Mobility Live blog

[JeffreyS]

Spot on Doug, in communicating the pitfalls of the moratorium to the council I have tried to point out that QOL investments are one of the ways you can directly influence development. The nice thing about the QOL approach is it influences things on a broad basis waving a fee for a developer only gets you one deal.  Having good schools, good transportation or good river access incentivises every deal now and going forward.

[jcjohnpaint]

I just hope there is not backroom deals going... although I'm sure there is. 
None the less, great job Doug.  I really appreciate it. 

[Ocklawaha]

Doug, item 3, has me stumped too. Given the choice of a quarter acre of land at the corner of Broad and Monroe in Jacksonville, or a similar sized parcel at 1St and Pacific in Long Beach, California, who in their right mind would choose Jacksonville? It's not because one city is better then the other, it's because of INFRASTRUCTURE.

In Long Beach:

Long Beach is working hard to become more bike friendly.  We have separated lanes in the downtown area.  We have green sharrows on 2nd Street.  We have a great bike boulevard on Vista…and are in the process of designing three more Bike Boulevards.

Retro Row has always been an area that has attracted bicyclists.

One of the most vibrant and interesting shopping and dining areas in Long Beach is RetroRow on 4th Street.  Centered between Junipero and Cherry on 4th, it is populated by unique stores offering “retro” clothing and other goods, a great book store,  awesome coffee shops including the well known Portfolio, the great Art Theater, which has hosted several of our bike film festivals and two new parklets, one in front of Lola’s Mexican Restaurant and the other in front of Number Nine restaurant.

Retro Row has always been an area that has attracted bicyclists.

Coffee shops such as Portfolio, owned by Kerstin Kansteiner, has for years been a mecca for bicyclists looking for a great place to hang out.  And it is now the place were the monthly Cyclone Coasters ride begins, a rider that attracts over 100 bicyclists each month for leisurely ride through Long Beach on vintage bikes.

Because this area was bike friendly and had a number of business owners who were interested in making their shopping area even more bike friendly…Retro Row was chosen to participate in the Long Beach’s first Bicycle Friendly Business Districts program.

But along the popularity of bicycling in the area came issues with bicyclists on sidewalks.  And the merchants said…we love the bicyclists coming into our shops and restaurants…but what can you do to help us get the bicyclists off of the sidewalk?

The city looked at the option of putting in bike lanes…but without removing the center lane â€" or removing lots of parking there just wasn’t enough room for bike lanes.

The use of sharrows on the street was suggested to the business owners and the residents…and the overwhelming response was…lets try it.

So two months ago our City Street Crew installed the sharrows on a 14 block stretch of the street. At about the same time as part of our Share our Streets campaign we installed pole banners with safety message for both motorists and bicyclists ..and walk your bike on the sidewalk messages.  We also began a program with our police department to do a combined education and enforcement campaign centered around walking your bike on the sidewalk.

This photo shows the sharrows, the bike banners and one of  the “bikes may use full lane” signs that are posted along the route.  It also illustrates the proper place to ride…out on the sharrow.  The reason for riding here is that  the rider (1) is out of the door zone and (2) is visible to drivers.

If you have not been to 4th Street and the Retro Row area recently…grab your bike…and come down to check out the sharrows and of course the great shops and restaurants located all along the street.

And ask the merchants about the Bike Saturday program…and about how they are making use of the 4th Street Cargo Bike

Dine on the parklets in front of Lola’s or Number Nineâ€" two of the great restaurants along Retro Row.

We want to say thanks to everyone who has been such a big part of not only making Long Beach more bike friendly â€" but making great areas like Retro Row wonderful places to Dine, Shop and Bike…

SEE:
http://www.bikelongbeach.org

http://www.bikelongbeach.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Bike-Strategy-2011-v2.0-council-Presentation-Part-II-infrastructure.pdf

Meanwhile in Jacksonville:

Friends save bicyclist in Jacksonville hit-and-run; concerned when he hadn't returned
Posted: August 15, 2012 - 5:15am 

A Jacksonville bicyclist was left to die in a ditch Tuesday night after being hit by a vehicle that then fled the scene.

Lorin L. Leuthold, 48, was riding his bike in the bicycle lane of Philips Highway just south of Bayard about 8:20 p.m. when he was hit, authorities said.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-08-15/story/friends-save-bicyclist-jacksonville-hit-and-run-concerned-when-he-hadnt#ixzz28u2lTe7S

Bicyclist in critical condition after struck by truck

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 68-year-old woman is in critical condition after she was hit by a truck Thursday evening.
The accident happened on Merrill Road near Red Oak Drive. Right now, traffic is still blocked along Merrill Road.
JSO told First Coast News the cyclist was riding in the center turn lane when she was struck.
An officer at the scene said no specific charges have been filed yet against the driver, but there are charges pending.
The officer also said bikers do have rights while they are not riding in bike lane.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/topstories/article/269008/483/Bicyclist-in-critical-condition-after-struck-by-truck

Bicyclist badly injured in crash at Edward Waters College
Posted: August 25, 2012 - 5:24pm

JIM SCHOETTLER/The Times-Union
A bicyclist suffered life-threatening injuries when struck by a vehicle on Kings Road in the heart of the Edward Waters College campus Saturday afternoon.

An unidentified bicyclist suffered life-threatening injuries Saturday after being struck by a vehicle near Edward Waters College in Northwest Jacksonville.

The wreck occurred about 4 p.m., on Kings Road near Grunthal Street. Police are unsure what led the bicyclist to cross into the path of the vehicle. The victim, a man in his 50s, was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital. No other injuries were reported.

Police closed Kings Road in the area of the crash for several hours.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-08-25/story/bicyclist-badly-injured-crash-edward-waters-college#ixzz28u4GIGJM

The difference is staggering. Long Beach emphasizes bicycle 'education - infrastructure - safety', while Jacksonville talks about extending a moratorium that is preventing us from having even a semblance of what other places would consider normal urban necessities.

The fight is on folks, and last night 'WE THE PEOPLE' spoke loud and clear.

[CityLife]

So what happened to the pro moratorium crowd? Could this have been a false alarm, or did the strong showing prevent the introduction of a new bill? What happens if a similar bill gets introduced in committee?

3. Just as many construction jobs are created by the construction companies building the rail lines, bike lanes, road widenings and sidewalks from the Mobility projects as are created by the development.  The difference is that at the end of the infrastructure project, the community owns the product and gets the value, while at the end of the private project, the private owner gets the value.  Going deeper, the infrastructure sets up the construction of more private development, giving them more options.  It still is surpising to me that they are fighting this.

I really wish there was an estimate of the amount of new development, jobs created, property tax increases, reduction in infrastructure costs, and tourism increases (commuter rail to St. Auggie) that the Mobility Fee would stimulate into our local economy. As well as the intangible benefits like reduction in parking issues (Riverside/Avondale/Downtown), reduced traffic, reduction in carbon footprint, increased freedom to bike, walk, and ride transit, and so on. If you put a detailed study of the above benefits up against the benefits of continuing the moratorium, it would be a landslide in favor of the moratorium. Ultimately, the burden should be on the anti-Mobility Fee crowd to come up with the hard facts to prove their point (which they can't).  They are trying to remove something that was implemented democratically...with input from the public, studies, hours upon hours of work from city staff and consultants, and public hearings.

Trying to sneakily get legislation passed behind closed doors, with no input from the public, and no detailed studies is frankly repulsive to me. Thankfully some great citizens have stepped up to the plate to fight this with their eye on the greater good of Jacksonville and not a few extra bucks in their pockets. 

[Debbie Thompson]

As has been said, we need to be vigilant.  This will come up again, perhaps with little notice. We need to be prepared to show up at again at a moment's notice. We need to keep up the emails.  It could come up as an "emergency" again very soon as the moratorium is set to expire in about a week.  It would not surprise me to see an "emergency" short term extension.  How long "short term" is could be up for definition.  A month?  Three? 12 more?

Some developers don't know how/want to do anything different than they have always done.  Time they learned.  They don't redevelop things.  They don't know how to change to something else.   Is there anyone here who can't point out a Sleiman strip mall simply by the design and color?  They have all looked alike for 20+ years.  And not that much different than every other strip mall in Jax,  except his have peach stucco added.

We can be stuck in the last century, where people drove muscle cars and gas was $.25 a gallon, or move forward into this one like our peer cities have already done.  We are being left behind.

[urbaknight]

When will the next CC meeting be on this issue? I'd love to go and join all of you, but I rely on JTA; And we know how reliable they are. The buses stop running before the meetings are over. I live off of McDuff just a few blocks south of I 10. Would it be possible for someone going that way to give me a lift home? I can get there, but I'd have to walk back. It would take just over an hour, and at that time of night I wouldn't want to.

Jones is my rep, I wish he wasn't term limitted.

[dougskiles]

When the bill is filed, we will come up with a plan for more public speaking.  They may try for an emergency, however, that takes 2/3 majority and I have yet to speak with a single council member who wants to see this done without public input. 

The best opportunities initially we be at the committee meetings.  They are held during the day.

The stronger the public support, the more we are testing the resolve of the moratorium seekers.  I am guessing there is a tipping point where they aren't going to want the public black eye that will come from being on the other side of an issue that has so far gained strong support from every group that has been engaged.

[Ocklawaha]

Of course the group that really matters in this is the City Council... And they have a rather spotty track record. Let's hope they respect the wishes and desires of the people of our great city and sunset this moratorium.

[Debbie Thompson]

Thank you. Doug, for clarifying. I didn't think that through the process, did I?