It looks like the vote to adopt the Greenways Plan will finally go before City Council tomorrow evening. This shows up on the agenda about two thirds of the way down - so it could potentially be a long evening. There is a Parks and Recreation Committee meeting scheduled prior to the Council Meeting - 7pm - if you can make it I encourage you to do so.
The Council Meeting starts at 7:30pm at City Hall - 1st Flr - Council Chambers. The dislikers are all riled up so if you can be there - please come on down - drag some friends along as well - it is better than sitting home and watching American Idol.
Ride on!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
It's On
Put April 23rd on your calendar folks. BikeAllentown's first Friday night ride of the year will be the day after Earth Day. We are going to leave from in front of Hava Java on 19th Street and will take a novice level ride throughout Allentown. We will start with with a small loop of the West End area and head Downtown and then loop back around to The Ritz where you can feel free to grab some ice cream - or whatever your hunger desires - or head on home to start enjoying the weekend. We are actually going to follow roads that are part of the proposed Greenways Plan - with the entire loop being relatively flat. We will be demonstrating the proper way to ride in traffic and following proper group riding etiquette. Copies of the Pennsylvania Bicycle Driver's Manual will be available as our special bonus gift to you - that's right folks free! Earth Day ride and free literature - where else are you going to get that kinda action on a Friday night. We will post a map of the proposed route on http://www.bikeallentown.com/ soon. We hope to see you there.
On a separate but related note - the Allentown City Council on adopting (hopefully) the proposed Greenways Plan has been scheduled for their April 7th meeting. The meeting will be held in Council Chambers and starts at 7:30pm. Come out and show your support.
Ride on!
On a separate but related note - the Allentown City Council on adopting (hopefully) the proposed Greenways Plan has been scheduled for their April 7th meeting. The meeting will be held in Council Chambers and starts at 7:30pm. Come out and show your support.
Ride on!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Another Delay on Greenways Vote
Just found out the Greenways vote will not show up on the City Council's agenda until their April 7th gathering. Not sure why - but it was confirmed.
That being said - it is time to start thinking about restarting the monthly Friday night rides for 2010. This past weekend brought us the blessing of more daylight and we should take full advantage of it. It looks like the 2nd or 3rd Fridayin April will work out well. Our monthly BikeAllentown meeting is March 23rd at 7pm - feel free to come join us - we should have an April ride date figured out that night. I will post it as soon as I know it.
All I wanna know is - who'll stop the rain? Ride on.
That being said - it is time to start thinking about restarting the monthly Friday night rides for 2010. This past weekend brought us the blessing of more daylight and we should take full advantage of it. It looks like the 2nd or 3rd Fridayin April will work out well. Our monthly BikeAllentown meeting is March 23rd at 7pm - feel free to come join us - we should have an April ride date figured out that night. I will post it as soon as I know it.
All I wanna know is - who'll stop the rain? Ride on.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Greenways Vote Rescheduled
Due to unforseen circumstances - namingly Greg Weitzel undergoing surgery - the Greenways vote had to be scratched from the agenda last evening. They have pushed the vote back to the March 17th meeting - same time - 7:30pm - at City Hall. Feel free to contact the Council members to share your thoughts on the plan.
On a separate note - Council did vote in favor of a cell phone ban last evening. Using a cell phone while driving is now prohibited unless you are using a hands free device - this applies not only to motorists but also to cyclists, skateboarders and rollerbladers. While I agree with this - I feel that using a cell phone is really just a microcosm of distracted driving in general. It unfortunately does not address applying makeup, shaving, reaching for cigarettes or spilled coffee, turning around to yell at the kids, reading a book or newspaper, putting in contacts or driving with a dog on one's lap. It might sound absurd - but I unfortunately see these things all too often in my travels. The ordinance will actually read that even if using a hands free device - one cannot dial a phone while driving - which means one must pull over to the side of the raod - dial the phone - then pull back into traffic and proceed on your merry way. Hazardous unto itself. Again - I do not have a problem with this law - I just do not know how they are going to enforce it when there are so many other more egregious infractions going unpunished throughout the City. I also have an issue with the fact that there will be no warning issued - it will be punishible by a fine on the first offense. No offense to the Council - but not everyone will see news about this - some cannot afford or choose not to read the local paper - the same goes for television. Unless there are going to be signs posted throughout the City - which I do not know who will pay for them as the City has no money - I do not know how they feel they can enforce this law. Guess we shall see.
That's all for now. Ride on.
On a separate note - Council did vote in favor of a cell phone ban last evening. Using a cell phone while driving is now prohibited unless you are using a hands free device - this applies not only to motorists but also to cyclists, skateboarders and rollerbladers. While I agree with this - I feel that using a cell phone is really just a microcosm of distracted driving in general. It unfortunately does not address applying makeup, shaving, reaching for cigarettes or spilled coffee, turning around to yell at the kids, reading a book or newspaper, putting in contacts or driving with a dog on one's lap. It might sound absurd - but I unfortunately see these things all too often in my travels. The ordinance will actually read that even if using a hands free device - one cannot dial a phone while driving - which means one must pull over to the side of the raod - dial the phone - then pull back into traffic and proceed on your merry way. Hazardous unto itself. Again - I do not have a problem with this law - I just do not know how they are going to enforce it when there are so many other more egregious infractions going unpunished throughout the City. I also have an issue with the fact that there will be no warning issued - it will be punishible by a fine on the first offense. No offense to the Council - but not everyone will see news about this - some cannot afford or choose not to read the local paper - the same goes for television. Unless there are going to be signs posted throughout the City - which I do not know who will pay for them as the City has no money - I do not know how they feel they can enforce this law. Guess we shall see.
That's all for now. Ride on.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
City Council Tonight
It has been a hectic few weeks for me since the last Greenways meeting and fortunately there has not been much to muse about in the bike world due to the continuing wrath of Mother Nature. Adopting the Greenways plan is is on this evening's City Council agenda. There are rumblings that Fox News will be wandering about to try and paint the Greenways Plan as a waste of Stimulus Funding. Not sure how that can be as this is only being adopted as a plan and not yet funded. Online social networking and blog sites are buzzing with input from both those who support and those who are against the plan. Maybe I am biased - but I think of this as a great way to link Allentown's existing beautiful parks. I can only see benefit to making the streets that link our parks safer so that people do not feel as if they have to use an automobile to get to the parks as walking or riding a bike is just unsafe. I think getting more people into our parks would justify designating additional funds for the maintenance issues that currently exist. No one is saying this is going to be a miracle cure for Allentown - but it surely cannot hurt to adopt the plan so that we have the opportunity to apply for funds that other cities that have a Master Plan are already receiving. I will try and provide an update of this evening's meeting tomorrow. Ride on.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Greenways Update
The Greenways Plan is moving towards adoption by City Council slowly but surely - at least I hope surely. There was not nearly the crowd that I anticipated seeing last evening and most in attendance were in favor of the plan. The Council voted to move this plan forward so that it can be voted upon - passing with a 5-2 vote (Councilpersons Donovan and Eichenwald were the no votes). It seems the Council will vote on adopting this plan at their March 3rd meeting.
Most of the negative comments against adopting this plan had to do with poor economy and existing problems in our parks that are not being addressed. Strangely - this plan proposes not only to fix many of those problems that exist but to make it safer to get to the parks via walking or biking. I think one of the hidden benefits of the plan would be that if more people start using the park system - it will justify appropriating additional funds for maintenance and repair of the parks. Not to be cliche but - if you build it they will come.
The bottom line is there are significant funds being awarded specifically for the purposes outlined in the Greenways Plan. Philadelphia was just awarded 23 million dollars for such projects. Allentown applied for a 5 million dollar grant but did not receive it - a large reason being they do not currently have a Master Plan in place for such projects.
Allentown has a fantastic opportunity to start making itself a more pedestrian and cyclist friendly destination. All signs seem to point towards the Greenways Plan being adopted - but nothing in life is guaranteed. If this is something you care about - I encourage to reach out to the City Council and let them know how you feel. Most importantly - come out to the City Council meeting on March 3rd and show your support. I will post additional details in the near future.
Ride on!
Most of the negative comments against adopting this plan had to do with poor economy and existing problems in our parks that are not being addressed. Strangely - this plan proposes not only to fix many of those problems that exist but to make it safer to get to the parks via walking or biking. I think one of the hidden benefits of the plan would be that if more people start using the park system - it will justify appropriating additional funds for maintenance and repair of the parks. Not to be cliche but - if you build it they will come.
The bottom line is there are significant funds being awarded specifically for the purposes outlined in the Greenways Plan. Philadelphia was just awarded 23 million dollars for such projects. Allentown applied for a 5 million dollar grant but did not receive it - a large reason being they do not currently have a Master Plan in place for such projects.
Allentown has a fantastic opportunity to start making itself a more pedestrian and cyclist friendly destination. All signs seem to point towards the Greenways Plan being adopted - but nothing in life is guaranteed. If this is something you care about - I encourage to reach out to the City Council and let them know how you feel. Most importantly - come out to the City Council meeting on March 3rd and show your support. I will post additional details in the near future.
Ride on!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Think Warm Thoughts
Blustery again - is there no end to this madness? On yet another 37 layer day - my thoughts drift to warmer weather and single layer rides - where my sweat does not freeze. We are in the process of planning our 2010 BikeAllentown ride schedule. As last year was our first year of existence - things did not always go smoothly - the weather was often not cooperative - and our route was often the same.
In 2010 we are looking for more participation and some more interesting dates - heck we are even going to consider rain dates to spite Mother Nature and her apparent lack of compassion for our love of riding. Have any ideas? Anywhere you have wanted to ride - but have not had enough confidence to set off on your own - or possibly just felt it would be better sharing that ride with others? Let us know. We have a few ideas on the table but we would love some suggestions/input. Heck - we would love some more participants to boot.
Feel free to share your thoughts here or send an e-mail to info@bikeallentown.com - we hope to see you on the ride. In the interim - think warm thoughts. Ride on!
In 2010 we are looking for more participation and some more interesting dates - heck we are even going to consider rain dates to spite Mother Nature and her apparent lack of compassion for our love of riding. Have any ideas? Anywhere you have wanted to ride - but have not had enough confidence to set off on your own - or possibly just felt it would be better sharing that ride with others? Let us know. We have a few ideas on the table but we would love some suggestions/input. Heck - we would love some more participants to boot.
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