If I hear this question one more time…
Why bike on 8th St.? To get somewhere. And, with the right people--it's fun.
Some form of the following question keeps resurfacing. Presented this way on Facebook: “Gary, when I advocate for the 8th St. bike route, I am asked why can’t the bikers not just use the TART Trail which is nearby. Can you provide a concise, persuasive answer to this question?“
That was Ron Jolly’s point last week and it is a common thread on Plan for TC and the Up North Live discussion developing.
There are 1001 reasons to make 8th Street a complete street. I can’t think of one, even as a car driver, why we wouldn’t.
Bike lanes are one important step to calming traffic and adding value to the city. This question is an attempt to simplify the discussion and feed into an “us vs. them” argument.
It’s a bigger issue than bike lanes (did I say that yet?). However, a question was asked…Here is an attempt at being concise and persuasive on why bicycle commuters use 8th Street:
- Direct route: The same reason cars use 8th St. as an uninhibited east-west corridor.
- Access: 8th Street is mixed-use. Bicyclist need safe infrastructure to access the homes & businesses located there. The residents and business owners want their visitors to arrive safely, conveniently and in a good mood. (This might be the main reason...people ride to get to places ON 8th Street!)
- Safety: As a vulnerable users it’s important to be visible and present across the city (made more safe with a bike lane).
- TART Trail is a recreational trail: Great for a casual ride, not so great to get somewhere. The bicycle is a transportation choice.
- TART is a multi-use trail: Bikes on TART have to navigate walkers, joggers, kids, pets and stop signs at every street crossing.
- Tourists $$$: The high number of tourists in town are increasingly coming here to be active. Our network of trails is not intuitive or direct. Making all of our streets safe and encouraging bicycle use will help keep tourist dollars in the city.
- Legal right: Cyclists have a legal right to the road. Motorist are granted a privilege.
- Winter Riding: TART, alleys and side streets are the last to be plowed. And TART not very well. The bicycle is a year-round option.
- Easy to do: Why not do it? It’s not a highway. It should be a given that a 25mph neighborhood street include improved Infrastructure for all modes of transportation.
- Money well spent: The return on investment for bike lanes (and pedestrian improvements) increases home values & thus tax revenue.
- Choices=encouragement: The model walkable/bikable cities use bike infrastructure that prioritize multiple types of users and intentions. Provide choices to the entire tax base, not just the car-centric. 8th St. is key to connectivity.
- Coffee Deliveries: Musical version “Do it for Dan”.
- ????
That’s the short list. This BLOG is the longer, ever-growing list. Use the reasons that best serve your needs. The real question is what is the purpose of the city and how do we improve the experience for everyone. According to 30 years of citizen input, as stated in our master plan, traffic calming and providing for pedestrians and bicyclists is a priority all over town. Including 8th Street.
The city has answered the above question, now they need to implement.
Has anyone gotten the answer down to three words?
What is the Twitter feed that sums it up?
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Gary, again on 8th Street and every other street IN TC; we as citizens can and should demand more for our quality of life than the adjacent townships do for their residents. TC has the chance to show why it is the shining light at the end of the tunnel of doom and gloom. So if we don’t watch it, we’ll look just like “Sagigarfield”. If the city won’t provide what the residents want, then give us one reason to pay our taxes to the city. Maybe if we all put our tax payments into an escrow account instead of the city coffer, we’d get their attention. I get the strong feeling a few city employees (many who do not reside in town) look down their noses and snub anyone who makes their job uncomfortable. They work for us, give us what we are politely asking for. They are clueless as to why we choose to live here. It’s all about choices and desires.
Word up, JRW…what is “Sagigarfield”?
I’m working on a piece about tax credits for those of us choosing to reduce our wear and tear on the infrastructure.
If we aren’t going to have equal representation of our values, I’m with you…let’s hit the city in the pocket book. There is an entire list of personal exemptions that I might take: push mower, compost, rain water catchment, rain gardens on my property, practice darksky night lighting, urban garden…there is a long list of things that reduce costs directly and indirectly to the city. Might just start deducting them at $100 for each.