Huntsville Bike Committee

We have a new tab at the top of the page – “Report an Incident”. It is a place to let us know what types of encounters you may have had on the road. This will assist BASC in helping the city make better informed decisions.

If you are one of the folks that attended the September BASC meeting and wrote your name and email contact on the list as a potential replacement for Sasha on BASC, but have not recieved the questionnaire please contact me @…tfbasc@rocketmail.com ASAP!

I sent the short questionnaire out to all on the list a couple times, and have received only 2 back. I want to make sure there were no problems with the e-mail address contacts.

The deadline for return was today Nov 28th 2009. I need to hear from the following folks asap if interested in being considered:
JR Burnett
Jim Green
Matt Barron
Ben Clark
Thomas Honeycutt

I hope there was no issue when transcribing your contact info…As I mentioned, If those of you on this list have not received anything from me in the past month…Please contact me and we will work that out. If such was the case, my appologies.

Sincerly,

Teresa Fitzpatrick

Hello Everyone,
We are going to be doing a follow up Bike Community Day !! at the Boys and Girls Club this Sunday 22-November @ 12- 4
Same location on Seminole.

There is a
Helmet-a-Thon
Bikes Fixin
BBQin
And Scraper Xmas Bikes
Mad Skills Course

So if you want to volunteer or donate anything let me know.

Bicycles ETC has an envelope that you can donate some money to also, this will go to purchasing a Bike Rack for the Club. Ask for John Price he is handling the $$$$$

Then on Dec 5th we are picking the kids and their parents up by bike or course and we will meet Handsome George for the Christmas Parade.

by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. on November 3, 2009

It’s not everyday that you get to ride bikes in a big metropolis with a member of Congress, even one who loves to bicycle whenever he can.
read more here

On the heels of 2008’s unprecedented growth of 35% in commuter cycling, this year the New York City Department of Transportation measured an additional gain of 26%, putting the total 2007 to 2009 increase at … read more here

Thanks to the kindness of anonymous donors, Lee High School now has an 11 foot long, 11 bay bicycle rack for students to enjoy.  It has been delivered to the school on Monday morning, 9-November.  School officials still need to decide where to place it.  Once this decision is made, it will probably be anchored to the ground so that it will stand properly.

There is a bend in the rack (as indicated by the profile picture) but it will not affect the function of the rack.

From a blog titled “A View from the Cycle Path” - http://hembrow.blogspot.com/ by David Hembrow

It may seem like a pipe dream that we can strive for the same provisions for cyclists here in the United States, but it is inspiring to see success in other places across the pond, and that they have had the same types of problems to solve that we do.

Twenty years ago (1990) this video was produced by the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Public Works to show what cycling was like then in the Netherlands, and how the potential for the bicycle could be further developed.

From the Huntsville Times

By Steve Doyle

November 05, 2009, 7:12AM

Eric Schultz / The Huntsville TimesRiders with the Spring City Cycling Club pedal along Dug Hill Road in Huntsville. 

HUNTSVILLE, AL — Bicyclists have rights, too.

That’s the message behind a year-long advertising blitz the city of Huntsville plans to roll out in early 2010.

Largely financed by a $158,000 Alabama Department of Transportation grant, the educational campaign comes on the heels of three cycling fatalities in the city since September 2008.

The City Council will consider the grant agreement at tonight’s meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 308 Fountain Circle.

Jamie Miernik, who commutes by bike to her job on Redstone Arsenal, said she hopes the ads promote more respect and understanding for cyclists who ride in traffic.

Rolling billboards attached to city buses will try to hammer home the point “that bicycles are vehicles, they’re allowed on the road,” Miernik said Wednesday.

“There’s a percentage of drivers out there,” she said, “that really think bikes are not safe to be on the road with them.”

James Moore, a senior planner with the city, said the ads need to be compelling enough that drivers can’t ignore them.

“I’m hoping to make the buses loud, so to speak, so that it generates some interest,” he said Wednesday. “It’s trying to bring awareness and wake the drivers up.”

Moore and Miernik both serve on an advisory committee that is working to make Huntsville a more bike-friendly town. Over the past year, the city has installed dozens of “Share the Road” signs and indicated a willingness to build wider streets with shoulders that are safer for riding.

Also, more than 400 Huntsville police officers have taken a refresher course on bicycle laws.

City Administrator Rex Reynolds, a former police chief, said that was done because an officer wrongly used his vehicle’s loudspeaker to order a group of cyclists from the road onto the sidewalk.

Cyclists are prohibited from riding on sidewalks in Alabama.

“That was a reality check for us,” Reynolds said Wednesday. “We needed to go back and make sure our officers are aware of the bicycle laws.”

Mayor Tommy Battle made cycling safety a priority following the death of UAH student Sarah Chapman, who was struck by a sport-utility vehicle while riding near campus on Technology Drive last fall. The driver was never charged.

Another local bicyclist, 49-year-old Henry James Luhana, was found dead near Oakwood Avenue late last month.

Police first described it as a hit-and-run but now say they won’t know for sure until an autopsy is completed.

The advertising campaign will start and end with a survey to gauge what people think about bicycles on the road. Miernik said she hopes drivers’ attitudes toward cyclists are much better by the end of 2010.

“Bikes have a right to be there,” she said. “They’re not just in the way.”

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2009/11/loud_ads_on_huntsville_city_bu.html

Dear all,

The resolution for a Transportation Enhancement Project (Alabama Dept of Transportation) and the City of Huntsville Bicycle/Pedestrian Education: C.A.R.S. (Citizens Advocating Rider Safety) Grant is on the agenda for tomorrow’s city council meeting.

Please come out and show support for this major motorist/cyclist education grant!  The meeting is at 6:00 pm, City Council Chambers, 1^st floor, Municipal Building, 308 Fountain Circle.

Ride your bike to the meeting if you can.

BASC Meeting

Agenda

03-November, 2009

1. Approval of previous meeting’s minutes

a. Correction on credit for WLRH, Clear Channel radio ads (I was informed they were produced by the public, not BASC)

2. Accident Reports – (Officer Bradley Adams to report on behalf of Capt. Rodney Baker)

3. Public Forum:

a. Technical issues:

i. 5pm too early. Would possibly have bigger turnout if started at 6pm.

ii. Better moderation – confusion as to who next would be to speak.

iii. Better listening from BASC. Complaints heard that we were too focused on explaining ourselves and finding excuses why we were not able to accomplish things. Bad PR.

iv. Round table meeting better than council chambers?

b. Public Concerns – what next to do with the information learned?

i. Define problems/solutions: For example…

1. Timing of lights

2. Formal Request for Mayor PSA Radio/Video

3. Motorist Awareness – “One city one vision”

4. The homeless and bicycle lights issue.

5. Discussion about a Bill Kling’s proposed City Council resolution urging State Legislation to pass laws for prosecution of simple negligence. (Dave to research)

6. Etc.

ii. Categorize into long/short term goals

iii. Present to city for response: City’s response could include…

1. Brief description

2. Category: accept, decline, counter, defer

3. Set a Timeline – 3 & 6 month and 1 year estimates for completion

iv. BASC to keep track of above and publish as part of its action items

4. HSV Budget Report: (James to report?)

a. C.A.R.S. Grant update

b. Bill Kling’s $5000.00 earmark – (what shall we do with this money?)

5. Bicycle Parking Ordinance Update – (Marjorie to report)

6. Map Distribution Report (Peter to report)

7. Update on Sasha’s Replacement – (Teresa & Tim to report)

a. Questionnaire for candidates

b. Opportunity to examine current member commitment

8. New Business