Upcoming government meetings--June 2011

In the remainder of June, there are several meetings that you might be interested in attending. Note: these meetings and details are included on the BikeWalkLee Calendar on the blog.

1. Lee County Government:
• The County’s Transit Task Force holds its 6th meeting on Thursday, June 9th at 1 p.m. at the Lee County Annex Building, 1825 Hendry St., Fort Myers. Check the website for materials:
* The Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, June 14th at 5:00 p.m. to consider reducing or eliminating impact fees. Such a move would reduce funds available for bike/ped and other road improvement projects. See the County website for information.

• The Lee County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) will hold its next monthly meeting at 3 p.m. on June 15th. Click here for the link to the BPAC website and meeting agenda.
• On June 15th at 6 p.m., the Lee Community Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC) will hold its monthly meeting. Check the Sustainability website for the agenda package:
2. MPO Meetings:

• The MPO Board meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 17th at 9:00 a.m.
NOTE: with the exception of the BPCC (which will meet on July 19th), all the other MPO committees and board meetings in July are cancelled.
• All MPO meetings are held at the MPO’s office on 1926 Victoria Avenue, Fort Myers. Click here for a link to the MPO website where you'll find agendas and briefing packets for each meeting.
3. Local Jurisdiction Meetings:
• • City of Cape Coral: On June 15th, the Council’s Transportation Advisory Committee meets at 9 a.m. to follow-up on the bike lanes discussion at their May 18th meeting.

Sunday's News-Press focuses on pedestrian & bike safety--problems & solutions

June 5, 2011

Today's lengthy editorial, "Non-motorists face grave risk"
focuses on the Dangerous by Design report--the problems and solutions.

May 7 proved to be a tragic day for two women who rode their bicycles in different parts of Lee County.

Tracy A. Kleinpell, 46, was riding with her husband on Sanibel Island. Kelly Geiger, 52, was riding in Bonita Springs. Both were hit by drivers and died as a result.
Neither motorist, Rachel Ryan, 22, nor Theresa Shirley, 46, has been charged in the deaths.

Our community grieves for the victims' families, and the other cyclists and pedestrians who have been injured or killed on Southwest Florida roads.
What we know is that our roads are dangerous - in fact a national report recently released found that Florida's roads are the most dangerous in the country for non-motorists.
The safety advocacy coalition Transportation for America released its "Dangerous by Design 2011" report late last month. Click here to continue reading.

BikeWalkLee's Guest Opinion: Formula helps make pedestrian-and-bicycle-friendly communities

The commentary focuses on three questions: Why is Florida is much deadlier? Why is the bike/ped master plan important for Lee County? and What does Lee County need from its leaders?
Click here to read the commentary.

Letters to the Editor focus on bike safety
Today's edition contains two letters, with more to be published tomorrow.
On Monday, five more letters were published. Click here to read.
On Tuesday, there were four more letters. Click here to read.

There was also a related letter to editor in Island Reporter about biking the Sanibel Causeway.
Finally, Doug MacGregor's political cartoon focuses on the need to share the road.

Dan Moser's Florida Weekly Column:Make way for bikes: no excuses, no arguments

Florida Weekly
June 1, 2011
Soon after the news broke that cyclist Tracey Kleinpell had been killed by a motorist, the bikes-don’t-belong-on-the-road crowd began voicing its opinion in the paper and on the Internet. To question whether or not Ms. Kleinpell belonged on the road is so absurd and borderline insensitive that it barely merits repeating. However, this latest eruption of ill-will toward bikers is a good opportunity to once again explain some basic legal and civic principals for the benefit of the uninformed.

Over the years, I’ve found that some who are of the opinion that anyone who’s not driving a motor vehicle should simply stay on side paths believe they are actually providing solid advice. I can’t count the number of times motorists have pulled up next to me with such a recommendation, qualified by “do you want to get killed?” Others clearly are perturbed by anything that might slow them down, even if, in reality, they only had to change lanes to pass and be on their way. And then there are the sociopaths among us who are just plain dangerous, especially when behind the wheel of their killing machines. Believe me, as someone who teaches a class for court-ordered high-risk drivers, there are plenty of folks out there who fit the latter category.

Well, if you’re among the above described motorists you’re just going to have to get used to sharing the road with a variety of nontraditional vehicles and even non-vehicles, from golf carts to skateboards. The number of bikes and alternative transportation vehicles is only going to grow. Ever-rising fuel prices are part of the reason, as are the health and environmental benefits we realize when using human-power to move about. And so is the fun that comes with a bike ride or rollerblading.

What’s so disturbing about this persistent call for staying off the road is that it’s not even possible, a fact that appears to be lost on those spewing it out. For one, at every single intersection — including driveways — side path users and road users must interact with each other. Unfortunately for those using the side path, too many motorists think they own the extension of side path (i.e. the crosswalk, marked or unmarked) as well, thus they are no better off then when in the road. Second, there will never, ever, be sidewalks and bike paths along each and every road, period. Think Lehigh Acres or Cape Coral. So what are those who aren’t in a car to do in cases where a side path doesn’t exist? Finally, by statute, bikes are vehicles having the same rights to the road as all others. What more do we need than the law on our side, not to mention the well-documented fact that it’s significantly safer to cycle on the road as a vehicular operator than as a quasi-pedestrian on the side path? The bottom line is bikes belong.

Advocacy update

Here’s an update on Lee County’s Bike/Ped Master Plan. At its May meeting, the Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization officially and unanimously approved the plan after a number of community leaders from various professions and representing multiple interests gave it ringing endorsements. Implementation of the plan’s recommendations will begin immediately with the MPO’s Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinating Committee being the first stop.

Also, another local government is moving toward putting a “complete streets” policy in place. The city of Fort Myers began that process with its planning board taking the lead.

The city already does a decent job of accommodating pedestrians and cyclists, although there are many gaps and shortcomings, so this is a welcome first step. Along with making better use of the existing Bicycle/Pedestrian Master Plan (and perhaps an update that can easily and inexpensively be done now that the MPO’s plan is in place), a complete streets policy should make a big difference and help further the efforts being put forth by Lee County and others.

Finally, Transportation for America just released its latest edition of Dangerous by Design, a report on pedestrian conditions in each of our country’s metro areas. Once again, the top four most dangerous communities with populations over one million are in Florida. Our efforts in Lee County were noted as a positive example, but our pedestrian safety record remains dismal, as the report confirms.

Until next time, I’ll look for you on the roads and trails.

— Dan Moser is a league cycling and- Cycling Savvy instructor and programs director for the Florida Bicycle Association who cycles, runs and walks regularly for transportation, recreation and fitness. He can be contacted at dan@floridabicycle.org or 334-6417.