Winter Walking Webinar Coming up!

Winter Walking Webinar: Tuesday, January 28th, 3pm to 4pm How do you keep Safe Routes to School momentum through the winter? Walking in the winter can be both a challenging and rewarding experience. Walking, especially in the winter, helps us get much needed exercise, sunlight, and fresh air for physical and mental well-being.  Taylor Lonsdale, Peter Lawry, and Abby Mattera will share lessons learned from successful programs to get kids walking and rolling to school throughout the year. The tips and techniques discussed in this webinar will help you start or expand winter walking participation at your school. Ready to take the leap? Sign up to attend free! Don't forget Winter Walk Day is February 5th! Use your new tips and ideas from the webinar to launch winter walking at your school!

Protected Bike Lanes Mean Business

From the Alliance for Biking and Walking

By Mary Lauran Hall on January 15, 2014 It’s easy to see that we’re living in a changing country. The economy is slowly bouncing back after the biggest slowdown since the Great Depression. For the first time in two generations, Americans are moving to cities in record numbers. And during all this, more and more people are expressing a preference for living in places where bicycling is easy and comfortable. City leaders and business leaders alike are taking note. And, in responding to these trends, they have discovered an unexpected tool to create opportunities in growing downtown economies: the protected bike lane. In a new report from PeopleForBikes and the Alliance for Biking & Walking, 15 entrepreneurs and business leaders from major U.S. cities explain how protected bike lanes — on-street lanes that are physically separated from automobile traffic by curbs, planters, parked cars or posts — has meant big benefits for their companies. The report combines this original reporting with an overview of the latest academic and technical research to find changes associated with four mega-trends. Check it out: 1. Americans — especially young people — are driving less and biking more. Employers say their headhunters get a competitive edge by locating in areas with great biking networks, so savvy companies are locating near protected bike lanes to attract and keep Millennials and Gen X-ers. Learn more. 2. Americans are flocking to urban areas, congesting city streets and creating market demand for solutions that increase street flow without adding gridlock. The demand for great bike networks is nicely illustrated in the housing markets near protected bike lanes. Studies show that homes near bicycle infrastructure appreciate in value more than equivalent houses away from bike lanes. Learn more. 3. With health care costs at an all-time high, companies are scrambling to get more employees exercising regularly. Newsflash: healthcare is expensive. Companies benefit when more employees find it pleasant to bike to the office, because workers who exercise regularly are less expensive to insure.Learn more. 4. In shopping districts, the most valuable customers are those who stop by often. People who shop by bike tend to buy less in a single visit, but stop by more often. When space is at a high premium, these regulars make for great customers. Learn more. To learn more, check out the report: Protected Bike Lanes Mean Business (PDF)

2014 Vermont Complete Streets Workshops

Vermont Local Roads has just announced the first 2014 workshop on Vermont’s Complete Streets Law. Registration is now open. 

Complete Streets o Wednesday, January 22: Newport, Emory Hebard State Building o Wednesday, January 29: White River Junction, Hotel Coolidge o Wednesday, February 5: Burlington, AARP Vermont o Wednesday, February 12: Manchester Center, Manchester Park House This 4 hour technical workshop for public works directors, municipal and contract firm engineers, municipal managers and planners, and selectboard members will focus on Vermont’s Complete Streets Law including making the most of the law and its effect on towns, 7 steps to building complete streets, and resources, examples and a case study exercise.

You can sign up online at this link http://vermontlocalroads.org/workshop_registration.html  or give our office a call at 800-462-6555.

Settlement Reached, with Champlain Parkway appellant, Project inches closer

From BBA

Burlington Free Press - The Champlain Parkway project has taken another big step toward becoming a reality.

The city of Burlington has crafted a settlement with a persistent critic of the proposed Champlain Parkway, removing an obstacle to the much-delayed connector between Interstate 189 and downtown Burlington.

Allan Hunt, a neighborhood activist who appealed the Parkway construction permit in state Environmental Court, agreed to drop his opposition in exchange for the city’s promise to try to reduce the impact of new traffic dumping onto the lower Maple and King Street neighborhood where he lives.

“I am very pleased with this settlement,” Hunt said in a statement issued Tuesday by City Hall. “The Mayor and his team deserve a great deal of credit for finding meaningful ways to mitigate the impacts of the Parkway on our neighborhood.”

The deal was finalized Monday and calls for the city to sponsor a proposal to remove Maple Street as a designated truck route within 90 days of when the Parkway is constructed and opened to traffic.

The city also would improve sidewalks, crosswalks and flashing beacons in the corridor and use standard red-brick crosswalk designs at the intersection of Maple and Pine streets and King and Pine streets.

The city also agreed “in concept” to signs from I-189 that might not direct drivers to downtown via the new route. “When the Champlain Parkway signage plans are being developed in detail, the City will indicate to VTrans that the City supports I-189 westbound way-finding signs for the Parkway and Shelburne Street exits that are silent as to ‘downtown,’” the agreement reads.

The city would commit to a neighborhood enhancement program for the Maple and King street area upon receipt of a petition from at least 100 residents.

Hunt, who lives on Maple Street, agreed to drop his appeal of the state environmental Act 250 permit and drop any opposition to the Parkway’s going forward.

The Parkway would connect an orphaned dead-end section of highway that has sat idle for decades as the project hit environmental issues, funding problems and opposition from neighbors who said it would just move traffic rather than reduce it.

The road is designed to better connect the interstate at the southern gateway to downtown Burlington. The new road would run from I-189 to Lakeside Avenue, then to an improved Pine Street corridor and on to Main Street in downtown, running past Maple and King, among other intersecting streets.

New sidewalks, a shared-use path on the west side of Pine and new lighting and street trees are part of the project.

“This settlement is another major step toward building the long-delayed Champlain Parkway,” Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement. “I would like to thank Allan Hunt for his efforts working with our City team to craft an amicable resolution that advances sound urban development and livable city principles to guide the future of his neighborhood.”

There’s no construction date on the Parkway because other appeals are pending, said Chris Cole, director of policy, planning and intermodal development at the Vermont Agency of Transportation. The appeals will not stop the Parkway, he predicted. “If they were successful in the appeals they would only require changes in the project, not stopping the project.”

German town abolishes traffic lights and codes. Accidents are now almost non-existent!

11/15/13
From minds.com
In this fascinating public experiment, a German town wanted to see what would happen to traffic flow if they got rid of street signs, lights and other restrictions.  The results are intuitive, but not what you would expect!  Everything got safer and faster.  Would this model hold true for other areas of infrastructure?  Drivers must give way to the left and not drive too fast.  That's the only rule.  Even the police love the new system, and best of all, people are safer on the road.  Drivers are much more aware and use eye contact and instincts.  People WANT to stop for other people and help things move more efficiently. 

Williston Invests in Walking & Biking

From Local Motion

There is a whole lot of great work going on across our region to make walking and biking the easy choice for all Vermonters. Burlington is rebuilding the lakeshore bike path.  South Burlington is adding miles of bike lanes every year.  Shelburne is building new trails to connect neighborhoods to the village.  And Williston is extending and closing gaps in an already-extensive network of sidewalks and paths.

 

With support and encouragement from nearly two dozen walking and biking advocates who turned out for a public meeting in October, the Williston Selectboard has endorsed or is actively considering an impressive slate of walk-bike projects, including:

• Wide shoulders and/or a path along the length of Mountain View Road
• Projects to close gaps in the sidewalk and path network in Tafts Corners
• A shared-use path along Route 2 from Tafts Corners to Williston Village

These projects are part of a remarkably balanced and forward-looking set of transportation improvements that are being funded in lieu of the Circ, a long-planned but now cancelled beltline highway around the Burlington metro area.  Hats off to the Town of Williston, the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commision, and VTrans for investing in a transportation system that gives people more options for how they get around!

  

If this is the kind of future you want, send a note of appreciation to Ken Belliveau, the Williston Town Planner, at kbelliveau@willistontown.com.    

Turns out: More people on foot and bikes are good for business

"The work of a transport commissioner isn't just about stop signs and traffic signals," explains Janette Sadik-Khan, who was appointed to that role in New York City in 2007. In this funny and thought-provoking talk, she details the thinking behind successful initiatives to reshape street life in the 5 boroughs, including the addition of pedestrian zones in Times Square and the arrival of Citi Bikes. Watch for the special cameo at the end of the talk.

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