BikeWalkLee: Rail right-of-way a path to success

BikeWalkLee Column ‘Go Coastal’
The News-Press, November 19, 2020
by Ken Gooderham

Collier County and the cities of Bonita Springs and Estero are studying the possibilities of acquiring miles of railroad rights of way connecting all three, for eventual re-use as multi-use pathways and public transit.

So why is this a good opportunity and a great idea?

Simple… it’s a unique possibility to capture a swath of property adjacent to already developed (or developing) areas, guaranteeing a lot of potential users right next door.

It would give these governments the opportunity to create a multi-use and multimodal transportation corridor from the ground up, where designs and needs could be planned and integrated, instead of retrofitted and accommodated.

It could create a higher-speed public transit option away from the congestion and confusion of U.S. 41 and Interstate 75 – and close to homes, shops, businesses and government offices.

And it could be a building block to expand a similar multi-use corridor northward along the same corridor, creating a potential bike/ped/transit pathway that could stretch from northern Collier County to Charlotte County and beyond.

The Elliot Bay Trail in Seattle, Washington (wikipedia.org)

Sounds too good to be true? It isn’t – but it will take commitment, courage and (of course) cash to become reality.

The three governments are working with the nonprofit Trust for Public Lands on the acquisition, which is still in the study-and-negotiation stage… so a long way from reality. Still, you have to start somewhere.

Also, right now Collier is more focused on public transit, while Estero and Bonita are looking at the bike/ped options more seriously. Both are needed, and we can hope that, if this idea comes to fruition, both bike/ped and transit stay on the table.

The idea itself is not new, having been thoroughly explored in a 2013 study of the Seminole Gulf Railway corridor sponsored by the Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT). A number of options for the right-of-way were discussed, along with the opportunities and obstacles in each.

Would it be easy? No. Would it be worth it? Absolutely.

Creating a convenient and uncongested public transit corridor would be a real asset for our area, giving people a real alternative to automobiles at a considerably reduced cost (because you’re building from scratch and working with clear right-of-way). You could even consider multiple transit options… starting with bus rapid transit (just like it sounds, buses making fewer stops and covering more distance) to light rail and even commuter rail as the population (and potential users) grew.

You would still have sufficient space to create a safe and convenient bike/ped path system that could allow people to bike north and south in relative security – another great asset as well as a valuable amenity for nearby neighborhood.

Let’s face it: This area is going to continue to grow, and we’ll never be able to build enough roads if everyone has to rely solely on cars to get around. As roadways get more and more congested, viable mass transit is going to become more attractive to users – and more crucial to maintaining our quality of life.

Similarly, recreation and transportation focused on bike and pedestrian facilities will also continue to grow, so providing a safe and functional network of paths will be another quality-of-life asset. And, as anyone who has watched bile/ped facility in this area knows, if you build it they will come.

So kudos to these three government entities for pursuing this very prudent possibility. We hope the studies and discussions end up make this plan a reality. If that happens, we also hope that Lee County and the City of Fort Myers build on this momentum by launching their own look into expanding this transportation corridor northward.

It’s a great idea that could be a game-changer for our area. Let’s hope the pieces come together.

Turkey Trot? Not!

Another victim of the coronavirus is the traditional Thanksgiving Turkey Trots… at least some of the in-person events. The venerable Cape Coral Turkey Trot (celebrating its 41st year) is virtual only, as is the FGCU Gobbler 5K. The Gulf Coast Runners’ Trot has been shortened to 2 miles (from the usual 5K) – but it’s both virtual and in-person (at Naples’ Cambier Park). If it just won’t be Turkey Day without your 5K Trot, head to Hertz Arena in Estero for the Elite Events’ run at 7 a.m. on Nov. 26. Just don’t forget your mask! 

EVENTS: 

Here’s what is scheduled for organized running and biking events locally… but confirm with the organizers and be flexible in case conditions change and large-group activities are limited. Of course, wear a mask and act appropriate to your age, condition and concerns.

FORT MYERS TRACK CLUB (ftmyerstrackclub.com):

• Cape Coral Turkey Trot 5K, Sept. 17-Nov. 26 (virtual)
• City of Palms River Run 10K, Sept. 17-Dec. 5 (virtual)
• Lazy Flamingo Half Marathon & 2-Person Relay, Sept. 17-Dec. 20 (virtual)
• Strides for Education 5K, Feb. 6, 2021 (in-person and virtual)
  

GC RUNNERS (gcrunner.org):

• GCR Thanksgiving 5K, Thursday, Nov. 26 (in-person & virtual)
• Naples Daily News Half Marathon, Saturday, Jan. 17 (in-person & virtual) 

ELITE EVENTS (runeliteevents.com):

• Fall Classic Half Marathon and 5K, Naples, Saturday, Nov. 21
• Thanksgiving Day 5K Run and Walk, Estero, Thursday, Nov. 26
• Naples Christmas Glow Run 5K, Saturday, Dec. 5
• Naples Distance Classic 5K, 10K and Half Marathon, Sunday, Dec. 6
• Sarasota West Coast Half Marathon and 5K, Sunday, Dec. 20
• Venice Half Marathon and 5K, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021
• City of Palms Half Marathon and 5K, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021
• Paradise Coast Half Marathon and 5K, Saturday, March 27, 2021
  

OTHER RUNS:

• FGCU 10th-Annual Gobbler 5K, up to Nov. 26 (virtual) – runsignup.com
• Publix Run to the Arts 5K run/walk – in person on Feb. 7, 2021, or virtual Jan. 30-Feb. 7 runsignup.com or runtothearts.com
  

CYCLING:

The Caloosa Riders are offering member rides, but some are open to non-members (and it wouldn’t hurt you to join the club); check their ride calendar (caloosariders.org) for a description of the distance and speed, and to see if the ride is open to all.

SW Florida Critical Mass is offering their usual slate of family-friendly rides, although the NE Lee ride seems to be lacking a leader and thus is not on the calendar. The options are below, and you can check out their line-up online (http://www.meetup.com/Biking-SWFL/events/) for details and times.

• SW Florida Critical Mass ride, first Friday of the month. A family-friendly slow night ride through Fort Myers. Front and rear bike lights required. Helmet and lights required, meet in the parking lot at 2180 West First Street, Fort Myers. 
• Sanibel Critical Mass night ride, second Tuesday of the month. Gathers at Jerry’s Shopping Center, 1700 Periwinkle Way, on Sanibel. Lights required, helmets recommended.
• Cape Coral Critical Mass ride, fourth Friday of the month. Gather at the Southwest Florida Military Museum parking lot at 4820 Leonard Street for a family-friendly night ride through the Cape; helmets and lights required.
• Saturday Morning Slow Roll, fourth Saturday of the month. Meet-up at 2160 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. Recommended for inexperienced/young riders. Distance is 6 miles, includes group ride instruction.

If racing is not your thing but you’d like to support their return nonetheless, consider volunteering to help out at the few in-person offerings ahead. With Covid concerns still corralling some of the club’s usual volunteers, a few new helping hand would certainly be welcomed. 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RIDE:

Have a favorite route you like to bike, or a unique walk you’d like to share with others? Tell us about it at info@bikewalklee.org, and maybe we can feature it in an upcoming column.

# # #

Ken Gooderham writes this on behalf of BikeWalkLee, 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.

 

 

Environment near schools for bikes, walkers, cars needs to be improved

Florida Weekly 'Outdoors' column, 10/24/18
danMOSER
bikepedmoser@gmail.com

A car blocking the sidewalk is an all-too-common sight around Allen Park Elementary School in Fort Myers,
even with No Parking signs posted everywhere.

Even if you don’t live very near a school there’s a good chance you’re affected by one or more of them each day they’re in session. Whether you’re a nearby resident or simply have to navigate around one or more schools during the morning or afternoon bells, you are well aware of the congestion and chaos around them. Based on conditions you witness daily, if you have a student in your household you’d understandably be skeptical of allowing your child to walk or ride a bike there. If you’re a chauffeur for your child, you are the reason for the problem.

I recently took part in Walk to School Day activities and a couple of bike-safety training sessions for school resource officers. Those experiences prompted me to again write about the very poor conditions for anyone around school campuses on foot or bike, and even in their cars. The relatively recent phenomenon (at least for an old guy like me) of so many kids being driven to school has resulted in a vicious cycle that won’t end unless changes are made. The environment is downright hostile, whether you’re a student, parent or just some poor sap who ventures near.

Per Florida policy, any student who lives within one mile (elementary) or two miles (all other grades) of a school are considered close enough to walk or bike unless there are hazardous walking conditions between home and the school — then a school bus would be an option. Hazardous walking conditions include crossing major highways where no crossing guards are in place, lack of safe conditions along busy roads (no sidewalk may not be enough to warrant hazardous conditions), or other things determined on a case-by-case basis. Many students who have bus transportation available, whether because they reside more than walking distance away or due to hazardous conditions, are instead driven by parents. For those eligible to be bused, this means wasted tax dollars because the bus must still be available for the entirety of the school year (the annual busing/ transportation budget for Lee District Schools is more than $58 million).

Besides congestion there’s the ongoing issue of speeding and driver distraction in school zones. Safe Kids Worldwide (www.safekids.org) reports that within school zones the number of teen pedestrian deaths has increased 13 percent since 2013. But there are ways deal with the traffic problems created by the high number of parents driving kids to school.

Some customs, reported by the National Center for Bicycling and Walking (www.bikewalk.org).

• In Odense, Denmark, parents are told at an assembly that their kids are capable of walking or biking to school and that student drop-offs are not allowed. Having a good bike/ped infrastructure is key to 80 percent of students using their feet or bikes.
• Bolzano, Italy, closes the streets around schools to cars for 15 minutes before and after bell times and has been doing it for over 20 years. This has resulted in a 50 percent drop in injuries involving cars versus people. And one school in Vienna is doing the same as a pilot project.
• A school in Vancouver, Canada, has taken the annual Walk/Bike to School Day concept and made it a weekly event. “Freedom Friday” was created as a way to encourage parents to allow their kids to get out of the car each Friday and it has resulted in a major increase in that happening as well as a coinciding significant decrease in cars around the school, exactly as intended.

While it is possible to change people’s behavior on this matter, the political will must be in place. Unfortunately, as is the case with our local leadership’s unwillingness to address the larger problem (i.e., being the most dangerous place in the U.S. for pedestrians), there’s little hope for anything like those examples to be undertaken here. But all it would take is one or two school principals or a few school board members to have the courage to take action to prove it can be done. Getting kids back on their feet, bikes, skateboards and scooters improves their health and ability to learn. Reducing the number of cars around schools creates a better environment for those kids and reduces the number of traffic-related injuries and fatalities. It’s a win-win. Keep abreast of issues like this by visiting www.bikewalklee.blogspot.com. ¦


- Dan Moser is a long-time bicycle/pedestrian advocate and traffic safety professional who cycles, runs and walks regularly for transportation, recreation and fitness. Contact him at bikepedmoser@gmail.com and 334-6417. 

For Lee County cycling and tri events visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudcutters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL). The Florida Bicycle Association (floridabicycle.org) is your source for statewide happenings. BikeWalkLee’s blog site has all the information you’ll need to stay abreast of advocacy efforts in Southwest Florida as well as statewide and nationally.

The differences in danger

BikeWalkLee Column
The News-Press, 3/29/2018
by Ken Gooderham


Weekday afternoons may be the most dangerous time to drive in Southwest Florida, but what is the most dangerous time to bike or walk?

For those of you who missed the recent article on vehicle crashes, data collected by the Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) shows that vehicle crashes peaked weekday afternoons. The worst time was Friday at 4 p.m., followed by Wednesday at 5 p.m. The safest time to drive? Around 3 a.m. most days.

These findings underscore the deadly combination of more vehicles on the road and drivers paying less attention. But would that correlate with crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians?

Since there’s no bike/ped data on which to draw, we can only speculate. Obviously, more traffic would help contribute to more crashes – so the afternoon apex is feasible in bike/ped problems as well. However, there are some additional contributing factors that could affect the dangers.

The primary difference would be visibility, since vehicles hitting cyclists or pedestrians would be more likely in the low-light conditions of dusk and dawn – not to mention the no-light conditions at night. All the more reason bikers, runners and walkers need to work on being as visible as possible, using bright colors, bright lights and bright ideas (such as emphasizing your motion with lights and reflectors). Being seen greatly improves your chances of not being hit.

The second issue is being predictable, either acting like a vehicle if you’re on wheels or walking and running wisely if on foot. Drivers expect other drivers to operate their vehicles by certain rules, and will safely negotiate most roadway interactions based on that predicted behavior. But if cyclists or pedestrians dart in and out of traffic, don’t wait their turn at intersections or otherwise behavior in an unpredictable fashion, their chance of becoming a statistic (and not in a good way) rise dramatically.

Yet another issue impacting the chances of impact is the vast different in agility between vehicles and bikers or walkers. Cyclists and pedestrians can stop and turn dramatically faster than a vehicle, which has much more momentum and mass to deal with. That makes bikers and walkers far more nimble – and moving vehicles far more deadly. Just because you can stop your bike within 10-15 feet, say, doesn’t mean the car behind you can come to a stop anywhere near that – which doesn’t put you in a very good position if you’re operating on the same roadway.

One very common element in increasing danger for both drivers and walkers/bikers is distraction. A distracted driver is more dangerous to everyone and everything around them, whereas a distracted cyclist, runner or pedestrian increases the danger only to themselves.

So what can you do to stay safer on foot or on your bike?

• Be visible. Bright lights and bright colors.
• Be predictable. No sudden or stupid moves.
• Pay attention. Don’t be distracted from everything going on around you.
• Bike or walk defensively. Acting like they’re out to get you is the best way to avoid danger. (And cyclists… wear a helmet!)
• Know your weaknesses. If sharing the road scares you, stay on the path. Night vision not so good? Then only go out in the daylight.

One more thought: More road users can mean more road dangers – so avoid rush hour if you have a choice (especially now, when our roads are at their maximum use). The odds just make sense.

A transportation deep dive

Staying with both traffic and the MPO, there’s an upcoming one-day conference for the transportation professionals out there… and for transportation geeks as well.

“Designing for People, Place and Profit” will be held on Thursday, April 19, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Fort Myers campus of Florida Southwestern State College. A collection of planners, engineers and transportation heavyweights are scheduled to speak on an array of topics. Not for the casual listener, but certainly invaluable if your profession or your passion tend toward transportation issues.

Your $90 registration fee includes breakfast, lunch and break. You can find out more at www.leempo.com or sign up at MoveForward.ezevent.com.

Ready to ride or run?

Run? Events abound this Saturday, with 5Ks in Fort Myers (Eggs and Ears 5K) and Naples (Wellfit Girls and One Human Race). Details at 3dracinginc.com,  active.com or gcrunner.org. The following Saturday features the Fast and Furriest 5K at Hammond Park in Fort Myers, to support the Gulf Coast Humane Society (which means your dog can be part of the action at this one).
 
Ride? Critical Mass rides abound – in Cape Coral on Friday night, downtown Fort Myers on Saturday morning and then downtown Fort Myers again on Friday night. For the night rides, lights are mandatory; for all rides helmets are suggested. Details at meetup.com/Biking-SWFL/events/.

Both?  Since it’s good to plan your tris in advance, put these three on the calendar:

• Sunday, April 15: FGCU Eagle Sprint Tri and Duathlon, Florida Gulf Coast University (active.com).
• Saturday, May 12: Cape Coral Yacht Club Sprint Tri (active.com).
• Sunday, June 3: Fitness Challenge Sprint Tri, Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, Naples (active.com).
• Also, registration opens for the Galloway Captiva Tri on May 1; the race weekend is Sept. 15-16, with the kids’ events Saturday and the sprint tri Sunday.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RIDE:

Have a favorite route you like to bike, or a unique walk you’d like to share with others? Tell us about it at info@bikewalklee.org, and maybe we can feature it in an upcoming column.

# # #

Ken Gooderham writes this on behalf of BikeWalkLee, 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. 


 

Bike me out to the ball game

BikeWalkLee Column
The News-Press, 2/1/2018
by Ken Gooderham

Image courtesry: Cycle Tour | Sport24

One of the long-standing rituals in Southwest Florida is spring training… a chance for fans for see their favorite major league teams up close and personal.

Another regional ritual is the traffic jam that accompanies most spring training games locally. All those fans in all those vehicles, on top of already crowded roadways struggling with season, equals gridlock.

There’s a way to enjoy the former ritual without enduring the latter, if you’re willing to park your car and ride your bike.

Both Hammond Stadium/CenturyLink Sports Complex and jetBlue Park/Fenway South – training sites for the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox, respectively – are easily accessible by bike, with some routes able to keep cyclists comfortably away from traffic (if that matters to you).

This idea may be particularly appealing should your tickets take you out to the ballgame on one of the few days when both teams are playing at home – which is guaranteed to turn Daniels Parkway into a parking lot those afternoons.

Parking your bike once you arrive at the stadium can be a challenge, so be sure to bring a sturdy lock and cable/chain to secure your ride to whatever you can find (which won’t be bike racks, I’m sure).

Not up for a long ride from home? Then park and ride… drive your bike to a nearby park or parking area (say, Lakes Park?), then ride your bike the rest of the way. You’ll still avoid the traffic jams and get some exercise (which can help justify that ballgame beer, hot dog or other snack).

You could even park at the airport and bike out from there… but given the cost and the calamity (RSW is not the most traffic-friendly site this time of year), I would not recommend it.

Maps showing the specific routes to both sites are available at bikewalklee.com (look for the Maps link), or you can pick up the countywide bike facilities map at your favorite bike shop (or download it from http://leempo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/3rdEditionFinal_000.pdf). The countywide map is also a great way to plan your rides to take advantage of the various bike facilities the county has in place.

You don’t have to wait until spring training (which kicks off Feb. 22) to put this idea into use. If you want to avoid traffic and find a convenient place to park in downtown Fort Myers during Art Fest this coming weekend, ride your bike. (Should you find some artwork you just can’t live without, most of the artists are happy to hold it for you until you can come back with a more appropriate vehicle.)

Still time to comment on projects

You may have missed the Jan. 29 public workshop to speak up about two proposed bike/ped projects in Fort Myers, but you can still get your feelings on the record – at least until Feb. 12.

The two projects – the next phase of the Yarbrough Linear Park and the Winkler Canal Shared Use Path – are facing feasibility studies to determine their fate, so supporters should speak up or forever hold your peace (and your complaints about missing links in the bike/ped network).

What’s proposed? For the Yarbrough park, it’s extending the existing shared-use path northward from Colonial Blvd. to Hanson Street (it now runs from Six Mile Cypress to Colonial along Ten Mile Canal). For the Winkler project, it’s a new shared-use path from U.S 41 to McGregor Blvd. proposed to run along either the Winkler Canal, within Jefferson Park neighborhood, or along Hill Ave adjacent to the Fort Myers Country Club.

Email your comments to mavola@cella.cc (CellaMolnar & Associates is handling the public information aspect of the studies) by Feb. 12 to make sure your voice is included in these two vital projects.

 

Ready to ride or run?

Run? wo Fort Myers 5Ks are up this weekend – Strides for Education at Florida SouthWestern and the Medical Society Foundation 5K at Lakes Park. The following weekend brings the Cape Rotary 5K on Feb. 10 and the Edison Festival of Light Junior Fun Run on Feb. 11 – which of course means the Edison 5K is the following weekend (make your downtown plans accordingly). Details at ftmyerstrackclub.com and 3dracinginc.com.

Ride? This Friday’s Critical Mass downtown ride coincides with the opening of the weekend Art Fest, so expect even more crowded downtown streets. Next weekend brings the NE Lee ride on Friday night and the Sanibel ride Saturday night. Lights required and helmets recommended for all, with details at  meetup.com/Biking-SWFL/events.

Both?  Nothing nearby in the near term, check out trifind.com or active.com for events in the state.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RIDE:

Have a favorite route you like to bike, or a unique walk you’d like to share with others? Tell us about it at info@bikewalklee.org, and maybe we can feature it in an upcoming column.

# # #

Ken Gooderham writes this on behalf of BikeWalkLee, 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. 


 

Support is needed for four Southwest Florida outdoor projects

Florida Weekly 'Outdoors' column, 2/15/2017 
danMOSER
bikepedmoser@gmail.com

The new federal administration’s priorities are a problem for those involved in vulnerable road-user safety, increased access for non-motorists and Complete Streets. Even before this troubling transition took place, four important Southwest Florida projects were put at-risk because of local actions.

River of Grass Greenway

The River of Grass Greenway (evergladesrogg.org) is a proposed non-motorized transportation and recreation corridor across the Everglades connecting eastern Collier County and southwestern Miami-Dade. It’s already had some significant funding for studies and planning as well as for construction of some segments on either end. ROGG is part of the SUNTrail, a network that ultimately links Lee County and all of Florida’s southwest coast to the southeast coast.

Projected River of Grass Greenway trail along U.S. 41  (Image: evergladesrogg.org)

While there are plenty of supporters there are also detractors, including, improbably, some in the environmental advocacy community. There is also concern among Native Americans, whose land it will pass through.

When one considers the types of businesses and uses existing along that section of U.S. 41 (airboat rides and souvenir shops) ROGG represents much less impact and has more significance.

At this time the Collier County Metropolitan Planning Organization is considering a resolution to rescind its support of the project. All three of the MPO’s advisory committees - citizen, technical and bike/ped - have recommended against the resolution. The Miami-Dade MPO also remains behind continuing to study and plan ROGG. Collier’s elected officials who serve on the MPO need to take their advisory committees’ advice and reject this shortsighted resolution.

South Cape greenspace

A less ambitious undertaking but just as important in its own way is the fate of the former Cape Coral Golf Club property in South Cape. At 178 acres, it’s by far the largest greenspace in the city’s most established part of town. It’s privately owned and is currently slated to become a national homebuilder’s latest residential project unless the city steps in and purchases the property. An organization called Save Our Recreation (saveourrecreation.us) has been established to advocate for keeping this green gem a place the public can use for generations to come.

Able Canal Trail

In Lehigh Acres, a part of Lee County that’s notoriously underserved in terms of bike/ped accommodation, a 5.5-mile shared-use pathway is proposed to run along the north side of Able Canal. Besides serving as a recreation opportunity, it would provide a critical connection between nearby residential areas and parks. Among amenities being considered are way-finding signage, information kiosks, boardwalks and pedestrian bridges, making it a park in itself.

But, alas, a few NIMBY’s (not-in-my-backyard folks) have made their opposition known. See swflroads.com/ablecanalpathway.

Old Fort Myers

Finally, the city of Fort Myers has yet another opportunity to enhance its bike/ped environment in a long established part of town by utilizing public property to build a trail along the Winkler Canal. The trail would link Cleveland Avenue and points east to McGregor Boulevard and its neighborhoods. But significant opposition from those who live along the canal has become apparent, so Plan B may be a better option. Utilizing the southern and eastern edges of the Fort Myers Country Club to serve the same east-west connection and could also provide a proper north-south link between neighborhoods on either side of the golf course. Some of those opposed to the Winkler Canal trail have expressed interest in working with the city and advocates on alternatives, including Plan-B.

The east and south sides of the Fort Myers Country Club golf course could
provide space for a multi-use path. (Photo Dan Moser/Florida Weekly)

See BikeWalkLee’s blog for lots more on these projects. ¦

- Dan Moser is a long-time bicycle/pedestrian advocate and traffic safety professional who cycles, runs and walks regularly for transportation, recreation and fitness. Contact him at bikepedmoser@gmail.com and 334-6417.

Transportation Summit Friday Sept. 30 in Cape Coral

Photo: the news-press

Streets Alive SWFL and Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association are partnering to host a Transportation Summit, featuring renowned national and international experts interacting with planners, engineers and government and business leaders and all members of the public to encourage best practices in creating walkable, bikeable, and transit supported, livable communities – communities offering vibrant, healthy lifestyles for all ages.

“This summit is bringing together for the first time the brain-power of the leading experts on integrating transportation and community design to help us create the best here in SWFL” said Ann Pierce, Education Chair for Streets Alive SWFL.  “The public and our local authorities will have this opportunity to learn from the best, get questions answered and concerns addressed,” she added.

Keynote speakers for the Transportation Summit include:

• Florida Department of Transportation Division 1 Secretary Billy Hattaway P.E.
• Livable Transportation Engineer for the Toole Design Group, Ian Lockwood P.E.
• Director of Innovation & Inspiration for Blue Zones, Dan Burden
• International President of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Paula Benway P.E.

The Summit’s Conference on Friday morning, September 30, from 8:00 – noon at the Cape Coral Yacht Club is open to the public and will offer an informative program by this team of national experts who will be joined by local region speakers to give unique presentations on the new patterns in community design, transportation and economic planning which result in highly desirable communities where one can thrive at any age.

They will also address funding and regulatory changes on the horizon which will impact our region.

Registration is $42, which includes breakfast and accessed through http://www.rpcra.org/transportation-summit          
    
Local elected and appointed officials, business leaders, realtors, engineering, planning and landscape architect professionals, health community professionals, developers and the public are all invited to attend this innovative Transportation Summit.


Go to www.rpcra.org/transportation-summit to register.

Chuck Marohn: Engineers should not design streets

One of the leaders of the new thinking about transportation, land use, and finance is Chuck Marohn, the Founder and President of Strong Towns, who is both a Professional Engineer (PE) and a planner (AICP). He has spoken in hundreds of towns and cities across North America, and speaks regularly for diverse audiences and venues. He was the keynote speaker at Florida's APA conference held in Naples in 2012, so some of you have heard him speak, read his articles, listened to his podcasts, or TED talks.  This week he wrote another thought-provoking Strong Towns blog post entitled "Engineers should not design streets," which focuses on the difference between roads and streets. [See Chuck Marohn's TED Talk on "The Difference between Streets and Roads"]


As Chuck says, "We do a disservice to our communities when we treat streets as if they were roads, when we ignore the complex environments streets are meant to create and treat them as if they were simple throughput models. Streets need to be designed block by block. Those designs need to be responsive and adaptable." 

Yes, it's time for SWFL to rethink how it designs streets.

Strong Towns Blog

                       
Engineers should not design streets

May 23, 2016
by Charles Marohn

Last Friday I was participating in the 5th Annual Mayor's Bike Ride in Duluth following a week spent sharing the Strong Towns message on the Iron Range. The friendly woman riding next to me asked me what could be done to to better educate engineers so they would start to build streets that were about more than simply about moving cars. My answer rejected the premise of the question: We should not be asking engineers to design streets.

A quick review for those of you that are new here (which might be up to half the audience -- amazing). Roads and streets are two separate things. The function of a road is to connect productive places. You can think of a road as a refinement of the railroad -- a road on rails -- where people board in one place, depart in another and there is a high speed connection between the two.

In contrast, the function of a street is to serve as a platform for building wealth. On a street, we're attempting to grow the complex ecosystem that produces community wealth. In these environments, people (outside of their automobile) are the indicator species of success. So, in short, with a street we're trying to create environments where humans, and human interaction, flourish.

Engineers are well-suited to constructing roads. Road environments are quite simple and, thus, lend themselves well to things like design manuals and uniform guidelines. There are only so many variables and the relationship they have to each other is fairly straightforward. In the United States, we have tested, refined and codified an engineering approach to roads that is pretty amazing and, in terms of engineering, the envy of the world.

There are two primary variables for designing a road: design speed and projected traffic volume. From those two numbers, we can derive the number of lanes, lane width, shoulder width, the width of clear zones and the allowable horizontal and vertical curvature. From those factors, we can specify all the pavement markings and signage that are necessary. We can then monitor things like the Level of Service, the 85th percentile speed and traffic counts to optimize how the road functions over time. Engineers are really good at this.

Engineers are not good at building streets nor, I would argue, can the typical engineer readily become good at it. Streets that produce wealth for a community are complex environments. They do not lend themselves well to rote standards or even design guidelines. There are numerous variables at play that interact with each other, forming feedback loops and changing in ways that are impossible to predict.

Consider just one variable: the future of the adjacent land. The operative component of building wealth on a street is building. Who owns the property? What are they going to do with it? What is their capacity? Will they stick with it? Will they find the love of their life and move across the country? Each property has a near infinite set of complexities to it that change and respond to change, each of which is far more important to the wealth capacity of the street than, for example, lane width.

If we're trying to create an ecosystem that results in our indicator species (people) showing up in greater and greater numbers, we can't just focus on one or two variables. It can't be just design speed and volume. The natural ecosystem equivalent would be an observation that productive forests have trees and so we hire our forest engineers to go out and plant rows and rows of the optimum tree. It's obvious that, absent other flora and fauna, insects and bacteria, sunlight and rain and a myriad of other variables, the trees we are planting just aren't enough to get the ecosystem we're after.

If we're trying to create a natural ecosystem, we first have to recognize the environment we're in. A desert ecosystem will be far different than a northern forest. We then need to seed the basic elements, but we don't direct them day-to-day; we nurture them as they grow. If we know what we're after -- if we know our indicator species of success -- if we see the experiment getting way off track, we can intervene in small ways to nudge it back on course. We can introduce small changes and see how the system responds. Over time, our natural ecosystem will show us how it wants to grow.

We do a disservice to our communities when we treat streets as if they were roads, when we ignore the complex environments streets are meant to create and treat them as if they were simple throughput models. Streets need to be designed block by block. Those designs need to be responsive and adaptable.

Understanding that 99%+ of all streets that will exist a decade from now already exist today, what we're really talking about here in North America isn't building new streets but making good use of existing streets. The way we do this -- the way we design block by block in ways that are responsive and adaptable -- is to try things and see what works. Our tools are not traffic counters and code books but paint, cones and straw bales. Before we make any change permanent, we test it -- and possibly other variations -- first to see what works.

So if this isn't the job of an engineer -- and it's not -- who should design streets? The answer is as simple as it is radical: everyone. Building a productive street is a collective endeavor that involves the people who live on it, those who own property on it, those who traverse it as well as the myriad of professionals who have expertise they can lend to the discussion.

Put your least technical person on staff in charge of your next street. Empower them to meet with people, observe how people use the street and then experiment, in a low cost way, with different alternatives. Keep experimenting until you start to see your indicator species show up (outside of their cars, of course). Now you have a design you can hand over to your engineer to specify the technical stuff -- pavement thickness, paint specs, etc... -- and get the project built.

Engineers are highly competent at building roads. When you are trying to move automobiles quickly from one place to another, put your engineering in charge and do what they recommend. When you are trying to build a street -- when you are trying to make your city wealthier and more prosperous -- make your engineer one small voice in a larger chorus of people whose words and, especially, whose actions dictate what your design should be.

  See Chuck Marohn's TED Talk on "The Difference between Streets and Roads"

Lee MPO one of seven MPOs in the country selected to participate in national Transportation Leadership Academy

BikeWalkLee is thrilled with today's announcement that the Lee MPO has been selected as one of only 7 MPOs in the country to participate in a national Transportation Leadership Academy sponsored by T4America and supported by FHWA. This is an exciting opportunity for the Lee MPO and participating community leaders to be part of a yearlong cutting-edge project focused on the best practices in measuring the impacts of transportation investments. Kudos for the Lee MPO for applying and being selected for this opportunity. Being a "TIGER community" is opening more doors for the County...let's keep taking advantage of them.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lee County MPO, community leaders selected to participate in yearlong training academy on measuring the impacts of transportation investments

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (Jan. 12, 2016) – A group comprised of community leaders and the Lee County MPO was one of only seven groups selected nationally by the nonprofit Transportation for America to participate in a first-of-its-kind, yearlong training academy for ambitious metro regions beginning to use performance measurement to better assess the impacts of transportation spending. 

Lee County team members selected for the Transportation Leadership Academy include:

-          Brian Hamman, Lee County Commissioner and MPO Chairman

-          Marni Sawicki, Mayor of Cape Coral

-          Janet Watermeier, Watermeier Consulting and Property Services

-          Aaron Troyer, Troyer Brothers Farms

-          Dr. Margaret Banyan, Florida Gulf Coast University

-          Johnny Limbaugh, Lee County MPO

Other teams selected for the academy represent Boston; Cleveland; Des Moines; Indianapolis; Seattle; and South Bend, Indiana.

 

“Our entire team is honored to be selected by Transportation for America for this first-ever transportation leadership program, particularly with groups from such a diverse cross-section of the country,” said Hamman. “The knowledge this team will gain, and the national network we’ll create with other forward-thinking leaders, will serve Lee County’s transportation efforts well into the future.”

Lee County Commissioner and MPO Chair Brian Hamman

Performance measurement — more carefully measuring the impacts of transportation spending decisions to ensure that every dollar is aligned with the public’s goals and brings the greatest return possible for citizens — is an emerging practice that forward-looking metropolitan areas of all sizes are beginning to use. 

The program, created by Transportation for America in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration, will educate teams of local business, civic, elected leaders, and transportation professionals at the early stages of performance measure development; prepare participants to act on opportunities within their communities; and plug them into a dynamic national network of like-minded leaders throughout the country. 

“It’s never easy to raise money to invest in transportation, and more than ever before, citizens want to know how the decisions are being made to spend their money,” said Transportation for America Director James Corless. “A more accountable system that sets tangible goals with input from the community, chooses transportation projects that will help the community meet those goals, and then measures the outcomes in a feedback loop will be essential for ensuring that we get the best bang for the buck going forward.”

The yearlong academy will consist of in-person workshops, ongoing technical assistance throughout the year, regular online training sessions, and expert analysis of plans and progress on deploying performance measures.

For more information about the Lee County MPO, visit LeeMPO.com. Additional information about Transportation for America is available at T4America.org.

Contact:

Tina Matte, Gravina, Smith, Matte and Arnold Marketing and Public Relations, 239.275.5758, Tina@GSMA.pro

 Link to T4America Jan. 11, 2016 announcement:  Seven metropolitan areas selected to participate in yearlong transportation training academy

Quotes from past participants included in T4America's announcement: 

• “The benefit of being selected for this is program allows Central Indiana to have access to best practices in the industry as they’re being developed,” said Anna Gremling, executive director of the Indianapolis MPO, in their official release today. “Our team will use what we learn through this process to assist in the development of the 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan that will begin in mid-2016.”
• “This is the future of transportation in an era of aging infrastructure and limited revenue – continually measuring the performance of the transportation network to ensure we’re making the smartest investments possible,” Des Moines Area MPO Executive Director Todd Ashby said. “We are thrilled to be included in cutting-edge thinking on the best practices in this field.”

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Action Alert: Three bike/ped legislative issues that need YOUR attention

Your action is needed on 3 complete streets/bike/ped legislative issues:

1.  Federal Transportation Bill--Immediately!

The FEDERL TRANSPORTATION BILL includes important legislation that can improve bicycle and pedestrian safety and education and ensure the implementation of Complete Streets planning.

The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in the House of Representatives passed their version of the bill and referred it to the House floor. Committee leadership has indicated that they expect to pass the bill through the House, reconcile it with the Senate bill, and pass it by November 20.

Get background and details from League of American Bicyclistsfrom Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS AND ASK THEM TO:

• Support federal funding for walking and biking trails
• Maintain the Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) at its current level
• Fund the Vision Zero efforts under the Highway safety Improvement Program (HSIP) to create a source of funding for bicycle and pedestrian safety education programming
• PASS THE SAFE STREETS ACT THAT REQUIRES STATES TO PASS COMPLETE STREETS POLICIES

Click on a name to go to the email Contact for:

Senator Bill Nelson

Senator Marco Rubio

Representative Curt Clawson

 

 

2.  FHWA rule: Before December 7, 2015!

The FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION (FHWA) is proposing a rule that will ease outdated, federally mandated standards and allow communities to design and build Complete Streets. 

Learn more:

Feds propose major rule changes to eliminate barriers to safer streets

Read the regulation:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FHWA-2015-0020-0003

PLEASE SUBMIT A COMMENT IN FAVOR OF THIS RULE! The deadline is December 7, 2015. 

To Mail comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Dockets Management Facility, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590,  fax comments to(202) 493-2251, or submit to the Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov. All comments must include the docket number FHWA-2015-0020

 

3.  Passidomo Bike Safety Bill: Before January 1, 2016!

The LEE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION held its annual public meeting on Oct. 14th to hear from local leaders about their priorities for this Legislative Session.  BWL testified that its top priority is bike/ped safety and passage of the Passidomo bill (HB 253). We also stated our support for anti-texting bill (making it primary offense) (SB 328).

 

Read BWL's letter to the delegation.

Learn more about the Passidomo Bicycle Safety Bill  - HB253

Learn more about the anti-texting bills (SB 328 and HB 25)

WRITE TO MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION and remind them how you are counting on them to make significant progress this session and PASS THE PASSIDOMO BILL that provides better protection for vulnerable road users. 

Click on a name and go to the email of: 

Honorable Matt Caldwell

Honorable Kathleen Passidomo

Honorable Garrett Richter

Honorable Lizbeth Benacquisto

Honorable Heather Fitzenhagen 

Honorable Dane Eagle

Honorable Ray Rodrigues