FLCC> Commuting and Climate Change

Mon Apr 21 17:30:29 EDT 2008

Hi Kent,

Nice to know that the city of Ithaca is listening to cyclists.  I
don't currently live in Ithaca but  plan is to move to your city this
summer.  I ride on many of the FLCC rides.  The number one problem I
see with Ithaca becoming a bicycle friendly town are road conditions.
Your city road are in a very poor condition.  Many times I am forced
further to the left then where a cyclist should ride because the
conditions near the curbs are so poor.  Your streets also have
numerous wide  and raised sewer grates which are very dangerous.  Your
streets were not designed for today's modern vehicles wide vehicles.
There are many roads where it is not wide enough for a car and a bike
and few motorists tolerate bikes taking the lane like a car.
Commuting by bicycle will be frustrating for cars and dangerous for
cyclists unless many of your roads are repaved and redesigned to be
suitable for cycles and cars.  Fixing the potholes is nice but not
much short of repaving most of your city is going to fix things.  The
section of road on Rt 89 right by Cass park is my least favorite place
to ride.  The signs says welcome to Ithaca and you have to fold onto
your handlebars to avoid wrecking. I get off Taughanock Blvd as
quickly as possible.  I realize that the city, county and state have
overlapping responsibilities for your roads but the road conditions
goes from moderate to poor every time I enter your city limits.
Thanks for listening.

Bob Nunnink

On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 4:47 PM, Kent Johnson <kjohnson at cityofithaca.org> wrote:
> Hello -
>
>  Thanks for the comments regarding bicycling issues! Feedback such as
>  this helps to identify problem areas and issues, and helps to show that
>  there is broad community interest in reducing those problems.
>
>  I look forward to continuing this discussion and have signed-up to
>  participate on the FLCC email list. Often, however, these issues defy
>  brief email replies - so a phone call may be better (I can be reached at
>  274-6528 - you can leave a message outside of work hours). (and, did you
>  know that the City of Ithaca has a "Potholes" listing in the phonebook?
>  - 272-1718 - just tell them where the pothole is and they will patch it
>  relatively soon, really).
>
>  At this point, I am trying to brainstorm about the best way to move
>  forward to improve conditions for bicyclists (and pedestrians, transit
>  users, motorists, etc.) and I invite your input.
>
>  Thanks,
>  Kent
>
>  PS - I work in the City's Engineering Office, Transportation Division
>  addressing all types of transportation-related issues. In particular, I
>  have been trying to focus extra attention on bicycling issues since this
>  is a topic that is seldom specifically addressed and bicycling in Ithaca
>  seems to be greatly undeveloped as compared to other travel modes.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  Kent Johnson
>  Transportation Engineering Technician
>  Office of the City Engineer
>  City of Ithaca
>  108 E. Green St.
>  Ithaca, New York 14850
>  (607) 274-6528, (607) 327-0316 (cell)
>  kjohnson at cityofithaca.org
>
>
>  >>> jim eagen <jeplus3 at yahoo.com> 4/20/2008 10:29 AM >>>
>
>
> Thought this was an interesting blurb, maybe some of you saw it, from
>  the NY Times Magazine this weekend:
>
>  "BIKETOWN MELLOW: Johnny, a play on maillot jaune, French for "yellow
>  jersey," was Lance Armstrong's nickname during his Tour de France
>  days. Next month, Mellow Johnny's will be the name of a multiuse
>  facility Armstrong is backing in Austin, Tex., that features bicycle
>  sales and repairs, a cafe, bicycle parking for downtown residents and
>  commuters, spin classes and showers. The old 18,000-square-foot,
>  yellow-and-red-brick building was, in previous incarnations, a Pearl
>  beer distributorship and a homeless center. Armstrong and his general
>  partner, Bart Knaggs, say they wanted to use as much of the existing
>  infrastructure as possible. The showers from the shelter days seemed
>  like an ideal incentive for bike commuters in a city that experiences
>  spring and summer temperatures for much of the year. "If you want
>  people to ride an hour to work, and their workplace doesn't have a gym
>  and it's 100 in summer," Armstrong says, "you can't go to
>   work that way." While Mellow Johnny's is a for-profit endeavor,
>  Knaggs says he hopes that offering "one bazillion" bicycle-parking
>  spaces at a nominal fee will have a positive environmental impact.
>  "It's more about shifting a local mind-set about alternative
>  transportation," he says, a nod to the fact that Texans — even those
>  in this, the most liberal, eco-conscious city in the state — often
>  feel dutybound to drive even to the corner store. And how does Mellow
>  Johnny's propose to meet its own energy needs? With conventional
>  sources, though pedal power may put a little energy into the grid.
>  "We're looking for ways to use pedal power so that we can charge
>  up the building a little bit," says Armstrong, who, while he has no
>  immediate plans to work the register, might be the one whose r.p.m. runs
>  the espresso machine."
>
>  Jim Eagen
>
>
>
>  ----- Original Message ----
>  From: Daniel Kidney <daniel.kidney at gmail.com>
>  To: Peter Ozolins <peter at peterozolins.com>; flcc at icycle.org
>  Cc: kjohnson at cityofithaca.org
>  Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 11:02:41 PM
>  Subject: Re: FLCC> Commuting and Climate Change
>
>  Kent, maybe you could read the below messages, also part of our
>  conversation among the FLCC.
>
>  Peter, I absolutely agree. A few times I've had my lack of a car
>  clearly looked down upon when applying for jobs, and several times I've
>  just refrained from
>  applying as it was clearly stated in the job
>  description that car ownership was a necessity. I understand the motives
>  of employers in seeking people with reliable transportation, but it sure
>  would be nice if employers actually looked positively on bike commuters
>  (or other non-personal-car commuting). Perhaps city businesses could be
>  offered incentives to encourage their employees to get to work on bikes!
>  (And help them out with some of the down sides Peter mentioned).
>
>  That's my final plug for the moment as I'm off for a little interstate
>  bike commuting to go check out a college I might go to this fall in
>  Pennsylvania. See you all next week!
>
>  Daniel
>
>
>  On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 5:07 PM, Peter Ozolins <peter at peterozolins.com>
>  wrote:
>
>  What about approaching it from the employer end? For me at least, the
>  biggest headache is dealing with bringing stuff, what to do with stuff
>  when  I get there, and of course dealing with being dirty and wet.
>  Promote employers promoting bike commuting.
>
>  In CA, there's a law that you're entitled to the cash value OR a
>  parking
>  spot if ine is offered at your job.
>
>  At Qualty  Bicycle Products in MN,employees win sone hefty prizes for
>  most miles comuted, etc.
>
>  These kinds of thugs could add up to a hefty pr coup in thus day and
>  age. it just needs to be promoted or sold.
>
>   Peter Ozolins
>   peter[at]peterozolins[dot]com
>   607.592.1997
>   Sent via mimi
>  _____________________________
>
>
>
>
>  Wayne Gottlieb wrote:
>  > Daniel, this has been an ongoing discussion among FLCC
>  > people, sometime on-line, sometimes on the bike.
>  > There are many of us who bike commute and would like
>  > to see bigger numbers.  It seems that higher gas
>  > prices and the whole global warming thing makes this a
>  > good time to promote bicycle commuting. It seems that
>  > Ithaca has particular difficulties, despite our image
>  > of being a progressive town.  We have those darn
>  > hills, those 6 month winters and our roads just aren't
>  > very bike friendly.  There's this catch 22 that nobody
>  > wants to ride because the roads are too dangerous, and
>  > the city won't consider bicycles in their plans
>  > because not enough people ride.  How do we help people
>  > overcome their aversion to riding and how do we
>  > convince the city that many more will ride if roads
>  > are planned accordingly.  If we are made aware of a
>  > specific action that we can take to promote this
>  > issue, I think you will get many people in the club
>  > helping out.  Perhaps some of us should be writing
>  > letters to the editor for a start.  I would love to
>  > have more people to ride to work with and I would love
>  > for there to be less cars on that ride.  By the way,
>  > don't hold your breath about the parking lots. Wayne
>
>
>
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