Bike Denton

Since Denton hasn’t built any bike racks on the square, maybe they’ll just install one of these.

So I’m riding home in the dark on Hinkle, minding the traffic to my left, avoiding the numerous potholes, when AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! An ear-splitting female scream scares the shit out of me, and it’s coming from a silver Honda Civic a couple feet to my left. This girl has her head out the window for maximum intensity. I catch up to the same car at the University intersection. I ask “hey, what was that all about?” The girl passenger shrugs and sheepishly waves through the rolled-up window.

I get about one of these every year.

Who does this?

Why do this?

Why bikes and not pedestrians or other cars?

Does this happen to all cyclists, or is it a helmet/nerd thing?

Credit to Devin Taylor for finding this morning’s breath of fresh air in the letters to the editor at Denton Record Chronicle. Hopefully we’ll see DRC write some feature articles about cycling, since now we’re seeing letters and last week’s NTDaily article.

Why not a bike?

At a time when investing in environmentally conscious solutions to community problems is more appealing than ever, why hasn’t Denton made more efforts to cater to the growing cycling community?

Nowadays, riding a bike is more out of practicality than pleasure for many Dentonites who not only save themselves gas prices but also save their community a lung-full of pollution.

Thank goodness that many of our public buses have bike racks, but when will Denton add bike lanes to keep these travelers safer?

Why haven’t we lowered speed limits in areas where traffic is more and more on foot and cycle rather than vehicle?

And where in the world do you lock your bike when you go to a government building such as, say, the post office?

Denton needs to recognize and encourage biking as an effective transport strategy that’s not only cost-effective for many citizens (a.k.a. taxpayers) but also a great way to reduce our carbon footprint and growing bellies.

Tell all those gas-guzzlers to take a hike. As for me, I’ll have a bike.

Ali Foyt,

Denton

The NTDaily just published an article about QCBS (Querencia Community Bike Shop), in which Mayor Burroughs provides some very useful insight on how best to lobby for improved bike lanes in Denton.

“One of the difficulties with 288 is that there aren’t very many bridges,” Burroughs said. “To get any kind of crossing, other than the intersections that are already there, would be extremely difficult and very expensive.”

Burroughs said that the best way to prioritize increased bike lanes between parks is to get the Parks and Recreations Committee to recommend additional connectivity. He added that concrete plans are a must for funding.

“Unless a committee … makes putting bike lanes up a priority, the city staff will not make it a priority,” Burroughs said. “Bike lanes on the street are a different matter. A request through the Environmental Committee of City Council or the Mobility Committee would be in order.”

Scripture Street will be a very important connector street to the Razor Ranch Development, which Burroughs said will be a large retail center for Denton upon completion. This will be located on the intersection of University and Bonnie Brae streets, where all the vacant space currently is.

Burroughs said that now is the time to act on bike lanes because a new Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club are opening in Rayzor Ranch.

“This would be a great time for concerned citizens to go to the Mobility Committee, the Environmental Committee and also the Parks and Recreation Committee and ask them to make putting up bike lanes a priority in this area,” he said.

I’m not sure how helpful bike lanes leading to Rayzor Ranch are, just because I notice more cycling across the center of town. I’d say crossing Carroll Blvd, Bell Ave, and anything around the campus and the square are ideal candidates for bike lanes and signage.

Here’s a nice explanation of bridge types and a cost range.

And here is a fascinating study (pdf) that shows imperical data on which warning devices caused more drivers to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. This is totally worth writing about in a longer post.

That was painful.

I was riding south on Fulton on the way home from work, and I saw some skinny orange cones narrowing the lanes at the Linden intersection. I slowed down somewhat, and then BAM! Then came the burning groin pain and swearing.

Cyclists beware. There are some hazardous 2 X 4’s, squared edges and all, fastened to the asphalt at that intersection. I didn’t notice any bump, dip, or otherwise helpful warning signage. Just a near catastrophic loss of control in the rain, at night, in an intersection with cars.

The Northbound lane looked to have a beveled edge 2 X 4 at least, but that’s still not safe, in my opinion. I’m lucky the board didn’t destroy my wheels or hurt me more, but it definitely got me fired up.

I checked the city road construction web page and found a PDF document detailing that Fulton construction was supposed to last from Aug 25 to Oct 8. Today is the 14th, so don’t make any assumptions on road condition based on that web page.

I sent a polite, concerned email to streets@cityofdenton.com and engineering@cityofdenton.com, and hopefully my concerns will make it to someone with control over the 2 X 4 speedbump brigade.

So much for no groin pain with a Brooks saddle.

Last weekend, Querencia (which includes me) led a group ride of the Rail Trail, and here’s a shot of all the riders noticing how much the Loop 288 crossing/blockage sucks. A pedestrian/cyclist bridge alongside the train crossing would be amazing. I’d love any improvement over the status quo, where one has to ride a couple hundred blocks to the left to cross at the traffic light intersection.

2.

I’ve lived in Denton for ten years, and I can’t ever remember seeing so many cyclists around town here. Not only that, I’ve even seen some with helmets, lights, racks, fenders, hand signals.

Am I alone in thinking that ridership here is at an all time high?

Here’s how I think it could help:

• more bike lanes
• restriped existing bike lanes
• more bike racks
• pressure for riding safety courses
• improved driver awareness/sensitivity
• less traffic congestion
• healthier citizens
• local business foot/bike traffic increases

I don’t have any Denton statistics, but this Christian Science Monitor article is encouraging:

The trend slips under the radar of national data, but phone calls to various city governments reveals a strong uptick in bike commuting this year:

• Bike count tallies showed an increase of 30 percent over last year on San Francisco’s Market Street, 44 percent over 2006 levels at the intersection of Broad and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, and 378 percent from five years ago on Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.

• New bikers are maxing out the capacity of transit systems across the country. Bikers boarding buses in Houston rose from 1,510 in April to 3,624 in June, according to the League of American Bicyclists, which also reports that Charlotte’s bike-on-bus boardings have reached an all-time record, surging 30 percent this June from a year ago. On San Francisco’s regional CalTrain, a quarter of rush hour trains surveyed in September “bumped” bikers because onboard racks had reached capacity.

• In Denver, this year’s ‘Bike to Work Day’ drew 35,000 bikers, up 43 percent over last year.

High gas prices are changing transportation habits. For eight straight months, Americans have driven fewer miles than they did over the same period a year earlier, according to the US Department of Transportation.

But don’t think this is a complete turnaround just yet:

The latest US census figures from 2006 offer perspective: Only one half of one percent of Americans commuted by bike.

But the rise, even if it’s a small number, is affecting cities in everything from transportation funding to traffic safety.

Good news from the Fed:

Are there any other painted bike lane indicators besides the 2 on W Hickory St?  Shouldn’t there be?  Should there be directional arrows too?

FYI, 2 bungee cords is all anyone needs to carry a J&J’s large pizza on a bike w/rack.  I added a third, and it was totally unnecessary.