Update on Cape Coral bike lanes pending request

Report from Steve Chupack, BikeWalkLee's Cape Coral representative:

Here's the latest on the SW Cape Coral Neighborhood Association's request for 1.1 miles of bike lanes on Beach Parkway and Agualinda Boulevard.

Thanks to efforts by a number of bike/pedestrian safety advocates, we can report unofficially that the Bicycle Lane Request Survey forms submitted to the Department of Public Works show very strong support for this request. The "survey" was just that, an opportunity for citizens to voice their opinion. Staff of PW will include the survey results when it reports to the City Council's Transportation Advisory Commission. It will be one of many factors considered when voting whether to recommend approving the request.

The TAC was scheduled to hold its next meeting on Nov. 16. On Nov. 4, TAC Chairman, Councilman Pete Brandt, cancelled the meeting after polling other members. There will be at least one new member appointed to the TAC at the Council's Nov. 14 meeting, the first after the election. If the TAC meeting was held as scheduled, there would have been only two days for any new member to be brought up to speed on the issues before the TAC, including the pending review of the SWCCNA bike lane request. It is expected the TAC will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14. We will provide updates as new information becomes available.

Patricia Young, Board member of the SWCCNA, and Steve Chupack, BWL representative for Cape Coral, express their thanks to all who used the survey form posted on BikeWalkLee and other sites, to the Caloosa Riders, and others who indicated their strong support for the bike lane request.

Senate transportation reauthorization bill a triple whammy for biking & walking

November 7th Legislative Report from Alliance for Biking and Walking:

The Senate version of a new two-year transportation authorization bill was released on Friday, and it does not preserve dedicated funding as we had been promised. Worse yet, it adds more eligible activities and gives an opt-out option all together.

Here is a quick analysis from America Bikes:
[Click here to see their side-by-side comparison.]

Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and the Recreation Trails Program are all lumped together into a smaller funding pot that is shared with some wetland mitigation banking uses for NEPA compliance AND road uses such as redesigning roads, HOV lanes, etc.

This bill does not address safety concerns, and it includes performance measures that look at project results versus network or system-wide effects. This will make it harder for bicycle and pedestrian projects to compete for CMAQ money.

This bill also keeps the name of Transportation Enhancements (which national bike/ped organizations would prefer to change) and broadens the use of enhancements to include new and expensive uses. In addition, it puts all of TE into a new pot called “Additional Activities.”

In summary it’s a triple whammy for biking and walking:
• Less money
• More competition
• It’s all optional

On the transit side, we understand that the transit funding share will remain the same at 20% and that there will be flexibility for transit in the bill. More details will be forthcoming on this section of the bill and many others.

On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will "mark up" the bill. Usually, this would give a chance for members of the committee to offer amendments to improve the bill, and those amendments would be debated and voted on. However, Wednesday’s committee mark-up is a sham. The “Big 4” — Senators Boxer (D-CA), Inhofe (R-OK), Baucus (D-MT) and Vitter (R-LA) — have stated they will vote together as a bloc to stop any amendment on either side from passinhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifg, so we don't expect any changes in the bill at this step.

In the next several days, our national partners, America Bikes, Transportation for America, Alliance for Biking and Walking, the National Complete Streets Coalition, etc. will be issuing analyses and statements about the bill, and we'll keep you abreast of important developments.

Stay tuned for future action alerts!

Click here to read the Nov. 8th statement by Bicycling and Walking Organizations in response to the Senate bill (called MAP-21).

Click here for an analysis of the bill by Transportation for America.

Update on Lee County New Horizon 2035--moving from the EAR to comp plan amendments

Horizon 2035 is a comprehensive review and update of the Lee Plan through the year 2035. New Horizon 2035 include three components: the Evaluation and Appraisal Report, the Lee Plan Update, and the LDC Update. The EAR resulted in a sustainable vision for growth and development through the year 2035. Lee County is now using this vision as the basis to update the Lee Plan’s goals, objectives and policies.

The New Horizon 2035 vision is:
Lee County will be a highly desirable place to live, work, and visit – recognized for its commitment to a sustainable future characterized by a healthful economy, environment, and community. Because of its commitment, Lee County will be a community of choice – valued for its quality of life; varied natural environment; unique sense of history and place; distinct urban, suburban, and rural communities; diverse economy and workforce; and varied travel options.

The Lee Plan Update is being completed in two parts: policy issue discussions and draft elements. Before drafting goals and policies, the County's Planning Division will present a series of monthly issue papers to the Local Planning Agency and Sustainability Committee for input.

The first issue paper was presented in the fall of 2011 and will continue through winter 2012. Once the issue papers have been completed, staff will then present specific changes to the Lee Plan's goals, objectives, and policies.

These changes will be presented by element starting in spring 2012. The process for updating the Lee Plan will continue through the winter of 2012-2013. To date, two white papers have been prepared and each is going through the review and discussion process in two county committees--the Local Planning Agency (LPA) and the Community Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC). Both issue papers--Visioning & Health & Human Services, along with LPA's comments, are located on the Horizon 2035 website.

The Public Health & Safety issue paper, discussed by the LPA on October 24th, draws from BikeWalkLee's 2009 safety report and the MPO bike/ped master plan to make the case for the connection between health and urban design and the need to incorporate the alternative transportation impact on the health of Lee County residents in developing policies on urban design. To read this issue paper, click here. The next paper to be developed is of critical importance--transportation concurrency. That issue paper will be presented to the LPA in January and to the CSAC in February.

In order to ensure that the Horizon 2035 vision of integrating complete streets principles in the county's policies and practices, this vision has to be incorporated into detailed Comprehensive Plan amendments that will result from these issue papers. BikeWalkLee will be an active player in this dialogue through participating in the LPA and CSAC discussions and will keep you posted on these developments.