News
City Approves Bicycle Master Plan
The city hopes to win grants for bike-friendly improvements
February 9, 2011
By: Drew Himmelstein
In a recent city council meeting in South San Francisco, a new Bicycle Master Plan was approved. The proposed plan entails over 11 new miles of bikable paths.
Source: South San Francisco Patch
Conway seeking funds to flesh out bike, foot paths
Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011
To read more about proposed trail specifications, predicted success and more, click here.
Mountain biking enthusiasts want to add 50 more miles of trails in West Michigan
Published: Sunday, February 06, 2011, 7:45 AM
By: Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press
Possible 50 mile trail named “The Grand Loop” to be added to West Michigan’s existing trails. The proposed route would lead from the bike park to four city parks, where new trails would be constructed.
For more information, click here.
Source: The Grand Rapids Press
City, schools pursuing safe routes for walkers, bikers
February 6, 2011
Safe Routes Hudson, an initiative embarked upon to improve pathways as well as educate and promote safe, long-term sidewalks, paths and bike routes, is carded to have a meeting for interested persons on Feb. 17 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Ellsworth Hill Elementary School, 7750 Stow Road in Hudson.
For contact information as well as to read more about Safe Routes Hudson, click here.
Source: HudsonHubTimes
Arlington’s plans make more room for bike lanes
Posted Thursday, Feb. 03, 2011
By: Susan Schrock
The proposed Thoroughfare Development Plan and Hike and Bike Master Plan for the Arlington community has received mixed responses. Some residents are all for adding more than 100 miles of bike lanes to Arlington’s streets, considering that current biking conditions in Arlington are deemed less than ideal. Other residents however believe that the money to be spent on these new bike lanes should be focused towards bettering existing roads (considering the increased demand on roadways since the thoroughfare plan was last updated in the 1990’s).
To read more resident opinions as well as recommendations, click here.
Source: Arlington Citizen-Journal
12 new maps detail bike routes in Hendricks County
Feb 4, 2011
Star and news service reports
Soon to be available for purchase at $24.95, a 12 set map detailing over 280 miles of Hendrick’s County bicycle routes.
Source: IndyStar
Woodstock to anchor north-south bike route in Southeast
The Bee, Feb 2, 2011
By: Merry MacKinnon
Work on new North-South bicycle trail connecting Northeast Portland’s Rose City Park to Southeast Portland’s Woodstock neighborhood to be commenced in 2012. The proposed bicycle trail (Thompson Street along Northeast 57th Avenue to Southeast 52nd Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard) is currently carded to be 4.5 miles in length. As proposed, parking will be affected along Southeast 52nd Avenue between Division Street and Woodstock Boulevard through the removal of roughly 200-250 parking spaces on one side of the street.
To read about plan specifications and the possible effects click here.
Source: The Bee
Nerisa Holder, VERTICES intern
Bicyclists may be forced to hit road
Construction to close big swath of city’s popular trail
Published: 1:20 AM, Jan. 27, 2011
By: Beth Wischmeyer
Members of the bicycling community of Sioux Falls South Dakota will be forced to find other cycling routes as roughly 9 miles of bike trails will be temporarily closed for a significant portion of the year. The closures due to necessary infrastructure repair projects along with a greenway project, are carded to take place in the Spring and Summer leaving pedestrians and cyclists to find alternative routes. To read about specifications and determine how you will be affected click here.
Source: ArgusLeader
Nerisa Holder, VERTICES intern
Plan released to make it easier to walk, bike in Syracuse area
Published: Friday, January 21st, 2011, 10:29 AM Updated: Friday, January 21st, 2011, 2:36 PM
By: Charley Hannagan / The Post-Standard
The F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse citizen driven organization has released a temporary website with maps as a sort of prerequisite that will eventually lead to the reveal an overall plan to improve the cycling, hiking, walking and wheeling experience in Central New York. To find out more details of the strategic action plan click here.
For more information about the soon to be permanent website, its development along with committee recommendations click here.
To see program director for the Syracuse Department of Parks and Recreation, Chris Abbott, speak about his favorite places to walk in Syracuse click here.
Source: Syracuse news
Nerisa Holder, VERTICES intern
Recommendations:
Benefits of Bicycling and Walking
Quality of Life Benefits
- Pedestrians add to the ambiance and security of streets.
- Providing a livable community is a necessary part of attracting and keeping businesses, and ensuring local communities remain competitive in the 21st century.
Health Benefits
- A number of research studies have shown a correlation between the built environment and the amount of routine physical activity, such as regular walking trips. A study published in the September 2003 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion titled “Relationship between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity” found that people living in sprawling counties “were likely to walk less, weigh more, and have greater prevalence of hypertension than those living in compact counties.” An earlier study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed a direct relationship between the amount of walking and the age of the home in which a person lives, as a proxy for the style of urban residential development that is common in older versus newer communities. People who lived in older homes were found to walk more.
- Research conducted in 1999 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that “obesity and overweight are linked to the nation’s number one killer—heart disease—as well as diabetes and other chronic conditions.” The report also states that one reason for Americans» sedentary lifestyle is that “walking and cycling have been replaced by automobile travel for all but the shortest distances.”
- Today, there are nearly twice as many overweight children and almost three times as many overweight adolescents as there were in 1980. Results of the 1999 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that 13 percent of children and adolescents were overweight.
- Numerous studies have shown tremendous benefits from even a brief amount of light but routine exercise each day. Bicycling or walking to the store, school, or work also provides a time-efficient way of attaining the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommended daily allowance of physical exercise.
- Pedestrian and bicycle transportation offers more opportunities for people to socialize than driving alone in automobiles.
Given these many benefits, the result of a 1991 Harris Poll is not surprising. While only 5 percent of respondents currently walk or bicycle as their primary means of transportation, two-and-a-half times this number would prefer to walk or bicycle if better facilities were available.