Paging Leavenworth Commuters...

If you find yourself searching for the proverbial white courtesy phone after reading the headline, then we have an opportunity for you! This opportunity comes in the form of an upcoming community meeting regarding proposed bicycle infrastrucure improvements along Leavenworth between I-480 and 24th Street.

When: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
Where: Greek Orthodox church - 602 Park Avenue

The meeting is primarily for business owners along that corridor, but we'd like to make sure that the cyclist views are also represented. This is a great opportunity to educate business and homeowners about the benefits of bicycle infrastructure.

We'll continue to keep everyone posted about the project, so stay tuned!

Add Job Creation to the Many Benefits of Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure

New research from the Policy Economy Research Institute reveals that pedestrian and bicycle projects, including repairing footways and painting bike lanes, can create nearly twice as many jobs per dollar spent than typical road projects (click here for report). In a case study of Baltimore, the report finds that for every $1 million spent, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects were shown to create eleven to fourteen jobs, while "road infrastructure projects" only created seven jobs for every $1 million spent. This is because bicycle and pedestrian projects are more labor intensive, so a greater portion of money spent is spent paying workers than for materials. Typical road projects spend a greater portion on materials.

News worthy and plain old fun: Sharrow alert!

Our new Bike/Ped Coordinator (Carlos Morales) forwarded this information to us today.

Good day all. This is the Bike/Ped Coordinator for the City of Omaha with some post worthy news. Coming back from lunch today I bumped into Omaha City Crews installing the initial paint markings for the sharrows along Jackson Street. This is part of the pilot 20 mile bike loop. As a bike geek I get really excited when I see fresh paint on the street! Take a look:

The work crews were placing the bicycle stencils down first to avoid having the paint smudge. They will then come back to paint the chevrons which will ultimately complete these sharrows. This section will be part of the Aksarben Route. On a little side note, I would like to thank our wonderful crews out there braving the fierce wind while they try to get the markings down on the ground. They even told me that the wind was blowing so hard earlier that the stencil almost became an impromptu kite! Here is an inside look at the stencils they use!

For those of you unfamiliar with Sharrows here is a good article on sharrows (I know this is a shameless plug but that was the blog I started in LA!) Hopefully, in the near future I will be able to post more information regarding sharrows that is more specific to Omaha. Ride safe!

Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator Press Release

The press release from yesterday's press conference announcing Omaha's first Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator can be found by clicking on this link!

Very exciting for the city of Omaha, the health of Omaha, and the quality of life in Omaha!

In the photo are community partners that made this happen: Kerri Peterson, Live Well Omaha; Rick Cunningham, City of Omaha Planning Department; Carlos Morales, new Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator; Paul Mullen, MAPA; Mikki Frost, Alegent Health Systems; Jim Suttle, Omaha Mayor.

The Underwood and Overhill Expressway

Today, like not a few days, I had the opportunity to pedal from midtown Omaha to the Missouri River and back to midtown. Along the way, my mind wandered to a car trip I need to make tomorrow--from midtown way out to far, far southwest Omaha. I may even drive on the West Dodge Expressway.

Which got me thinking. The purpose of the WDE is to reduce congestion at Omaha's busiest intersection (114th & Dodge) and generally ease the commute from Central to West Omaha and beyond. Maybe I'm still suffering the aftershocks of watching "Beyond the Motor City" the other night, but building stronger, faster, higher automobile-only expressways to the suburbs seems so 20th century to me. Shouldn't we be more focused on multi-modal transportation options that interweave Omahans together, rather than car-exclusive chutes that fling us further apart?

And, I don't know what the final cost of the WDE was, but a quick Google search shows it was budgeted for $100 million. Compare that to the cost to complete the initial 20 miles of bike lanes now underway: $600,000. And that wasn't even paid for by the City (i.e., by us)--all the funding came from grants and donations.

Which brings me to the Underwood and Overhill Expressway. One of the major objections I hear from folks reluctant to start bicycling more in Omaha is that the city is so hilly! Riding around it nearly every day, I can't argue with that one. For instance, coming west out of downtown north of Dodge, once you ascend to the top of the hill on 40th, you're plunged back down into the valley of Saddle Creek. Then up again to the summit at 50th, then down again to Happy Hollow. Then up a third time to Fairacres/64th-ish. We might as well name all the storied peaks, like in Le Tour--but instead of Tourmalet, Alpe d'Huez, and Galibier, how about (all with proper French accent, please) Cathedral, Dundee, and Vieux Riche (Old Money)?

But I digress--back to the Underwood and Overhill Expressway. Imagine a connecting bike/ped pathway near California/Underwood streets that erased the dips between these HC peaks and made the trip from 40th to 50th to 64th a coast-able level grade! Perhaps something ala the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge over the Missouri--a graceful, suspended, elevated ribbon of commuting and recreational cyclists and pedestrians. Suddenly, one of the major impediments to cycling in Omaha is greatly diminished, all the while encouraging development in the heart of the city.

How much would it cost? Well, the best figure I found for the Bob Kerrey bridge is $22 million. Triple that to make 3 sections, and you get $66 million--still only 2/3 the cost of the WDE--leaving $34 million left over for other multi-modal transportation projects (assuming you were trying to match the cost of the WDE, of course). A bargain!

Now, I'm not going to the City Council with my Underwood and Overhill Expressway idea yet (it could use some fleshing out and the cost estimates are a bit, um, back of the envelope, let's say), but the Omaha metropolitan area has clearly found funding for transportation and infrastructure projects it deems worthy in the past, and chances are that trend will continue. Omaha has made significant strides in encouraging bicycle and pedestrian traffic with its trails system, the 20-mile bike lane plan, and some great new plans currently in development. Now's the time to come together to think big and creatively on what we want Omaha to be and how transportation and infrastructure help make that possible. Now's our chance to make Omaha a more livable community.

A few links:
http://passthepotatoes.com/
http://rallyomaha.ning.com/

And a link to a previous OmahaBikes blog entry with a longer link list:
http://bikeomaha.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-is-omaha-bikes-reading.html

Bike Omaha Red Route

City crews have already started painting and striping the first route of the Bike Omaha bike lane network.  Here is what the Benson (Red) Route looked like "Before" they got started.  Omaha Bikes will have an "After" video of this route once it is finished.

Bike Omaha Benson (Red) Route - BEFORE from Omaha Bikes on Vimeo.

This video show the Bike Omaha Benson (Red) route before any work was done to add bike lane markings and sign-age. Lanes are being painted now, and we will have an "After" video up once the signs and paint are completed on this route.

Department of Roads Survey

As you may be aware, NDOR is conducting a survey for the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP).

Here's a link to the survey. Stop complaining and take action! Speak up!

Who wants to be famous?

Omaha Bikes will be recording some video footage of the "Bike Omaha" bike lane network this Saturday.  We would love to have as many people along as possible so we can film other people riding along these sections of road.  Once the city paints the lanes, sharrows, and adds the "Bike Omaha" network signage, we will repeate this process so we can get a good BEFORE/AFTER view of the "Bike Omaha" network from a riders perspective.

We will be riding SLOW and stopping often to check the video, smell the roses, drink a few beverages, etc so all experience levels are welcome, but you should be comfortable riding in traffic.  Just wear what you usually commute/ride in and bring a few bucks for refreshments along the way.

If you have bike or helmet mountable video hardware, we could also use your help getting as much raw video as possible.

If you are interested, you can leave a comment here or contact us directly at OmahaBikes AT gmail DOT com and give us enough information for us to contact you to let you know where an when to meet up with us.  We will also update this post with time and location details tomorrow afternoon.

UPDATE: Meet at Benson Grind (6107 Maple Street) at 11:00am.  See you there.

Lewis and Clark Trail Survey

Please take this survey concerning a possible trail through the Loess Hills from Hamburg to Sioux City. A bike trail or signed and designed multi-user route would be great.

slow down, and give your 2 cents

Went to Barnes&Noble at Oak View a few weeks ago and perused the magazines looking for something to broaden my horizons. Bought and read Good, Issue 018, Winter 2010, http://www.good.is/issues/issue-018.

The theme of issue 018 is "Slow Down". It contains a good cross section of thinking in, and about, the slow movement, http://www.slowmovement.com/.

One thing I've noticed: the more I commute by bike, the slower and more relaxed I drive a car. I average about 30 mph city driving (mileage/engine time) and about 12 mph commuting by bike. Those who average 20 mph biking are not commuting, they are racing. If you want to commute by bike, figure about three times the travel time of a car for a comfortable, non hurried commute.

One of the benefits of biking not often mentioned is the necessity to slow down. With most people's lives too full of stuff, speeding by car to somewhere because they didn't plan enough time to get there, a slower lifestyle connected through commuting is healthy for the mind and the body.

The second article in Good, Pushing the Limits, discusses Portland, Oregon's assault on urban sprawl, what it has produced, what is at stake. Next to improving Omaha's biking infrastructure and changing the car-centric level of service for transportation, a sustainable urban design is key.

Urban Form and Transportation(pdf) is Omaha by Design's draft proposal for new guidelines. Active transportation (biking and walking) starts on page 24. One problem I see is that goals for moving cars more efficiently (car-centric level of service) are at odds with active transport. Car transportation (Leavenworth for example) has to be slowed down (lane diets) and made more expensive (gas prices) to make active transportation more attractive and increase participation.

Comments are still being taken on the proposal, click contacts on http://www.environmentomaha.com/. Please read at least the Active Transport section of Urban Form and Transportation, if not the entire document, and give suggestions and encouragement.

Legislative Update

This blog post by Transportation Secretary LaHood is worth checking out.  One small highlight:

"Yes, some of those projects include bike paths, a key ingredient in our livability initiative to allow people to live, work, and get around without a car."

Nice to see some support at the federal level!

Nice Infrastructure

David Hembrow's biking blog A View From the Cycle Path http://hembrow.blogspot.com/ highlights with video some excellent biking infrastructure in a few towns of the Netherlands.

Omaha World Herald: "More Bikes, More Awareness"

Thanks to OWH reporter Bob Glissman for the article in today's paper about bike commuting in Omaha. Ben's story has now been heard!! Thanks and credit also to Scott Redd for getting the ball rolling with the story in the first place.

http://omaha.com/article/20091113/NEWS01/711139887

...and companion piece about the Bike Omaha 20 mile loop: http://omaha.com/article/20091112/NEWS01/711139917

Yeah!!!

Rome (Portland) Wasn't Built in a Day

Check out this cool link from Bike Portland that shows the evolution of Portland's Bike Way Network. Take Omaha's trail network, then add the Bike Omaha 20 mile loop to it to see where we are headed!!

http://bikeportland.org/bikewayanimation/

"The livability revolution has begun. There is no turning back."

Love this op-ed piece from Saturday's NYT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/opinion/27sullivan.html?_r=1

Bike Omaha 20 Mile Loop - Inaugural Ceremony

It's official. The 20 mile bike route system in Omaha, known as Bike Omaha, was kicked off today in a ribbon cutting ceremony presided by Omaha Mayor, Jim Suttle. In front of about 40 people, the mayor spoke for a few moments about the origins of the Bike Omaha system and its importance to Omaha. Also speaking was Kerri Peterson of Live Well Omaha and member of the Mayor's Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee. City of Omaha Traffic Engineer, Todd Pfitzer, was on hand to answer questions about the route.

Both Mayor Suttle and Ms. Peterson cited reasons for establishing this bike route network in Omaha. Among many reasons, advocating bike transportation in Omaha will help to attract young people to the city, promote safety for bicyclists, reduce traffic congestion in Downtown and Midtown, and increase the general health of the city by promoting a healthy lifestyle.

The Bike Omaha system is funded privately through the Peter Kiewit Foundation and an anonymous donor. The system will feature five initial routes:

• Benson, from Downtown to the Benson Business District
• Aksarben, from Downtown to Aksarben Village and ultimately along Mercy Road to 78th Street
• Happy Hollow, from the Benson Route at 48th and Miami to the Keystone Trail
• Doorly, from Downtown to the Zoo
• Midtown, from Creighton University to the Field Club Trail and Lauritzen Gardens

In addition, there will be connecting routes that will provide access to the regional trail network, serving many important destinations around the city.

Todd Pfitzer said that the Benson Route should be completed this November.

Also announced today was a partnership between Activate Omaha and the City of Omaha to provide bicycle parking racks along the Bike Omaha routes.

Media













Resources

• Bike Omaha system map
• Peter Kiewit Foundation
• Mayor's Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee
• Activate Omaha
• Live Well Omaha