veloblog: bicycling in Greensboro, NC and the surrounding area

Greensboro Greenway

The planned downtown greenway has its own Web site.

Yeah, we're #13!

The LAB ranks North Carolina #13 in bike friendliness.

Living Car-Free

“The Petersons are a family of four from Issaquah," it begins. "They like to hike, go to the movies, watch American Idol. A regular suburban bunch. Minus the SUV. Minus any car, for that matter. The Petersons don’t drive. They haven’t since 1987. As the rest of the country frets over the highest gas prices in history, the Petersons carry on as usual, biking, walking and riding the bus wherever they need to go.”

Living car-free is deeper than foregoing a means of transportation. It's a different way of living.

Rider's eye view of the Greensboro Ride of Silence

Ride of Silence

Yesterday's Ride of Silence went off without a hitch. Somewhere between 200 and 250 riders assembled at Center City Park, then headed off for a slow circuit of several Greensboro neighborhoods. Greensboro Bike Patrol officers rode with us and controlled traffic at intersections.

Our group stretched out for about a quarter mile, and as we rolled down the final stretch of N. Elm St. we spread across our two lanes. Drivers slowed and gawked. Afterwards we gathered at the park for a bit before Scott, Jim, Joel and I rolled back to Lindley Park.

Biketown

All of a sudden, Greensboro is moving toward becoming a bike-friendly city.

What's brought this on? According to a friend in the Greensboro DOT, it's the young people who are commuting by bike.

Ride of Silence

By my estimate about a hundred riders showed for tonight's Ride of Silence. Not bad considering the threat of rain. There were racers, commuters, tourists, transportation advocates, mountain bikers -- a cross section of the local cycling community.

With photographers from the News-Record and local CBS and Fox affiliates tracking our moves, we rolled out of the parking lot adjacent to First Horizon Park and made our way west through UNCG, Lindley Park, and back. Everyone remained quiet as we rolled along at a slow pace, though occasionally we could hear folks who we passed shout out to us.

Afterward we gathered for a while:






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Carmany @ BIG Salute to Bike Lanes

City council rep Sandy Carmany went to the BIG Salute to Bike Lanes on Saturday and posted some photos.


Technorati Tags: greensboro, bikeped, big, bicycle+advocacy

Greensboro Metropolitan Area Bicycle, Pedestrian & Greenways Plan

The Greensboro Metropolitan Area Bicycle, Pedestrian & Greenways Plan (a.k.a. BiPed) is a broad attempt to consolidate Greensboro Park and Rec's Trails and Greenways Master Plan with a bike and pedestrian transportation plan covering the Greensboro metro area. Tonight's public input session at Lawndale Baptist Church was the final meeting of this planning phase. I attended to learn more.

The Greensboro Metropolitan Planning Organization and Greensboro Parks and Rec have retained Toole Design Group and Greenways Inc. to assist in the planning process. Both are environmental design firms; Toole brings particular expertise in designing multi-modal transportation systems. Chuck Flink of Greenways Inc. facilitated the session; several staff members from both firms were on hand to gather input from what turned out to be a larger than expected group -- I would estimate 60 people, many of whom I recognized as cyclists.

Four maps -- one for trails, another for bike racks and facilities, another for pedestrian routes, and one more for bike routes -- lay on tables around the room. We were invited to add notes, highlight streets, trails or other points of interest, and talk with the reps from each organizing group.

Within 45 minutes, each map was covered with marks. Attenders were given a recap of the suggestions. Some of the more interesting ones were proposals for two paddling trails, and repeated suggestions to link city campuses (UNCG, Bennett, NC A&T) with bike and ped-friendly trails.

Flink indicated that follow up meetings will happen late winter or early spring. At that point, the public will be presented with recommendations and a timeline for implementation.

Along with the increased interest in cycling and formation of a new local advocacy group, this is a reason for optimism (though guarded) about the future of cycling in a city that seems to have been veering away from any notion that cycling is a valid means of transportation.

Bicycle, Pedestrian, & Greenways Plan

Bicycle, Pedestrian, & Greenways Plan for the city of Greensboro. Take the transportation survey.