Maryland Avenue Cycle Track and Downtown Bicycle Network Project Update

In a meeting with Baltimore City Department of Transportation last week, Bikemore received an update on the 2.6 mile Maryland Ave Cycle Track. Current construction timelines estimate the project to begin construction in the Spring of 2016.

Here are some important milestones for the project we are watching to ensure the project does not experience any further delays.

• Toole Design is currently putting together the PSE (plans, specifics, and estimates).

• Baltimore Department of Transportation will advertise the project by 9/9.

• Timeline for advertising is four weeks.

• This means it will be mid November when the contract is awarded.

• Given construction schedules it is unlikely whichever company is awarded the contract will begin construction before winter.

• This means a Spring 2016 construction start.

• The project is estimated to take 90 days for construction.

Included in the contract is the work to implement the Downtown Bicycle Network. This will include conventional bike lanes on Preston and Biddle and protected cycle tracks on Centre, Monument and Madison.

Additionally Bikemore has been communicating with Baltimore City DOT our recommendations for creating better connection to the Maryland Ave cycle track. BCDOT is already at work to improve signaling at Maryland and 29th st, and listening to input to improve safety and wayfinding from all routes feeding into the cycle track.

And while we are all frustrated with the delays, BCDOT deserves credit for ensuring that the plans didn’t languish in State Highway Administration final review. This is a priority of ours and theirs, and we appreciate them doing all they can within a less than perfect system to get the cycle track installed.

Despite perceptions, construction of the Roland Ave cycle track did not contribute to the delay.

Our hope is that as more of these projects get underway, the more comfortable State Highway Administration gets in quickly approving plans and empowering BCDOT to build the connected bicycle network we deserve.

Recommended Improvement to Bike Master Plan

The proposed bicycle master plan update includes many ambitious and excellent proposals for improving safety and comfort for bicyclists in Baltimore, whether they ride for recreation or transportation. The proposed bicycle facility network, once fully constructed, would allow many thousands of Baltimore residents and visitors to be able to use bicycle-specific infrastructure to access their jobs, schools, grocery stores, favorite restaurants, and social activities by bicycle. The health, quality of life, and local economic benefits of a high quality bicycle transportation network are well documented, and the City should be commended for its plans to implement these measures.

However, recent events in our City underscore the fact that it is not simply the presence of a bicycle facility, but also the type of bicycle facility that really increase the safety and comfort of bicyclists. 

The Master Plan Update includes the possibility of standard bicycle lanes on "main routes," which are often identified to be located on arterial roadways, and shared lane markings, or sharrows for "minor routes." There may be some streets where these treatments are appropriate, but facility selection must be strategic and sensitive to the operating conditions of the street, in order to maximize the safety and comfort of all users.    

Bikemore's proposal is that facilities with some physical separation be the default preferred facility for streets with 85th percentile speeds above 25 miles per hour. This is the suggested threshold because it is an approximation of the speed beyond which crashes between automobiles and bicyclists or pedestrians become dramatically more likely to result in death or grievous injury. We propose using measured 85th percentile speeds as opposed to the speed on the speed limit sign because of the frequency with which drivers exceed the speed limit. 

Furthermore, sharrows are only an appropriate choice for local streets, and in conjunction with traffic calming and "bicycle boulevard" measures that keep 85th percentile speeds below 25 mph, or, ideally, closer to 20 mph. It may also be appropriate to use sharrows to connect short gaps between higher quality facilities. This position is consistent with NACTO Bikeway Design Guidelines and emerging research about the safety and functionality of different bicycle facility types. 

These recommendations will result in the selection of safer, more comfortable facilities, while also allowing for creative solutions in locations where space may be too constrained for a separated bicycle facility. 

For example: if the 85th percentile speed on a street is above 25 mph even though the signed speed is not, and a separated bicycle facility cannot be accommodated, we would find it an acceptable solution to install the standard lane or a paint-buffered lane in conjunction with bicycle friendly traffic calming measures. In severely space constrained locations, standard painted bike lanes may be acceptable in the absence of traffic calming measures for small lengths of narrower cross section on a street, if other factors such as adjacent parking, driveway conflicts, and door zones are taken into account. Where these compromises must be made, we recommend that Bikemore or other credible bicycle advocacy entities be consulted to help collaboratively develop the safest and most comfortable bicycle facility that is feasible in the space available.  

Bikemore and Bike Maryland Respond to State's Attorney Press Conference

Photo by Brian O'Doherty

On the behalf of citizens in Baltimore and across the state, Bikemore and Bike Maryland appreciate the efforts of the Baltimore Police Department and State’s Attorney’s office in pursuing justice for Tom Palermo and his family. The death of a bicyclist in a car collision is a terrible event, but preventable if all road users slowed down and committed their full attention to the operation what can be a deadly weapon when wielded incorrectly.

When drivers choose to drive distracted and impaired, they are completely disregarding the value of the people around them. They choose the cell phone call, the text message, or the time they didn't spend sobering up to be more valuable than the lives of the people they may kill or injure. This is a choice, and our society cannot tolerate it when they choose to drive impaired. Children buckled in the backseat, pedestrians crossing the crosswalk, and bicyclists using the bike lane are in peril when our community allows this to happen. We stand with the State’s Attorney’s office as they make a stand against distracted and negligent drivers.

We would like to remind everyone that when you hit-and-run you are choosing to deny that victim immediate care. Slow down; pay attention; and treat all vulnerable road users like you love them…because someone does.

MARC Adds Weekend Bicycle Car

Great news from the MTA! Now you can take a bike on the MARC train from Charm City all the way to our nation’s capital. Whether you want to see the historic sights, delve into some bipartisan gridlock, or catch a glimpse of first rate cycle tracks in Washington, D.C., the opportunity has now arrived for you and your bike to travel south together on one of MARC’s snazzy new Bike Cars.

While service is limited to weekends in this pilot phase, we see great things on the horizon for intercity multimodal active transportation (aka…Bikes!).

This was a collaboration of many folks, including the Maryland Transit Administration, Bike Maryland, WABA, and of course you - Bikemore’s dedicated members. We look forward to two wheeling it down in D.C., but we’re even more excited to showcase our beloved Baltimore to our cycling brethren from D.C., as now it will be easier for them to come see all that we have to offer by bike!

You can read more about it here from our friends at WABA (just short bike & train ride away):

http://www.waba.org/blog/2014/12/all-aboard-marc/

Bikemore will continue to work with MTA, Bike Maryland, and WABA to expand bicycle access to all MARC trains, as mandated by Maryland law. This is a great step toward a more connected region.

I-70 Trail Connection Success!

Saturday, October 18, 2014 will be remembered as a huge day for pedestrians and bicyclists in west Baltimore City & County. Dare we call it victory?  On that day, in front of 30 guests including Maryland state Delegates Shirley Nathan-Pulliam (candidate for Senate, MD 44) and Sandy Rosenberg (MD 41), Councilman Tom Quirk (County Dist. 1), and Pat Young (candidate for Delegate, MD 44B), Tom Hannan, Chief Program Engineer for the Baltimore Red Line, acknowledged that the Red Line’s plan for accommodating pedestrians and bicyclists did not meet the community’s demand and their own stated goal of a “direct connection between the station and the Gwynns Falls Trail.” Mr. Hannan conceded that sometimes, “we don’t get it right.” He further stated that through the persistence of the community and their refusal to take no for an answer, the Red Line has agreed to meet with the community, the State Highway Administration and other Maryland DOT officials to seriously consider the I-70 Trail Connector’s proposal to use the existing I-70 Security Blvd overpass bridge as the “direct connector” between the Red Line’s I-70 station on the west side of Security Blvd and the trail on the east side of Security Blvd.

The recommendation of the I-70 Trail Connectors includes several possibilities: keep a large section of the existing I-70 bridge over Security Boulevard and convert it to a hiking and biking bridge large enough to accommodate an elevated park or community commons over Security Boulevard; keep enough of the existing bridge for pedestrians and cyclists once the larger structure is torn down; or use existing bridge abutments for placement of a lightweight, pre-fabricated bridge specifically designed for pedestrians and cyclists. The beauty of the I-70 Trail Connector’s proposals are not simply that they provide a convenient and comfortable way to cross Security Boulevard, but that they offer the only safe way to cross this busy state road.

In addition to the elected officials, guests included Joy Goodie, Heide Grundmann, Greg Hinchliffe, and John MacDonald of the I-70 Trail Connectors. Chris Merriam, founder of Bikemore was there. Bikemore has recently brought citizen bike advocacy to Baltimore County and the I-70 Trail Connection is its first action in the County. Members of Catonsville Rails to Trails were there because they understand the importance of quality hiking and biking infrastructure and the significance of the bridge over Security Boulevard as part of the emerging, interconnected westside trail and bicycle network. Klaus Philipsen, urban planner and Red Line consulting architect rode his bike there from his home a few miles away. Parents brought children on bikes to support the efforts of the I-70 Trail Connectors and there was even a young mother with a child in a stroller who carried a sign that read, “I Don’t Want to Cross Security Boulevard in my Stroller.” Numerous residents of surrounding communities were also in attendance.

This is a story of community action, tenacity, and pushing engineers and planners to see a solution that is right there, before their eyes. As the I-70 Trail Connectors say about the safe, bridge crossing of Security Boulevard, “Its already there!” and the comment from many of those who visit the location, “It’s a no-brainer!”