Today at 9:47 PM MoBikeFed News for November 2014--top topics: - The new MoDOT plan for spending a proposed $8 billion in new Missouri transportation funding is truly groundbreaking--the end result of 20 years work by MoBikeFed and our allies across the state to mainstream biking, walking, and trails in Missouri. Be sure to click through the articles below to see the details. - Complete Streets, Bicycle Friendly Communities, bike/ped access across major rivers, and our statewide bicycle touring routes all made major strides this month--find out the details in several articles below. - Your membership and support make it all possible. Thank you! --Brent Brent Hugh, Executive Director, Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation [email protected] 816-695-6736 MoBikeFed.org New MoDOT Statewide Transportation Plan first in history to extensively support biking, walking, transit Ten days ago MoDOT unveiled the first draft of its proposed long-range transportation plan. This plan will provide the framework for how MoDOT will spend the proposed $8 billion in transportation funding over the next ten years, if that proposal is approved by the people of Missouri in November 2014--or how the agency will proceed if the funding isnt approved that MoDOT must proceed on the ever-decreasing amount of tax dollars they receive from the state fuel tax and other state transportation funds. MoDOT identified four major areas of emphasis in its proposed plan. One of those is Give Missourians Better Transportation Choices. On the page giving the details of that area--where for the first time in Missouri history, MoDOT officially articulates the goal of including biking, walking, transit, light rail, railroads, and ports into Missouris transportation system and funding, just as roads and bridges are now. Read more What has MoBikeFed done for you lately? What has your membership or generous contribution in support of the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation’s vision and mission made possible in recent years? $13 million plus in High Priority Bicycle, Pedestrian, and ADA projects (2009-present): In 2009, MoBikeFed and allied organizations met with the MoDOT Director about the statewide Complete Streets Bill that MoBikeFed had championed for several years. In negotiations, MoBikeFed agreed to change the bill to a Complete Streets Resolution, which successfully passed. We also agree to lead a coordinated statewide effort to compile prioritized list of the 100 top needs for bicycling and walking in Missouri. MoDOT funded the initial list of 13 projects, totaling $13 million in spending on the most urgent bicycle and pedestrian needs in Missouri, and continues to build other projects on the list. MoDOT and the General Assembly adopt a “Total Transportation” approach to Missouri transportation funding, for the first time ever including bicycling and walking on equal footing with all other transportation modes Read more $8 billion Missouri Transportation Funding Plan to be on November 2014 ballot; MoDOT to unveils draft plan for the new funding; your feedback needed Remember the $8 billion Missouri transportation funding proposal that nearly passed the 2013 Missouri General Assembly in May? The first transportation fundign proposal in Missouri history to fully incorporate bicycling and walking, and which will add bicycling and walking to the Missouri Constitution? Well--its back. A private group is working to gather signatures and add the 1 cent sales tax for transportation to the November 2014 ballot for a vote of the people. Backers of the initiative petition are confident of gathering enough votes for a victory in 2014. Read more Missouri 2013 Legislative Session Wrap-Up: Bicycle ban defeated, $8 billion proposal includes bike/ped, anti-harassment, and more . . . What happened during the 2013 legislative session--which recently wrapped up the 2013 veto session? What major events affected bicycling and walking in Missouri? What happened with the issues and initiatives in MoBikeFeds Legislative Platform? Was the work you did in visiting Jefferson City for Capitol Day or the Legislators Ride worthwhile? Did the calls and letters you made to your elected representatives really make a difference? Was your financial support of and membership in MoBikeFed--which above all supports our lobbyist in Jefferson City and the Federations work in support of his legislative advocacy--really worthwhile? Here are all your answers--what happened in 2013 at the Capitol: Defeated Bicycle Ban proposal Thanks to early action by MoBikeFed and tens of thousands of calls and letters from bicyclists from around the state, this year’s bicycle ban proposal, to disallow bicycle use on any roads or highways paralleling a trail, was defeated soundly. Read more Our vision for biking, walking, and trails in Missouri cities One of the most common questions we get at the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation is, What can I do to make my city safer and more inviting for biking and walking? Here is the list of our top recommendations--ideas that have been tried, tested, and found to be effective in Missouri cities and in cities across the U.S. and the world. Remember that there are many good ideas, but you dont have to implement all of them right now. Pick one--the easiest for you to achieve right now--and then build on that success to implement another good idea, and so on. Read more University City adopts Bike Walk Master Plan Local advocate and MoBikeFed member Sarah Hanly wrote recently to let us know that, after some years of work and delay, University City finally passed its Bike Walk Master Plan last week. Local advocates are now planning to encourage the city to adopt a Complete Streets policy. The goals of the plan are to: Create an equity of mobility within University City by providing universally-accessible transportation alternatives; Support and increase ongoing investment in and revitalization of University City; Encourage walking and cycling as legitimate modes of transportation and promote public health and healthy and active lifestyles. The plan is comprehensive, discussing programs to encourage biking and walking in the city as well as detailed analysis of costs, funding opportunities, and detailed maps, design guidelines, and planned facilities for nearly every street in the city. Read more Complete Streets in Missouri: Four of eight Missouri Metropolitan Planning Organizations now have Complete Streets policies; the connection with Missouris proposed $8 billion transportation funding plan Natasha Longpine of the Ozark Transportation Organization in the Springfield area emailed MoBikeFed today to let us know that the OTO had adopted a Complete Streets policy as part of its recent long-range plan update. Now four of the five largest Metropolitan Planning Organizations in Missouri have adopted Complete Streets policies. Every one of the six largest cities in Missouri have adopted Complete Streets policies. So Complete Streets is on a roll in Missouri--and the timing couldnt be better. Because work on the proposed new $8 billion Missouri transportation funding plan is moving forward at full speed, with the initiative petition filed and a citizen vote planned for November 2014. Our strategy over the past several years has been to get Complete Streets policies in place across Missouri so that when new transportation funding is in place, it will fall under the new Complete Streets policies. This will build complete, connected bicycling and walking systems into the very fabric of Missouris transportation funding--that that is one of the primary long-term goals of ourVision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri. So where are we now? Read more Ferguson and Clayton named as newest Bicycle Friendly Communities in Missouri Two Missouri cities were added to the rolls of nationally recognized Bicycle Friendly Communities in the latest round of announcements in the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly America program. That brings the total number of Missouri communities recognized as BFCs to seven, and the total number of communities, businesses, and university in Missouri recognized to 30 and the total number of Missourians living in a recognized Bicycle Friendly Community to 1,262,000. Ferguson was recognized in both the Streetsblog.net and the League of American Bicyclists stories about the new BFC round. The League of American Bicyclists wrote: Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis, (pictured at right) has led the way with its education and encouragement policies, including an Earn-a-Bike program thats free to local youth. Read more New signage installed on the Transamerica Trail this year--why its so important Recently we reported that, after decades of advocacy by MoBikeFed and our allied organizations across Missouri, and many years of planning and coordinating by MoDOT statewide bike/ped coordinators, the entire Transamerica Trail has been adopted officially into the U.S. National Bicycle Route system and--most importantly--signed to mark every turn. So why is that important to the thousand of cyclists who ride the Transamerica Trail across Missouri? Here is a report from one of them that tells why: Read more New bike/ped connection across Missouri under study at St. Charles An STLToday article covers an effort by adjoining cities, Great Rivers Greenway District, and MoDOT to work towards a new Missouri River crossing for bicyclists and pedestrians on the Blanchette Bridge: Bicyclists, walkers and runners could use the Blanchette Bridge over the Missouri River in coming years — via a separate structure attached to the bridge’s eastbound span. The nearby cities of St. Charles, Bridgeton and Maryland Heights expect to team up with a regional parks agency and state transportation officials to pay for a $233,900 engineering analysis of the idea. “It would be a nice tourist attraction for the area,” said Walt Siemsglusz, Bridgeton’s parks and recreation director. “It will give us access to the Katy Trail as well as St. Charles.” Tom Evers of the Missouri Department of Transportation said the study would determine whether the Interstate 70 span could support the additional weight and which type of attached structure would work best. Read more Missouri Trail Summit - New MO Trails website, Governor celebrates Best Trails State award, 100 MO Mile Challenge The Missouri Trails Summit was held this week in Columbia. This year, Missouri trail advocates had a lot to celebrate: Read more MoBikeFeds Vision: A Missouri that is better, safer, friendlier, and more inviting place to bicycle, walk, run, and hike. Every one of the stories above represents one piece--small or large--in the progress towards MoBikeFeds Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri. Our Vision has four major objectives: 1. Building a world-class bicycle, pedestrian, and trails system in Missouri 2. Improving safety for all road users 3. Encouraging more Missourians to bicycle, walk, run, and use trails 4. Building a movement in support of bicycling, walking, and trails in Missouri Your membership and generous financial support helps turn our Vision from dream to reality! Read much more Missouri bicycle, pedestrian, and trails news here: mobikefed.org/quicklinks -------------------------------------- The Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation is a statewide coalition of bicyclists, walkers, runners, trail organizations and related businesses which represents over 30,000 Missourians and advocates on behalf of the states two million ardent bicyclists and six million walkers.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 04:05:14 +0000
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