more public meetings of interest to local cyclists

The Illinois Department of Transportation will hold public hearings to discuss its Highway Improvement Plans this week.  The meetings will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. this Wednesday, January 20^th, at the Champaign County Highway Building, located at 1605 E. Main St., U, and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Thursday, January 21^st, at the University of Illinois Extension Office, 12190 U.S. 150 in Oakwood.

Why should we care?  Cynthia Hoyle spells it out in an article for Smile Politely.  In a nutshell:

IDOT has proposed spending $1 million to build a pedestrian overpass for Curtis Road and I-57. This proposal has raised questions as to why it was necessary to build a separate bridge for pedestrians when sidewalks and bike lanes could have been included in the new overpass for Curtis Road that was opened last year. 

Questions have also been raised about why facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists are not being built for other overpasses such as Windsor and/or Kirby in Champaign.  Many residents now live west of I-57 and those who cannot drive and must bicycle, walk, or access transit are in serious danger when crossing over these overpasses crowded with motor vehicles.

Another point of controversy is that the Illinois Legislature passed a “Complete Streets” bill that required IDOT to design all future IDOT road projects to include facilities for all roadway users including pedestrians and bicyclists. This bill was passed in 2007 and has yet to be fully implemented.

 These meetings are a chance to tell IDOT you want more cycle-friendly roads.

hack economist asks: do bike helmet laws discourage cycling?

Continuing Economics's impulse to provide poorly-reasoned explanations for everything, today the Freakonomics blog summarized the findings of a paper arguing that mandatory-helmet laws decrease the number of cyclists.  The post's here.  According to some other economists, mandatory-helmet laws diminish bike ridership among the young people such laws impact because

1. The cost of helmets, both monetary and social — i.e., Helmets are uncool, so if I’ve got to wear a helmet to ride my bike, I’ll find something else to do.
2. “There is evidence that youths have suboptimally high discount rates (Gruber 2001), such that some youths might place too little weight on the expected gain in future utility from the prevention of injury or death relative to the costs of wearing helmets today.”
3. Bike-helmet laws lower the price of activities similar to biking — skateboarding, rollerblading, etc. — that do not require a helmet.

Freaky economist also offers his own possible explanations:

1. Helmets are a hassle.
2. Helmet laws make cycling seem more dangerous than we used to think it was. Therefore, a certain kind of parent develops a bias against it, and no longer encourages his or her kids to ride a bike — or, perhaps, never even bothers to buy the kid a bike.

Helmet laws exist in 21 states... including Georgia and Alabama.

urbana city council to vote on bike lanes

On Tuesday, 19 January, starting at 7pm the Urbana City Council will be voting on whether or not to implement bike lanes by removing on-street parking on several streets around town.  The meeting will take place at the Council Chambers of Urbana Town Hall at 400 S. Vine Street.  From an email from the Champaign County Bikes listserv:

Tomorrow night (Tuesday) the Urbana City Council will be voting on the implementation of the bike lanes by removing the on street parking on Main St (between Glover and Grove), Philo, Washington, and Race.   There was a letter in the News-Gazette today condemning Urbana's bike lanes and advocating only using side streets to bicycle. 

If you are able to attend tomorrow night and speak in support of the Urbana Bike Plan please do.  The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and you can sign a card asking to speak or you can just sign a card articulating your support for the parking ban and installation of bike lanes.

If you want bike lanes in Urbana, this is your chance to speak out for them.  Tomorrow at 7pm at Urbana Town Hall!

nytimes discovers non-pedal-powered biking!

Sanyo has developed a "sleek, lightweight" electric bike (or "e-bike"!), retailing for the low low price of $2300.  ("Lightweight" somehow means 50 pounds.)  Here's the Times article's acerbic opening lines:

TECHNOLOGY has eliminated many of life’s milder physical demands, like getting off the couch to change the channel, or going to the store to buy a book.

The latest exertion to be conquered: biking uphill.

Read all about it here.  (Spoiler alert: the electric bike turns out to be "an ambiguous fashion statement.")

Winter biking tips from Urban Velo

Nothing earth-shaking here, but some good reminders as you're out and about on your bike in less-than-ideal conditions.

I've had pretty good luck since Friday, once the plows in Champaign got out onto the side streets.

Sounds like things are going to be milder for the next week or so, which is OK by me.

pedal-powered waste management!

Today Daily Kos featured an interview with the founders of Pedal People, a "worker-owned human-powered delivery and hauling service for the Northampton, Massachusetts area."  Pedal People won a contract to haul -- by bicycle! -- trash from downtown Northampton.

Both the interview and their site are worth checking out, especially their photo gallery, full of bike trailers hauling full loads of garbage and recyclables... like this seasonally appropriate picture:

(photo by Robin Barber for Pedal People) 

Happy New Year from The Bike Project!