Rochester Bike Week (May 20-27, 2011)
Bicycling Events to Promote: “A Community in Motion”
PRESENTED BY: the Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA)
EMAIL: bikeweek@rochestercyclingalliance.org
DETAILS: The Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA) will present their second annual Rochester Bike Week from May 20th through May 27th, 2011.
Complete list of events at: www.rochestercyclingalliance.org
May is Bike Month! As a nationally recognized week, The League of American Bicyclists (www.bikeleague.org) sponsors Bike Week each year to “…promote bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation…” in communities all across the United States. As such, the RCA will host their second annual Bike Week in Rochester, NY. Rochester’s Bike Week will include: races, fun group rides and other bicycling events to promote “A Community in Motion.” Our goal is to communicate that bicycling is a fun and viable mode of transportation that provides many great opportunities to get out and enjoy the City of Rochester by bicycle.
Key events include:
• Friday, May 20th @ 9:00 pm “Light Up the City Ride”
• Saturday, May 21st @ 12:30 pm “The Blessing of the Bicycles”
• Sunday, May 22nd @ 7:45 am “RCA Bike for Breakfast Ride”
• Sunday, May 22nd @ 3:00 pm “The Seersucker Social”
• Monday, May 23rd @ 7:00 pm “Basic Bike Commuting Workshop”
• Tuesday, May 24th @ 5:00 pm “City of Rochester Downtown Ride”
• Wednesday, May 25th @ 5:00 pm “GROC Victor Trail Sampler”
• Thursday, May 26th @ 6:30 pm “Ice Cream Social Ride”
• Friday, May 27th @ 9:00 pm “Search and Rescue Alley Cat”
For a complete event schedule with locations and start times, visit the RCA website at www.rochestercyclingalliance.org.
About the Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA): The RCA was formed in September, 2009 as an alliance of citizens working to create better cycling infrastructure and a stronger voice for cyclists in Rochester, NY. The RCA draws it members from all areas of the community and welcomes all types of cyclists.
Rochester has great potential for bikes!
• Rochester, NY – One of America’s Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities
http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-3-583-21901-1,00.html
• Rochester, NY – One of David Byrne’s Favorite Bike Cities:
http://ngadventure.typepad.com/blog/2009/09/go-green-david-byrnes-favorite-biking-cities.html
Construction site access on Clover St. Pittsford, NY a concern to cyclists
Public Meeting on Monday, May 23, 7:30 P.M.
The subject - Traffic review to allow commercial vehicles access to a construction site for a residential development south of Lehigh Station Road and off Clover St.
Town of Pittsford Planning Board
Town of Pittsford Hall (lower level)
The issue – Clover St. is designated a bicycle route. Bicycle safety along Clover St. is of great concern to cyclists. Clover St., being a 55 mph thoroughfare and relatively narrow, that cyclists will be placed into danger by large construction vehicles trafficking on that road.
You are encouraged to attend the meeting and voice your opinion about cycling safety on a bicycle route that is used frequently by cyclists.
A New Intermodal Station for Rochester, New York.
If you haven’t heard, the City of Rochester is requesting proposals for a new combined Amtrak/Greyhound/Trailways station. We don’t know about you, but we’re giddy with excitement. Rochester has had more than its share of great transit stations – sadly, many have been lost to history. Now, finally we have an opportunity to build a respectable gateway to Rochester that will serve our region well and become a landmark for many many generations.
Reconnect Rochester is not standing idly by. You know what they say about idle hands. Well these hands have been busy drawing up our own vision for the most perfect intermodal transit station Rochester is certainly deserving of.
We hope you feel this design is cool enough to share. Share it on Facebook. Email it to a friend or your local officials and representatives. Help us make this concept a reality.
More details about our concept after the jump…
Rochester Takes Big Step Toward New Intermodal Station…
The City of Rochester is requesting proposals for a scoping project 
. The project will inventory and analyze the site and corresponding buildings used by Amtrak, Trailways and Greyhound. The end product will be a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) compliant scoping document that lays the foundation for final design, build-out, and occupancy of a new Intermodal Transportation Center.
Reconnect Rochester is proud to be a stakeholder of this project. And BOY OH BOY do we have ideas we want to share.
Here’s a summary of what the City is asking from bidders:
Lilac Festival Bike Valet
Heading to the Lilac Festival this weekend? R Community Bikes is providing a Bike Valet service for festivalgoers at Mindful Body Pilates & Yoga – just $2!
RCA Meeting Agenda
RCA Meeting Agenda
Date: May 17, 2011
Time: 7:00 – 9p.m.
Location: U of R Georgen Hall Room 108
Map Link: http://www.rochester.edu/maps/ (River Campus)
Think Bicycling as Transportation
Sign in
Welcome and Introductions
Standing Committee Reports:
Communications
Events & Rides
Advocacy
Education
Public Meetings Reports:
City- 5/16 University Ave
Special Projects:
Symposium 4/27 –
Interest forms on SanDisk
Announcements:
Bike Week 5/20-27
Ride of Silence 5/18
We have a checking a/c
New Business:
Next Steps:
Symposium – All
Greentopia 9/17 & 18 (Bridges Ride) – ?
Wegmans East Ave Store Passport – Richard
501(c) (3) filing – Richard
Join LAB – Richard
Guest Speaker:
Next Meeting: June 21 at RIT
Check the RCA web site calendar for any last minute changes
Please RSVP Richard at rdscomm@rochester.rr.com if you plan to attend.
Ride of Silence
May 18, 2011
Meet: 6:30 p.m.
Start Time: 7:00 p.m. throughout North America
Start Location: Town of Penfield Highway Dept. on Jackson Road
Cyclists will ride in a slow, 10 mile silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roads.
Ride of Silence is sponsored by the Rochester Bicycling Club. It is a North American event now in its seventh year.
The ride will be escorted by Karwowski Escort Service. The Monroe County Sheriff Zone A will be present at the start.
Contact:
Andrew R Stewart
mine48565@mypacks.net
585 729-7008 cell
Rochester Bike Week needs your help!
Rochester Cycling Alliance is promoting another Rochester Bike Week May 20th – May 27th with the theme “A Community in Motion.” This year we are advocating for the Rochester Cycling Community at large to develop and promote their own events during Bike Week.
If you are interested, click on this link (CLICK HERE) and fill out the form. Once the form has been completed and reviewed we will contact you for any further details and then post your event on our website.
PLEASE NOTE: each ride organizer will be solely responsible for his/her event, including the development and logistics of the event to be listed below. Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA) does not assume any responsibility for the event you decide to organize. RCA will not post any events that are not geared toward making Rochester a bicycle friendly city.
For any questions regarding Bike Week please email: BikeWeek@rochestercyclingalliance.org.
Thank you for getting involved!
THIS WEDNESDAY: the First Greater Rochester Active Transportation Symposium
Walk, Bike, Smile, Thrive
Jon Schull
Scott Macrae
Walking and biking is good for your health, good for your state of mind, good for Rochester. And its about to get better.
Less than a year after the newly-formed Rochester Cycling Alliance began advocating for comprehensive bike-friendly planning and development, the City of Rochester has developed and released a Bicycle Master Plan that will encourage better bike lanes, neighborhood greenways, and urban trails, and stimulate similar developments in neighboring municipalities. The Town of Brighton has just received a planning grant from the federally-funded Genesee Transportation Council to develop a plan for bikeable and walkable connections between the University of Rochester, RIT, MCC, and downtown Rochester.
And on April 27, forward thinking planners, leaders, and citizens will come together for the firstGreater Rochester Active Transportation Symposium , to celebrate a rich set of geographical and demographic assets, ripe for integration.
The Greater Rochester Active Transportation Symposium will feature national leaders who will report on how active transportation planning in cities like Madison Wisconsin, and Minneapolis Minnesota has made roads safer, expanded transportation options, and increased community liveability and attractiveness, especially for young people critical for regional vitality and growth.
The April 27 Greater Rochester Active Transportation Symposium will also include over 13 workshops, rides and fun events designed to help citizens and local leaders adapt these lessons to our own city.
Consider the facts. The average Rochester family spends 19% of its income on transportation–about $8,000 a year. Yet over half of our trips are 5 miles in duration or less–perfect for biking. If even a fraction of our car commutes became bike commutes, effective family incomes could increase by thousands of dollars, and most of those dollars (hundreds of millions of dollars!) would circulate in Rochester’s economy, rather than Saudi Arabia’s. And by the way, mental alertness and fitness would increase along with life expectancies and productivity (cyclists live 2 years longer on average and lose 15% fewer days off work due to illness).
Rochester’s leaders and planners are attending the symposium because they are ready, willing, and able to listen and respond to forward-looking cyclists and community builders. But they need to know that the community supports and understands the incredible potential of active transportation planning for Rochesterian cyclists and non-cyclists alike.
So here’s what you can do to help make this vision a reality.
· Understand it. Attractive bikeways and walkways create and preserve thriving communities populated by energetic and forward thinking citizens. Energetic and forward thinking citizens create and sustain livable cities with rich transportation options, less obesity and heart disease, lower carbon footprints, less dependence on foreign oil. (Its not rocket science. Its better.)
· Know that realizing this vision need not be expensive. Portland Oregon’s entire cycling infrastructure was built for less than the cost of a single mile of urban expressway (and Portland now saves twenty times that much money per year in miles not driven).
· Ask for it. While the health benefits of cycling outweigh the safety risks 20 to 1, those benefits today go to those who are willing to brave roadways that are often scary and unappealing. Ask for better walkways and bikeways.
· Join us at the Greater Rochester Active Transportation Symposium Wednesday, April 27th and help us marry an emerging global vision with emerging local opportunities
· Vote with your feet. Bike more, walk more, smile more. You’ll feel better, and you’ll help the community thrive.
NYS Bike Summit
APRIL 28, 2011 9-11 AM
West Capital Park, Albany
(next to the State Capitol Building)
NOTICE:
Each year the NYS Bike Summit brings together bicycle advocates, coalition partners and allies to gather in the State Capital. We demonstrate that bicycling is important for human health, for the environment for our economy and our communities! We want investments to enable people of all ages and skill levels to ride safely on the road. We will recognize Bike Champions – legislators and others. We will be calling for passage of the crucial “Complete Streets Bill”. If it rains we will gather in The Well of the Legislative Office Building (across the street from West Capital Park).
Much more information about the NYS Bike Summit is available at www.nybc.net including;
- EVENT AGENDA
- PRESS RELEASE
- NYBC’s LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM
Contact Brian Kehoe brian@nybc.net 518-436-0889
Celebrate Earth Day with Reconnect Rochester and the Sierra Club
This Thursday evening Reconnect Rochester will be at the Sierra Club’s 13th Annual Environmental Forum, “Sustainable Production: Rochester’s Cutting Edge”. Come out and see us at our table and hear two nationally recognized leaders on sustainable production and manufacturing. Happy Earth Day!
U.S. Congressional Transportation Tour Coming to Rochester
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica will visit Rochester and Cortland on Thursday as part of the field hearings and listening sessions being held around the country by the Committee on the next federal transportation bill.
While the hearings are open to the public, testimony is via invitation only. Members of the public will be allowed to bring written testimony to share with staff at the hearing, or mail in their testimony directly to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. The Rochester hearing was originally scheduled for February; local advocates held their own transportation town hall to get more inclusive input, and delivered it to Rep. Mica.
Rochester Field Hearing (co-hosted by Rep. Tom Reed)
Thursday, March 24, 9-11am
Rochester International Airport [map]
Rochester, NY
Rochester's Bicycle Master Plan
Rochester’s Bicycle Master Plan Project
The City of Rochester wants to make it easier for you to get around on your bicycle. The Bicycle Master Plan project was completed in January 2011. The plan’s recommendations will serve as a framework for the city’s future investment in bicycle infrastructure. Thank you to everyone who provided comments, attended public meetings, and got excited about bicycling in Rochester!
About the Project
The City developed a long-term master plan for bicycling infrastructure and services.
Sprinkle Consulting (with SRF & Associates and EDR as sub-consultants) was selected through a request for proposal process and produced a plan that:
- identified best practices for bicycling infrastructure and services,
- assessed their feasibility for local application,
- identified appropriate locations for bicycle facilities,
- and recommended bicycle-supportive policies.
While the City of Rochester and Monroe County received an “honorable mention” from the League of American Bicyclists’ “Bicycle Friendly Communities” program in 2009, the goal is to achieve full “Bicycle Friendly Community” status from the group.
http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589943115
Happiest Cities are Biking Cities
National Geography sponsored author Dan Buettner recently studied the happiest communities worldwide and profiled several of them in his book “Trive”. He looked at them with regard to an extensive study of economics, sociology and individual interviews with experts in the field as well as residents. He found that two of the four cities he profiled were very strong bicycling and walking communities. What cities did he find were the happiest? Copenhagen, despite their weather and long winters, and St. Luis Obispo. St. Luis Obispo has a strong culture of individual entrepreneurialism, and civic involvement. The were the first city in the US to ban smoking, and also banned food drive throughs, watch out Dunkin Donuts!
In the final section of the book he makes recommendations on how to make a happy community. Walking and biking trails and lanes are important parts of a happy healthy community. It is interesting reading and Check out his book “Thrive” for some insight on tips for creating more happiness in your life.
A brief article on St. Luis Obispo is noted below: Scott
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/transportation/madonna-inn-bike-path-30265.html
Candidates Square Off on Rochester’s Future
This past Tuesday evening Reconnect Rochester co-sponsored a Mayoral forum on issues related to land use, neighborhood urban planning, transportation, development and revitalization. Bill Johnson, Tom Richards, and Alex White went toe to toe and Rachel Barnhart (WHAM 13 News) moderated.
In all, well over 200 people turned out and submitted questions ranging from planning to poverty. The event was the first extended, in-depth forum of Rochester’s mayoral campaign and was covered by several local news outlets including YNN, WROC, and the D&C.
Now, in the famous words of sportscaster Warner Wolf, “Let’s go to the video tape!” And let us know what you think of the candidates’ responses in the comments section.
DenDekker Withdraws Statewide Bike Licensing Bill
DenDekker Withdraws Statewide Bike Licensing Bill 
March 3, 2011
Today, NYS bicyclists showed their rising political clout, and NYBC and its members were right there in the fight! Only a few days ago, New York State’s bicyclists first heard about a proposal to require that every bicycle in the State have a license. This bill had many problems; in a time of severe fiscal constraint it would have added a costly layer of bureaucracy. Also, contrary to its stated intent, the required licenses would have done nothing to stop bicycle theft. Improving safety for bicyclists, motorists and other road users is more effectively achieved through education and investments in balanced infrastructure.
Today, the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Mike DenDekker, withdrew bill #A05429. His statement about that mithdrawal can be found here: http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/03/03/dendekker-withdraws-statewide-bike-license-bill/
NYBC staff and members made their objections to this bill loud and clear in emails and phone calls to DenDekker’s office. Brian Kehoe, NYBC Program Manager, provided statements to a variety of media outlets describing how this bill would have discouraged people from bicycling and produced no benefits. NYBC’s statement in opposition to the bill can be found at: http://www.nybc.net/wp-content/uploads/NYBC-State-Legislative-Platform.pdf
Congratulations NYS bicyclists!
Erie Lackawanna Rails-to-Trails Pedestrian Bridge on the Genesee Riverway Trail
The City’s efforts to improve and develop new shared use walking and biking trails, especially along the Genesee River, include plans to convert
the abandoned historic Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge over the Genesee River into a Rails-to-Trails pedestrian bridge.
About the Project
The converted Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge over the Genesee River will connect the east and west bank Genesee Riverway Trails. The Genesee Riverway Trail is an urban multi-use trail adjacent to the Genesee River, used primarily by bicyclists, pedestrians, and cross-country skiers. This project will further the effort to connect the trail to various neighborhoods and business districts by linking the University of Rochester and Strong Memorial Hospital, the City’s largest employer, on the east bank with its westside neighbors.
Licensing Bicycles in New York State
Licensing Bicycles in New York State
If you are interested in reading this very short bill here is the link.
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A05429%09%09&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Votes=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y
You will notice that it doesn’t provide for any real benefits to the cycling community.
Rochester Transportation meeting gets national attention, and Jon gets his picture taken!
Rochester Transportation meeting gets national attention, and Jon gets his picture taken!
http://blog.tstc.org/2011/02/23/the-public-speaks-at-federal-transportation-town-hall-in-rochester/
The meeting was also mentioned with an entry in “Streetsblog”, the national grassroots transpo blog:
http://streetsblog.net/2011/02/24/rochester-residents-left-out-of-transpo-bill-hearing-create-their-own/
Mayoral Candidates to Discuss Rochester’s Future
While Rochester searches for its next mayor to take office and begin the arduous task of planning the City’s future, Reconnect Rochester is taking the issues to the candidates and the candidates to the people.
Mayoral Candidates Discuss Rochester’s Future
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 7:00pm
1000 University Ave. Rochester
Gleason Works Auditorium
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