Graffiti

The Champlain Bikeways sign at the intersection of the path and Stone Hedge Drive has been tagged with graffiti.

New Bike Lanes on Imperial

Although there is a sign saying No Parking and the lane is marked with a bicycle symbol, people park there.

http://twitter.com/BikeReportVT
is the Twitter home of the Bike Report.

Tree Across Stairs on Burlington Bike Path

From Bike Issues Nov 2009

Hadley Road Now Two-Way

 

Bruce Hoar's Department of Public Works has been modifying this intersection so that northbound bicycles can ride easily onto the short path on the east side of the one-way southbound vehicle lane. These riders are very early adopters. October 30, 2009.

Twitter Tracking

Use the tag @BikeReportVT to tweet your reports. The reports will show up in the gadget to the right.

Here is an interactive map that we can use to locate and track the reports.

View #BikeReportVT in a larger map

Bike & Path Report

Todd Taylor and I have been talking about creating a Bike Report which will allow commuters to report conditions on their routes to work. These can be paths or streets. One challenge is to provide timely reports so that later commuters can avoid or adjust for the conditions reported.

The project is modeled on one in Madison, Wisconsin. The local radio station started a report as a sort of joke/poke: "Motor vehicle traffic is tied up, but the bike routes are freely flowing," every morning.

The report overlaps with general reports of bad conditions that need to be addressed by the authorities.

Existing hazards.

In Burlington the wooden bike bridge just north of Blanchard Beach has a chronic hazard when it is wet. There are relatively sharp turns on both ends, so when bike riders enter or set up to exit, they can slip. Several crashes have been reported. The city has put up more warning signs and intend to address the underlying problem.

Lou Bresee suggests modifying the design specs for such bridges to include limits on the deviation upon entry and exit.

Burlington ECHO Center. Construction in the circle in front of the boathouse and near the railroad crossing.

Burlington bike path, just north of the rise south of North Beach. Glass on the path was swept up to some extent. 10/27/09.

Colchester on raised path just south of the entrance to the Winooski Delta Park. Beavers felled a tree that landed on the railing of the raised path and created a 'clotheslining' hazard. Reported to Colchester through Local Motion; trees removed. October 16, 2009.

Elm Bark Burn

Another bark problem with elm tree on Phase III Rec Path,

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=maple+research+station,+spear+street,+south+burlington,+vt&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.352165,78.662109&ie=UTF8&ll=44.453439,-73.189212&spn=0.001834,0.004801&t=h&z=18&lci=com.panoramio.all

Jan van der Ende Visits Burlington

After a 20-year electronic friendship, Jan and I finally met in person. He has worked with ASEBA materials in the Netherlands as a researcher and distributor. June 2009 was the occasion of a big ASEBA conference in Burlington, and Jan attended, along with researchers from all over the world. These are people whose names I had known, but had met only a few. I'm sorry that Linda and I were out of town for all but the last day of the conference. Jan and I took the afternoon to ride out to the "Cut" on the Colchester Causeway.

So what is the etymology of "causeway?" It has to do with heels and sheep.
Here is a photo from an earlier visit to the Causeway.

 

 

Pavement requests completed. Bruce Hoar's team did this in a timely manner. Now skinny tires won't pop when you ride up this mini-curb.

Lou & Bill Measure Hadley One-Way

Bike Path on Hadley

Measure Wooden Bridge

Marked Up Since Removed

The South Burlington Rec Path blog is in a new location.

John Bertelsen's Fixed Bianchi

John Bertelsen offered to let me ride his new Bianchi.

Tilley Drive Path Presented to Council

The Other Paper reported Lou's presentation to City Council about the progress of the Tilley Drive path to Community Drive on February 17, 2009.

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices

From the LAB American Bicyclist Update ---

* The draft of the next edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) was issued for public comment in January 2008. FHWA received over 15,000 comments, with little opposition over the proposed items for bicyclists - new shared lane markings, improved guide signing and added signing for narrow lanes. FHWA will have a decision by late 2009 or early 2010 resulting in either a new edition of the MUTCD or a revised draft for public input.

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/

* The American Association of State Highway & Transportaion Officials AASHTO is developing a new edition of their Guide for Bicycle Facilities. The BTC is ensuring consistency between the new MUTCD and new AASHTO Guide. This next edition of the Bike Guide is expected in late 2009.

http://www.transportation.org/

*

Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Planning and Design Manual

Standards for paths and bicycle lanes.

Find separate chapters in individual pdf documents in the Vermont Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Planning and Design Manual.

Street Width Documents

In order to recommend paint treatment and signs, we made a list of major streets in South Burlington that are used by bicycles and their status.

The street width documents may be found in the RecPath folder.

Hinesburg Road.
- Recently rebuilt and repainted with 11' lanes and 4' striped bike lanes
Williston Road Route 2.
- Major reconstruction awaits the regional corridor study.
Kennedy Drive.
- Rebuilt and laned in 2007 - 2008
Dorset Street
- North of National Golf has adjacent rec path; nothing recommended
Swift Street
- Consider sharrows between Farrell Park and Spear Street
- Spear to Dorset is narrow and has adjacent rec path
- Dave & Lou will gather width data
Allen Road
- Dave & Lou will gather width data
Kimball Avenue
- Suggest sharrows where the bike lanes disappear where there is a center left turn lane