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News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

St. Louis-area bicycle projects

Two St. Louis-area bicycle project made the news this week.

First, the dedication of the rebuilt McKinley Bridge is slated for Nov. 17, the Belleville News-Democrat reported today. The 92-year-old bridge -- which links the city of St. Louis with Venice, Ill. -- was originally built for railroad traffic, and two lanes were automobiles were built on the outside of the original bridge in the 1930s. Railroad traffic stopped on the bridge in the 1980s, and the bridge was closed in 2001 because of unsafe conditions.

When the bridge reopens, the two inner lanes of the bridge will be used for automobile traffic, the 12-foot south outer lane will be used for a bicycle-pedestrian path, and the 12-foot north outer lane will be used for maintenance purposes.

In a related project, the Great Rivers Greenway District wants to turn a mile-long former Illinois Traction System trestle into a bicycle-pedestrian trail that would connect city streets near Cass and North Florissant avenues in St. Louis by an overhead ride to the Riverfront Bike Trail, near the McKinley Bridge. The Greenway District didn't have a price tag for the project but would like to begin construction within five years, the Post-Dispatch reported.

The Illinois Traction System, later known as the Illinois Terminal Railroad, once carried rail passengers from St. Louis into Illinois cites such as Granite City, Edwardsville, Alton, Grafton, Springfield, Peoria, Decatur, Champaign-Urbana and Danville. The McKinley Bridge was part of that system.

Much of the current Madison County Transit trail system is on former ITS rights of way, as is some of the Vadalabene Great River Road Bikeway between Alton and Grafton.

In Macoupin County, Ill., a short trail linking the communities of Benld and Gillespie is on a former ITS right of way, and the ITS Trail Committee is trying to obtain the right of way for a trail to link Staunton and Benld. The seven-mile Interurban Trail between Springfield and Chatham also is on a former ITS right of way.

The long-term goal is to develop a system of trails that will link St. Louis and Springfield.

Labels: Illinois, McKinley Bridge, MCT Trails, St. Louis

Roger 2 comments 11:29 AM

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Productive visit to ARTEAST

On Sunday, I paid my annual visit to the Edwardsville portion of the ARTEAST Edwardsville-Alton Studio Tour. While walking through one of the exhibits, I happened to come across some cycling photographs.

The photographer happened to be sitting in the hallway. He was pretty easy to pick out: He was wearing a LiveStrong cap and bracelet.

I struck up a conversation with the photographer, David Sill. He's a professor of theater at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. "I've been a cyclist since I was a little kid and started shooting races when I heard about the Tour de Georgia and that Lance was going to be there. I've been shooting races ever since," David said.

At ARTEAST, he showed a batch of photographs he took at the Tour of Missouri and Tour of Georgia.

David decided to share with me a couple of photographs that he didn't show at ARTEAST, and now I share them with you. The first photograph is of Discovery Channel rider Yaroslav Popovych, and the second is an artistic blurred shot:

Labels: photography, Tour of Missouri

Roger 0 comments 2:10 PM

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Burning out on cycling?

Yes, I know it's been a week and a half since I've posted anything here.

Part of the reason is because I've been busy trying to solidify plans for the 2008 Tour de Stooges. I haven't made a public announcement about the ride -- until now -- that the ride will not be at McKendree University in Lebanon, although I've left subtle hints on the ride's Web site. We are leaving McKendree because the ride and the university have outgrown each other.

I was disappointed about it because we had a really good arrangement at McKendree, but the fact of the matter is that the university is adding more programs that is making it difficult for McKendree to handle us.

We are hoping to finalize an agreement for the new home shortly. I can't reveal the location yet, other than to say that it is in a community on the route that we've used the past 10 years.

The work on Tour de Stooges, combined with the work I do on this Web site, the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society and other cycling-related endeavors, have left me drained this year. The lack of recent post also is a symptom of the burnout I'm feeling.

I am glad the 2007 cycling season is almost over here in the Midwest.

The good news is that I think the burnout is temporary. In 2008, I really need to scale back the amount of work I do with planning rides and increase the amount of time I spend on the bike. Once I actually get on the bike, I still get a lot of satisfaction from it.

The problem, however, is getting on the bike.

I'm hoping that a fall and winter concentration on walking and hiking, combined with scaling back some of the planning activities, will refresh my outlook on cycling by March or April.

Labels: burnout, cycling

Roger 1 comments 7:39 PM

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Blagojevich's "Complete Streets" veto overriden

Illinois cyclists got a major victory today when the Illinois House voted 109-3 to override Gov. Rod Blagojevich's amendatory veto of the "Complete Streets" bill. That, along with the state Senate's vote last week to override the veto, means the bill as originally passed by both chambers becomes law.

What the law means, in short, is that the Illinois Department of Transportation shall include walkways and bicycle ways in their road designs in urban areas. IDOT also shall develop design and construction standards for bicycle and pedestrian ways.

Blagojevich's amendatory veto had changed the wording of the bill from "shall" to "may," effectively gutting the bill, according to the League of Illinois Bicyclists and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.

The law goes in effect immediately.

Labels: advocacy, commuting, Illinois, safety

Roger 1 comments 1:56 PM

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Women in bicycle racing

Today's edition of the Belleville News-Democrat has an article about the St. Louis Cycling Club's women's team and its current season.

The article talks about the team's successes -- at least one team member finished in the top three in 19 of its 20 races -- and the team's struggles -- the lack of interest in women's racing.

"We get less promotions, less cash, less everything," Granite City racer Sharon Jones told the News-Democrat.

I'm afraid I'm as guilty as the bigger cycling news outfits about not giving attention to women's racing.

Labels: cycling, racing

Roger 0 comments 10:18 AM

Easing the way for cyclists

In case you missed these stories online yesterday, USA Today and The Associated Press had a couple of stories about making things a bit easier for people who want to ride their bicycles as a means of transportation.

The USA Today story says that cities are accelerating their efforts to encourage commuting on two wheels, putting bike racks where cars once parked, adding bike lanes and considering European-style bike-share programs to get residents out of their cars.

Among the cities mentioned in the USA Today story is Chicago, which is striving by 2015 to have 5 percent of all trips shorter than 5 miles to be taken by bicycle. Mayor Richard Daley also is considering launching a bike program he saw in Paris. That effort, begun in July, allows residents and visitors to check out a bike at one location, ride free during the first half-hour and park the bike at another location near their destination. As I mentioned last week, Montreal is implementing a similar program. That program is expected to begin by the fall of 2008.

The AP story focuses on New York City, which received bronze medal from the Washington-based League of American Bicyclists for the city's efforts under Mayor Michael Bloomberg to promote cycling for a cleaner environment and a healthier populace.

The city is installing 400 to 500 bike racks a year and plans to have more than 400 miles of bike lanes and paths by 2009, the AP reported. There will then be 1 mile of bike lane for every 10 miles of road; the ratio is now 1 to 15. In San Francisco, it's 1 to 7.

Labels: commuting, cycling, United States

Roger 0 comments 10:01 AM

Friday, October 05, 2007

"Self-serve" bicycle rentals

Those of you who have read about the bicycle tours I've done over the years know that I have a soft spot for the the Canadian province of Quebec. Every once in a while, I visit the Montreal Gazette's Web site to get my fix of Canadian news, and I happened to come across this item:

The city of Montreal plans to be the first North American city to set up a large-scale "self-serve" public bike rental service.

Following in the footsteps, or pedalling along the same path, as European cities such as Paris and Lyon where such systems have recently exploded in popularity, Montreal hopes to get its project started by next fall and fully operational by late 2009. ...

The idea is to encourage Montrealers and tourists to use the public bicycles instead of cars for short, inner city trips, allowing them to pick up a bike at one station, use it for half an hour or an hour, and then drop it off at any other station of their choice.

Andre Lavallee, a city executive committee member responsible for transportation issues, said the program will be the first not only in Quebec, but in all of North America.

"We used to see cycling as recreation, but now thousands of people are using bikes to get to work, or school," Lavallee said at a press conference Thursday. "This summer, we actually saw traffic jams of cyclists on some of our new bike routes, like St. Urbain. Something is changing right now in Montreal and we all have to come along on this wave."

Whether the wave is strong enough to make it south to the United States remains to be seen.

Labels: Canada, commuting, cycling, Montreal

Roger 1 comments 11:15 AM

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Illinois Complete Streets bill

Last month, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich used his amendatory veto on a bill that would require bicycle and pedestrian ways to be given full consideration in the planning and development of transportation facilities, including the incorporation of such ways into state-funded transportation plans and programs in urban areas. Blagojevich said he would sign the "Complete Streets" bill if the wording is changed from "shall" to "may."

It looks like Blagojevich may not get his way. The Illinois Senate voted 53-0 today to override the amendatory veto. The Illinois House gets to vote on the override next. Given that the House voted 113-2 to approve the original bill, I would think the odds are rather good the House will vote to override as well.

Nevertheless, the League of Illinois Bicyclists isn't taking any chances. It has urged the cycling community to contact legislators:

Dear Illinois bicyclists,

Please leave a quick 30-second phone message for your state representative. Identify yourself as a bicyclist in his/her district. Thank them for voting Yes on Senate Bill 314 back in May, and ask for a Yes vote again to override the Governor’s amendatory veto.

Please do this ASAP, as a vote may occur very soon. Find your State Representative’s name and phone number at http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/AddressSearch.aspx (it’s easy). During business hours, call the Springfield office. Off-hours, leave a message with the district office.

SB314 directs IDOT to include walkways and bicycle ways with the expansion or reconstruction of any state road in urban areas. IDOT has done badly in this regard in the past, despite calls for reform. The governor’s veto stripped the bill of its effectiveness. A positive House vote is the last step needed for an override.

Further background from an earlier bill is at http://www.bikelib.org/completestreets/sb508mtg1005.pdf. LIB’s analysis of IDOT’s bike and ped policies is at http://www.bikelib.org/political_state/bdemanualreview.pdf.)

Thanks – your call could make a difference!!!

Labels: advocacy, Illinois, safety

Roger 0 comments 11:23 PM