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Monthly Archives: February 2010

Bicycling and Walking in Nevada

28 Feb

Bicycling and Walking 2010 Benchmarking ReportThe Alliance for Biking and Walking, a national advocacy organization, recently released the “Bicycling and Walking in the United States 2010 Benchmarking Report” on the status of biking and walking in all states and major cities (Las Vegas is included). Though the report is rich variety of text, charts and graphs, some relevant rankings for Nevada include:

Cycling to Work ranking = 17th (0.6%)
Walking to Work ranking = 31st (2.3%)

All Trips Cycling 0.9%
All Trips Walking 9.2%

Bicycle Safety ranking = 37
Pedestrian Safety ranking = 40

Portion of Transportation Budget to Bike/Ped ranking = 37 (0.8%)
Portion of Transportation Enhancement Funds to Bike/Ped ranking = 31 (45%)

Advocacy Capacity – no ranking because no statewide organization

overweight rate 63% and obese rate 25%, which is in the middle of the states

 
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Posted by on February 28, 2010 in bicycling, news, walking

 

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Bicycle Friendly in other places

26 Feb

Here are a few links to Bicycle Friendly Community efforts and status in other places. If you have links to recommend, please comment with them, and they’ll be added to the list.

 
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Posted by on February 26, 2010 in Bicycle Friendly Community BFC, good ideas

 

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JAC

24 Feb

Carson City has a public transit service named JAC – Jump Around Carson. While Muscle Powered focuses on human powered transport, public transit is part of the equation for reducing motor vehicle use and deserves some more attention.

JAC operates four regular routes, all of which center on the transit center in downtown next to the federal building on Plaza Street. Route 1 serves the northern part of town including the regional medical center, Routes 2A and 2B serve the northeast and northwest parts of town, with each being just the reverse route of the other, and Route 3 serves the southern part of town including the southern point near Fuji Park and Costco. Though JAC does not directly serve the Carson Valley Plaza and Walmart shopping areas (including Bike Habitat and Trader Joe’s), these centers are a reasonable walking or biking distance from the southern-most stop by Fuji Park. You can head west on Old Clear Creek Road and then south up the hill on Vista Grande Blvd to enter these shopping centers from that side.

The service is hourly from 6:30AM to 6:30PM on weekdays, and 8:30AM to 4:30PM on Saturday. It does not operate evenings or Sundays. A system map is available. Fares are $1 per ride with transfers, $0.50 for youth, disabled and seniors, and free for seniors 60 and over in the bus pass program, which is made possible by a grant.

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Posted by on February 24, 2010 in transit

 

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Traffic Skills 101

22 Feb

Traffic Skills 101 group

The Traffic Skills 101 bicycle education course will be offered in Carson City May 7-8, 2010. This nine-hour course is designed by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) and covers many topics including: The Bicycle, Maintenance Basics, Clothing and Equipment Basics, Bicycle Handling Basics, Your Role in Traffic, Avoiding Crashes, Hazard Avoidance Maneuvers, Riding Enjoyment, Ride Etiquette, and Helping Motorists Share the Road. Though it will not teach you how to bike, it will teach you how to bike with greater safety and confidence. The course is instructed by Dan Allison, Charles Nelson, and Myron Dong, all LAB certified League Cycling Instructors, and is primarily sponsored by the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety.

Whether you are new to bicycling or an experienced hand, and whether you use your bicycle as transportation or for recreation, the course has something to offer you. If you are thinking about starting to commute or increasing your commuting by bicycle during Bike to Work Month/Week/Day, this course will support you.

A flier is available, and more information including registration is at http://allisondan.raincloudpub.com/bike_ed/ts101.shtml. A League Cycling Instructor (LCI) seminar, which is the class for people wanting to teach bicycling education, will also be offered this spring or summer, but no date has been set. The TS101 course is a pre-requisite to the LCI seminar.

 
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Posted by on February 22, 2010 in bicycling, Education, news

 

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TIGER grant for Las Vegas BRT

18 Feb

The TIGER Discretionary Grants announced yesterday include a Bus Rapid Transit project for Sahara Ave in Las Vegas. Though this is far afield from Carson City, it does show that innovative transit projects are possible in Nevada. The grant application came from the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission. It was the only successful TIGER grant in Nevada. TIGER is a part of the ARRA – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The grants are also interesting because they emphasized transit and rail projects over highways, perhaps reflecting the mix that the federal Department of Transportation would favor under a new transportation bill.

More information about the project is available from RTC and in the TIGER_SaharaBRT page.

 
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Posted by on February 18, 2010 in news, transit

 

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2009 Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects

16 Feb

new bike lane on Winnie Ln

We’ve recently posted several project reports for bicycle and pedestrian projects completed in 2009 by Carson City Public Works, NDOT and Parks and Recreation, and others were posted throughout the year. Here is a list with links back to the original posts.

Carson City Public Works also does ongoing sidewalk repair, which includes replacing buckled and deteriorated concrete, and adding ADA ramps. These projects are scattered about town. I don’t think that this ongoing work is keeping up with the rate of deterioration. A lot of sidewalks in Carson City were either constructed with poor quality materials or not cured properly, and they are falling apart. I believe that it ought to be the responsibility of the adjacent property owner to maintain their sidewalks in good repair, however, state law prevents local entities from requiring that owners do so.

In addition, some bicycle lanes were restriped as part of the routine slurry seal and restriping that happens every year.

 
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Posted by on February 16, 2010 in bicycle routes, news, walking

 

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Koontz Ln bike lanes

15 Feb

bike lane on Koontz Ln

Earlier this year striped bike lanes were added to the short stretch of Koontz Lane between Curry St and Carson St, along with resurfacing and restriping of the roadway. Bike lane signs were not installed. This section is shown a principal (green) on the Carson City Bicycle Route Map.

This section provides a connection between the bike lanes on Curry St and Bike Route 395, which is on Silver Sage. From Carson St to Silver Sage Dr and Center St, there are striped lanes with very faded pavement markings, and no signing.

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2010 in bicycle routes

 

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Fairview Dr widening

14 Feb

bike lane on Fairview westbound

With completion of the Fairview Drive improvements between Roop St and the new freeway, a signed and marked bike lane has been installed. This section, which had no designation on the 2007 Carson City Bicycle Route Map, can now be designated principal (green) on the next revision. It provides a pleasant and safe connection between the bike lanes on Roop St and on Saliman Rd.

A drain grate was incorrectly installed on Fairview eastbound so that it was a bicycle tire trap hazard, but that was reported to Carson City Public Works and has been fixed. There is a “bike lane ends” sign westbound just west of Saliman which is in error – the bike lane actually ends as it is squeezed out just to the east of Roop St. This squeeze out is unfortunate and unnecessary, as it makes it hard for bicyclists continuing north on the Roop St bike lane (Route 395).

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Posted by on February 14, 2010 in bicycle routes, walking

 

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Curry St reconstruction

13 Feb

bike lane, Curry southbound at Rhodes

A reconstruction of Curry Street between Koontz Ln on the south and Rhodes St on the north was recently completed. Bicycle lanes and signing were included in this project. With the existing section to the south between Clearview Dr and Koontz Ln, this completes a 1.2 miles of lanes along Curry St. Sidewalks were also installed along this entire section, which formerly had pedestrians walking in the dirt and mud alongside the road.

The section to the north of Rhodes St, from the new construction to Lake Glen Dr, has little to no shoulder and has limited visibility as it curves around the hillside above the Forest Service offices and railroad museum, so it is not comfortable for bicyclists to ride. This section is part of a future project which has not been scheduled. It was delayed due to drainage and right of way concerns, and now due to the reduced funds available for road projects.

This section adds a significant north-south route to Carson City, though one still has to cross back to the east side of Carson St/Hwy 395 at Koontz to access the south part of town. North-south routes are sorely lacking, and this really helps. Muscle Powered and many others have proposed a bicycle crossing over or under the new Hwy 50 freeway to carry this route through to Vista Grande Blvd and the retail areas along Carson St as well as Jacks Valley Rd, but NDOT has resisted all such efforts.

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2010 in bicycle routes

 

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crosswalk and signal at Eagle Station Ln

12 Feb

new signal and crosswalk at Eagle Station Ln

A new signal and crosswalk at Eagle Station Lane allows pedestrians to cross Carson St/Hwy 395 between Koontz Ln and Clearview Dr. This crossing was formerly impossible, across six lanes of heavy traffic in a 45mph zone. The installation was part of an agreement between the city and Casino Fandango to handle traffic from the expanded casino and hotel areas on the west side of Carson St, and seemingly was accelerated by the death of a pedestrian crossing here in June 2009.

Carson City has a number of long gaps between crosswalks on high volume and high speed streets, specifically south Carson St (Hwy 395) and William St (Hwy 50). These long gaps cause pedestrians to cross without any protection. I’ll write a post in the future about these gaps and solutions. But at least one of the gaps has now been solved!

 
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Posted by on February 12, 2010 in walking

 

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