MyWHaT

No news coverage of the 8th Street issue as there is little news to cover. It’s moving forward.

The Chatter:

The City will vote to hire the firm URS to prepare the engineering & design behind Your Bay, Your Say. The decision was in large part based on the walkability expertise they bring to the table.

• Exploring Boardman Lake Trail
  
• Dan Burden audits the Walkable U.P.
• TVC to Denver from MI’s 4th largest airport
• Go Utah! Yield at stops for bikes
• If only Obama did say this…
  
• U.S. Driving more,  yet
• FHWA sees increased active transportation
• While Toyota Sucks fumes (testimonial)
• The Hummer dies, so now what?
  
• Can you see yourself in one of these?
• Or, do you go straight to the jet pack…
• motor vehicles -greatest contributor to climate crisis
• Streetfilms: Fixing the that Great Mistake
• Some ask: Raise My Taxes, Please! (& provide choices)
  
• Sustainable Communities, finally a cross-dept. priority for Feds
  
• Even the Federal Transit Administration is talking livability

To wrap up, as Traverse City aims to connect to the bay using the Your Bay Your Say (PDF) St. Louis is joining other smaller and larger cities in reclaiming their most valuable real estate. There it is about Reconnecting the City to the River where City to River aims to demolish I-70 that runs through downtown. The group announces on their Web site:“In 1964 the front door of St. Louis was closed. It is time we reopen it.“

Traverse City is not the only place where ‘place’ reclaiming is taking place.

P.S. Some interesting job opportunities:

• National Environment America’s Transportation Advocate
• Michigan Complete Streets Project Coordinator (via health dept.)
• In Traverse City, Executive Director at TART Trails

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UPDATE: 9:05AM, Clarifications

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Yesterday, the city met with MDOT executive director Kirk Steudle in Lansing. There isn’t much detail to report, but based on comments by MDOT’s North Region manager Rise Rasch to the TC Transportation Elements Committee last night, options for an improved 8th Street between Barlow and Garfield are still on the table for 2010.

That’s the good news.

The bad news: the process is now in a bureaucratic maze & the public won’t know if there is positive movement for at least 2 weeks.In that time, the city’s role will be to provide a list of specific improvements sought. They should already have a robust list from public comments and the TART conceptual design.

The minimum boils down to bike lanes without road widening & pedestrian cross walk improvements–both of which can be done with paint and a change of priorities.

It’s a positive that MDOT understands the process failed and is willing to work with the city. Their role will be to facilitate conversations with the local Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) office who is the final arbitrator regarding the stimulus money and the  contract.

Is all of this necessary? Probably not. It was never going to be pretty. At the same time, the commission and staff of Traverse City are both admitting that the process failed. That has a created a window of opportunity for public input that may have lasting impact–they want positive public participation.

Without taking our eyes off of the short term issue of 8th Street, the neighborhoods need to be more vigilante in expressing what we want and then following through by guiding the commission and staff. The challenge is to make it as fun as possible.

This coming week is a good time to remind the city that we are expecting an answer on 8th Street and that we are also available to help make it happen. We also need to make clear that we remain active in helping to shift the priorities of the city from a car-centric approach to a model that elevates pedestrians and bike commuters as the priority.

The city is spending a lot of its budget on street improvements, they need to be creating a better place when they do it.

NOTE: Thanks to Fred Schaafsma from Cherry Capital Cycling Club for the rat busting through the maze. It’s a reminder to not get bogged down by all the rules and regulations. And, as Fred put it, “Never, Ever Give Up!  Remember, the difference between success and failure is that failure gives up when success is in sight.“

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Carrying on with this week’s theme pointing out the lack of city priorities concerning pedestrians, here are images by year-round daily bicycle driver John Robert Williams taken and sent in yesterday morning. This is located in the southwest corner of the Holiday Inn parking lot. John lays out the scene as, “The plow driver blocks the city sidewalk, the sidewalk has foot prints, but no tracks from cars in the lot.”

"wheelchair tracks on the trail next to salt cleared Parkway. Stop spreading salt, save the bay and spend it on sidewalks."JR Williams

This is just bad form. Who is on top of this?

Whoever they are, we can help remind them.

Mentioned this morning was the Michigan Complete Streets Flickr group. A resource for providing the visuals of poor design across the state. Images from that site have been used in presentations to state representatives to support complete street legislation.

There is also another valuable tool: SeeClickFix. The idea is to upload images of problem areas that can be monitored by public service departments. You can actually set it up to automatically send links to images posted to the proper department heads. And, if they are on their game, can include the tool as a widget on government Web sites.

The potential of this is promising. The first image from Traverse City was posted yesterday.

Anyone can take advantage of these tools.

It’s a practice of seeing the issues and creating some images. Add them yourself, or MyWHaT is open to collecting your images and adding them to both the Flickr Group and SeeClickFix sites.

Happy shooting!

What obvious issue do you see on a regular basis? Have an image?

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One of the many head scratchers at the Michigan Complete Streets Flickr Group.

UPDATE: The image at right is looking into a school parking lot!

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The goals of this BLOG are wide and diverse. It’s focused on increasing transportation choices and intentional use of public space–designing ‘places’ (including roads)  based on our values & improving quality of life.

To have an impact, collaboration with trailblazing organizations (many are listed in the sidebar) is crucial.

This is a statewide & national movement. People everywhere want communities built at the human scale.

It’s with this in mind that MyWHaT is excited to become a community partner with Michigan Complete Streets. Northern Michigan is not alone in trying to get transportation planners and engineers to “consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind,” as MI Complete Streets calls for on its about page,

A statewide hub will be increasingly valuable. MI Complete Streets is actively working on the legislative side to support bills like House Concurrent Resolution 34 that connects complete streets to health.

Their Web site currently provides current news and action alerts, a resource page with a complete streets vocabulary page & additional resources like the Michigan Complete Streets Flickr Group. The image and video resource was established “to share photos and videos of Michigan roadways in need of Complete Streets“. MyWHaT has already been adding images to compliment the mostly downstate contributions…I can’t wait until the snow melts. If you have images to add, but don’t want to join, feel free to send images to MyWHaT and we can load them for you.

If you are affiliated with an organization advocating for complete streets,  Michigan Complete Streets is looking for additional community partners.

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No time for a full post today, but a quick reminder.

Mayor Chris Bzdok will join Senator Jason Allen and Representative Wayne Schmidt in a meeting with the MDOT director tomorrow. The agenda is the 2010 8th Street options for a ‘change order’.

The basic questions to be asked are:

• What are the MDOT requirements for the final function and look of the street?
  
• What changes can we make within that framework?

The longer we look at this, the more it seems like such a small ask. Everything is lined up for MDOT to play a positive role: the contractor, KAL Excavating, has been more than willing to proceed within a reasonable change order and time-frame, the city commission is willing to put some money behind a second engineering design–$5000-$10,000 (?) and the tremendous public support has focused the urgency.

MyWHaT trusts that a solution that includes bicycle and pedestrian improvements on 8th St project is within reach. Both Allen and Schmidt live two blocks from 8th Street and understand the economic component. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for their offices to hear from their Traverse City neighbors to let them know we appreciate their effort and support their position.

CALL or EMAIL TODAY

• wayneschmidt@house.mi.gov • (517) 373-1766 • Web site
• senjallen@senate.michigan.gov • (517) 373-2413 • Web site

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Pine Street downtown Traverse City, Dec. 2009 (Photo: Bill Palladino)

Bill Palladino sent me this image in response to an earlier post about Walking in the Road. It says it all…

This reaffirms the reminder from one of Monday’s comments  by David Krumlauf: “You also need to think about the disabled folks in wheel chairs, crutches and walkers. What a nightmare for them!“

Point taken. Completely agree.

Are we prioritizing transportation for everyone? Is universal access to mobility our goal?

NOTE: If you have an image, video or just a story about street, sidewalk, pathway or public space in Northern Michigan, please post it or send it in to MyWHaT for posting.

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Feb. 8th Study session was a packed house with a diverse crowd. (Screen grab from UpNorthMedia)

On February 8th, 150 people went to a Traverse City Study Session to weigh in on a 2-Block section of 8th Street. 33  people spoke at the study session. Prior to that, the city received around 300 emails.

The comments were diverse, articulate and supportive. They were delivered by neighbors speaking to neighbors. Yes, some were ‘bike advocates’, but many spoke as homeowners, walkers, automobile drivers, active city volunteers…

The breadth of the discussion is worth revisiting.

Many comments challenged the working premise of commissioners and others that the streets are for motorized vehicles. This isn’t legally true and it isn’t the value of the residents of Traverse City. The Master Plan represents at the least 30 years of public input repeatedly asking that all streets be treated as places and not just as conduits for cars–too many people have given too many hours with the sole intention of building a better community for implementation to be thwarted by technicalities.

We want Complete Streets.

It’s the cultural, economic, philosophical model of the next 100 years.

• The status quo of meeting the minimum requirements of a project’s process and scope needs to end.
• The poor communication skills of the city need to end (they can begin by embracing effective use of technology and recognizing the urgency of 300 emails).
• The cycle of city officials and staff hearing only from curmudgeons who say ‘no’ to everything needs to end.
• More people need to articulate and advance what they are ‘for’ and where they want it to happen.

We need a YIMBYs for livable streets movement! (More on this ‘Yes, in my back yard’ movement soon.)

On 8th Street, it includes bike lanes. It also includes enhanced pedestrian crossings. Bus stops. Street furniture and green spaces.  For some, it even includes advanced natural storm water infiltration–intelligent pathways for water.

It includes engineering a street that forces cars to go the 25mph speed limit (or less). Giving cars valuable public space with wider lanes and throwing up a standard 25 MPH sign doesn’t achieve this–It encourages the opposite.

What are you for and where do you want it?

Bonus  Round: In reaction to many comments seen on discussion boards.

• The additional cost for Complete Street amenities is inexpensive when prioritized from the beginning.
• The TART Trail is not a substitution for a bike lane. It’s for mixed recreational use.
• 8th St. is a destination in itself. Get everyone there!
• Sidewalks are statistically more dangerous for bike riders-speeds of 12-25mph do not mix with pedestrians.
• Motorized vehicles going 25mph don’t pose additional risk to bicycle commuters. We can engineer slower speeds.
• Complete Street additions improve universal mobility…not everyone owns or uses a car.
• All of our taxes subsidize the streets. Driving a car contributes about 3-cents a mile to its use in gas-tax (nothing).
• Not many are arguing that the city give-up the grant money and cancel the contract with Kal Excavating. The project hasn’t started, so there is time for a change of order.
• Yet, the urgency is due to the fact that well designed ‘retrofit’ is unlikely within 10 years.
• There are untapped tourism dollars for Traverse City to be billed as an active city.
• And there are 5000 other reasons why 2010 is the year to start the 8th Street rethink and design.

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(NOTE: I was invited on the Vic McCarty show today at 11:10 to discuss the ongoing 8th St. issue. AM1270 or Streeming Online. The city will meet with MDOT on Thursday.)

He’s not a cartoon, but he is cartoonish. Here’s Pee-Wee Herman demonstrating the art of experiment and failure. And how to spin it.

Pee-Wee Herman was mentioned a few times at the Traverse City Comedy Festival over the weekend. Is there a comeback? If you want more Pee-Wee biking stimulus, here is Pee-Wee riding to “Bicycle Race” by Queen.

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(Two images looking north down Wellington St. in Traverse City: Gary L Howe Feb.19)

You have 5 minutes to get to a meeting, where do you walk?

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Street reclaiming: walking is a fundamental right

We spend thousands annually to keep the streets almost perfectly clear in the winter. We do this for the privilege of having a network of streets that we have dedicated to automobile use. Due to circumstance and priorities, a cleared neighborhood street vs. an uneven, slippery and inconsistent sidewalk (see above) is the unfortunate norm in Traverse City.

If walking is a viable transportation choice for you and you need to get somewhere conveniently and in a timely manner–hop on the fast track…

Walk in the road, get somewhere.

Safety is a concern, but be polite, be visible, be confident-it’s the motorist that by law must yield (meaning: slowing down and passing at a safe distance). US-DOT even suggest that you do it (albeit, they assume that sidewalks are usually cleared–sorry, not really).

Mini-poll:

When walking in the winter, are you comfortable walking in the street or do you stay strictly to the sidewalks?

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In a  2008 New Yorker story titled “Dymaxion Man: The visions of Buckminster Fuller“, you can find this gem of a quote that captures the crux of Intentional Design:

“I made up my mind . . . that I would never try to reform man—that’s much too difficult. What I would do was to try to modify the environment in such a way as to get man moving in preferred directions.“ – Buckminster Fuller

As this article points out, Fuller’s ideas & life had little concern for the way things have always been done.

Let’s not let legacies of the past get in our way.

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