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PLEX Walking Tour of Brooks Landing to Ford Street Runabout. Sunday!


“PLEX (Plymouth-Exchange Neighborhood Association) will be holding four successive walking tours on Sundays in November to build awareness of the historical attributes along the west riverbank from Brooks Landing to the Ford Street roundabout (flyer attached).

Gather at Boulder Coffee at noon and then depart at 12:15 pm sharp.”

The first tour lasted approximately 2 hours. I’m in!

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Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge

The Erie-Lackawanna Bridge is going to be refurbished for bicycle and pedestrian traffic!

This is very big news, especially since the Southwest Common Council has already embraced the notion that a year round RochesterGreenway should go up the west side of the River (and re-invigorate a part of town much in need of it).

via Rochester Cycling Alliance by Rochester Cycling Alliance on 10/19/09

David Skinner, a friend of mine who has urged the city and the University of Rochester to open the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge to foot and bicycle traffic, passed along some good news on Friday. Tom Hack, a Project Engineer with the city, wrote to him:

“I have good news about the ELRR Bridge “Rails to Trails” Project. We have secured $1.2M from a 50-50 matching State Program. The State kicks in $600,000 and the City matches this with $600,000. We just received the agreement from the State, have signed it and it’s back on the Governor’s desk. The good thing with this is that it’s considered “old” money and should be sheltered from recent budget cuts. Our schedule at this point, barring anything crazy out of Albany, is as follows:

Solicit a Design Consultant…………….. Jan – Feb 2010
Undertake site reconnaissance and survey…..Feb -April 2010
Begin preparation of alternatives ………. April – May 2010
Host Citizens Advisory Meetings ………… May -June 2010
Layout alternatives …………………… June-July 2010
Host public meetings ………………….. August 2010
Finalize concepts …………………….. Sept 2010
Finalize design ………………………. Sept – Jan 2010
Issue Construction Contracts …………… Jan 2011
Construction phase……………………...April 2011
Open Bridge…………………………… Sept 2011
We’ve received a lot of community support along with the U of R’s direct support. This has helped a lot in allowing the funds to flow and the project to move forward.”

The bridge hasn’t seen any railroad traffic since the 1970s. Once opened to pedestrian and cyclist traffic, it will provide another link between the East and West-side river trails. The Genesee Transportation Council has a detailed report on the project at:

http://www.gtcmpo.org/Docs/PlansStudies/ErieLackawannaRRBridgeTrailStudy.pdf

— Gary Young

Things you can do from here:

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“Rochester’s 350.org Coverage”


Judging from the media response around the world, the 350.org event has been a hit: October 24 Press Release | 350.org “350.org To Stage Largest Day of Environmental Action in History | 5,242 Simultaneous Events on Climate in 181 Countries.”

“Citizens, scientists and world leaders in 181 countries will take to nearby streets, mountains, parks, and reefs today to demand strong action on climate change, in what will be the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history. 5,242 rallies and creative demonstrations will take place, all of them centered on the number 350, to draw attention to 350 parts per million (ppm), which an overwhelming number of scientists now insist is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

However, judging from our local media response to the several 350.org events, not much happened: a Rousing Dud. (Disclaimer: Because I did not rush out and buy up all the paper versions of our local media, or frantically tune into all the TV and radio stations either, ((because they are insufferably myopic and merely pander to their corporate sponsors)), I am basing this observation on what our local media has posted on the Internet today—October 25, 2009.)

Maybe I posted this article too soon and the media just hasn’t gotten up to snuff yet on how this world-wide event played out in Rochester. Maybe, they’re all scurrying around in their backrooms, honing 350.org coverage so it will be a real sizzler when it comes out. Maybe.

But, I’m not on any of the local media’s editorial staff. So, what do I know? Maybe, getting world-wide attention focused on the planet warming up just is too far out of the comfort and profit zones of our local media. That must be the case because there are lots of sports, criminal activity, political carping, and lots of sports coverage on our local media. Really, a lot of sports. Sports are in, imminent environmental collapse is out.

Only as an observer (another disclaimer: I was a participant) did I see over sixty bicyclists ride from downtown Rochester to the RIT campus. Then, I witnessed for myself a great rally with the RIT president and his college in full support of the sea change needed on the matter of Climate Change and a full day’s programming to show that our community gets it on 350ppm. I witnessed lots of people taking photos and videos and uploading them to 350.org. To be fair, our local media wasn’t completely hopeless. I see one media with one article on one 350.org event for our area: RIT Marks International Day of Climate Action “It may not always be the right weather for a bike ride around here, but as they say wait 5 minutes and it’ll change. The rain Saturday morning didn’t stop a group of environmentally conscious riders from hitting the trail. The purpose: to mark the International Day of Climate Action.” (October 25, 09) http://rochester.ynn.com/

Yet, all in all it’s very troubling. One of 350.org’s purposes (the other was to get our politicians’ attention focused on the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009) was to make enough noise to make everyone take notice of the danger point we have passed for a sustainable environment. That is, to both circumvent the dysfunctional media and get in the face of a corporate-manipulated press that is disinclined to speak about the fact that the planet’s atmosphere is warming up due to humanity’s activities.

Our planet is warming up due to our way of life. This is as clear as those annoying pop-ups on every mainstream media’s web page, as clear as the ubiquitous sports scores that flash across those flat screen TV’s, and as eye-catching as the endless violence that inundates local media stories: Those charged with informing us with the information we need to live sustainable are not doing their job.

If you did attend one of the area’s 350.org events, and you still welcome a challenge, why not contact your local media and ask them why they didn’t cover Rochester’s participation in this world-wide event?

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Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge

David Skinner, a friend of mine who has urged the city and the University of Rochester to open the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge to foot and bicycle traffic, passed along some good news on Friday. Tom Hack, a Project Engineer with the city, wrote to him:

“I have good news about the ELRR Bridge “Rails to Trails” Project. We have secured $1.2M from a 50-50 matching State Program. The State kicks in $600,000 and the City matches this with $600,000. We just received the agreement from the State, have signed it and it’s back on the Governor’s desk. The good thing with this is that it’s considered “old” money and should be sheltered from recent budget cuts. Our schedule at this point, barring anything crazy out of Albany, is as follows:

Solicit a Design Consultant…………….. Jan – Feb 2010
Undertake site reconnaissance and survey…..Feb -April 2010
Begin preparation of alternatives ………. April – May 2010
Host Citizens Advisory Meetings ………… May -June 2010
Layout alternatives …………………… June-July 2010
Host public meetings ………………….. August 2010
Finalize concepts …………………….. Sept 2010
Finalize design ………………………. Sept – Jan 2010
Issue Construction Contracts …………… Jan 2011
Construction phase……………………...April 2011
Open Bridge…………………………… Sept 2011
We’ve received a lot of community support along with the U of R’s direct support. This has helped a lot in allowing the funds to flow and the project to move forward.”

The bridge hasn’t seen any railroad traffic since the 1970s. Once opened to pedestrian and cyclist traffic, it will provide another link between the East and West-side river trails. The Genesee Transportation Council has a detailed report on the project at:

http://www.gtcmpo.org/Docs/PlansStudies/ErieLackawannaRRBridgeTrailStudy.pdf

— Gary Young

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Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge

David Skinner, a friend of mine who has urged the city and the University of Rochester to open the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Bridge to foot and bicycle traffic, passed along some good news on Friday. Tom Hack, a Project Engineer with the city, wrote to him:

“I have good news about the ELRR Bridge “Rails to Trails” Project. We have secured $1.2M from a 50-50 matching State Program. The State kicks in $600,000 and the City matches this with $600,000. We just received the agreement from the State, have signed it and it’s back on the Governor’s desk. The good thing with this is that it’s considered “old” money and should be sheltered from recent budget cuts. Our schedule at this point, barring anything crazy out of Albany, is as follows:

Solicit a Design Consultant…………….. Jan – Feb 2010
Undertake site reconnaissance and survey…..Feb -April 2010
Begin preparation of alternatives ………. April – May 2010
Host Citizens Advisory Meetings ………… May -June 2010
Layout alternatives …………………… June-July 2010
Host public meetings ………………….. August 2010
Finalize concepts …………………….. Sept 2010
Finalize design ………………………. Sept – Jan 2010
Issue Construction Contracts …………… Jan 2011
Construction phase……………………...April 2011
Open Bridge…………………………… Sept 2011
We’ve received a lot of community support along with the U of R’s direct support. This has helped a lot in allowing the funds to flow and the project to move forward.”

The bridge hasn’t seen any railroad traffic since the 1970s. Once opened to pedestrian and cyclist traffic, it will provide another link between the East and West-side river trails. The Genesee Transportation Council has a detailed report on the project at:

http://www.gtcmpo.org/Docs/PlansStudies/ErieLackawannaRRBridgeTrailStudy.pdf

— Gary Young

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Oct 24 Greenway Greenride to the Rochester Bicycle Summit at RIT


Greetings,

I’m writing to alert you to an event that should be of interest to bicyclists and environmentalists throughout the Greater Rochester area.
Saturday, October 24th will mark 350.org‘s International Day of Climate Action and the end of a week of climate action teach-ins at RIT. The culminating event in Rochester will be a mass bike ride along the proposed Rochester Greenway. The Rochester Greenway goes south from Downtown along the river, past the University of Rochester, through the Genessee Valley Park, and on down the Lehigh Valley North Trail to RIT. The draft GreenRide poster sketches the route.

Once at RIT, the Rochester Bike Summit will be held in the new Center for Student Innovation. Its goal: to discuss a number of exciting bicycle and alternative transportation initiatives, and to make connections between the bicycle community, city planners, and environmentalists. We might also consider the need for a “common cause” organization that could help these initiatives become realities. For more information, see the draft Rochester Bicycle Ecology Poster (attached), and look for details coming soon toRochesterGreenway.org. Your input and projects would be most welcome additions!

Among the attractions planned for the Rochester Cycle Summit

  • volunteer-manned stations for free bicycle maintenance
  • exhibits on pedal power and bicycles as energy-conservation solutions
  • posters and exhibits describing numerous bike initiatives
  • an ultra-wide screen short describing the potential for making Rochester a world class center for recreational and functional transport
  • free rides on electric bikes and recumbents
  • · your bike shop, project, or proposal!

We’d like your help shaping the event and recruiting participants. The attached materials are still evolving, but time is short. Please pass this message on to others who would be interested, and let me know, how you or your organization would like to be involved.


Jon Schull schull@digitalgoods.com cell: 585-738-6696
Associate Professor Rochester Institute of Technology

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Active transportation programs eligible for $650 million available through new public health grants

Via Safe Routes to School National Partnership:

On September 17, 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a new program: Communities Putting Prevention to Work.Thirty to forty communities will receive a total of $373 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus) dollars through this competitive grant program to support interventions that reduce obesity (through improved physical activity and nutrition) and/or reduce tobacco use. Communities can apply for either focus area or both. This landmark opportunity is aimed at mobilizing community resources toward broad-based policy, systems, organizational and environmental changes. The application places an emphasis on communities demonstrating effective coalitions, and notes that special consideration should be given to the inclusion of populations disproportionately affected by chronic diseases.

On September 29, 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the release of $120 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for prevention and wellness programs for U.S. states and territories, building on the recent announcement of the $373 million funding opportunity for communities and tribes around the country. In all, the comprehensive Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative will make $650 million available for public health efforts to address obesity, increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and decrease smoking.

Lead Applicants: Local and State Health Departments

Deadlines:

  • Letter of Intent Deadline: October 30, 2009
  • Application Deadline: December 1, 2009
…

The Opportunity for Bike/Ped and Health Officials: Communities Putting Prevention to Work provides an important opportunity for bicycle and pedestrian professionals, enthusiasts, and advocates, as well as health officials, to act quickly to get your city or state to:

  1. Apply for the funding;
  2. Educate the health department about the range of bike/ped interventions that can be included in their application and action plan; and
  3. Include your organization as a partner in the effort.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has worked with our partners at America Bikes and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership to prepare a list of sample bike/ped activities that fit within the five categories of evidence-based interventions that are required as part of this CDC application. We encourage you to review these sample activities and assess which would work well in your community. Funds are available to make these projects a reality—so it is in your interest to work with your health department to develop the bike/ped aspects of the CDC application for obesity prevention, and to demonstrate how your organization can be a resource to them.

Act Now to Contact Your Health Department and City Officials: Now is the time to contact your health department and city officials to encourage them to apply, and to share your ideas on bike/ped interventions. Don’t wait – health departments are making decisions now about whether to apply, and what to propose in their grant applications.

  • Populations

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HowStuffWorks "Working Models"

The Hyanide”


When the driver turns the steering handle to the left, the front part of the tread angles to the left. Pushing back the left foot control will simultaneously turn the back segment of the tread as well, giving the Hyanide a very sharp turning radius. Meanwhile, the tread is constantly driving in the direction of the turn, so it always maintains maximum traction.

Hyanide
2008 HowStuffWorks
A motorcycle, an ATV and a snowmobile each have very distinct functions. But what if you could combine them in one vehicle? Enter the Hyanide.

The driver implements the hand-and-foot steering system with two handles for his hands and two special footrests that accommodate custom-made shoes. A passenger can ride directly behind the driver, just like on a motorcycle.

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Planning for October 24th. Three-Fifty Day

Here’s what we know.

On October 24th, RIT is going to host the 350 Climate Action Festival, a series of events related to “the most important number on earth: 350“ (parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere).
One of the events will be a mass bike ride along the path of the future RochesterGreenway with bikers converging from downtown, U of R, MCC, and other places else, to arrive at the Sentinel at noon.
Another event will be a Rochester Bike Summit, in the Center for Student Innovation, at 2:00pm. The goal:
  • to discuss a number of emerging and potential regional initiatives that could make Rochester New York a world center of Biking and Transportation innovation,
    • the Rochester Greenway (of course)
    • the prospect that we might develop a fleet of ultralight electric vehicles to ride (along with bikes) on the Greenway
    • the proposed annual 6-day Tour de New York
    • the City’s development of a Master Bicycling Plan
    • plans for proposed and under-construction bike paths
    • the possibility that the world’s leading museum of bicycle history might be brought to Rochester (or, alternatively, be lost to Western New York)
    • the development of an online interactive bicycle map
    • bringing the Bicycle Film Festival to Rochester

  • to identify and discuss shared interests and opportunities that overlap these various initiatives and their supporters
    • making biking safer
    • interconnecting the region’s extraordinary network of biking trails
    • making Rochester a world capital of biking and sustainable transportation innovation
How you can help. Email Jon.Schull @ RIT.edu
  • Let us know if you are willing to help plan and organize.
  • Let us know if you are planning to ride.
  • Get others to do the same
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GreenwaytoHighFalls

GreenwaytoHighFalls

There is a most excellent way to ride from the Greenway to High Falls, over the Clinton Street elevated bikeway (who knew?), to Main and South, and up to the West Side of High Falls, with some interesting urban sights along the way.

By riding on the over-wide under-used sidewalks, you are never in traffic. These over-wide under-used sidewalks could easily be turned into dedicated bike lanes, with dedicated pedestrian walkways on the other side of each street.
These photos were taken with my iphone and a great little app for making panoramas, called Stitch).

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The Recumbent Blog � Blog Archive � World’s Longest Bicycle Tunnel Opens…

The Recumbent Blog Blog Archive

WORLD’S LONGEST BICYCLE TUNNEL OPENS…

tunnel6[1]

These folks take bike transportation seriously… very seriously! Seriously enough to spend $3.7 million dollars to convert a railway tunnel for cyclists, add security cameras, install a public address system…

As Copenhagenize.com adds:

“Amazing that a city of this size is willing to invest in such remarkable bicycle projects when larger cities elsewhere have trouble painting bicycle lanes. Spain has hardly enjoyed status as a bicycle-friendly country in the past”

Details and photos at Copenhagenize.com →

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Possible designs | mini-farthing

Possible designs | mini-farthing

Mini-farthing highways

homeimage5large.jpg

Suspended, covered mini-farthing highways in cities could allow people to move around quickly and independently in comfort. Much cheaper than subways and light enough to be suspended over existing roads and infrastructure. Easy to carry mini-farthing up or down stairs to get on and off. This may be a solution to the last mile for sustainable cities that want their citizens to have freedom to have freedom to move about in a safe, fast and environmentally friendly way.

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Turning Point Park


Turning Point Park
Originally uploaded by -dangler

Does everyone know about this?

We took an extraordinary ride on an exquisite bike trail at the Northern End of the Rochester Riverway Trail (Charlotte, north of the Greenway) on the West Side of the River.

How did this gem of a trail and boardwalk come to be built? And why isn’t it celebrated? It is a world-class marriage of natural beauty and low impact civil engineering.

Who did this?

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Behold the Bike!

Few inventions have the efficiency, health benefits, affordability, urban design potential, safety features and environmental friendliness of the modern bike. It’s not your grandmother’s bicycle; it’s a revolutionary component in our future transportation portfolio. There have been bikes. There will be bikes.

Bikes started as glorified hobby horses (the walking machine), then got pedals (the velocipede or boneshaker), then rose up and sped up (the high wheel bicycle), then began settling down for speed and safety (the hard-tired safety), and now they are fast, sleek and efficient. It was a long (and sometime dangerous) haul; and, if you are quick about it, you can see the entire history of bicycles at the Pedaling History Bicycle Museum in Orchard Park, NY before it closes. (If enough visitors go, maybe it won’t close.) [http://www.pedalinghistory.com/]

Now, in many modern urban communities the bicycle is more than an old contraption made new and glorified by bike clubs and enthusiasts. Bicycles are not simply hangers-on, like horse-riding or Model T driving on Sunday. Bicycles are becoming an integral part of planned transportation systems throughout the country. Note how cities like Portland, Oregon and Boulder, Colorado are retrofitting their vehicle-dominated streets into bike boulevards (BTA: Bicycle Boulevards Campaign) where commuters and even kids off to school can get to their destinations year-round and safely.

Year-round and safely? In New York State? In the rain, the snow, heavy traffic, though the mud, across busy bridges, to grandmother’s house and still be presentable?

Become a believer. When more people bike more drivers accept them on our streets—which, of course, they have every right to be. In official studies: under 6.5 miles, the public prefers bicycling over mass transit. Bicycling produces zero greenhouse gas emissions, has relatively inexpensive repair bills, and because of the soaring cost of road and bridge maintenance our regional planners consider bicycles a serious component of our future transportation.

If we make our streets more bike accessible, protect bicyclists from fast-moving traffic, create innovative all-weather bike corridors, [http://rochestergreenway.org/]and provide convenient and comprehensive bike parking, the public will bike. Already, many cities have found a way to bicycle-friendly their streets, not because it is trendy, but because there is no faster, more efficient, environmentally and urban-friendlier way to get around than the bike. [http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/communities/]

Too expensive, too radical, too dangerous, too slow, and just too much darn trouble? As opposed to what? Billions of dollars on maintaining our existing vehicular dominated streets? An obese society that spends zillions of bucks for insurance, parking, fuel, repairs, and the vehicles’ price (the ‘Clunkers for Cash’ program is drying up)?

The real impediment to creating a Rochester, New York that moves around in massive numbers on bicycles and renews our sense of community from our too expensive isolation tanks is Attitude. Everything else is there, the technology, the know-how, and the vivid examples of bike/transportation modes across the spectrum of world cities. Behold a healthier lifestyle.

Frank J. Regan [RochesterEnvironment.com]