Recap of Bike/Ped. Talk

That was a very enjoyable evening. Spending my Friday night in the rotunda of the Whatcom Museum listening to ideas about improving transportation was definitely worthwhile.
While the talk was sponsored by the Bellingham Transportation Commission as a part of the public outreach for the Pedestrian Master Plan, the evening was just as much about biking, and almost as much about public transit, as it was about walking. The main speaker, architect (and project manager for the City of Portland Office of Transportation's Keep Portland Moving project) Ellen Vanderslice had a slide show of ideas that she ran through. Each had a photo from Portland, showing the idea in action. To be honest, she didn't present any ideas I hadn't heard before. Apparently I read too many bike blogs.
Two things stood out for me about the evening. First, I was encouraged that the attendees (some 40 of us) weren't all middle-aged. It's not just the hard-core bike commuter demographic (i.e. middle-aged white men) who is interested in this topic. There were definitely some 20-something folks in attendance. The other great thing was Mayor Dan Pike's obvious enthusiasm for making our transportation system work better for everyone. Of all the ideas presented in the slide show, afterward he focused on bike boxes and neighborhood greenways (formerly known as bicycle boulevards) as good ones, and I don't disagree. Hopefully he can give a few pushes in the right places to get the ball rolling on starting to implement those ideas here in Bellingham.
At least two audience members asked questions about the possibility of adding cycle tracks (see this post) in specific locations. I'm very supportive of the idea of cycle tracks in general, and it would be great if the city could find places in town where they are good solution.

Here's a video about neighborhood greenways in Portland. Recently there has been a push for them in Seattle, too.

 
Portland's Bike Boulevards Become Neighborhood Greenways from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Added 10/1: Third item to note: Bellingham is already implementing quite a few of the ideas mentioned by Vanderslice, esp. curb bulb-outs, pedestrian refuges, and ped. activated flashing lights. And while TRI-MET has 2-bike racks on their buses, WTA has 3-bike racks!

Bike/Ped. Speaker Tonight

Sorry I'm tardy at noting this...
The Bellingham Transportation Commission is hosting a speaker in the old Whatcom Museums Rotunda Room. Architect and pedestrian advocate Ellen Vanderslice will speak on "Walking and Bicycling Toward A More Livable Bellingham: Lessons Learned From Portland." The event is free to the public.

What: Ellen Vanderslice
Where: Old Whatcom Museum, 121 Prospect St.
When: 7pm-9pm

City press release.
Herald article.

Whatcom Creek Trail: Link Missing No More!

The Meador/Kansas/Ellis path is almost ready to go!
The last section of off-street path between Lake Whatcom and Bellingham Bay is going to be dedicated this week. Sounds like quite the to-do, with local notables, light refreshments, and a group ride or walk along the trail.
You're welcome to attend.
City of Bellingham press release
When: 1pm Thursday 9/29
Where: 1825 Ellis St. (outside Platt Electric Supply)

This ped/bike bridge over Whatcom Creek was added alongside the Meador St. bridge.

At least some of the new section of trail is paved with a new concrete conglomerate that's been getting some attention. It's partially made out of old porcelain toilets. I think the photos above and below show it, but I'm not positive. It looks a bit like rice crispies instead of regular concrete. Above you can see the difference between what they're used for the path vs what they're using for driveways.

I haven't ridden on it, but it looks like it has very high rolling resistance. We'll have to see.

Another good reason to pick up the pace a bit, BBB...

Sprint, Not Saunter, Is Key to Longer Life: Study

By Naomi Kresge - Aug 29, 2011 5:06 AM PT

Intense exercise adds more years to your life than more moderate activity, researchers said after studying the bicycle commuters who fill Copenhagen’s streets.

Men who described themselves as vigorous cyclists lived 5.3 years longer than self-described dawdlers in a 5,106-person study, scientists said at the European Society of Cardiology conference in Paris today. The difference was less pronounced for women, with fast bikers outliving slow ones by 3.9 years.

The study results add to a growing body of evidence that public health authorities should change recommendations to call for some vigorous instead of moderate daily exercise, lead researcher Peter Schnohr, a professor at Bispebjerg University Hospital in Copenhagen, told reporters today.

“You have to do some bursts where you are breathless” to improve the heart’s oxygen intake, Schnohr said in an interview. The return on that investment is “more than putting your money in the bank,” he said.

Schnohr’s team has followed about 20,000 people since 1976 in the Copenhagen City Heart Study. Today’s results were based on follow-up from assessments done on healthy people as old as 90 years of age between 1991 and 1994.

The researchers didn’t try to quantify intense exercise, leaving it up to participants to say what qualified as vigorous for them. The cycling results match an earlier analysis of walking speeds done in the Copenhagen heart study, Schnohr said.

Self-described average-speed cyclists also saw a benefit, with men living 2.9 years longer and women 2.2 years longer than their slower peers.

The best results came from vigorous daily exercise of between a half hour and an hour, the study shows. People who biked fast for more than an hour saw a smaller benefit.

Copenhagen has one of the highest rates of bicycle commuting in Europe, with people cycling an average 1.21 million kilometers (750,000 miles) a day last year, according to a report compiled by the mayor’s office every two years.  [emphasis is mine]





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