Jef NickersonProvidence Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission
October 22, 2012, 4:00 PM
Providence Chamber of Commerce Board Room
30 Exchange Terrace, Providence, RI
Note new location
- 4:00: Review of bicycle regulations
- 4:20: Discussion of snow removal issues and solutions
- 4:35: Discussion of Complete Street issues related to the proposed Road Bond
- 4:45: Bike parking: developing a citywide strategy to increase parking infrastructure [Guest James Baumgartner]
- 4:55: Allens Ave bike lane sweeping and parking enforcement [Guests from JWU]
- 5:05: Enforcement issues related to: Intersection blocking and Crosswalk encroachment Enforcement of No Parking in Bike Lanes/Crosswalks Tickets/Citation criteria for bicycle/automotive incidents [Police invited]
- 5:20: Open forum
- 5:30: Adjourn
Full disclosure: I am a member of this Commission.
That this commission even exists is a good thing.
I know about the “Art of the Possible” and how change has to begin somewhere, somehow.
Still, the meeting felt like a scene in 1962 where Responsible People Working Within the System are saying things like “If there are any seats at the lunch counter where white people never sit anyway they could let the black people sit there.”
When the talk comes around to “If only the cyclists would totally clean up their act, because you know. when one of them does something bad, it hurts all of them…” I really lose it.
Getting from where we are to a city where parents think it is safe to let grade school children walk or bike to school in our lifetimes is going to involve some disruption.
As a Commissioner there is certainly an overwhelming feeling of having to address everything at once, and EVERYTHING needs addressing.
We’re also trying to figure out exactly what we’re doing. Unlike other Commissions, we don’t have people coming to us proposing to do things that we then need to rule on. We’re assessing the already built environment and other departments within the City that have been doing things as they are for centuries in some cases. And we have no explicit power and most importantly, no funds to change things that need changing.
I think at this early stage it is best we try very hard not to make enemies out of potential allies as we will need them in the future to amplify our message within the monolith of City bureaucracy.
I see our early work as educating, and educating within City Hall importantly and making sure we jump at opportunities to make structural changes when they come up. If we move too aggressively I fear we run the risk of being written off as “those crazy bike people.”
Don’t for the crazy people who walk and cross streets too, Jef.
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
? Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Gee that looked bad, like I forgot who has actually done more than anyone else around here to teach people to long for the walkable bikeable city. Bless this blog and keep up the good work Jef.
So excited to see the Allen bike lane discussed! That is my commute and it can be frustrating how many people park in the lane (I counted 20 once).