motorists behaved when passing us, and how well
> the
> > other participants (especially the young children) behaved when cycling
> in
> > traffic. Even if some areas are free of motor vehicles, bicyclists still
> > need to learn to cycle safely and effectively on regular streets – the
> > Cyclovia is a great opportunity to do just that.
> >
> > Take care,
> > Kent
> >
> >
> > Kent Johnson
> > Transportation Engineering Technician
> > Office of the City Engineer
> > City of Ithaca
> > 108 E. Green St.
> > Ithaca, New York 14850
> > (607) 274-6528, (607) 327-0316 (cell)
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Wed, 6/18/08, Thomas Shelley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > From: Thomas Shelley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Cyclovia and beyond
> > To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" <
> > [email protected]>
> > Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 6:45 AM
> >
> > Hi, Andy. As a member of the Mayor's Local Action Plan Committee (to
> > reduce greenhouse gas emissions for City operations and the City of
> Ithaca
> > in general) I have officially proposed that such a Cyclovia program be
> > introduced by the City, with the appropriate street closures, etc.
> > I have no idea what will come of it, but at least the idea is on the
> > table. Tom
> >
> > ******************************************
> > Tom Shelley
> > 118 E. Court St.
> > Ithaca, NY 14850
> > 607 342-0864
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > Compost Educator and General Sustainability Geek
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area,
> > please
> > visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
> >
> > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for:
> > [email protected]
> > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins
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> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area,
> > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
> >
> > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for:
> > [email protected]
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>
>
>
> --
>
> "Justice is what love looks like in public."
> ~ Dr. Cornel West
> _______________________________________________
> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area,
> please
> visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
>
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> _______________________________________________
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> please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
>
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