Next Thursday, May 16th, from 6pm to close, join MassBike for an evening of dinner, drinks and live music at Jerry Remy’s near Fenway Park. Red Bull Media will also premiere its new mountain biking film, “Where the Trail Ends,” during the benefit.

All guests will have access to the full dinner buffet, movie screening and a cash bar. MassBike is also providing complimentary bike valet parking! There are three ticketing options for supporters, with 100% of ticket sales benefitting The One Fund’s support for bombing victims and their families.

$20.00 Available to guests who enter between 6-7pm

$50.00 Guests will receive a $25 Jerry Remy’s gift card

$100.00 Guests will receive a $50 Jerry Remy’s gift card and custom event t-shirt

Tickets are available on the benefit page. Reserve your spot today at this incredible event that brings the whole New England bike community together for a worthy cause.

On April 23, MassDOT held a public hearing for comments on the 25% design. At the hearing, MassBike Executive Director David Watson praised the project’s aim to further the mobility and safety of all users of the intersection. In the spirit of discussion and given MassBike’s expertise in promoting safe cycling across the Commonwealth, David also offered specific suggestions that would drastically improve the design’s functionality. His comments center around the  particular needs of the less experienced, vulnerable bicyclists who frequent the Minuteman Bikeway.

Below is the letter MassBike sent to MassDOT Chief Engineer Thomas Broderick, summarizing David’s thoughts on pursuing a design that promotes safety above all while keeping an eye to the convenience of motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians alike.

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Subject: Comments on Arlington Intersection Improvements, Project #606885

Dear Mr. Broderick:

I am writing both on behalf of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike) and myself as an Arlington resident. MassBike is the statewide bicyclist advocacy group, promoting a bicycle-friendly environment and encouraging bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation. This letter summarizes the comments I made at the public hearing on April 23, 2013.

First, I would like to thank MassDOT and the Town of Arlington for pursuing this project to improve this extraordinarily busy and complicated intersection. Everyone who has observed the operation of this intersection knows that it presents significant safety and mobility issues for all users – motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians alike, but most especially users of the Minuteman Bikeway. Both MassDOT and Arlington have demonstrated their ongoing support for biking and walking.

The proposed design includes 5-foot bikes lanes adjacent to 7-foot parking lanes on both sides of Massachusetts Avenue, a signalized bicycle crossing at Swan Place, and extension of the bikeway through Uncle Sam Park adjacent to the sidewalk. All of these improvements are within acceptable design standards, but my concern is that they do not go far enough to significantly improve bicyclist safety and mobility.

People riding bicycles on the Minuteman Bikeway have already made the important choice that they do not want to ride in the roadway with traffic. While some ride the Minuteman for convenience (e.g., to access Alewife Station), many more use it because they do not feel safe or comfortable riding in traffic. The Minuteman is a destination unto itself, one of the most-used rail trails in the United States, even drawing people who drive to Arlington or the other communities along the path for the sole purpose of riding their bikes on the Minuteman. It is a popular destination for families bicycling with their children, often very young children just learning how to ride. All of these people have chosen not to ride on the road, yet these are the very people the proposed design directs into on-road bicycle facilities that meet only the bare minimum standards for the safety of even experienced bicyclists.

In order to attract bicyclists on the Minuteman to use the new facilities, they must both very safe and very convenient. The proposed design is neither, requiring bicyclists to ride in traffic and make two-stage crossings.

While minimum-width facilities are certainly acceptable from a design perspective, particularly in constrained spaces, and adequately serve bicyclists who have chosen to ride in the roadway, such facilities do not adequately serve bicyclists who do not want to ride in traffic. These are the least experienced, most vulnerable bicyclists. Yet the proposed design would have them cross busy streets, enter the traffic flow, and ride in minimum-width bike lanes adjacent to parking where they are at risk for being doored.

When working to enhance the safety and mobility of all users in constrained space, it is essential to find the right balance between the safety and needs of all user groups. As currently proposed, the design does not find that balance. Instead, it squeezes all roadway dimensions down to bare minimums in order to shoehorn bike lanes without impacting motor vehicle capacity or parking at all. That is not balance – that is continuing the historic prioritization of motor vehicles over all other users, with bicyclists and pedestrians left on the margins. This is inconsistent with the context-sensitive approach of the MassDOT Project Development and Design Guide, with Complete Streets requirements of the Healthy Transportation Compact, with current federal policy on bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and with the Mode Shift goals of the GreenDOT policy.

While minimum bicycle facilities are acceptable in many contexts, here, in the unique situation created by the discontinuous Minuteman Bikeway, more is required to actually meet the project’s safety and mobility goals. During the design process, alternatives were discussed that would have provided for greater separation from traffic for bicyclists making the Minuteman connection. Among these alternatives were a two-way cycletrack on the south side of Massachusetts Avenue and a “cross bike” or diagonal crossing through the Route 60 intersection, which together would create an almost continuous protected connection between the two sections of the bikeway. I urge MassDOT and the Town to reexamine these and other concepts to provide greater protection for bicyclists.

The primary reason that more-protected bicycle facilities cannot fit in the current design is the retention of on-street parking between Swan Place and Route 60. I completely understand the concerns of the business community and nearby residents about these parking spaces. But we are weighing the convenience of motorists against the safety of bicyclists, and it seems clear that known, significant safety concerns outweigh a handful of parking spaces in this context. With the extra seven feet available if those spaces are removed, many better options for bicyclists become possible, such as the two-cycletrack, buffered bike lanes, or simply wider bike lanes.

I also appreciate the safety concerns and complexity of the cross bike idea. But there is a strong desire line for bicyclists (and pedestrians) to make this movement, and many people do so today during the left turn signal phase from Route 60 to Massachusetts Avenue. The proposed design does nothing to protect or legitimize this movement, instead continuing the current situation requiring bicyclists to cross twice, in two signal phases, to make the Minuteman connection or simply continue onto Massachusetts Avenue. This inherently creates conflicts between bicyclists and pedestrians in the crosswalks, and those conflicts need to be addressed, perhaps with separate bicycle and pedestrians zones at the crossings, regardless of whether a cross bike is implemented.

I support MassDOT and Arlington in their efforts to make this difficult intersection safer for everyone, but I think we need to do better for bicyclists than the proposed design. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this project, and I look forward to working with the project team to meet the project goals.

Very truly yours,

David Watson
Executive Director
MassBike

Originally, MassDOT intended to detour all Cambridge-bound motor vehicle and bicycle traffic for the duration of the project, but MassBike and other advocates made a strong case to maintain two-way bicycle travel. For people riding just a few miles under their own power, a detour of a mile or more would discourage people from bicycling, at a time when we should be doing everything possible to shift people from driving to other biking, walking, or transit.

Thankfully, MassDOT listened, and the plan now is to maintain two-way bicycle travel, throughout construction – even though car traffic to Cambridge will be detoured the entire time! Construction will occur in several phases to permit work on different parts of the bridge, and during each phase the lane configuration will shift positions. Most of the time, bicyclists will enjoy dedicated bike lanes, though sometimes will share sidewalk space with pedestrians. We understand the very tight space constraints during construction, and we thank MassDOT for doing the best they can for bicyclists.

We are concerned, however, with the connections to local roadways and the Charles River paths on both sides of the river, both during and after construction. No plans have been shown for how those connections will work, especially as the lane configuration on the bridge shifts from side to side. These connections, especially in Charles Circle on the Boston side, and to the paths on the Cambridge side, are already challenging without the added complexity of construction. The project engineers do not seem to have a plan for involving advocates in these all-important designs, which could compromise bicyclist and pedestrian (and motorist) safety. Click here to see MassBike’s formal comment letter to MassDOT.

We hope (and have requested) that MassDOT will continue the collaborative effort that led to the current design for the bridge as the designs for these critical connections move forward.

Though it was not the focus of this hearing, it should be noted that bicycle and pedestrian advocates, including MassBike, continue to encourage MassDOT to rethink the Boston-bound side of the bridge to better provide for future bicyclist and pedestrian needs.

Mayor Lisa Wong at the Bike/Walk Summit

The Summit could not have come at a better time. On Saturday, April 13th (two days after the event), the Senate debated and then voted on a five-year, $800 million per year transportation package. This is much more than the $500 million bill passed by the House, which Governor Deval Patrick has threatened to veto since it falls so far short of his ten-year, $1.2 billion per year plan.

Transportation for Massachusetts, a coalition of organizations including MassBike and WalkBoston, released a statement on the Senate’s transportation bill. Here is an excerpt:

As passed, the bill makes progress by closing yearly budget shortfalls and begins to address our significant maintenance backlog. However, it does not provide sufficient funding to move our transportation system into the 21st century. The bill’s revenue projections are too optimistic and the total funds insufficient.

Because two different versions of the bill were passed by the separate chambers, they will now go to a conference committee. The differences will have to be worked out, and MassBike is hopeful that the end result will do two things:

• Restore dedicated funding for shared-use paths, and ensure that biking and walking are included in everyday road and bridge projects.
• Maintain, or ideally increase, the Senate’s bottom line funding for transportation – though the latter seems unlikely.

Finally, we asked Summit attendees to ask their legislators to support specific pieces of bike/pedestrian safety legislation, which you can find here. Because the Legislature’s focus so far this session has been on funding, the first public hearings for these bills have not yet been scheduled. We’ll let you know just as soon as that happens.

As always, we are going to count on your support to call up your legislators and tell them that these issues matter. We will be issuing action alerts as the need arises so that the needs of bicyclists don’t get lost in the broader legislative conversation. Thanks as always, we couldn’t do it without you.

MassBike is very concerned about the Legislature’s plan to fund transportation. A major issue is that, unlike the Governor’s Transportation Plan, the Legislature’s alternative does not dedicate any funding to biking and walking. Further, it would require large increases in transit fares and tolls, while abandoning capital projects such as the Green Line extension, South Coast rail and South Station expansion – all critical to economic development and new jobs. And it would forfeit federal funds available to pay for much of these projects. Instead of investing in the future of Massachusetts transportation, the Legislature’s proposal will cost us all more without any discernible improvement in our infrastructure.

Tomorrow is a big day for biking and walking. The Bike/Walk Summit is taking place, and we are asking local advocates come to the State House to educate their legislators about our six pieces of legislation (see below). But perhaps even more urgently, the Senate is going to be debating and possibly voting on the transportation finance bill. We need you to call your legislators at this critical point TODAY.

1. Please call/email and ask your state Senator:

• Will you support adequate transportation funding, which at a minimum is $800 – $900 million annually?

2. Please call/email and ask both your Senator and Representative:

• Will you support the following bills to improve road safety for all users?
• Senior Safety Zones Bill, HB 550 – Establishes reduced speed limit zones in areas with larger elderly populations;
• Vulnerable Road Users Bill, SB 1639 – Adds protections from being struck by a motor vehicle to bicyclists, pedestrians, and other vulnerable users of the road;
• Active Streets and Healthy Communities Bill, SB 68 / HB 3091 – Creates a certification process for “Active Streets Communities,” which would provide eligibility for certain kinds of funding;
• Bike Lane Protection Bill, SB 1640 – Prohibits parking motor vehicles in bike lanes;
• Snow Removal Bill, HB 1570 – Incentivizes snow removal from sidewalks;
• Speed Limits Bill, HB 3129 – Reduces the prevailing speed limits on most local roads to 25 mph.

3. Email Action@MassBike.org to let us know how it went.

Don’t know who your legislators are or how to contact them? Find out here.

Email is OK, but phone calls are preferred. Again, this is a critical point in the transportation conversation. We are hoping to put pressure on the Senate to pass a larger transportation bill, which will give us an opportunity later on to re-establish dedicated funding for biking and walking when the House and Senate reconcile the two versions of the legislation. As always, it is only with your help that we are going to be able to make progress on this. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call the office at (617) 542-2453 or email Advocacy@Massbike.org.

State Bike/Ped Funding – Action Needed

MassBike, in partnership with WalkBoston, has been working to organize the Bike/Walk Summit on Thursday, April 11th. This year, we have five pieces of legislation that would make the roads safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. Additionally, we will be asking participants to support the Governor’s Transportation Plan, and specifically the $430 million dedicated to bike/ped facilities. To register, click here.

In the meantime, there is a coordinated effort this week being led by Transportation for Massachusetts (of which MassBike is a member) to let the legislature know that investing in our transportation system is essential. While their focus is on transportation broadly, we urge our members to specifically reference support for the $430 million set aside for biking and walking infrastructure. MassBike Executive Director David Watson kicked things off by testifying at the transportation bond bill hearing at the State House on Monday, where he urged the members of the Joint Committee on Transportation to fully fund Massachusetts’ transportation needs, including biking and walking.

Here is how you can take action now:

1. Join in on the Transportation Day on the State House steps on April 2. If you can’t make the Bike/Walk Summit on April 11, or if you want to have your voice heard on broader transportation issues, then this is a great opportunity.
2. Email your legislators using this simple template.
3. Call your legislators and tell them you support adequate transportation funding, including funding for biking and walking. If they are supportive, ask them to express that support to the Speaker of the House and the Senate President. Phone numbers can be found here.

Victory On Capitol Hill

When we were in DC for the National Bike Summit, we weren’t able to meet with the Massachusetts Congressional delegation due to a snow storm. Despite that setback, we have been keeping in close touch with members of Congress and their staff. This has recently paid off by the news that more than half of Massachusetts’ US Representatives signed on to a letter to USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood asking that USDOT establish performance goals for reducing bicyclist fatalities.

Please send a thank you email to these US Representatives if you live in their districts:

• Michael Capuano
• William Keating
• Ed Markey
• Jim McGovern
• Niki Tsongas

Things are only going to get more hectic as the transportation funding debate comes to a head in the State House, and as the current federal transportation authorization nears its expiration in 2014. As always, we depend on you, our members and supporters, to make sure that bicyclists aren’t forgotten in these discussions – thanks so much for your hard work.

Events and Outreach Manager

This position will have primary responsibility for the planning and execution of our two major riding events – the Summer Century and the Berkshires to Boston Tour (a new multi-day ride) – and for our day-to-day public outreach and communications activities. In addition to promoting the events, the Events and Outreach Manager will work closely with other staff members to develop content for our blog, email newsletter, and social media. See the full job description here.

Program Associate

This half-time position will primarily be responsible for coordinating the Education Program, including our Safe Routes to School classes and Adult Education Classes. This will include corresponding with customers to arrange classes, working with our instructors around the state to get the classes in their schedules, and providing instruction for many of the classes in the Boston area. Finally, the Program Associate will work closely with the Events and Communications Manager to help with outreach and communications as needed. See the full job description here.

If you are interested in applying to either of these jobs, please send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample no longer than 1000 words to Jobs@MassBike.org (blog posts are preferred for the writing sample, and links are fine). We will accept applications until the position is filled, though prefer applications to be sent in by Friday, March 29.

Local bicyclists in Northampton getting ready to collect data.

Thanks to the hard work of the local volunteers, we collected an enormous amount of information about the layout of the intersections and areas that could be improved. The fantastic thing about having local bicyclists undertake these assessments is that we can get information that only a frequent rider on a particular road would know – such as that a certain intersection becomes unmanageable after the adjacent high school lets out, but otherwise appears adequate.

After analyzing the data and going through the pages of notes, we are proud to release the Hampshire County Bikeability Assessment. Click here if you would like to look at the full report. Some of the main points from the report were:

• Amherst: The intersections in and around the UMass Campus are barriers to bicycling, particularly the intersection of Triangle Street and East Pleasant Street.
• Belchertown: The intersection of Routes 9 and 202 should be the focus for improvements in the future. Due to the geometry of this intersection a roundabout with grade-separated bicycle facilities should be considered.
• Northampton: Intersections along King Street (Route 10) all need additional bicycle infrastructure. Route 10 is an arterial road that provides access not only to many commercial destinations, but also the Northampton Bikeway and the Franklin County Greenway. Tightening turn radii and adding colored biycle lanes and/or bike boxes should be done to improve bicyclist safety and comfort.

Overall, communities in Hampshire County are leaders in the state when it comes to bike-friendly infrastructure. They have a considerable off-road network, many traffic calming features, and painted infrastructure like bike lanes, sharrows, and even a bike box. However, the process of retrofitting our streets to encourage bicycling is still in its infancy, even in our most advanced communities. This report should further the conversation on prioritizing areas for improvement.

You can find out more about our Bikeability Assessments (which is a part of our Bikeable Communities Program) by clicking here. If you are interested getting an Assessment for your community, please email Services@MassBike.org.

Your voice is crucial this year for biking and walking. Governor Patrick has proposed increasing funding for transportation, including a four-fold increase for bicycle and pedestrian funding – and we need your help to make it reality. You can read the details here, but under his plan, we would have $430 million devoted to multi-use paths and other bicycle and pedestrian facilities. This is unprecedented, and we must urge our legislators to support the Governor’s transportation plan.

Help us send this message loud and clear by attending the 2013 Massachusetts Bike/Walk Summit on Thursday, April 11 from 10 AM to 1 PM at the State House in Nurses Hall. For the second year in a row, MassBike and WalkBoston are teaming up to host the Summit so that bicyclists and pedestrians speak with one voice on Beacon Hill.

Please register today by clicking here.

In addition to transportation funding, we will also be asking participants to encourage their legislators to support several pieces of bike/ped safety legislation:

• Vulnerable Road Users Bill (SD.1639) – Would give added protection to bicyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable users of the road.
• Bike Lane Protection Bill (SD.1640) – Would prohibit motor vehicles from parking in bike lanes.
• Senior Safety Zones Bill (HD.550) – Would create zones around areas with high senior citizen populations similar to school zones.
• Active Streets and Healthy Communities Bill (HD.3091/SD.68) – Creates incentives for communities to design streets which encourage biking, walking and other forms of active transportation.
• Speed Limits Bill (HD.3129) – Would give communities the flexibility to lower the prevailing speed limit on certain roads to 25 mph.
• An Act to Promote Pedestrian Safety (HD.1570) – Would encourage snow removal from sidewalks.

And if all that isn’t enough excitement, after the legislative meetings, we’ll have lunch in Nurses Hall with special guest speaker Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong, a Massachusetts healthy communities rockstar! Please attend this important event, and make sure that the safety of bikers and walkers doesn’t get overlooked. Together, let’s get Beacon Hill Moving!

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood

Due to a snow storm, most of the congressional meetings were canceled, including all Massachusetts delegation meetings. Nonetheless, we were still able to discuss important bicycling issues, share stories, and network with other advocates from across the country. Because we were not able to meet with our delegation on Capitol Hill, we are working on scheduling meetings with them locally to continue our ongoing relationship, and as well as build new ones with Senators Warren and Cowan and Representative Kennedy.

To watch videos of the keynote and plenary talks, visit the League’s YouTube Channel. If you were not available to attend the Summit, the League has made the presentations from break-out sessions public; click here to view.

The National Women’s Bicycling Forum

Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth

Congresswoman Duckworth said, “As you promote cycling as a way to be fit and as a way to become part of your community, think of the disabled. Three steps can permit me from getting into a bike shop. Simple things that cost little prevent many disabled people from participating. Continue to help promote this lifestyle, you are making a difference in this avenue.” Along with her inspiring words, many other speakers at the Women’s Forum had words of wisdom.

MA Attendees & MassBike Staff