Brownsboro Road reconstruction--again

Probably not in direct response to my questions about the opponents' reasons for resistance to the Road Diet plan for Brownsboro Road in the Clifton area, but I'm glad to see it nonetheless:

Several folks involved in the plan and advocacy for the road diet have put up a site to refute the opposition from the folks who brought us "Save42." The site name is a clever twist on the opposition's site name--safe42.org--and gives real information instead of simply pooh-poohing the opponents' claims.

If you read the paper or follow the televised news (the latter of which I generally ignore), you've heard the claims--businesses will go under for lack of customers because nobody will want to drive on that road because it will be so clogged with folks who can't get anywhere because there are only two travel lanes (never mind the "suicide lane" in the middle...) because, well, the whole project was developed in secret without input from anybody with skin in the game.

Never mind that I've known about the efforts for over a year, and I don't even live in that neighborhood. Never mind that public meetings on the topic get advertised in Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh's weekly newsletter, along with ways to contact folks who would have some influence.

I've wanted to reach out to opponents and address their concerns respectfully. Having read some of their missives, it's hard to respect their attitudes, let alone their stance. I am convinced of the value of reconstructing Brownsboro Road as planned, but want them to be as well. The more I read of their objections, though, the harder it is for me to take them seriously. I realize that part of their reality is that "more lanes = less congestion," although that idea gets debunked fairly often (build more lanes? more people will use them and clog them as badly as before).

I especially enjoyed reading Ms Ward-Pugh's letter to Jim Dahlem and his group of oppositionists. It lays out their misinformation campaign and points out that there was no secrecy in planning the road diet. They had chance after chance to bring forth data that would refute the notion that the road diet would be a positive step, and either ignored or refused those opportunities. This, of course, suggests that they had no data to bring to the table--only misrepresentation and fear of changes that would be good for the locals at minimal expense to through traffic.

Once the road diet is done, I wonder what Dahlem and his crowd will say when the businesses along there start flourishing? What happens when they find that they can get through there with less stress and no real loss of time after all? Will they apologize?

I doubt it.

Brownsboro Road Reconfiguration, revisited

I've heard of folks who think that traffic moving faster and safer is a better thing for the section of Brownsboro Road being reconfigured. Faster AND safer? That seems paradoxical to me. Smoother might be safer. Slower (within reason) could be much safer, especially on a road where there are (or would be) pedestrians of all ages, including vision-impaired or mobility-impaired.

Yes, traffic engineers used to hold that wider roads were safer. More maneuvering room, and all that, never mind folks on the sidewalks. In my last post, I mentioned this post from Strong Towns blog poster Charles Marohn.

I wasn't always so down with speed limits. I liked going faster, feeling like I was getting where I was going more effectively if not more efficiently. Several people tried to tell me otherwise, and in my youthful ignorance, I blew off the idea. I often say that riding a bicycle as much as I do makes me a better driver when I'm in a car. I am more focused on the task, being used to that when I'm on two wheels. I'm more aware of my surroundings, by habit formed of necessity. I also think that compulsory bicycle miles for able-bodied drivers would be a good thing for traffic safety, but I realize that it would never happen in the United States of the Automobile.

A friend recently got a speeding ticket for going twenty miles an hour over the posted speed limit. He was griping about it being a "total speed trap," never mind that it was an area known for fairly careful enforcement of speed limits and not far from his home (as if it was a surprise that someone would be *gasp* enforcing the law). The speed limit doesn't abruptly change from fifty-five to thirty-five, and any change is well-marked with MUTCD signage showing that a lower speed limit zone is ahead.

Twenty-five or thirty years ago, I would have had more sympathy for him. Perhaps even twenty or even fifteen years ago, although I would have been more sympathetic had the differential been more like ten miles an hour. Now? It's hard for me to empathize with anyone going twenty (or probably more, especially if the officer gave him any break) over the speed limit.

I bring this sentiment back to my discussions about the Brownsboro Road reconfiguration by noting that in my own travels along that road, I've seen folks going way too fast for conditions, treating the road like a raceway rather than a road with lots of stores (and thus driveways) on either side, sidewalks (and potentially pedestrians using those sidewalks), folks wanting to turn left into this or that place of business, and other reasons why a thirty-five-mile-an-hour speed limit makes far more sense than one set at fifty-five. Yes, it's a fairly major through-way for a lot of commuters, but that doesn't give them reason to expect to go at interstate speeds.

It's worth a moment to compare my feelings on this to how I feel about the way Oak Street was "fixed" between Floyd and Seventh Streets some years ago. On Oak Street, the city changed it from one-way eastbound to two-way traffic. I get that it makes it (hopefully) safer for pedestrians to get across the street to patronize local businesses. The down side in that location is that, to conserve on-street parking (parking being at a high premium in Old Louisville), one travel lane and one parking lane were maintained in each direction. If one wishes to make a left turn off Oak Street, and opposing traffic is heavy, one will block an intersection for sometimes multiple cycles of the traffic light. This is partly a good thing--it deters through traffic. It's also a bad thing, in that it now takes several cycles of several traffic lights to get through that piece of Oak Street, making someone who was accustomed to going through on one or perhaps two cycles of sequenced lights angry and less likely to consider doing business in the area. I wonder whether limiting on-street parking to one side of the street and creating a left-turn-only lane would help, here. Of course, then the decision is "which side of the street loses on-street parking?" The answer was apparently more complicated than they wanted to fix at the time.

What makes neighborhood roads safer?

I think I remember mentioning this blog post before, but I don't have time to go looking. It's from a traffic engineer who is rethinking the priorities of street design. It's a good quick read.

blog goals

Change sometimes prompts us to ruminate on things. With the changes recent and upcoming, I've been thinking about all sorts of things. Some more time-sensitive, like my own preparation for last weekend's bike move, and others less urgent. Some more big-picture, some less so.

This blog pops into my mind from time to time when I'm doing such reflecting. I think about some of the blogs I read, and their purposes and purposefulness. Some bloggers keep a very tight focus on one facet of their lives, and write about that focus in a way that attempts to be accessible to lots of people. I admire their discipline in maintaining such focus. I sometimes wish I had such discipline. I occasionally consider such folks to be over-achievers.

Then I remember the concept that we look at others' personae and only see the good stuff. We don't see the behind the scenes frailties and foibles. We think about our own perceived shortcomings in that light, and consider ourselves less valid somehow.

My own purpose for this blog has varied a bit over the three years or so since I started keeping it. At first, I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do with it. It became a diary of sorts, in part to help me keep myself accountable in my goal of riding to work more and more. I added little bits of celebration or at least recognizing little mile markers along the way--the first ride to work of the season in short sleeves, or short pants, or the first ride to work in sub-freezing temperatures (something I didn't even think to make note of this last season, as my utility riding has become more of a given for me).

It's been more public about seemingly private stuff at times. I've managed to hold back on other things that didn't really need to be said, but that I needed to put into words in order to help myself figure out where I was on those issues. In other words, I've found myself using this blog as a metaphorical mirror for my thoughts, helping clarify them for myself and being open to other folks acting as sounding boards (and have even gotten some helpful feedback at times).

So, yes, this blog is serving an assortment of purposes for me. I get to share blogs I've found and comment on posts and comments from those blogs. I get to clarify my own thoughts on things. I keep track of little things I want to remember, and my thoughts on those points, and revisit my typed-out thought-dumps once in a while. I get to read thoughts of a few others as they respond to points I make.

It's sort of like having friends might be, if I got to sit and chat with the several of you more often.

Bike Move, version 2012-2, complete!

Despite less-than-ideal weather (!), we did it. We moved boxes and boxes and boxes of books and stuff, a couple of dressers and file cabinets, and even a sofa (as Mary Beth said, "It's not a bike move until you haul a sofa!").

There were an assortment of news folks on hand, due to some pre-event crowing by Kirk the Media Maven Kandle. Links (with pics and video as appropriate) can be found here, here, here, and over there. I didn't even take my camera, figuring that there would be enough picture-taking done by others--I was there to move stuff.

And move stuff I did. Yes, that is me pulling the trailer loaded with the sofa. The Courier's picture of me pulling it had a caption that was not well-written or proofed (peddling instead of pedaling, coach instead of couch), but most viewers would get the idea. The route to the destination house involved a short 7% grade on Pope Street in the Clifton neighborhood, which is fun with a three-hundred-pound (guesstimated) trailer payload. I need to do more climbing like that, but not right away. My legs need to recover just a bit more.

Moving van, er, BIKES

This Saturday will be yet another household move by bicycles. Yes, I get to help!

I spent some time with Andy Dyson today, making some temporary repairs to his trailer so that I can use it this weekend. The current plan is for me to use it with my Vanguard, which could be interesting. There are some mild grades to climb this time that are a bit steeper than stuff we've done before. I'll be able to carry more weight than before.

Should be a good time!