Upper Uwchlan Township Releases Trail Plan: "SON KOTOWSKI , Chester County Daily Local 07/29/2004

UPPER UWCHLAN -- Preliminary cost estimates for a trail network in the township total $6.2 million.

Ray Ott, of Ray Ott & Associates, a planning and landscape architecture firm, said that figure is only a first estimate and is subject to change. He said Tuesday that they are still early in the planning process, and trail committee members need to decide what parts of the trail system are most important.

'We have to start somewhere,' said committee Chairman Ben Lagarde. 'We want to develop the trail system to represent all residents. We?ll work from here to list priorities and come up with a realistic end result.'

The cost estimate draft divides the total cost into four categories: multi-use trails, pedestrian side paths, bicycle lanes on existing roadways and bicycle signed routes. Multi-use trails are the largest expense at $2,677,333. Ott said he still has to figure out estimates for hiking and equestrian trails.

Multi-use trails are planned for Park Road and Pottstown Pike. Instead of creating a separate multi-use trail for the Village of Eagle, a village streetscape would be constructed. The multi-use trails would be asphalt and eight feet wide with four-foot shoulders. Ott estimates that each square yard of trail would cost $20.

Pedestrian side paths, which are six feet wide, will cost about the same. Side paths are planned for Byers, Dorland Mills, Fellowship, Font, Greenridge, Krauser, Little Conestoga, Milford and Moore roads, Pennsylvania Drive, Senn, Styer and East and West Township Line roads.

The cost of installing two, lined, four-foot bicycle lanes and signs on East Township Line, Font, Greenridge, Little Conestoga and Moore roads is estimated to cost $94,116. Installing signs on existing bike routes will cost about $99,486.Committee member Walt Styer said one of his priorities is looping the trail through Font, Milford and Krauser roads. Wayne Martin, another committee member, said his main priority is making sure the trails are safe.

For months, the Upper Uwchlan Trail Committee has been discussing where trails should lead, what features they should have and what areas are conducive to multi-use trails, which allow both biking and walking. The committee has named St. Matthew’s Park, Marsh Creek State Park, Eagleview Town Center, Hickory Park, Shamona Creek Elementary School, Eagle Village, Pickering Valley Elementary School, Fellowship Field and Hankin Library as destination points.

Bike Parking Station returns to Wharton

The Wharton School for the second year in a row will offer free guarded bike parking during student orientation and the first week of classes at Huntsman Hall. This project is sponsored by MBNA and operated by Neighborhood Bike Works.

Bicycle Coalition Board Meeting

The BCGP board meets on Monday July 26 at 6:30 pm (4th monday every month) at the BCGP Offices at 100 South Broad St Suite 1355 Philadelphia, PA 19110. 

 
PennDOT's broken promises
 
1 - The Bicycle and Pedestrian Checklist: Introduced in 2001 and routinely ignored since. Excellent resource to assure that bicycles and pedestrians are included in transportation planning. Recent checklist training may help but considering that the sessions were voluntary and not attended by many of PennDOT's contractors means that advocates will have to keep the pressure for quite some time before we see results.

2 The Springfield Rail Trail: PennDOT ignores question 1 of the Checklist in the route 309 reconstruction project Is the transportation facility included in or related to bicycle and pedestrian facilities identified in a master plan? Intead of designing the road in harmony with the plan PennDOT instead opts to ask ambivolent politicians in power if they could simply fill it in. 

Recent easing of environmental regulations allows PennDOT to bypass Environmental Impact Statement, which would have likely caught the error since it is reviewed by FHWA.  The subsititute Categorical Exclusion document does not even mention that such a plan exists, calling it simply the "Conrail line".

3 - Route 413 Streetscape Project: Promised bike lanes for this road were dropped, dozens of nasty commercial driveways remain, ironically it was selected as a segment for Bicycle PA Route E.

4 - Bicyclists Baltimore Pike: Local elected official opposes minor changes on Providence Road in his tiny borough. Despite the fact that Providence is a state road, PennDOT quickly caves in and puts the project on indefinite hold.

5 - Line Striping Contract: This was an ambitious plan drafted by PennDOT planners to stripe bike lanes on state roads if there is sufficient room as part of the routine resurfacing program. To date there is no evidence that this plan is being honored by PennDOT maintenance. 

• A 300K Contract was awarded in 2003, the contract was a watered down version of the plan that simply would have looked at shoulder paving opportunities. 
• Program was cancelled and instead resurfacing plans were supposed to be reviewed by DVRPC's bike/ped planner.
• PennDOT is currently working through their 2004 paving schedule, they did not consult DVRPC for bike lane striping opportunities.

Torresdale Ave Bike Lanes and Route E

Crews are busy paving and painting the 5 mile stretch of Torresdale Ave from Fleuhr Park to the Erie-Torresdale El Station. This is part of Bicycle PA Route E which currently is signed in Delaware and parts of Montgomery County.

The section of the route on Route 291 in Chester City is under construction. Apparently the two lane road with light traffic is being widened to 4 lanes through a residential neighborhood. Dozens of homes were razed as a part of this project. I sometimes wonder town fathers have any idea on how to save their town. Tearing homes down to make way for a highway is "progress"?, what is this the 1950's? No plans for bike lanes either.

SEPTA Bike Rack Retrofit Update

SEPTA bus spotters on the posting in the Frankford Terminal Blog Guestbook continue to monitor the progress of bike rack installation.

1. So far at least 10 articulated buses have been retrofitted. The buses out of this depot serve routes 6, 9, 27, 33, 48, 54, 60, 65.

2. At least 4 NABI buses have been retrofitted at Frankford's Comly Depot. Routes 14, 20, 58. One bus spotter has speculated that Comly may be 100% bike accessible by September.

3. At the 69th Street Red Arrow Depot the first of 35 new buses have begun to arrive, expect to see many more buses with bike racks in Delaware County and Chester Counties later this summer.

I'll be posting links to retrofitted buses soon.

1-800-Fix Road to the rescue

Check out this before and after shots of this drainage grate on Providence Road (Bicyclists Baltimore Pike).

On Tuesday I called PennDOT's pothole hotline 1-800-Fix-Road. Kudos to PennDOT's Delaware County Maintenance for fixing this problem is less than 48 hours.

Here is a quote from Aldan Councilman John McBlain
"At this point PennDOT is planning to install a bike trail that
would take out sewer inlets, apparently the brand new sewer inlets we're
putting in, and install bicycle friendly sewer inlets. While I don't object to bicycle friendly grates I don't think that's the best way to us limited funds," he said.

Well we got at least one bicycle friendly sewer inlet on Providence Road simply by properly installing it. What do we have to do next Councilman?

Parking lot enhances Pedestrian Safety?: "Revitalization funds to be used to buy properties for parking lot
By Melissa Milewski
The Intelligencer


Parking problems and pedestrian safety in Souderton will be addressed with $357,000 in revitalization funds from Montgomery County.
Souderton plans to use the money to purchase 133-135 and 139 N. Main St. and then build a municipal parking lot.
The project is expected to cost $595,000.
The borough hopes the lot will address parking problems in the area and enhance pedestrian safety.
The new parking lot is a high priority in the borough?s Main Street Streetscape Project, an effort to spruce up and attract more shoppers and developers to the area."

Quote of the Month: "'And the South Street Bridge is one continuous pothole interrupted by pieces of metal.' "

Micheal McGettigan - BCGP Board Member and Owner of Trophy Bikes

From the Philadelphia Weekly (who gave credit to BCGP Ex. Dir. Alex Doty)

Bridge may seem scary, but officials say it's safe

By Linda K. Harris
Inquirer Staff Writer

The dilapidated South Street Bridge may look like a horror-movie backdrop, it may inspire fright in people, but city officials say the bridge will be safe, at least for three more years, until a new one can be built.

"It's kind of scary," said graduate student Susan Rennolds, 22, who lives in Center City and crosses the bridge daily for classes at the University of Pennsylvania. "I'd be skeptical to ride my bike. I haven't, because of the bridge."

Scott Anderson, 46, crosses the bridge several times a day, including his walk from the University City train stop to his job with the School District of Philadelphia in Center City after his commute from Wrightstown in Bucks County.

"Like, what's wrong with the bridge?" Anderson said. "Is it going to fall while I'm on it?"

The South Street Bridge, built in 1923, is a paved-over lift bridge; its jaws were permanently closed in the mid-1950s. It provides a straight shot from southwestern Center City to the heart of the University of Pennsylvania and the rest of West Philadelphia. It also provides access to the Schuylkill Expressway.

When there are no restrictions, giant tractor-trailers, cars, buses, taxis and delivery trucks constantly rumble across. A steady stream of pedestrians and cyclists also traverses the bridge.

Until recently, pedestrians had a dizzyingly good view of the river and the expressway beneath them through the gaping holes that dotted the sidewalks on each side of the bridge.

But in February, falling concrete from the bridge landed on the expressway, which had to be shut down. City officials blamed the heavy salting of the bridge during the brutal winter. Less than a year earlier, a similar incident had occurred.

On May 27, SEPTA began rerouting the Route 40 and Route 12 buses away from the bridge, said Gary Fairfax, spokesman for SEPTA. A typical SEPTA bus loaded with passengers weighs about 38,000 pounds, he said. The city posted a sign restricting use to vehicles 18 tons - 36,000 pounds - or less.

The city also paved over both sidewalks with asphalt, and both have been closed.

However, the city's chief bridge engineer for the Streets Department, John Lutz, said the problems had been resolved. Aging concrete has been removed, and the structure of the bridge is solid.

"The horse that's carrying the structure is the steel beams," Lutz said. "That's adequate to carry the load."

Yesterday, SEPTA buses were back on their regular route and using the bridge.

Lutz said that next week the city would reopen the southern sidewalk and remove the concrete barriers that are providing an ersatz sidewalk.

"There was concern before we did these repairs that it would be needed to reduce the weight," Lutz said. But with the structure sound and the decayed concrete removed, he said, city engineers are confident that the bridge has a few safe years left in it.

"We're trying to be safe here, and prudent," Lutz said.

In March 2007, the city is planning to close the bridge for about a year and a half to build a $40 million showpiece, Lutz said.

"It will be grand," he said. "It will have enhancement lighting, a nice wide sidewalk, a dedicated bike lane in the sidewalk area."

Until then, the bridge probably will continue to bring some trepidation, despite all assurances.

"I always feel it shaking," said Joe Antonio, 35, of Ambler, who also works at the School District of Philadelphia offices. "It's normal for this bridge."


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Contact staff writer Linda K. Harris at 215-854-4417 or lharris@phillynews.com.
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© 2004 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.philly.com

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP Bush takes brisk bike ride in Maryland

Posted on Mon, Jul. 05, 2004
Bush Takes Brisk Bike Ride in Maryland

Associated Press

BELTSVILLE, Md. - Exercising a new passion, President Bush spent the day before his 58th birthday riding his mountain bike on the grounds of a Secret Service training facility near Washington.
Bush, who suffered cuts and bruises after taking a spill in May while biking at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, rode his bike for nearly 1 1/2 hours in the muggy midday as the temperature hung in the high 80s. Security personnel were seen apparently trailing him on all-terrain vehicles.
The president was not seen by the press corps, who accompanied him to the facility in the usual presidential motorcade but were kept in vans on a steamy parking lot during his bicycle ride.
Bush has been bicycling more since a painful right knee last year forced him to cut back on his jogging.

Greyhound eliminates Small Town Bus Stops and Services

Greyhound announced that effective August 18 service to 240 bus stops in the Midwest and Pacific Coast will be discontinued. This represents another blow for car-free access to small town america. Most of these places are not served by planes, trains, local buses or even taxis. Even some modest sized destinations were included on the list including Park City Utah, LaCrosse WI, Steamboat Springs CO and Ashland OR.

Greyhound expects further cuts in other parts of the country in the next 2 - 3 years. Lets hope that our trusted elected representatives can think outside the limmo.

Tour De France Coverage on the Internet

From Jack Elias posted on the SCU email list:

Three web sites with good TdF coverage are:
http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html
http://www.tourdefrancenews.com/tourdefrance
http://www.velonews.com/tour2004/

Phil Ligget, Paul Sherwin, Bob Roll, and Chris Carmichael write daily reports that can be accessed from the first web site on the above list.

I particularly like the reports from Cyril Guimard, available on the Bicycling Magazine TdF site:
http://www.tourdefrancenews.com/tourdefrance/experts/expert/0,3488,-448,00.html

But the other "Experts" are interesting reading, too:
http://www.tourdefrancenews.com/tourdefrance/experts/0,3487,s1,00.html

You can listen to live audio of the race broadcast over the Internet, so bring headphones to work next week:
http://www.olntv.com/tdf04/listenlive.html

Jack Elias

Future of trails focus of Upper Merion meeting (King of Prussia Courier)

UPPER MERION - Last Tuesday, the township held a meeting that provided preliminary information plans for bike and walking trails.
The meeting incorporated interaction with local residents culminating in physically highlighting streets and areas on maps that prompted their concerns for walking and biking in Upper Merion.

Robert P. Thomas, architect and trail designer of Campbell, Thomas & Co. in Philadelphia, began the meeting with an overview of the intentions and concerns of the bike and walking trails.

"We have a lot of sidewalks; they're just not all connected," said Thomas, the architect who, in several months, will produce a $56,000 report concerning the bike trails in Upper Merion Township.

Many major roads, such as Route 202, Henderson Road and Allendale Road, pose problems for future bike paths. Measures like possibly building a bridge over 202, might be the answer; however, plans at this stage are preliminary and subject to change.

Some other activities to encourage bicycling in the Township will be a bike trip across Upper Merion Township Sunday, July 18, and Bike ED Road 1 bike safety classes to be held in the fall, consult David Broida at 610-265-1071 or by e-mail at dbroida@umtownship.org.

the township will hold a bike ride at 9 a.m. Sunday, July 18, starting at the Upper Merion Township Building.

Troopers flagging SUVs on Washington Crossing bridge (phillyBurbs.com)

Say goodbye to Hummers, Toyota Land Cruisers, Dodge Durangos and Chevy Suburbans on the narrow Washington Crossing Bridge.

Since the start of a June 24 public information campaign, Pennsylvania and New Jersey state troopers are targeting and pulling over a list of 44 models of lumbering trucks and sport utility vehicles that exceed the bridge's 3-ton weight limit.

No citations have been issued, but troopers have given verbal warnings to about 100 SUV owners so far in two days' work, said Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission spokeswoman Linda Spalinski. Troopers are patrolling morning rush hour traffic into New Jersey and evening rush hour into Pennsylvania, though the days are set at random and as manpower permits.

Lack of money holds up trail (phillyBurbs.com)

Ed. Note - I wonder if this project would be eligible for a Safe Routes to School Application

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources won't help the Hatfield municipalities pay for the Chestnut Street trail.

In a joint grant application, the borough and the township asked for $106,000 from the state and promised to match the total to create the 1.5-mile walkway that was to start at the borough's administration building and end at the township's School Road Park.

DCNR approved only about 30 percent of the grant applications it received because it didn't have enough money for the rest, said Nancy Stock, Hatfield Township's parks director. "The application was as strong as it was going to get," she said.

The trail, designed to link to the county's proposed Liberty Bell Trail, would include stops near the borough's core business district, the Hatfield Village Apartments, the Hatfield Community Park and pool location, the police station, the township building and School Road Park. It would also include a pedestrian bridge over the west branch of the Neshaminy Creek in Hatfield Borough.

PENNDOT TO REPAIR DECK OF FORMER MOOD'S COVERED BRIDGE IN ORDER TO REOPEN BLOOMING GLEN ROAD BY LABOR DAY

Compare the swiftness of the repair of this bridge to the earlier posting.

7/1/04-KING OF PRUSSIA

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) today announced that it will begin work later this month to repair the deck of the former Mood's Covered Bridge in order to reopen Blooming Glen Road in East Rockhill Township, Bucks County by Labor Day.

The historic Mood's Covered Bridge was destroyed by fire on June 22.  The state-owned bridge on the township-owned road has been closed to traffic since last January, when the covered bridge sustained severe structural damage when a Browning-Ferris Industries trash truck went through the bridge.

"Following last week's fire, our immediate plan is to repair the deck and make the bridge serviceable for commuters to use by Labor Day," PennDOT District

Executive Andrew L. Warren said.  "The reopening of Blooming Glen Road then

gives the township and all interested parties the time to work out the bridge's future."

Warren said last week's fire was devastating to the covered part of the bridge, but the fire did not structurally damage the bridge deck.  This summer crews will repair and clean the wooden timber deck, pave over the deck with asphalt, and install guide rail along the sides of the structure.

Approximately 2,000 vehicles a day traveled through the Mood's Covered Bridge prior to its closure last January.

The bridge, which was originally built in 1874, is 15 feet wide and 120 feet long.  In 1997, PennDOT rehabilitated the covered bridge under a $277,813 project.