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Entries tagged: Bridge Access

In most cases, new transportation infrastructure is christened by cars. But, this month in Manchester, bicyclists were the first vehicles to travel a new bridge.

The primacy of two-wheeling transportation at the November ribbon-cutting ceremony was the result of behind-the-scenes work from advocates at the Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire.

The effort dates back to 2009, when the BWA-NH got wind that a $175 million bridge connecting Bedford and Manchester over the Merrimack River was designed without accommodations for bicyclists on the main roadway. Because the project also serves as an access road to the Manchester airport, that omission was particularly troublesome to Granite State cyclists.

According to BWA-NH: “A side path, not to be illuminated at night, cleared of snow in the winter, or providing a direct connection to local roads, was part of the design but that would not accommodate vehicular cyclists requiring a 24 x 7 x 365 transportation corridor. Mopeds and electric bicycles were also to be prohibited from using the bridge to access local roads where they are commonly used.”

So the advocates got to work. They determined that the Sagamore Bridge, connecting Nashua and Hudson downstream on the Merrimack, had the same restrictions regarding bicyclists and mopeds — restrictions that are in contradiction to federal law. Partnering with the Granite State Wheelmen, BWA-NH held a series of high-level meetings with the New Hampshire DOT and the Federal Highway Administration.

The result? In March 2010, the DOT removed the restrictions from both bridges. On November 10, bicyclists and pedestrians got the chance to savor the victory at the celebration for the completion of the project.

According to BWA-NH: “The public was invited to attend and the first vehicles to cross the bridge were bicycles! Members of BWA-NH and the GSW attended, pedaled the roadways and the sidepath for a comparison, and attended the ceremony. The road was open for general traffic on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11. Again, without the advocacy efforts of BWA-NH and the GSW, the MAAR bridge would just be a link for motorists with vehicular bicyclists and moped users having no way to access the local roads by crossing the new bridge.”

Read more about the campaign and victory on the BWA-NH website.

In August 2008, the state of Massachusetts embarked on a massive $3 billion effort to shore up more than 100 dilapidated bridges. Advocates at LivableStreets in Boston seized the opportunity to bring the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians to the surface.

It just so happened that the most visible and badly deteriorated bridge was right in their backyard. The Longfellow Bridge connecting Boston and Cambridge was the centerpiece of MassDOT’s Accelerated Bridge Program. But, according to the Boston Globe, transportation planners didn’t have any intention of addressing the on-street design elements. Until they started getting an earful from advocates at Alliance organizations, like LivableStreets.

“Officials had been proceeding with plans to rebuild the Longfellow largely as is, but they put those plans on hold in May, acknowledging a growing chorus calling for something bolder — to make the Longfellow more of a bike-and-pedestrian-friendly extension of the Esplanade,” the newspaper reported last month.

LivableStreets was a key player in growing that chorus for a better, more bike-ped-friendly bridge. Since the start of the Accelerate Bridge Program, they organized supporters to write letters, attend public meetings and add their input. Because of that visible interest, the DOT established a task force to study the issues and make recommendations. Steven Miller, a board member for LivableStreets, was among those invited to the table.

It turned out, the task force wasn’t just for public show. In that same November article, Miller told the Globe that “the Department of Transportation deserves real credit for being open and listening and ending up much more flexible than anyone had anticipated in the beginning.’’ Last month, the task force released a raft of recommendations, many of which recognize the needs of non-motorized users.

Luisa Paiewonsky, the Department of Transportation’s highway administrator, told the Globe that the task force had prodded the DOT to take a more “modern outlook” on the bridge work and “substantially improve” conditions for folks commuting on two wheels and two feet. “There was strong consensus on the task force that the bridge needed to be able to better serve all of the groups and get them across the bridge safely,’’ Paiewonsky told the newspaper.

That’s the kind of language LivableStreets likes to hear. But their campaign is far from over. More details outlining how they’ve come this far and how they plan to move forward are included in the latest Advocacy Advance Report — Bridging the Gaps in Bicycling Networks: An Advocate’s Guide to Getting Bikes on Bridges.

Not to sound like a broken record, but the report is a must-read. And once you’ve put it down, we’re thinking you might want to chat with the report authors and inspiring advocates. So join us tomorrow for the “Learn from the Bridge Access Report” Mutual Aid Call at 3 p.m. EST. Jackie Douglas (pictured), the director of LivableStreets, will join us as a panelist, along with Eric Rogers of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation and Don Sparks from Charleston Moves.

Add your ideas and experiences to the discussion on this critical topic. Click here to register.

Back in October, we highlighted a major victory in the Show-Me State. After years of targeted advocacy and partnership building, the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation helped cut the ribbon on a new bike-ped path on the Heart of America Bridge in Kansas City (pictured).

“Advocates have been working for this day for more than two decades,” Brent Hugh, MoBikeFed’s executive director, told us. “The Missouri River cuts the Kansas City metro area in half, and a safe crossing point for bicyclists and pedestrians has been the biggest missing piece of the area’s bike-ped network.”

Kansas City is far from unique. Bridge crossings pose significant challenges — and opportunities — for bicycle and pedestrian advocates across the country. To help spur more successes like the one in Missouri, the Advocacy Advance Team has just released its latest report, Bridging the Gaps in Bicycling Networks: An Advocate’s Guide to Getting Bikes on Bridges.

“Bridges provide critical connections in a transportation network,” writes Darren Flusche, policy analyst for the League of American Bicyclists and lead author of the report. “After a generation of building bridges exclusively for cars, it is time for a more inclusive approach. Bicyclists and pedestrians need bridges at least as much as any other road users and advocates are increasingly making progress with transportation agencies. However, because of their scale and complexity, advocates often need to undertake serious, concerted campaigns to ensure accommodations are made.”

“This report identifies some of the common objections to bridge accommodations for biking and walking and offers suggestions on how to answer them,” Flusche adds. “It also contains recommendations based on the experience of several successful and on-going advocacy campaigns.”

The report is a must-read. It brings together all the relevant statistics, policy statements and federal regulations that you need to discuss these critical issues with officials in your community. It includes key insights and engaging anecdotes from advocates across the nation. Click here to download your copy.

Then mark your calendars for our “Learn from the Bridge Access Report” Mutual Aid call on December 15th at 3 p.m. EST (please note the date and time change!). Advocacy Advance staff will join the call to answer any questions about the report and a panel of advocates will share their experiences in waging and winning bridge campaigns in their communities. Be sure to read Bridging the Gaps and dial in to add your voice and insight to this important discussion.

Click here to register for the call.

Some of the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians are different, but both groups have a common cause: making our streets safe and accessible for all users. So how do we make sure our efforts are applicable to both groups? How do we find and recruit people who identify as pedestrians? How do we ensure our campaigns and events make our communities more walkable, as well as bike-friendly?

To jumpstart the discussion, we invited several advocates to share their insights and successes during our Mutual Aid Call on “Integrating Pedestrians into your Bicycle Organization” earlier this month. Panelists included, Kassie Rohrbach, executive director of Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, Molly O’Reilly, board member for America Walks and Brent Hugh, executive director of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation — and they had some great tips and helpful resources to get your organization walking in the right direction.

Missed the call? No problem! Here’s a handy tip sheet that gives you the highlights in just three pages.

If you didn’t make our “Friends in News Places: Engaging the Media” call last month, click here for a tip sheet from Rachael Kefalos of the Palmetto Cycling Coalition and Tanya Snyder, the new editor of Streetsblog Capitol Hill.

Finally, mark your calendars for our next call on December 8. We’ll be discussing the latest Advocacy Advance report (due out on December 1) on bridge access and hearing from some advocates who have won major bridge victories in their communities.