SWFL Lost a Complete Streets Champion Today

 Celebrating the Life of Beth Brainard

We are sad to share the news that after a lengthy battle with cancer, Beth Brainard passed away on Wednesday, November 7, 2018. Her friends and colleagues are invited to a memorial service to celebrate her life on Saturday, November 17 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm at The Moorings Country Club, 2500 Crayton Road, Naples, FL 34103. In lieu of flowers, she asked that donations be made in her name to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

Beth was honored by the City of Naples for her contribution to the community during her tenure with Naples Pathways Coalition. Please visit our website and scroll down to the News and Announcements section to watch the video of Mayor Bill Barnett reading the proclamation presented to Beth declaring October 2018 as Beth Brainard Month.

We will be forever grateful to Beth for her passion to create safe, bikeable and walkable communities, her efforts to change legislation that would make texting while driving a primary offense, and her work to educate motorists, cyclists and pedestrians of their responsibilities and how to safely share the roads.

Contact Us
phone: 239-777-7718
web: naplespathways.org
NPC Facebook

Mailing Address:
300 Fifth Ave. S, Suite 101, Box 464
Naples, FL 34102

President, Craig Manchen
Executive Director, Michelle Avola
email: Michelle@naplespathways.org

BWL Column: What a bike-friendly designation means to you

Last week we celebrated two new local communities earning Bicycle Friendly Community status--Cape Coral and Naples.  This week we look at what it means for cyclists and residents in those communities.  Thanks to BWL's Ken Gooderham for writing this excellent column.

BikeWalkLee's News-Press "Go Coastal" column: Nov. 25, 2015 

 http://www.news-press.com/story/life/outdoors/2015/11/25/what-bike-friendly-designation-means-you/76256610/

(Photo: special to the news-press)

The news that both Cape Coral and Naples recently earned a bronze Bike Friendly Community designation was widely hailed. But what does that mean for cyclists and residents in those two cities?

It means these municipalities are working to improve conditions for cyclists – and, by extension, everyone. That’s not just bike paths; it’s education and coordination, a focus on safety for all road users, and a reduction in fatalities even with an increase in ridership.

It means they are committed to actual improvements, not just the status quo. The League of American Bicyclists (LAB), the group which awards the designation, doesn’t grade on promises, but on actions. LAB has very specific benchmarks communities ought to meet to even get on the bike-friendly chart, while recognizing that no two communities are alike. The common theme is to show progress in making your city better for biking – and that doesn’t happen through speeches and platitudes, but with a commitment to improvement with the funding and staffing to back it up.

It means they support the economic enhancements better bicycle infrastructure brings. Better bike facilities bring people to business areas and, better yet, keep them there longer to potentially spend money and attract other buyers (and sellers). The BFC designation is a tourism tool as well, telling people who are looking for a place to play (and stay) that a community has this very attractive amenity to offer them, is a place that values safety and fitness, and doesn’t necessarily rely on cars to make things happen.

It means these are cities with strong leadership and strategic community support. Better bike-friendliness almost always tends to involve a public-private partnership, where a strong private-sector advocate works with (and motivates) a willing public-sector implementer. It takes time to achieve, requiring a network of partners with focus and staying power – essential building blocks for any community-building effort and a sign of strength whatever the undertaking.

From left: Cape Coral City Manager John Szerlag; Mayor Marni Sawicki; Gary Aubuchon, representing Cape Coral Bike-Ped, and Steve Neff, Public Works director, were on hand when Cape Coral earned a bronze Bike Friendly Community designation. (Photo: special to the news-press)

It means they have more work to do – and you need to support them in those efforts. A Bronze designation is great, certainly a moment to be savored. But keeping the designation takes work, and improving it takes even more. Even moving up to Silver is challenging, as Sanibel (the closest thing we have to a bike mecca in the region) found out when it made the move up a few years back.
For example, in weighing bike friendliness LAB looks at how communities fare in the five Es:

• Engineering: Creating safe and convenient places to ride and park.
• Education: Giving people of all ages and abilities the skills and confidence to ride.
• Encouragement: Creating a strong bike culture that welcomes and celebrates bicycling.
• Enforcement: Ensuring safe roads for all users.
• Evaluation & planning: Planning for bicycling as a safe and viable transportation option.

So making progress is a multi-level effort – more than just building more bike paths or holding a few more classes. Winning the BFC designation shows Cape Coral and Naples are willing to start the process. But to keep it and improve on it will take even more support from the community and commitment from city officials and staff. So if you’re a resident (and a bike rider) in these cities, lend your support to keep these enhancements rolling forward – so both cities can keep going for the Gold (or Platinum or even, unlikely as that may be, a Diamond designation).

BikeWalkLee is a community coalition raising public awareness and advocating for complete streets in Lee County—streets that are designed, built, operated and maintained for safe and convenient travel for all users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Information, statistics and background online at www.BikeWalkLee.org.

Ready to ride or run?
Run: Up early Thursday? Join the turkey trotting tradition either with the venerable Turkey Trot in Cape Coral (starts 7:30 a.m.) or a new 5K at Germain Arena (starts 7 a.m.). Too late for those? Then plan on the 10K River Run (downtown Fort Myers Dec. 5) or the 5K Everybody Runs (JetBlue Park Dec. 6).
Ride: Skip the leftovers and the shopping, and join the Caloosa Riders for their traditional Turkey Leg Century Ride on Friday (www.caloosariders.org). Or celebrate the birthday ride for Go Girl Cycling on Sunday. Too much? Then wait for the monthly SW Florida Critical Mass ride on Friday, Dec. 4.
Both: Try a tri for the holidays at the Christmas Sprint in Naples Dec. 20, or get training for the HITS Naples Triathlon Weekend Jan. 9-10.

News-Press: Naples, Cape Coral earn bike-friendly awards

It's a great day for SWFL, with 2 new communities--Cape Coral and Naples--receiving Bicycle Friendly Community (BCF) "Bronze" designations today.  They join Sanibel--a Silver BFC--and Venice (Silver) making 4 SWFL communities with BFC status.  It was exciting to see that 3 of the 18 newly recognized communities are in Florida (and two of the three in SWFL).

News-Press 11/16/15, by Janine Zeitlin

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/2015/11/16/naples-cape-coral-receive-bike-friendly-awards/75874702/

Photo by News-Press

The national designations show commitments to making biking safer, an issue of concern in Southwest Florida.

For the first time, Naples and Cape Coral earned coveted bike-friendly designations.

The national designations announced today show commitments to making biking safer, an issue of grave concern in Southwest Florida. This area has ranked in the top 10 in the state for bicyclist fatalities and crashes. Last year, Lee County ranked third for the number of bicyclist fatalities in Florida, the most lethal state in the nation for bicyclists.

Naples and Cape Coral received bronze awards from the League of American Bicyclists and joined Sanibel Island, which is ranked silver, among 19 bike-friendly communities in Florida.

"Winning a Bicycle Friendly Community designation shows a community's dedication to creating safer and better places to ride your bike," said Alex Doty, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists in a press release.

For Naples, the designation reflects the city’s investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies, said the Naples Pathways Coalition.

Naples Mayor John Sorey said in a press release the city “fully supports the creation of a safe, bikeable community and has committed resources to make significant improvements by retrofitting streets with bike lanes, installing green boxes" and developing easily understood signage to mark cycling routes.

Naples' bicycle friendly team includes: co-chairs Andrew Holland and Beth Brainard, Alan Ryker, Doug Newman, Jane Cheffy, Michelle McLeod, Leslee Dulmer, Buddy Bonollo, and Alison Bickett.

Cape Coral will host an awards presentation for its designation at 4:30 p.m. its city council meeting.

The awards are decided through voluntary applications. Throughout the nation, 371 communities have received bike-friendly designations from the biking advocacy and education group. They often become ways to promote the sustainability of a community to potential residents and visitors.

For more than a year, The News-Press has also made a commitment to safer streets for bicyclists through its Share the Road series. Join the conversation at the Share the Road Florida Facebook page.

Naples Pathways: Walkability, a local issue that's gone national

Naples Pathways Coalition also focused on walkability in a guest column in NDN today.  If you live in Collier County, you have an opportunity to weigh in with your elected officials prior to their Oct. 6th meeting that will focus on the need for more sidewalks and a complete streets approach.

Naples Daily News 9/17/15, Guest Column: Beth Brainard, Naples Pathways Coalition http://www.naplesnews.com/news/health/blue-zone/naples-pathways-walkability-a-local-issue-thats-gone-national_12497339

(photo  in NDN)

NAPLES, Fla. - This summer, the Collier County Planning Commission took a serious look at how sidewalks, or the lack of them, affects neighborhood residents as well as county taxpayers.
Some sobering statistics were revealed.

Over 2,700 Collier County children who live within walking distance of their schools are "courtesy bussed" because their neighborhoods lack sidewalks and are deemed too dangerous. This costs the local school system — not the state or federal government — over $500,000 per year.

A sidewalk installed when a new house is under construction costs approximately $1,000, which is included in the cost of the lot or carried by the developer. To install a sidewalk after a neighborhood is built, it costs approximately six times more, around $6,000 per lot, and the cost is paid by the county — which means by you, the taxpayers.

Twenty-three percent of all children in Collier County are obese and another 18 percent are at risk of becoming so. This is higher than the national average that says 16 percent of children are obese.
Then, last week, a really wonderful thing happened.

The U.S. Surgeon General issued a historic call to action to make walking a national priority. (See article on 11D.) Step It Up!

The Surgeon General's call to action to promote walking and walkable communities, "calls on Americans to become more physically active through walking and on the nation to better support walking and walkability."

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said increasing physical activity significantly reduces the risk of chronic diseases and related risk factors. Additionally physical activity has other health benefits, like promoting positive mental health and healthy aging, and it is one of the simplest, most important actions people can take to improve their overall health. We already know that, don't we?

The Step It Up! call to action includes five goals.

• Make walking a national priority.

• Design communities that make it safe and easy to walk for people of all ages and abilities.

• Promote programs and policies to support walking where people live, learn, work and play.

• Provide information to encourage walking and improve walkability.

• Improve the quality of data collected about walking and walkability, address research gaps and evaluate programs to promote walking and walkability.

We need to get out of our cars and up off our sofas and move! However, that is easier said than done if you live in a neighborhood where there is no place to safely walk — one without sidewalks; or where you are too old and infirmed or too young to cross a street to get to it; or the only place to walk is along a shadeless stretch of sidewalk along a high speed road; or if you are brave and fast enough to cross a six-lane road to get to a path. All these problems exist in Collier County.

While this national campaign ramps up, local decisions about sidewalks and walkability will be made. The Planning Commission, which serves in an advisory capacity to the county commissioners (CC), passed the information along to Commissioners and it will hopefully be part of a larger discussion at a commissioners' workshop this fall on sidewalks and Complete Streets planning.
Hopefully the commissioners will also consider the Surgeon General's call to action.

If you and your children or grandchildren can't walk safely in your neighborhood, call or email your commissioner before Oct. 6 and let him or her know.

Beth Brainard is the executive director of Naples Pathways Coalition, a nonprofit organization that works to make the greater Naples area a safe, bikeable, walkable community. Contact Beth at bethbrainard@naplespathways.org or visit naplespathways.org.

News-Press cycling safer feature: Some solutions from SWFL communities--Naples

  News-Press June 14, 2015 Political will is needed to make cycling safer  

SWFL communities taking different routes, at different speeds  

By Janine Zeitlin and Laura Ruane 

Chapter 2:  Naples

Central Avenue makeover is route to healthier lifestyles

Central Avenue in Naples is on track to becoming a "blue zone." That's a popular catch phrase for a locale where people lead longer, healthier lives.

If that sounds like a pie-in-the-sky idea, consider:

The street is scheduled for a makeover that will make healthy actions such as walking and bicycling there safer and more appealing, said Beth Brainard, executive director for the Naples Pathways Coalition advocacy group.

Key changes include reducing the posted speed limit and trimming the avenue from four vehicle traffic lanes to two. That will make room for other changes, such as:

• Roundabouts at key intersections, to calm traffic;

• A bicycle lane;

• Sidewalks where none exist; and

• A landscaped median

The changes will benefit not only Central Avenue businesses and their customers, but people who will buy the more than 500 new residences planned for the area.

The Central Avenue makeover also means people on bicycles will be able to travel safely and conveniently between Naples Beach and the Gordon River Greenway to the east.

"It's about making the healthy choice the easy choice," said Deb Millsap, executive director for the Blue Zones Project in Southwest Florida.

No one thinks a complete retrofit of Southwest Florida is possible, she said, but we can make pockets of Blue Zones where people could get exercise naturally, by walking to a store or bicycling to a park.

Link to companion story 6/14/15 News-Press: "Bicycling--7 cities that will make Florida riders jealous"