Nadia Barrera

Nadia Barrera just sent out a reminder that TONIGHT there's going to be a Bike Month planning meeting at Mellow Johnny's, and here's what's on the plate:

Hope to see y’all at the Bike Month meeting tonight; Mellow Johnny’s @ 6:30PM

We will discuss:

· April 29th Proclamation
· April 30th Kick-off event
· May 1st Bike-In Book Swap & Yellow Bike Party
· May 3rd Bike to ACC and UT Day
· May 14th Bike Tune-up at OTC & Political Pedal
· May 15th Library Bike Tour
· May 19th Bike to School Day
· May 21st Bike to Work Day
· May 6th – June 5th Austin Bike Poster Show

And anything else you’d like to discuss.

Want to take part in the planning process? Be at MJs at 6:30pm TONIGHT!

Hey all you AV nerds, RTF students and wannabe filmmakers, want to do something incredibly badass for the city? Read on for a great opportunity to not only use your skills to better the local cycling scene, but to do it with CITY APPROVAL:

Are you a filmmaker interested in making movies about cycling safety? Do you have creative/fun ideas about how to promote safe cycling via film? Please check out the Request for Information regarding the production of a bicycle safety film for Austin here:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/downloads/safe_cycling_%20film_rf...

Submit a statement of interest before 5PM February 12th.

Please help me to spread the word to anyone you know who may be interested and let me know if you have any questions.

thanks!
Nadia Barrera

Thanks for the heads-up Nadia! Y'all only have until Friday to submit an RFI so don't procrastinate, fill it out NOW!

Just got word from city staff that the Shoal Creek Pedestrian/Bike bridge at 3rd street is gonna be closed for a little while:

The bridge over Shoal Creek on the Shoal Creek Trail that connects to 3rd Street will be closed starting this week for at least two weeks.

There will be signs indicating the preferred alternative route.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Nadia M. Barrera
Bicycle/Pedestrian Project Coordinator
Department of Public Works
City of Austin
512-974-7142
(f) 512-974-7101
nadia.barrera@ci.austin.tx.us

Damn, I take that bridge all the time. As to why they're shutting it down for 2 weeks, here's the info on that:

Work to begin connection to the 24” water line on the aerial crossing along the western side of the pedestrian bridge is scheduled to begin at some point this week depending on weather conditions. A full closure of the pedestrian bridge as well as the incoming portions of the hike and bike trails will be necessary in the early construction phase as part of the retaining walls in the areas will be removed. I will notify the staff at 360 today and continue to provide you with updates regarding the status of construction and access to the hike and bike trail. My best estimate for the length of the trail closure would be 2 weeks. We will try to expedite repairs and renovation of the area to minimize this time frame.

Hopefully they can knock this work out quicker than that, as the indirect route around that bridge is a pain in the ass.

Nadia Barrera from the CoA Bicycle Program just sent me notice on a meeting this weekend regarding the Downtown Austin Plan. The message about the meeting follows, but here's the reason she specified as to why y'all should deign show up to this shindig:

There is a proposal to change the Bicycle Circulation Plan to remove Guadalupe/Lavaca and 5th/6th Streets as Secondary Bicycle Routes. Your input is needed.

Ok, enough about us, on to the meeting information:

Dear Downtown Austin Plan Stakeholder,

Please join us at a “Town Hall” Meeting and share your vision and ideas about the nine districts in Downtown Austin. On Saturday October 10th, 2009, we will be meeting to share our preliminary thoughts and recommendations – and to get your input -- on some key issues facing Downtown:

· Downtown District Goals and Priorities
· Downtown Transportation
· Live Music, Art, and “Creative Culture” Policies
· Historic Resources and Preservation Policies
· Land Use and Urban Design Regulations

These issues and more are being addressed by the “Downtown Austin Plan.” For more information about the Plan, please see the project website at: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/downtownaustinplan.htm

The specifics of the meeting are as follows:
Event: Downtown Austin Plan – Town Hall Meeting
Date: Saturday October 10, 2009
Time: 9:00 a.m. to Noon
Place: Waller Creek Center, 625 E. 10th Street Room 104
Parking: At this time, we are unsure about the availability of off-street parking, but there is on-street parking in the area.

Transit: For bus route information, please consult: http://www.capmetro.org/planner/.

Please feel free to pass this invitation along to any interested individual wishing to attend.

You may receive this invitation more than once as we may have you on multiple stakeholder lists so please excuse the redundancy. If you have any questions about this event, and to RSVP, please contact Jorge Rousselin at jorge.rousselin@ci.austin.tx.us or (512) 974-2975.

9am on a Saturday, the day after bike prom. All y'all early risers, show up to this thing will ya?

I meant to post this a while back but like many other things in the turbulent whirlwind of my life, it got tossed from the epicenter of the cyclone and ceased to be on my immediate radar. That is, until a few days ago, when we got news of the possibility of a local 3-foot passing law, which comes before the city council at THIS MORNING'S MEETING (they start discussing the agenda items in 40 minutes). It sucks that we didn't get more warning about this from the City Council members behind it (*cough* Mike, Lee, and Chris *cough*), but we know about it now.

Oftentimes when these issues come up it's the motorists and the cyclists clamoring for the spotlight and the benefits, yet in reality it's ALWAYS the pedestrian that is the most vulnerable person on the transportation landscape, and gets the short end of the stick legally. Read on for a mini-rant on the subject from my favorite CoA employee, Nadia Barrera:

(In response to:)

"Cyclist jailed for causing pavement death http://road.cc/node/6442

The first story is just a tragedy."

--------------------

This is a bit of a rant...but, here it goes:

Tragedy, yes...but a good lesson none-the-less. I went to the BFF and saw the short by Lucas Brunelle. I wanted to stand up and leave. I wanted to write a letter to the producer. I had a hard time keeping my anger to myself as I squirmed and scoffed through the whole thing. These alley cat racers were riding the wrong way, risking their lives skirting into intersections with obviously red lights, and nearly knocking over pedestrians IN THE CROSS WALK that OBVIOUSLY HAD THE RIGHT OF WAY (one of them was an elderly woman that reminded me of my
grandma). Ugh!

No wonder we get harassed even when we are riding legally. Stay off the sidewalks people. Control your lane. Be smart about the rules of the road. Ride with traffic and take a bike safety course if you don't know what you're doing! There ARE some of us that follow the rules and I am SO tired of hearing about all you out there that don't. DRIVE YOUR BICYCLE!

I wanted to mention this now because we're on the eve of several HUGE (200-400+ cyclists) rides coming up in the next week or so. Oftentimes we interact with pedestrians, and at those times we have to make sure we're setting a good example of how we want to be treated by the other bigger, faster traffic on the streets. If we can't show walkers respect and deference due to their vulnerable position on the roadways, we have no business asking for or expecting it from anyone else. BE CAREFUL when you come up on a pedestrian. YIELD them the right of way. I've seen people on group rides nearly (and in some cases actually) strike a pedestrian using a crosswalk, and then get pissed off because a car inches up on them. TEN TIMES the number of pedestrians are killed in Austin every year over the number of cyclists. Poor behavior towards pedestrians is a big problem that needs to be corrected.

P.S. You still have time to scoot down to 2nd and Guadalupe and sign IN FAVOR or OPPOSED to the Safe Passing Law/Texting Ban Resolution, so if you're in the area please get down there and make your voices heard. The meeting goes until at least 2pm, and you can get your vote registered any time before it's over. You don't have to stick around if you don't want to speak, you just have to sign in for item 55 on the computers in the lobby.

Nadia Barrera with the CoA Bicycle Pedestrian program just forwarded me an article they wrote for the Soutwest Cycling news. I know not all of our members are ACA-affiliated or pick up a copy regularly (though they're available for free in most bike shops so why not?), but it's a great look at all the recent improvements the City Bike/Ped program staff are hard at work realizing on our streets. Read on for some really excellent progress reports:

In our last article we discussed the heightened level of activity during the summer. Well…it keeps on coming. Right now we are working on swarms of facility improvements as well as promotion and education programs.

These include the recently completed Anderson Lane bicycle lanes from Burnet Road to Lamar Boulevard. These lanes were accomplished by enacting a lane diet, i.e. modifying the width of the existing lanes to accommodate the necessary five feet of space for bicycles.

Other exciting projects include the sweeping improvements planned for the bicycle network around the University of Texas campus. The existing bicycle climbing lane on MLK Boulevard will be extended to bicycle lanes on both sides of the roadway from Pearl Street to Red River Street. We will also be improving the crossings of Guadalupe Street at MLK Boulevard by extending the bicycle lane through the intersection southbound all the way to 17th Street.

Reverse angle parking (back-in) on Dean Keaton Street will increase safety by allowing motorists pulling out of a parking spot a clear view of approaching traffic (i.e. cyclists) as well as allow for additional parking capacity. Bicycle lanes on Dean Keaton from San Jacinto Boulevard to Manor Road will improve connectivity to existing bicycle lanes on Red River Street, and Manor Road. Another unique feature of the new Dean Keaton design is the gore separated bikeway from Red River Street to Dancy Street. The gore area (essentially painted diagonal lines) is similar to a physical barrier between the travel lanes and bike lanes. Gores are preferable over physical barriers or raised pavement markers because they allow bicycle riders the freedom to leave the bike lane to make left turns, pass another cyclist, avoid debris, or avoid conflicts with turning traffic.

Gore separated bicycle lanes will also be included on the Amherst Drive Road Diet. We know that beginner and child cyclists may feel more comfortable on protected bicycles lanes and we hope that this facility will allow for increased use of the roadway by new cyclists and families in the area. The Amherst Drive Road Diet will occur between Duval Road and Parmer Lane. This project modifies the roadway to include a left-hand-turn lane and bicycle lanes. The gore separated bike lanes will be located on Amherst Lane from Adelphi Lane to Parmer Lane. With support from the Neighborhood Connectivity Division, the PTA at Summit Elementary, located on Amherst Drive, will be participating for the first time in Bike and Walk to School Day in October. If you think your school would be interested in participating in this event, please contact <>.

Another pending project is the Davis Lane bicycle lanes from Escarpment Boulevard all the way to Corran Ferry Drive.

As far as our promotional and educational program; we would like to recognize Dynamic Reprographics, a print shop in central Austin that recently had 10 members of its staff certified in Traffic Skills 101. These staff members will now be able to deliver plans and other printed materials to their clients in downtown and central Austin by bicycle; a much more sustainable, healthy, fun way to get around.

To illustrate some of the improvements, they attached a photo of the Anderson Lane road diets that allowed them to put in full bike lanes in each direction for the majority of the length of the street. For comparison, where the reflective tags are were the locations of the old stripes, minus the bike lanes:

Photo provided by the City of Austin Bicycle Pedestrian Program

The next big improvement I'm looking forward to is MLK. From the sound of things Nadia was the highest paid traffic director in town yesterday as she waved cars along while they painted the lines that marked the new lane dimensions down the length of the street. Sounds like that one's imminent, and I'm looking forward to taking advantage of it. A bike lane from Red River to Lamar through central Austin is badass.

So I'm kinda curious, what is a "gore separated bicycle lane"? To me it sounds like exactly what we're TRYING to avoid with all these new improvements. IF you know the meaning of this term, let us know in the comments section please.

Update: Nevermind, I found out what it means. Not quite as graphic as I was expecting...

In all seriousness, we all owe a big thanks to Annick, Nadia, Nathan, Jason, and all the other members of the city staff and the engineers they work with who make all these new improvements possible. Great stuff y'all.

IMPORTANT OFFICIAL CITY REQUEST UPDATE: Almost forgot, this is a request from the City Staff for all y'all bikers in town. If you come across a bike lane that needs swept or to have debris removed, CALL 311! If there's a low-hanging branch, CALL 311! Pothole? CALL 311! The only way they'll respond to these issues is if we pick up the phone. 311 is our direct line to the City's system for getting shit fixed, from a car illegally parked in a bike lane to the faded lane stripe that needs re-painted on the stretch that runs through your neighborhood. Call until they fix it. Their volumes are low and they have the resources and manpower to take care of things, so lets take advantage of their offer! Do it for the kids, do it for yourself, do it for your mom, but JUST DO IT.

Nadia Barrera of the City of Austin Bicycle and Pedestrian Program forwarded me a link to the following video, and requested that I share it with all y'all readers:

I'd already seen this but Nadia's reminder kinda got me thinking about how bad a lot of people are about PROPERLY securing their bikes, and how often bicycles or parts get jacked because of it. Every time I walk down 6th Street I reflexively look at all the locked up bikes and gauge which ones I think are most likely to get ripped off. Then if I have to lock up I chain my shit correctly next to those bikes. Hey, I figure a thief can only make off with one bike, and they'll go for the easy one. Check out the video, it's full of good info if you're worried about getting a bike ripped off. Plus, Hal is AWESOME for an old hippie mechanic.

3 of 'em, in fact!

Nadia Barrera of the City of Austin Bicycle Program sent out the following request for applications. If you'd like to join the Bicycle Advisory Council as either a standing (voting) or alternate member, please continue reading...

All,

The Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC) is a group of citizens who represent all aspects of the cycling community. They meet monthly with the staff of the City of Austin Public Works Bicycle Program on the third Thursday of the month from 6:30 pm to 8 pm at the One Texas Center , 505 Barton Springs Road in the 8th floor conference room. The BAC is instrumental in providing staff with feedback on everything from location of bicycle racks downtown to resolving to support the Bicycle Master Plan Update.

At this time, the BAC is accepting applications to fill the spot of one Standing (voting) member and two Alternate Member places.

Should you be interested, please complete the attached application (also below) and return it to Nadia Barrera (via fax, e-mail or mail) no later than Tuesday, April 14 by 5:00 PM.

This month’s meeting is on April 16th. It is strongly recommended that any applicant attend the meeting.

Nadia M. Barrera
Bicycle/Pedestrian Project Coordinator
Department of Public Works
505 Barton Springs Road
Austin, TX 78721
512-974-7142
(f) 512-974-7101
nadia.barrera@ci.austin.tx.us

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
CITY OF AUSTIN BICYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL

Name:
Address:
City:
State :
Zip:
Preferred Phone:
Other Phone:
E-mail Address:
Date of Birth:
Occupation:
Employer:

1. Do you reside within City of Austin boundaries? 0 No 0 Yes

2. Education (Schools attended, degrees earned, training received):

3. Do you currently hold elective office? 0 No 0 Yes:

4. Affirmative Action information: This information is voluntary, and is being collected both for statistical reporting purposes and to assure diversity on the Bicycle Advisory Council.

0 Male 0 Female Racial/Ethnic Background:

5. List any major paid employment and volunteer activities, which may relate to service on the Bicycle Advisory Council: Dates (from/to) Employer/Volunteer Activities Responsibilities

6. Do you have any special skills or experience that will help you as a member of the Bicycle Advisory Council?

7. Why do you want to serve on the Bicycle Advisory Council?

8. List names, addresses, and phone numbers of two people who may be contacted as references:

9. Describe your bicycle use (check all that applies):

-- I bike for transportation year-round

-- I bike for transportation in good weather

-- I am a regular recreational rider

-- I occasionally ride for fun and/or exercise

-- I bike with my family

-- I seldom ride my bike

-- Other:

10. Additional comments:

Just cut-and-paste the above text, fill it out in your favorite text editor (vi, son) and send it to one of the aforementioned locations. One of us, one of us!

Nadia Barrera of the City of Austin Bike/Ped program JUST sent this notification out:

Austin Cyclists,

Check out the latest and greatest version of the City of Austin Bicycle Master Plan on-line:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle/update2008.htm

We are hoping to get any final feedback from YOU before we begin presenting the plan to Boards, Commissions, and Council.

TENTATIVELY WE ARE PLANNING FOR THE FOLLOWING DATES:

April 14 - Urban Transportation Commission

April 28 - Parks and Recreation Board

May 12 - Planning Commission

May 14 - City Council (briefing)

May 21 - City Council (action)

Save these dates, and check the website for any changes.

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you fill up City Hall with two-wheeled (or three-wheeled) support.

Thank you, and please let me know if you have any questions or comments

Nadia M. Barrera
Bicycle/Pedestrian Project Coordinator
Department of Public Works
City of Austin
512-974-7142
(f) 512-974-7101
nadia.barrera@ci.austin.tx.us

We're ALMOST there...

I just received an urgent request from City of Austin Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Superhero Nadia Barrera. Looks like the city is taking the publics input on what improvements we'd like to see done to the Town Lake/Auditorium Shores area. I know a lot of y'all (myself included) use this area of town daily, so I know the impact of any modifications to the trails and roadways will be very far-reaching. Please see what Nadia's asking of us, and if you have a few moments (and access to a scanner or fax machine) please fill out the survey TODAY:

Cyclists:

If you ride your bike any where near area bordered by Barton Springs/Lamar/Riverside/South First Street, PLEASE fill out the below questionnaire and send any comments you may have regarding the park development to Project Manager Robert Egan:

Robert.Egan@ci.austin.tx.us or auditoriumshores@ci.austin.tx.us

The Auditorium Shores questionnaire can be found at the link below. To submit you have to print it out, fill it out, and get it to PARD some way (bring it to the desk, or scan and e-mail it).
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/downloads/survey.pdf

Visit this website for project updates and dates for future community input meetings: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/auditoriumshores.htm

Please forward to anyone you know for input (instructions on returning the survey are shown at the top of the document).

I apologize for the short turn around time, but this opportunity just came to my attention.

Please go to any future meetings to ensure the design and construction of bicycle facilities that take into consideration potential users (that's you!).

Thanks,

nb

Shit's due TOMORROW so please don't delay. Thanks for keeping us on point Nadia!