BCDOT Revises Bike Lane Snow Removal Policy On Eve of Storm

The Snow Removal Policy conflicts with the existing Complete Streets Policy

After business hours this evening before a major snow event, BCDOT updated their policy on clearing snow from bike lanes, contradicting their own existing complete streets policy and putting the safety of people who ride bikes dead last.

In public meetings and in discussions with Bikemore prior to the issuance of this memo, BCDOT stated that standard snow removal equipment would be used to clear the Maryland Avenue cycle track at the same time the vehicular travel lanes would be cleared, and that specialty equipment was on call to remove snow in narrower protected facilities like Roland Avenue and the Jones Falls Trail. BCDOT's previous commitment was to have all protected bicycle facilities cleared within 24 hours of final snow fall. 

The new policy gives BCDOT broad leeway, stating that protected lanes may not be cleared for up to 48 hours after the last vehicular travel lane in the city is plowed.

Sidewalks, bike facilities, and bus stops on major roads should be cleared ahead of lower traffic roads. Making transit and bike travel safe and accessible can cut down on dangerous car travel while maintaining access to jobs and critical healthcare for those who do not have access to a car. 

Many other cities prioritize snow removal on sidewalks, bus stops, and in bicycle and transit lanes because they recognize safety of vulnerable road users must come before convenience of private automobile use. 

Toronto begins multiple round mechanical sidewalk clearing in high volume pedestrian areas after 3 inches of snow has fallen. The city commits to complete plowing of all priority bike lanes and cycle tacks on arterial roads within 6-8 hours, and full snow removal to bare pavement within 48-72 hours. 

This last minute policy change is yet another example of BCDOT's Director prioritizing the movement of cars over the safety and movement of people. It's why we launched our #DirectDOT campaign to call for new leadership, and why we're working hard to pass a progressive Complete Streets Ordinance.

Repeal the Farebox Recovery Mandate!

As transportation advocates, it is sometimes necessary to zoom out on an issue and look to understand why Baltimore City has not seen the level of transportation investment of our peer cities. 

Repealing the fare box recovery mandate is the first wall people who care about progressive transportation reform must knock down in order to further the debate on how and where we make investments in public transport. 

So whether you ride a bike or take a bus, we urge you to contact your lawmakers and tell them to support HB0271, which will repeal MTA's farebox recovery mandate.

Tell your legislators to vote YES on repealing the farebox recovery mandate:

More On Repealing the Farebox Recovery Mandate

The farebox recovery mandate is a state rule that says 35% of the total operating costs for MTA's Baltimore area services must be recovered from fares and other revenues. This mandate only applies to MTA's services in Baltimore, not other jurisdictions. This mandate on public transport service in the Baltimore area is just one of three aggressive mandates nationwide, and it is the highest mandate in the country. 

The MTA has never met the farebox recovery mandate. But since they're legally mandated to try, they have had to focus on cost cutting instead of service improvements that could bring additional revenue and ridership. This forces MTA to be regressive, it stifles ingenuity in route planning and service delivery, and it prevents forward thinking conversations around public transport from occurring. 

If we want to advance the dialogue in our city and state around progressive transportation funding and safe, reliable access for all road users, we have to start by addressing this major barrier. 

Thank you to Delegate Brooke Lierman for introducing HB0271. Co-sponsors include Delegates Anderson, Barron, Beidle, Branch, Clippinger, Ebersole, Glenn, Hayes, Hettleman, Korman, Lafferty, R. Lewis, McCray, Oaks, Robinson, and M. Washington. 

Other advocates for this bill include: Get Maryland Moving, the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition, the Baltimore Community Foundation, and the Baltimore Sun Editorial Board. 

Our Next Campaign: Complete Streets

Separated bike lanes on Guadalupe Street in Austin, TX. Photo courtesy of the Plantizen, City of Austin.

In Bikemore’s short history we’ve managed to deliver tangible wins for people who bike. But the bike has always been a tool to tell a bigger story, to do bigger work. We value principles, standards, and policies that make cities healthy, safe, vibrant places to live. The time has come for us to be bolder in our advocacy and think beyond a single bike lane or a crosswalk. We must seek comprehensive policy reform for how we design our streets.

Today we launch our campaign for an improved Complete Streets Policy for Baltimore. Partnering with lead sponsor Councilman Ryan Dorsey, we are building a coalition of diverse stakeholders who believe all neighborhoods deserve streets that prioritize the safety of people over the movement of cars. Complete Streets save lives by preventing chronic diseases, reducing injury and death from traffic crashes, and improving environmental health — while stimulating economic development and ensuring access for all people.

This legislation builds on an existing resolution established in 2010. The previous bill lacked specificity and contained significant loopholes that resulted in little forward progress since its enactment. Millions of dollars were spent on road improvement projects that did little to improve the safety of people who walk and bike. Our new policy does two key things: It creates a framework to distribute resources for Complete Streets through a lens of racial equity, and creates a policy that requires that design solutions consider all modes of travel — not just driving in a car. This means more bike lanes, better sidewalks, safer intersections, cleaner bus stops and more street trees.

How can you help?

Sign on to support our Complete Streets legislation and read our policy brief. This is the best way to get advocacy alerts related to Complete Streets. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for requests for testimony and prompts to encourage your representatives to support this ordinance.

And lastly, consider a donation to Bikemore. Your financial support will determine the scale of our campaign. Complete Streets are better for everyone, regardless of if you choose to walk, bike, take the bus or drive a car. Let’s make sure we have the resources to build widespread support for this common sense legislation.

North Avenue Rising: Let's Make it Better!

Baltimore Plans to Improve West North Avenue

This post has been updated to reflect additional information received by Bikemore after publishing.

Earlier this week, Senator Mikulski’s office announced Baltimore’s receipt of a $10,000,000 TIGER Grant for roadway improvements to North Avenue.

The project application, entitled “North Avenue Rising,” was submitted by the Baltimore City Department of Transportation and Maryland Department of Transportation including the Maryland Transit Administration. 

The $10 million in federal funding is being matched by $14.7 million of state funding, $1.6 million in already-committed FHWA funding, and $1 million of Baltimore City funding.

The bulk of the $27.3 million project, $8.9 million, will focus on sidewalk and crosswalk improvements. Investments in transit infrastructure including bus stop shelters, transit signal priority at intersections, investments in the Penn/North Metro Station, and dedicated lanes amount to about $7.5 million. Funding for bicycle infrastructure makes up less than $1 million.

Current Plans Have Flaws

While early in design, the project as currently scoped has major shortcomings. Dedicated bus lanes stop and start through parts of the project, because Baltimore City Department of Transportation does not want to fully prioritize bus service over private automobiles along the corridor. There are bike share stations planned for key intersections, but there are no dedicated bicycle facilities planned for North Avenue in the project. While the dedicated bus lanes will be signed as shared with bikes, other infrastructure is relegated to stretches of parallel facilities that are sometimes several blocks away.

This contradicts the 2015 bicycle master plan, which calls for North Avenue to be a “main route” for bicycles, requiring dedicated, protected bike lanes. It also contradicts a multi-year collaborative community design process undertaken by the Neighborhood Design Center, which culminated in 2015. That plan also calls for protected bicycle facilities along much of West North Avenue.

These improvements alongside dedicated transit lanes would further reduce personal vehicle travel lanes or parking, and Baltimore City Department of Transportation was unwilling at the time of project submission to sacrifice convenience of personal automobile users to accomodate safe, protected lanes for people who bike alongside fully-dedicated transit lanes throughout the corridor.

Through Advocacy, We Can Fix the Flaws

Luckily, it is not too late to improve the North Avenue Rising plan. North Avenue has significant right-of-way, and advocacy for expanded funding of this project and true prioritization of transit and bicycles as required by our complete streets policy, and as outlined in our master plans, could allow for fully-dedicated bus lanes along the corridor adjacent to dedicated bicycle facilities. 

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An offset bus lane street (NACTO)

Additional personal vehicle lane reduction or reduction of some parking along North Avenue would allow for design of an Offset Bus Lane Street with dedicated, parking or flex-post protected bicycle lanes. This treatment is endorsed by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), of which Baltimore is a founding member.

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A median rapid transit corridor (NACTO)

Additional personal vehicle lane reduction or reduction of some parking along with additional funding would allow for a true dedicated Median Rapid Transit Corridor for the widest portions of North Avenue. This treatment would include protected bicycle facilities and a curb-separated right-of-way for transit operations, improving bus speed and reliability while allowing for a future upgrade to rail transit on the North Avenue corridor.

Additional funding should should be leveraged by this grant award to make it a truly great project for Baltimore. The TIGER grant money should not be used for routine resurfacing, instead it should be used to bolster this project's innovation in biking, walking, and transit design. Governor Hogan can pay for the overdue resurfacing of a state marked highway, like he is doing in every other county in Maryland.

Bikemore wants to see North Avenue rising.

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>33% of households are zero car in pink areas. >66% of households are zero car in red areas.

Neighborhoods along the project corridor have some of the highest rates of households that lack access to a car in Baltimore City. Dedicated transit lanes will make buses faster, more convenient, and more on-time on this critical transportation corridor. Protected bike lanes will allow people to safely use bike share while calming traffic and making the street safer for people who walk. There is no reason to prioritize personal automobile throughput over the safety and convenience of neighbors and people who walk, bike, and take transit on this corridor.

Agencies involved in this project are open to our recommendations, and we look forward to working with them to advance a vision for North Avenue that truly promotes biking, walking, and taking transit. But more advocacy around complete streets is clearly needed, because a project that does not completely consider and include all modes should not be constructed, and we should not accept a political climate unwilling to include adequate design for biking in project submission.

This is a great opportunity to make one of the only wide roads in Baltimore functional for all users, and a mistake in infrastructure here will have to be endured for years to come. We must get to a place where our city prioritizes people over personal cars by default, not as an afterthought.

As this project continues to develop, we will notify you of ways to get involved and ensure we get the best possible design for people who bike, walk, and ride transit. 

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.