A year ago Barb Chamberlain was appointed Executive Director of a bicycle advocacy group called the Bicycle Alliance of Washington. Having a history of bicycle advocacy and public policy go hand in hand for this position. In addition to this public office, Barb works to champion women and bicycling through one of her blogs Bike Style. A link to that blog can be found here and it's also on the right hand column here on this page under Bicycling Links of Interest.
Among some of the interesting and informational aspects of her blog she has a comprehensive listing of bicycling blogs written by women. In addition to advocacy items on this blog you'll also find articles about commuting, how to's, style, health and reviews on popular items and topics of interest to women. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook also.
One of the many interesting posts you'll find there is one on bicycle helmets entitled Bike Helmets: Pro-Cute Anti-Ugly. Cute and helmets don't usually go in the same sentence but here you will find cute helmets and very cute helmet covers which can automatically elevate your plain-Jane head protection into a fashion statement.
Women make up 50% of the population and it's nice to see them gaining seats of influence in all areas of things bike related.
Showing posts with label bicycle advocacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bicycle advocacy. Show all posts
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Being An Advocate & Making Progress
Yesterday I attended an event sponsored in part by the League of Michigan Bicyclists. It was an advocacy day in the State capitol with pre-arranged meetings with State legislators and informational exchanges. The day begun with a bike ride from a pre-arranged meeting place and ride to the capitol, registration, meeting with other members of your delegation and information about meeting with the legislators and it was off to meetings with them, followed by announcements, awards a lunch and bike tour of the capitol. I made it to everything except the bike rides, instead meeting up with the group under a tent on the lawn of the Capitol Building. The day promised rain and true to it's prediction we had sprinkles on and off all morning and early afternoon. I would have really enjoyed the ride and the camaraderie that would have ensued from that, but there will be other times and places for that. It wouldn't be the first time I've admitted that I'm a fair weather rider.
The real meat of the event was in the meetings with our State Representatives. From my past history of having served as Township Supervisor I already knew both our current State Representative Gretchen Driskell and the State Senator representing my area Rebecca Warren. Gretchen and I had served together on several boards in Washtenaw County when I was Supervisor and she was Mayor of Saline. As well, I had known Rebecca since she was a State Representative from Ann Arbor and her husband serves on the County Board of Commissioners and we have had opportunities to work together on common goals. The agenda put forward by the LMB was to make legislators aware of issues high on the list or priorities for LMB and the other participating cycling advocacy groups. Highlights of the priorities are;
The real meat of the event was in the meetings with our State Representatives. From my past history of having served as Township Supervisor I already knew both our current State Representative Gretchen Driskell and the State Senator representing my area Rebecca Warren. Gretchen and I had served together on several boards in Washtenaw County when I was Supervisor and she was Mayor of Saline. As well, I had known Rebecca since she was a State Representative from Ann Arbor and her husband serves on the County Board of Commissioners and we have had opportunities to work together on common goals. The agenda put forward by the LMB was to make legislators aware of issues high on the list or priorities for LMB and the other participating cycling advocacy groups. Highlights of the priorities are;
- Protecting vulnerable roadway users by establishing enhanced penalties for injuring or killing cyclists.
- Establishing a standard for safe passing of bicyclists on Michigan roads.
- Revising the right turn hand signal to make an extended right arm legal in Michigan.
- Allowing bicyclists to bypass malfunctioning traffic lights.
- Supporting a new Michigan trails and greenways license plate to fund local trail projects.
- Preventing the Raid on Natural Resources Trust Fund Dollars Available for Trails Projects.
- Adequately funding safe transportation infrastructure that supports multi-modal use.
It was great to be in a position of advocacy and particularly so since I felt a real connection to both legislators. Senator Warren was instrumental in helping us to secure permitting for phase I of the non motorized path project which was my pet project while Supervisor. She had been in attendance at our ribbon cutting for the path when it opened, so she was very aware of my passion for the subject matter and Representative Driskell had been in attendance of several transportation meetings where I reported on the progress of our path from it's inception to it's current state. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and the opportunity for our collective voices to be heard. A link to the LMB information about the Lucinda Means Bicycle Advocacy Day is here.
Driving home I reflected on my goals for riding in 2013 that I posted here, and realized that I am slowly making progress on this year's goals, almost without thinking. When creating the list I wanted to take on an advocacy project and this day certainly qualified for that. I also mulled over wanting to go further and faster and my rides and training are making progress toward those goals. My mileage per ride is increasing as well as my speed. My goal is to work toward a 40 mile ride and it's going to happen with a series of 20-25 and 30 mile rides. Pushing harder gears allows me to gobble up those miles faster. Pushing myself on hills is like interval training and that will make me stronger and when I am stronger I will be faster. My last ride averaged 9 MPH over my longest distance yet this year of 23+ miles. It's a great feeling to challenge yourself physically and mentally like this and the results are rewarding in many ways. Success feeds on success and right about now I'm feeling pretty successful.
Considering my frame of mind just a few short weeks ago I find myself very grateful indeed to our loving God who has helped to bring me to the place I currently am.
Here are some photos of the day in Lansing!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Bicycle and Pedestrian Infastructure - The Barker Road Path Project
Being a proponent of bicycling and serving our Township as its Supervisor I have a unique story for the summer games. I have helped to lead an initiative to create the first non motorized path in our township. The desire to see a bike path in our township was the motivation for myself and two other board members.
The opportunity came in the form of a newspaper article about a new grant opportunity being offered by our County Parks and Recreation department, I read the article and called on the person from Parks and Rec that was quoted in the article. It appeared that the county had not fully implemented this program yet and it was still in the development phase. This was in the winter of 2008, by May of 2009 the program was ready, grant applications were being accepted and the criteria for applying for them was in place. We submitted our application for Phase I of a multi phase project in December of 2009 and received the award for the project in March of 2010.
We set about acquiring right’s of way, easements and approval from the Department of Natural Resources for crossing over a wetland area in Phase I. In June of this year we were given the permit from the DNR to begin, we set about advertising for bids, opened sealed bids on July 13th and on the 22nd of July our board approved the contractor for work on Phase I. A contract is being prepared and at long last work will begin on the project! The time frame for Phase I is four weeks and that phase should be up and running before school opens. A small group is being formed to ride it the day it opens. With the July 22nd meeting falling in the time frame of the contest dates and that meeting carrying the approval for work to begin I submit this for “support for bicycling infrastructure catagory”. I am in a unique position to be able to influence and authorize projects like this and am happy to be an advocate for non motorized transportation infastructure.
An overal map of the project can be found here and the narrative, scope of the project and outline of the pathway can be found here. In the outline of the project there are links to the exisiting Border to Border Trail in Washtenaw County and what future plans are to have a county wide network of pathways. To view the meeting agenda and packet information for the July 22nd meeting where the Board approved the contractor click here.
The opportunity came in the form of a newspaper article about a new grant opportunity being offered by our County Parks and Recreation department, I read the article and called on the person from Parks and Rec that was quoted in the article. It appeared that the county had not fully implemented this program yet and it was still in the development phase. This was in the winter of 2008, by May of 2009 the program was ready, grant applications were being accepted and the criteria for applying for them was in place. We submitted our application for Phase I of a multi phase project in December of 2009 and received the award for the project in March of 2010.
We set about acquiring right’s of way, easements and approval from the Department of Natural Resources for crossing over a wetland area in Phase I. In June of this year we were given the permit from the DNR to begin, we set about advertising for bids, opened sealed bids on July 13th and on the 22nd of July our board approved the contractor for work on Phase I. A contract is being prepared and at long last work will begin on the project! The time frame for Phase I is four weeks and that phase should be up and running before school opens. A small group is being formed to ride it the day it opens. With the July 22nd meeting falling in the time frame of the contest dates and that meeting carrying the approval for work to begin I submit this for “support for bicycling infrastructure catagory”. I am in a unique position to be able to influence and authorize projects like this and am happy to be an advocate for non motorized transportation infastructure.
An overal map of the project can be found here and the narrative, scope of the project and outline of the pathway can be found here. In the outline of the project there are links to the exisiting Border to Border Trail in Washtenaw County and what future plans are to have a county wide network of pathways. To view the meeting agenda and packet information for the July 22nd meeting where the Board approved the contractor click here.
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