Next steps

A letter from Liz Cornish, Executive Director, Bikemore

Next Monday, thanks to your support over the past few years, I get to celebrate a huge win. For Bikemore, for me professionally, but most importantly for you — the people of Baltimore. Our Complete Streets Bill creates a framework ensuring we get streets that are safer, healthier, and provide real transportation choice for all.

As we mark this milestone and take time to celebrate with all of you, I am beginning to think about what’s next for Bikemore. What is the part of our work that really gets me fired up and makes the city a better place? How can we do more of that over the coming months? Passing legislation is important and necessary work. It’s exciting to work with lawmakers and decision makers to create change from within City Hall. But what makes biking in Baltimore so special are the people. The stories I get to hear about how biking has helped people get to work on time, stay active, be happier, and make new friends is at the root of our work. But if I’m being honest, we could do a better job at making sure more people see themselves in the stories we tell.

If we are going to continue to deliver big, bold wins — we have to build a bigger movement. That means doing more programs like our Mobile Bike Shop that get more people riding bikes. It means hosting more events like Cranksgiving where people can connect with others who share their passion for building a city that is safe and comfortable to walk down the street, hop on a bus, or ride your bike. It also means slowing down, listening more, and creating ways where the voices of our neighbors whose quality of life depends on biking, walking and transit are leading the movement.

None of these things come easily. All of it will require focused, intentional work. And most importantly we cannot — me, Jed, and Danielle — do it alone. We are ready to do more. Can you help?


Baltimore is #WhyIBikemore

A letter from Collin Hayward, President, Bikemore Board of Directors

My name is Collin Hayward and I serve as the President of the Bikemore Board of Directors. I wanted to reach out today and share why I am proud to serve an organization that fights for equitable transportation for all of Baltimore’s residents. From the first time I sat on Fed Hill and saw the city skyline, I fell in love with our city. The action, the history, the opportunities – all of it gave me a sense that anything is possible. To this day I still get a smile on my face when I catch a glimpse of the skyline from Fayette Street while on the Blue Link to work. 

Yet despite that hopefulness, the City continues to design and fund a transportation system that prioritizes the needs of suburban commuters over the needs of our very own residents. Community vitality is destroyed when you create high speed highways through active neighborhoods. Meanwhile these very same communities often have extremely low car ownership rates, making it even more of a struggle to travel safely, get to work on time, and improve the economic opportunity of neighbors. Other cities like New York, Boston, and Philly who chose to build Complete Streets infrastructure are seeing improved public health, increased economic development, and the reconnection of communities long scared by this outdated planning philosophy.

As I continue my life and career in Baltimore, I want to see everyone in our city have access to the social and economic opportunities that accessible transportation provides. Transportation and commute time, as presented in research by a Harvard economist, has emerged as the single largest factor in escaping poverty. Our citizens deserve an equitable transportation system that works for everyone. Bikemore fights for this type of transportation system every day. 

I’m hopeful for the future of Charm City. But I recognize it will take all of us investing in advocacy to create the equitable transportation solutions we deserve. Please consider making a donation today. 

#WhyIBikemore

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A letter from Liz Cornish, Bikemore Executive Director


I moved to Baltimore three years ago to become the Executive Director of Bikemore. I chose Baltimore because the challenges that face it — racial inequity, lack of access to opportunity, disparate public health outcomes — are the issues closest to my heart. I chose Bikemore because it was positioned to do bike advocacy differently, unafraid of talking about intersection of transportation inequity and race, and unafraid of taking bold positions. 

40% of our budget is funded through small, grassroots donations. When much of our work is funded directly by people just like you, it means we can take brave, bold positions. 

The day I walked home following the hearing on our fire access bill, I found the Fire Department parked in front of my house filming a video meant to evoke fear in my neighbors. For the first time, I questioned if our willingness to take bold positions was worth it. If I’m being honest, in that moment I was intimidated. A few days later I got a letter from a supporter who was angry about what happened. With his letter was a check. His words of support and generosity helped me refocus. What we are asking for is simple, but has the capacity to make the city safer and healthier for all Baltimore residents. My job is to represent all of you, and keep showing up even when it’s hard. 

Letters of support like that, the energy when we all gather in a room, and the love for Baltimore that emits from a crowd of people who walk, bike, or take transit here — that's #whyibikemore. When your commute creates community, you can’t help but recognize the beauty that already exists in our city, and the potential for it to be more equitable, healthier, and safer for all. 

And as long as Baltimore has inadequate transportation choices, Bikemore is committed to leading the fight. But we can’t do so without the financial support from all of you. We need to maintain our momentum to continue to see progress, and we need to grow in order to bring that progress to more neighborhoods. Can you help? 

Thanks for helping us build a force for biking in Baltimore. 

Downtown Bike Network Resumes Construction

Downtown Bike Network Construction Timeline (courtesy of BCDOT)

Downtown Bike Network Construction Timeline (courtesy of BCDOT)

The Downtown Bike Network resumes construction this week. For full details, please visit Baltimore City Department of Transportation’s Downtown Bike Network page.

Background

The Downtown Bike Network was originally slated to be completed over a year ago. Construction was halted during the Potomac Street fire access discussion, and the Baltimore City Fire Department required a full re-design of the Downtown Bike Network before construction could resume.

We believe a re-design to comply with arbitrary fire clearance standards was unnecessary, and successfully fought to overturn that piece of fire code to prevent those standards from affecting projects again.

However, this fight occurred alongside the construction halt on Downtown Bike Network. So we worked with Baltimore City Department of Transportation on a re-design that improved significant portions of the design while also maintaining the at-the-time required fire clearance.

New Design Monument/Centre (the good)

The new design creates a fully-separated, two-way bike lane along Centre and Monument Streets from MLK/Eutaw to Washington Street. This will allow direct connections to future separated lanes on Wolfe or Washington Streets to the East, and to the future MLK sidepath and Eutaw Place separated lane.

The design replaces the original protected lane on Madison Street east of Guilford Avenue, replacing it with the two-way facility on Monument.

New Design Madison (not so good/opportunity to improve)

West of Guilford Avenue, Madison Street is planned to have a combination of separated lanes and buffered lanes, the latter being a requirement in portions due to the fire code. This section has been strongly opposed by the Director of Baltimore School for the Arts, and as a result, implementation has been delayed until Summer 2019.

Madison Street needs a re-design that calms traffic along the corridor. It is dangerous and contributes to economic decline of the corridor.

This delay in implementation is both a disappointment and an opportunity. The fire code update will go into effect in the end of October, which gives us the winter to discuss a better design for Madison Avenue that will meet the needs of people biking, the community desire for real traffic calming, and Dr. Ford’s concerns at Baltimore School for the Arts.

However, the delay until Summer 2019 may mean the grant will expire, causing us to lose the money to construct any design on Madison Street. This would be an unacceptable outcome. BCDOT must work to ensure any delay does not end with an expired grant, and must accept that some stakeholders may never accept infrastructure changes, even when they address critical street safety issues.

Changes on Maryland/Cathedral

Certain portions of the Maryland Avenue cycle track contain construction errors in the original design, including at the Pratt Street intersection. Other portions are regular conflict points, like at Centre Street and at the Lexington Street parking garage. Resuming construction of the Downtown Bike Network will allow us to fix these sections with correct and/or improved designs that will make the Maryland Avenue cycle track safer for all users.

Overall

The Downtown Bike Network will create a critical cross town connection that can be expanded upon into East and West Baltimore over the next 2-3 years. We’re thankful that BCDOT is taking a bold step in creating another high quality connection, and that they used this delay to think creatively and improve designs.

We will advocate to use the winter to improve the Madison Street design for a spring implementation that does not risk grant expiration.


Complete Streets at the Finish Line

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Today we’re one step closer to making it the law that streets are designed to prioritize the safety of all people using the street, not just the speed of moving cars — in all Baltimore neighborhoods.

Today, Baltimore City Council’s Land Use and Transportation Committee voted favorable with amendments on Bill #17-0102 Complete Streets.

This moves the Complete Streets bill out of committee, to a full city council vote on Second Reader scheduled for Monday, October 15th and Third Reader for Final Passage on Monday, October 29th.

If the bill is voted favorably on October 29th, it will go to Mayor Pugh’s desk for signature.

Once signed, it will be Baltimore City Department of Transportation’s job to begin implementation of the most progressive, equity-focused complete streets ordinance in the country.

If you are interested in attending either city council meeting, they will begin at 5pm. Please bring a state ID.

Background

Councilman Ryan Dorsey and the Baltimore Complete Streets coalition introduced our Complete Streets Ordinance just over a year ago in July 2017.

Since that time, Councilman Dorsey, the Council President’s Office, Councilman Pinkett, and Bikemore have stewarded the legislation through multiple agency meetings, public information sessions, and community meetings.

In March, we received national recognition for our progress when the National Complete Streets Coalition named Baltimore’s Complete Streets Ordinance one of 2017’s best initiatives and named Councilman Dorsey a complete streets champion. In April, we presented at Intersections 2018, the national conference for complete streets.

Subsequent hearings at the Land Use and Transportation Committee brought experts in street design to testify to City Council. A detailed presentation crafted by the Baltimore Complete Streets Coalition highlighted best practices across the country that were included in the bill, as well as identified locations in the bill where we had negotiated compromise with Baltimore City Department of Transportation.

These hearings led to work sessions in September and October where the Land Use and Transportation Committee adopted a series of technical amendments agreed upon by Councilman Dorsey, the coalition, and Baltimore City Department of Transportation.

At the final work session today, October 10th, the Land Use and Transportation Committee voted the bill favorable with amendments, sending it to the full city council for consideration.