Trash cans along Munsel Creek Bike Path please

First waste receptacle has been installed and used in July! Thank you!

Lovely Bike & Pedestrian path along Munsel Creek in this Forest with lots of native Rhododendron macrophyllum. It starts just 1 block off HWY 101 at Quince Street, close to intersection 101/126, crosses Spruce Street and ends at W Park Dr/17th Street. At this point it is easy to continue your walking/cycling exercise. The neighborhood is a low/slow traffic area.

Recommendation on May 3, 2010: It would be nice to have trash cans at places like this. It sure would help to keep this peaceful path clean and enjoyable for the future.  

SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL FEDERAL PROGRAM

Safe Routes to School is a national and international movement to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to school.

The Federal Program on Safe Routes to School
This new program will assist local communities in making bicycling and walking to school a safe choice. The program provides funding for infrastructure and education, while providing guidance and technical assistance through a national clearinghouse.
(www.saferoutesinfo.org).

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is a network of more than 400 nonprofit organizations, government agencies, schools, and professionals working together to advance the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) movement in the United States. SRTS can provide a variety of important benefits to children and their communities, including increasing physical activity, reducing traffic congestion, improving air quality, and enhancing neighborhood safety
(www.saferoutespartnership.org).

The Oregon SRTS Program
Managed by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), Oregon’s federally funded Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is the source for state coordinator contact details, federal SRTS funding amounts, SRTS applications and guidelines, and state SRTS program information.
 (www.saferoutespartnership.org/state/5043/oregon).

Shared-use Path on Kingwood Street

This is how a shared-use path could work on Kingwood Street between 9th and 15th Street. Adding a shared-use path on the east side and using parked cars as a barrier mid-street seems like a brilliant idea and would make a lot of sense since there is no side walk on either side.

Shared-use paths can be used by pedestrians, joggers, skaters, cyclists, wheel chairs etc. and provide a comfortable space of safety.

This could be a great Demonstration Project for our city and a step in the right direction.

Info about Portland's Cycle Track & Buffered Bike Lane Demonstration Projects here

Input and comments please here

Interested in building a better cycling and pedestrian future in Florence?

Wanna help paint bike lane symbols in Bike Lanes in Florence?

Want to suggest any ideas/improvements?

Use the comment link below.

--
Let us be a smart community. We all want to live in a city with clean air, safe streets, healthier, happier people, and stress free traffic.
 

You can make a difference and thanks!

Whose Roads? Who Pays?

You’ll often hear or read some ill-informed person claim that cyclists don’t have the right to use public roadways because they don’t pay gas taxes. I suppose one could simply call them a fascist and be done with it (and be correct), but more reasonable and effective arguments are available.
First and foremost, use of public rights-of-way is a basic liberty, not a privilege of taxpayers.


But even if it were not a basic liberty, cyclists (and pedestrians) are certainly paying their way (and then some).

“User fees” such as gas taxes, vehicle taxes and fees, and tolls, account for only 60% of transportation funding; the other 40% is from property taxes, bonds, general funds, and other taxes, all of which are paid (directly or indirectly) by non-motorists. According to Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute,

“On average, local and regional governments spend $300-500 annually per automobile in general taxes on local roads and traffic services, averaging more than 6¢ per mile driven on local roads. Only 0.7¢ of this is paid through vehicle user charges, meaning that driving is subsidized through general taxes by about 5.6¢ per mile on local roads.”


Most gas tax money goes to widening roadways to accommodate more cars (thereby encouraging more driving) and to maintaining roads. Virtually all wear and tear on roads is due to motor vehicles (especially large trucks), not cyclists, and certainly not pedestrians. The cost of accommodating cyclists and pedestrians is generally less than 2% of the total cost of a road. Non-motorists therefore overpay for their use of roads, while motorists underpay.

Those who shop by bike, walk or transit pay gas taxes indirectly. Shipping costs, which are included in the costs of virtually all goods, include gas taxes.

Of course, most cyclists DO buy gasoline, since most own and drive internal combustion vehicles. To say one must always use the vehicle that makes the taxpaying necessary is an absurd trap. "You have no choice! You must drive a car because you paid the tax!" This argument also implies that those who pay more in taxes have greater rights than those who pay less. Those who drive electric cars might similarly be accused of driving on roads without paying “their fair share.” An electric car owner would only pay about one-third as much in “user fees” as the owner of an internal combustion engine vehicle.

9th Street & Kingwood Street

The City of Florence has already responded to this request.


"Lane County does our striping. They are scheduled to do that in August 2010. The current plan is to ask the County to stripe so there are bicycle lanes and on-street parking on the east side of the Kingwood from 9th Street to 15th Street. There is sufficient space to accommodate two travel lanes and two bicycle lanes and one parking lane within that portion of the existing street. That would allow the residences on the east side of the street to park on the street if needed, and it would continue the bicycle lane on Kingwood Street south to connect to the bicycle lanes on 9th Street."


Please click on photos to zoom in

Recommendation: This would be a good way to improve cycling and pedestrian safety. Between 9th Street and 10th Street on Kingwood Street there is no bike lane nor a sidewalk. 

Adding a parking lane for cars on the East side (shown in blue) would provide parking space for cars and build a safety barrier for cyclists and pedestrians to travel in the added bike Lanes (shown in red).

Dangerous Gate

Please click on photos to supersize




Bike/pedestrian path between Spruce Street and Munsel Creek County Park.

Recommendation: Moving the gate to the end of the sidewalk as shown (yellow gate) above would allow easier access for wheels chairs, bicycles and pedestrians via the paved path and eliminate the need to go around it on the narrow funky gravel path.


Situation view from both sides (photo above and below)


This gate is not in compliance with The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The goal of the ADA is to make sure that no qualified person with any kind of disability is turned down for a job or promotion, or refused entry to a public-access area.