We Did It! Thanks for Helping Us #FillTheRoom

Thank you for showing up!

“The highest turnout I’ve ever seen at a BCDOT public meeting.

I don’t think there’s ever been a meeting with turnout like this IN SUPPORT of a project in the history of BCDOT.”

As the quotes above from Baltimore City Department of Transportation officials demonstrate, last night proved there is overwhelming support for the Downtown Bicycle Network. Over 250 people turned out to learn about the project and show their support. 

It was important for supporters to be present, and we thank them for doing so. 

Showing up, even if just for a few minutes to look at the renderings, left a big impression with Department of Transportation officials. 

It shows we can mobilize large numbers of supporters for livable streets projects when the city puts them forward, and gives officials stronger footing to put forward more great projects like this one.

Armed with good information about the project, we ask that you do your part in ensuring that your neighbors, coworkers and families are informed. As construction ramps up and more folks learn about the project, there is potential for backlash. Informed, vocal supporters are our best defense. 

Meeting Summary

Last night's Open House unveiled the final plans for ten miles of dedicated bike facilities throughout Downtown, including the 2.6 mile two-way parking protected bike lane on Maryland Avenue that began construction last month. 

Additional facilities include one-way protected bike lanes on Madison Street and Monument/Centre Streets, standard bike lanes (to the left of parking) on Preston Street and Biddle Street, a two-way protected bike lane on Potomac Street, and green bicycle priority paint on the Jones Falls Trail in the Inner Harbor.

View the DOT Fact Sheet here. 

Celebrate our Victory tonight at Clavel!

Join us tonight at Clavel from 5:00-10:00pm to celebrate our huge victory of reaching this milestone for the Downtown Bike Network. Clavel is offering 50% of proceeds on certain drinks to Bikemore. 

There will be full table service, but also a cash bar at the tortilla counter for faster service. Bikemore staff and board members will be on hand to talk bike advocacy and share some of what we are working on in the future. We’re growing and would love to have you join us in celebration of our success. Facebook event here.

Building a Force for Biking: Volunteer to Call and Canvass to Support the Downtown Bike Network

#FillTheRoom at Baltimore City Department of Transportation's open house on the Downtown Bicycle Network, outlined in the map above!

6:00 - 7:30PM | August 31st | Baltimore School for the Arts | 712 Cathedral St

Bikemore is working hard to ensure that our supporters are out in full force. This project is fully underway, but it's critical that we show the City we have the ability to mobilize our members to support important projects as easily as we can mobilize folks in opposition to others. 

Change is hard, so as these plans become more publicly available we anticipate some community backlash. Having our key supporters knowledgeable about the project is our best defense against vocal opposition. We need you sharing the right info to your family, coworkers and friends. 

The City needs to see there is a force for biking in Baltimore, and that Bikemore members are leading the charge. 

Volunteer this week to help us #FillTheRoom in support of the Downtown Bike Network. You can sign up for one or multiple shifts. You can call or canvass. But show up, we need you now more than ever. 

Mount Royal Ave Cycle Track Update

Last night, the engineering firm tasked with developing the Midtown / Mount Royal Streetscape project revealed 95% design plans at a community meeting hosted by Baltimore City Department of Transportation. 

This project has been in the works for four years, and the last project meeting was hosted in 2014. In fact, Bikemore's first major advocacy push as an organization was back in 2012, for inclusion of bike facilities in this project.

In January 2016, we provided a detailed overview of this project, and stated that "red-lined" design changes (changes added once construction has begun) are critical to making this a safe and worthwhile project.

None of these major recommendations have made it into the project, nor have the recommendations of other key stakeholders and community members.

We need to reconfigure the I-83 off-ramp.

A reconfiguration of the I-83 offramp onto Mount Royal Avenue must be considered. Currently, the design asks bicyclists and pedestrians to cross a highway offramp that will only be signaled with a flashing yellow warning beacon. This highway offramp was never intended to be permanent, and it should be closed as a part of this project. At minimum, the offramp needs to be reconfigured where it interacts with the cycle track. 

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1) Present 2) Ramp Closure 3) Reconfigure Ramp

We need to extend the project up to North and down to Guilford.

The protected bike lane currently ends several blocks short of North Avenue. This will provide an incomplete connection to the lanes we are advocating for in North Avenue Rising. The protected lane also currently ends just before Saint Paul Street, and should be extended fully to connect to the protected facility and lanes at Guilford and Fallsway. Federal dollars cannot easily be used to fund an adjacent facility to the Jones Falls Trail, so the city should step in with the red lined extra work funds to extend the facility here.

Connections to Maryland and Cathedral are not well defined.

The connection to the Maryland Avenue cycle track is not well defined. We have had instances in Baltimore where two separate engineering firms have worked on two separate projects, and failed to plan for overlap, leading to bump-outs being installed into bicycle facilities. No clear answers have been provided by the engineers about coordination between these projects. 

A bump out installed over a bike lane near Druid Hill Park

The intersection of the project with Cathedral Street is also concerning. Early project renderings installed a traffic circle that allowed for bicyclists and drivers to better navigate the intersection, but that has since been removed. Bicyclists in the current plans must dismount and cross the street from the protected facility on Mount Royal over a crosswalk to Cathedral.

Confusing intersection at Cathedral and Mount Royal requiring multiple dismounts

There's no reason to have two travel lanes on Mount Royal.

The project is cutting down median width, removing parking, and taking sidewalk space to try and accomodate two lanes of travel alongside a protected bicycle facility. This is one of the largest sources of discontent with community members. Removing a vehicular travel lane would allow for parking to be restored where it is currently lost throughout the project, while still retaining a protected bike lane and wider medians. These are wins for everyone.

These fixes are necessary before this project begins construction.

Bikemore will work with neighborhood organizations, Councilman Costello, and stakeholder institutions to advocate for these changes to be red-lined into this project so construction is not significantly delayed.

It is frustrating to see a flawed project brought to the table when feedback that could have made this project great was submitted over the past four years.

This is the challenge with projects in Baltimore taking so long to come to fruition--design standards for livable cities are constantly changing. We have a far more progressive DOT than we did four years ago. See the pop-up cycle track announced today on East Pratt as an example. However, when projects like the Midtown / Mount Royal streetscape take half a decade to plan, they are unable to meet the demands of an evolving city.

We will keep you posted on ways to vocalize improvements to this facility, and your support of Bikemore enables us to continue to advocate on your behalf.

Pop-Up Cycle Track on East Pratt Street

DOT is installing a "Pop-Up" cycle track this Thursday!

This Thursday, August 4th, Baltimore City Department of Transportation will be installing a pop-up cycle track on East Pratt Street between South Central Avenue and South Broadway Street. This two-way protected bike lane will remain in place through Friday, August 26th. 

Baltimore City Department of Transportation welcomes community members to join them from 8:00-9:00am and from 5:00-6:00pm on Friday, August 5th at the corner of Caroline Street and East Pratt Street to try out the facility and learn more about bicycle projects in Baltimore.

What are pop-up bike facilities?

Pilot projects, such as pop-up protected bike lanes, are becoming increasingly popular in cities. These projects allow agencies to engage with the public--testing what works and what doesn't in an affordable manner before substantial capital investments are made. The conventional project development process proceeds from plan to capital construction over a number of years, while pilot projects only take a few weeks to organize and construct. These projects help communities try new treatments, re-envisioning what their streets and communities can look like without the commitment of a capital project.

Ride it, show support!

Definitely try to stop by in the morning or evening on Friday and check out the installation, and make it a part of your commute if you live in the area. Showing support for this kind of creative testing means we will see it more frequently. And, if you want to ensure that more projects like this turn into full-time bike facilities, donate to Bikemore.

North Avenue Rising: Let's Make it Better!

Baltimore Plans to Improve West North Avenue

This post has been updated to reflect additional information received by Bikemore after publishing.

Earlier this week, Senator Mikulski’s office announced Baltimore’s receipt of a $10,000,000 TIGER Grant for roadway improvements to North Avenue.

The project application, entitled “North Avenue Rising,” was submitted by the Baltimore City Department of Transportation and Maryland Department of Transportation including the Maryland Transit Administration. 

The $10 million in federal funding is being matched by $14.7 million of state funding, $1.6 million in already-committed FHWA funding, and $1 million of Baltimore City funding.

The bulk of the $27.3 million project, $8.9 million, will focus on sidewalk and crosswalk improvements. Investments in transit infrastructure including bus stop shelters, transit signal priority at intersections, investments in the Penn/North Metro Station, and dedicated lanes amount to about $7.5 million. Funding for bicycle infrastructure makes up less than $1 million.

Current Plans Have Flaws

While early in design, the project as currently scoped has major shortcomings. Dedicated bus lanes stop and start through parts of the project, because Baltimore City Department of Transportation does not want to fully prioritize bus service over private automobiles along the corridor. There are bike share stations planned for key intersections, but there are no dedicated bicycle facilities planned for North Avenue in the project. While the dedicated bus lanes will be signed as shared with bikes, other infrastructure is relegated to stretches of parallel facilities that are sometimes several blocks away.

This contradicts the 2015 bicycle master plan, which calls for North Avenue to be a “main route” for bicycles, requiring dedicated, protected bike lanes. It also contradicts a multi-year collaborative community design process undertaken by the Neighborhood Design Center, which culminated in 2015. That plan also calls for protected bicycle facilities along much of West North Avenue.

These improvements alongside dedicated transit lanes would further reduce personal vehicle travel lanes or parking, and Baltimore City Department of Transportation was unwilling at the time of project submission to sacrifice convenience of personal automobile users to accomodate safe, protected lanes for people who bike alongside fully-dedicated transit lanes throughout the corridor.

Through Advocacy, We Can Fix the Flaws

Luckily, it is not too late to improve the North Avenue Rising plan. North Avenue has significant right-of-way, and advocacy for expanded funding of this project and true prioritization of transit and bicycles as required by our complete streets policy, and as outlined in our master plans, could allow for fully-dedicated bus lanes along the corridor adjacent to dedicated bicycle facilities. 

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An offset bus lane street (NACTO)

Additional personal vehicle lane reduction or reduction of some parking along North Avenue would allow for design of an Offset Bus Lane Street with dedicated, parking or flex-post protected bicycle lanes. This treatment is endorsed by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), of which Baltimore is a founding member.

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A median rapid transit corridor (NACTO)

Additional personal vehicle lane reduction or reduction of some parking along with additional funding would allow for a true dedicated Median Rapid Transit Corridor for the widest portions of North Avenue. This treatment would include protected bicycle facilities and a curb-separated right-of-way for transit operations, improving bus speed and reliability while allowing for a future upgrade to rail transit on the North Avenue corridor.

Additional funding should should be leveraged by this grant award to make it a truly great project for Baltimore. The TIGER grant money should not be used for routine resurfacing, instead it should be used to bolster this project's innovation in biking, walking, and transit design. Governor Hogan can pay for the overdue resurfacing of a state marked highway, like he is doing in every other county in Maryland.

Bikemore wants to see North Avenue rising.

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>33% of households are zero car in pink areas. >66% of households are zero car in red areas.

Neighborhoods along the project corridor have some of the highest rates of households that lack access to a car in Baltimore City. Dedicated transit lanes will make buses faster, more convenient, and more on-time on this critical transportation corridor. Protected bike lanes will allow people to safely use bike share while calming traffic and making the street safer for people who walk. There is no reason to prioritize personal automobile throughput over the safety and convenience of neighbors and people who walk, bike, and take transit on this corridor.

Agencies involved in this project are open to our recommendations, and we look forward to working with them to advance a vision for North Avenue that truly promotes biking, walking, and taking transit. But more advocacy around complete streets is clearly needed, because a project that does not completely consider and include all modes should not be constructed, and we should not accept a political climate unwilling to include adequate design for biking in project submission.

This is a great opportunity to make one of the only wide roads in Baltimore functional for all users, and a mistake in infrastructure here will have to be endured for years to come. We must get to a place where our city prioritizes people over personal cars by default, not as an afterthought.

As this project continues to develop, we will notify you of ways to get involved and ensure we get the best possible design for people who bike, walk, and ride transit.