Chicago’s New Protected Bike Lanes [The City Fix]
Along with a new mayor, Chicago got its first protected bike lanes this past month. Funded by a federal grant, the Chicago Department of Transportation is installing the half-mile bike lane as a pilot program. The protected bike lanes will have a three feet buffer to parked cars and will be separated by delineated posts.
Amid Budget Cuts, Nation’s Mayors Speak as One [Wall Street Journal]
LOS ANGELES-It may not seem like the Republican mayor of Mesa, Ariz., and the Democratic mayor of Hilo, Hawaii, would have much in common.
But these days, they have the same complaints.
Their cities’ once-vital construction industries have withered, and their unemployment rates are at 9%. Both have cut funding to schools and police, and both rely on federal dollars to help their struggling cities.
Mayors from 50 cities gathered here Thursday for a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to collectively vent about the impact that a sour economy and years of budget cuts|as well as possible cuts to federal funding if the debt ceiling isn’t raised|is having on their cities.
Transportation as a Civil Rights Issue [Wired]
Many things come to mind when you think about transportation: Traffic, congestion, mass transit and the cost of fuel, to name a few. You might also think about the economy, urban planning and the environment. Yet one thing often is left out of the discussion: civil rights.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights lays out the case for transportation as a civil right in a report, Where We Need to Go: A Civil Rights Roadmap for Transportation Equity. [.pdf]
Raquel Nelson sentenced; no jail time, new trial possible [Transportation for America]
Raquel Nelson had her moment in Cobb County court this morning. After an emotional defense from her attorney and tearful witness testimonies defending Nelson’s character and requesting leniency, Judge Katherine Tanksley sentenced her to 12 months probation and 40 hours of community service, suspended the fines, and according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, gave her a choice between accepting that sentence or having a new trial.
See also: Raquel Nelson Speaks on the Today Show About Her Son and Her Court Case [Streetsblog]
I am all for safe bike lanes. I only have one question on using the posts up north. How do they handle snow plowing come winter? In places where they have used them around here for traffic flow they never survive the first winter and never get replaced. If the posts are not removable, I can just see the Chicago bike lanes becoming the de facto snow pile lanes come winter. Given our tough economy will Chicago and other cities who pursue separating bike lanes with physical barriers be expending the resources necessary to keep them open.
That was what I was wondering too. I know they can be designed to be removable, but someone needs to care for them, and they need replacing when an errant vehicle damages them. I think the errant vehicles and no money to replace them is more what took them out at Kennedy Plaza than snow removal.