Utility Corridors as Bicycle Paths

This on-line story in the News-Journal (May 2, 2010) reports that the Port Orange City Council will not pursue (by a vote of 4-1) turning a Florida Power & Light east-west utility corridor into a bicycle path connecting Port Orange City Center with Nova Road. Security concerns are the issue, apparently people are waiting to ambush bicyclists along the path. The answer is more bicyclists, more eyes on the path. Florida DOT would pay for 75% of the $106,000 cost, but the council said no. The council did vote for $38,500 for turn-lane construction. Will these turn lanes take into account the crossing of the car traffic across present or future bicycle lanes? I hope so. Port Orange has some of the best, albeit limited, urban path systems in the area. I hope they take up this issue again soon. The bicyclists won't come if they don't build the paths.

New bicycle route maps from the County

The County has a new bike route map for East Volusia. The maps gives you some idea of the speed of the traffic on the routes selected. It would be valuable to have information on which streets/roads have shoulders, but that is not provided. On very busy roads like ISB, riding on the shoulder seems OK, but when the shoulder suddenly disappears, for example when crossing Clyde Morris, ISB is a little too busy to ride on with zero space between the lane and the curb. I want to "take the lane", but on ISB this is pretty scary.

Taken for a Ride

An excellent documentary about the how General Motors put all the street cars out of business and left us the public transportation system (mostly infrequent buses) that we have today.  As GM goes through bankruptcy, my wish is that they will turn from making cars to making light rail cars to atone for past sins.

Bicycling the beach

 

For bicycle commuting beach side, nothing beats firm sand with no cars or stop lights for 4 miles! Access from mainland via Orange Ave (Silver Beach Ave) then up the beach all the way to Plaza Blvd for groceries. This is my first iMovie film via a JVC miniDV camcorder. I plan to make street films about Daytona Beach to help document current conditions and work to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Video update!

Buffer Area Bicycle Path

In the summer of 2006, this sand road and other trails through the Daytona Highlands buffer area didn't have NO TRESPASSING signs. These went up later that year and have prevented my commute through the buffer area from my home in the Highlands to my job at Embry-Riddle Areonautical University. A recent news article suggests things may change in the buffer area. Let's not have more parking lots please. How about a bicycle-pedestrian trail that gets people out of their cars and onto bicycles.

Bicycle Infrastructure in Boulder, CO

I had the pleasure of biking around Boulder for two weeks in July 2008 and it was a great experience. Imagine cycling across town without stopping, passing under or over all the major roads. It is wonderfu. This is what a bicycling community looks like. With some vision, we can do it here in Daytona Beach and we don't even have to worry about plowing the bike lanes during the winter! See more great films at STREETFILMS.

Letter to the Editor: A little help for cyclists

My debut as a letter-to-the-editor writer this morning in the News-Journal.  The editor was kind enough to give me the lead letter and a very appropriate sentence of my argument at the top of the page. Click on the image for a better view.