O'boro gets grant for bike routes

In the October 1st edition of the M-I, there was an article about a grant the city was awarded to build bike routes along Old Hartford Road. The city previously was awarded the $231,000 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant from the state to stripe bike lanes on city streets, but the city's engineering department created a policy barring bike lanes from city streets narrower than 32 feet among other objections. The City Commission then decided to redirect their focus to building off-street paths instead of striping lanes on existing streets. The connection on Old Hartford Road will include paths along both sides of Old Hartford Road south from the David C. Adkisson Greenbelt Park toward Hillcrest Golf Course. Once on the Greeneblt, riders can encircle the entire city.

In addition, work is expected to be completed by mid-December on a 2.5-mile connection of the Greenbelt from Southtown Boulevard to Shifley Park on the west side of Owensboro.

The city also signed an agreement with the state Transportation Cabinet to be reimbursed for building bike routes along Booth Avenue as part of the Safe Routes to School program.

Bike News

There have been a few items of local interest in the news lately. I've been a little behind, but that's not too unusual.

• Evansville Mayor proposes adding bike lanes in Evansville. The mayor's plan is to add 20 miles of on-street bikeways by the end of 2009. Four routes, will be marked with bike route signs and road markings. Connectors and spurs will be added as more federal funding becomes available. According to the Courier-Press, routes will include "a north-south route along Oak Hill Road from Lynch Road to U.S. 41; an east-downtown route along Lincoln and Bellemeade Avenues from the county line to downtown; and a west side-cross town route from Howell Park to Franklin Street, and along Michigan and Virginia Streets to U.S. 41. A Kentucky Avenue bike route will be created between Walnut Street and Riverside Avenue."
• Last week, members of the Owensboro cycling community announced plans to lobby City Hall to encourage their support of bike lanes throughout Owensboro. Last summer, the city let a federal grant expire that would've paid for bike lanes to be marked on city streets. However, the city's engineering department expressed reservations and created a new policy restricting bike lanes from city streets less than 32 feet wide. The City Commission then decided to focus more on shared-use paths that run along roadways, to avoid any complaints about parking restrictions on streets striped for bike lanes. The city has reapplied for a $230,000 grant and the first project would be a path from the Greenbelt north along Old Hartford Road to Lexington Green subdivision.
• Today's Messenger-Inquirer had an article about adding artistic bike racks to downtown Owensboro. The city and downtown businesses are working together to place more bike racks downtown and bring some flair to the designs. The partnership would involve the businesses buying the bike racks and the city helping install them. Downtown Development Director Fred Reeves has begun meeting with business owners and has begun walking around downtown scouting possible locations for the bike racks. The city has also recently installed two racks inside the parking garage at Daviess Street and Veterans Boulevard, across from the RiverPark Center.

OBC Monday Night Ride




I joined the Monday night ride at Panther Creek. I took last week off after the triathlon and my mom's visit. It was good to be back with the group and we had good weather for the ride. We took off and I did one lap of the hills and then another flat lap. My legs were sore or tired, but I survived and still average 17.1 mph. The other good news is that the Owensboro Bike Club jerseys are in!!! They are available at Quality Bike Shop for all who order them. Here's what they look like:

There was also an article in today's M-I about Bike Lanes. We had funding available and the city passed on it because they had to study it some more and the engineering dept placed restrictions on the width of roads that could have lanes. I think that was a bad idea to leave money on the table. However, our very own Claudia Roberts is trying to organize a rally at the City Commission on the 3rd Tuesday of July. All bikers are encouraged to show up and show the City Commission that we want safe bike lanes throughout the city, not just the Greenbelt and that bike riders are not all drunks who have lost their licenses, but actually students, professionals, and active people who enjoy safely riding around the Big O.

Today's Mileage: 23 miles
2008 YTD Mileage: 277.7 miles
Miles to reach 2008 goal of 750 miles: 472.3
Avg Price of Gas in the 'boro: $3.90

Yesterday's Messenger-Inquirer had an update on adding bikes lanes to Owensboro city streets. Earlier this week, City Commissioners took a bus tour to inspect many miles of the proposed 30-mile network of bike lanes. The city is expected to begin striping 5-foot-wide bike lanes in May. During weekdays, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., vehicle parking will not be allowed on streets that have bike lanes. Parking on the street will be allowed on weekends and holidays.

Although Susan Fowler, Main Street Manger with the city's Community Development Department, stated that the bike lanes are not geared towards recreational bicyclists, but for people who use bicycles as alternative transportation, I am hopeful that more people will begin riding around the city and the Greenbelt park for work AND fun. Personally, I applaud people who use bikes as their primary transportation. I'm not even close to that, but am trying to commute by bike more often. Hopefully, the bikes lanes will just be a more visible prompt for people to see that bikes belong on the street and can be quite useful for short trips around town.