Posts Categorized in 'Programs'

Waterfront Promenade Bike Access Study & Survey Underway

yes, this section is already open to bikes

Through a bikeways grant from the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Baltimore Department of Transportation is performing a feasibility study for bicycle access along the Waterfront Promenade.  Some sections of the promenade are already open to biking, but most sections are closed.  The Inner Harbor allows biking during certain hours, but often acts as a detour when construction or auto racing takes place along Pratt Street.

As part of the study, consultants for the Department of Transportation will document current bicycle and pedestrian traffic levels and evaluate the physical constraints of the promenade.   A community survey is also available to help gauge public use of the promenade.

Take the online survey here

The study will conclude this fall with recommendations for bicycle access along the promenade from Canton to Harborview.

Support The Ride for the Feast

This weekend, a bunch of hearty souls will be pedaling from Ocean City to Baltimore for a good cause.  Ride For the Feast  raises money for Moveable Feast, a longstanding Baltimore nonprofit organization that provides lifesaving, nutritious foods for low-income Marylanders living with HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, and other life-threatening conditions at no cost. 

Serving 14 Maryland counties, in 2011, Moveable Feast delivered 487,786 meals directly to the doors of our clients, an additional 201,509 meals to shelters in Baltimore and the surrounding areas, serving a total of 3,371 Marylanders.

Whether you choose to ride, volunteer for the Crew or contribute financially, your efforts will aid thousands of our neighbors here in Maryland.

The Ride wraps up on Sunday pedaling from the American Visionary Arts Museum to 901 N. Milton Street at 1pm.  Come out and support them on the final miles.

County Ped/Bike Group Selects Projects

Following up to the April 17th public meeting, the Baltimore County Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee made a final recommendation for which projects the county should pursue this year.  The committee was asked to pick which projects should be priority projects and then rank them, which included:

1)       Feasibility Study and Preliminary Design for the North Point Heritage Trail

2)       On Street Road Improvements in Catonsville area, including a linkages between UMBC, Arbutus, Catonsville, and Patapsco Valley Park

3)       Towson Bike Loop “Spokes” (Putty Hill, Pennsylvania & Chesapeake Avenues, Kenilworth Drive)

4)       Bike Lanes on Dundalk Avenue

While the Cromwell Valley Trail was popular during the public meeting, this project was not selected because there is not enough support from the immediate community.  To fund these projects, Baltimore County will be preparing the grant applications, which are due June 5.

Jump On The Charm City Pedal Mill

Celebrate the last weekend in April with an amazing deal from the Charm City Pedal Mill. All tours April 26th-28th are available for $110/hr (all taxes included). Save over $90/hr!!

Grab 8 to 15 of your friends and book your tour today!! Got 9 friends? That’s only $11/person per hour. Are you a little more popular and have 15 friends? Then the price drops to under $7/person per hour!

www.charmcitypedalmill.com
info@charmcitypedalmill.com
443.956.6455

City Parks Needs Bike Help

The Baltimore City Recreation & Parks Department has relied on the Ranger Program to staff bike programs like Ride Around the Reservoir. Unfortunately, rangers do not report until the 2nd week in May. Until then, volunteers are needed to help out. Tasks include loading and transporting bikes to program site, setting up once on site, adjusting bike seats and fitting helmets for riders, riding the area to help out new riders, and in some cases teaching new riders.

Events volunteers are needed include:

Saturday, April 27th ECO FEST in Druid Hill Start time of 9:30 am and riding around the reservoir until 4 PM .

Wed, May 1st Rides Around the Reservoir in Druid Hill Park from 4PM until 8:30 PM

Thursday, May 2nd Rides Around Lake Kick Off at Lake Montebello from 4-:8:30 PM

Monday May 6th Rides Around the Reservoir in Druid Hill Park from 4PM until 8:30

If interested, please contact Molly Gallant at 443-984-4058 or molly.gallant (at) baltimorecity.gov

County Ped/Bike Group Hears Community Suggestions

The Baltimore County Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) held an open meeting to hear what projects the public was interested in supporting. Hosted by the Department of Planning, PBAC listened to suggestions for bicycle and pedestrian projects across the county to be considered for selection by the committee.

Projects recommended by the public included:
1. The Northeast Trail – This trail has been included in the Overlea and Perry Hall community plans, which would extend along the utility corridor, Lillian Holt Drive and Perry Hall Boulevard from the city line to Silver Spring Road. This project was endorsed by Carroll Pupa of Lindover and Doris Polling of Overlea.
2. The North Point Heritage Greenway Trail – Included in the 2007 North Point Communty Plan, this trail would utilize abandoned railbed connecting communities, parks, Todd’s Inheritance, a senior community and veteran’s housing at Fort Howard. This project was supported by Fran Taylor of North Point and Wink Hastings of the National Park Service
3. Catonsville Trails – No community in Baltimore County has done more to promote trail development than Catonsville. Building trails from the Trolley lines has been a community-led effort that would benefit from more county support. Complementing the trail system with an on-street bike network would make Catonsville the most bikeable community in the county. These projects were supported by Maureen Becker, Charlie Murphy and others in attendance.
4. Towson Bike Loop “Spokes” – Building on the proposed Towson Bike Loop, which should be constructed this year, the “Spokes” would fill in and expand the Towson bike network by creating or expanding bike lanes on Kenilworth Avenue, Putty Hill Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Chesapeake Avenue, Fairmount Avenue, Washington Avenue, Joppa Road, Stevenson Lane, Burke Road, Cromwell Bridge Road and Osler Drive.  This project was proposed by Lysh Lorber, co-chair of the 5th District PBAC.
6. On-street bike routes for Rodgers Forge, Seven Courts Drive and Putty Hill Avenue were suggested by 5th District members.
7. Extending Baltimore City bike lanes into the county was recommended by Nate Evans on Dundalk Avenue, Greenspring Avenue to Quarry Lake, Frederick Avenue to Catonsville and Gwynn Oak Avenue to Woodlawn.
8. Gwynns Falls Trail to Patpasco Trail connection was suggested by Franklintown Association President Jack Lattimore.  This trail will extend through Woodlawn to Patapsco Valley State Park
9. Cromwell Valley Trail – No other project received more support than the Cromwell Valley Trail. This proposed trail would connect Loch Raven High School, Cromwell Valley Park and Loch Raven Drive. Lysh Lorber provided a cost estimate and scope for a feasibility study to make the trail a reality.

Councilmen Tom Quirk and David Marks were present to thank the public for their suggestions and to encourage the committee to select multiple projects.  Councilman Quirk would like more of these projects in his district to connect University of Maryland, Baltimore County with the adjacent community as well as open up mountain bike access to Patapsco.  Quirk even commented that he biked from Catonsville to Annapolis and back this past weekend.

All these projects will have limited county funding for studies, design or construction.  Baltimore County intends to apply for Recreation Trails funding, Transportation Alternatives funding and MDOT Bikeways funding to move these projects forward.  PBAC will make a final selection of projects at next week’s meeting on Tuesday, April 23rd, 4pm in Room 104 of the Jefferson Building (105 W Chesapeake Avenue, Towson)

MD Legislative Session Ends Without Mandatory Helmet Law

At midnight on April 9th, the Maryland General Assembly’s session adjourned without the passing on HB339, the mandatory bike helmet bill. The bill remained in the Environmental Matters committee without coming to a vote.  Special thanks to Delegates Maggie McIntosh and Luke Clippinger who were willing to open a dialogue with concerned cyclists and hear the bill’s counterpoints.  Thanks also to those across the state who contacted state delegates to voice an opinion on the bill.

Bikemore, Old Line Velo Launch Websites

Two of Baltimore’s newest bike groups are now online! Bikemore and Old Line Velo have both recently launched their websites.

Bikemore‘s mission is to build a more livable Baltimore by promoting all forms of cycling, expanding the number of people who ride a bike and advocating for the rights and safety of a diverse cycling community.  Bikemore’s site also provides information on the group goals, partners, board members, events and e-mail signup.  Bikemore is present on Facebook and Twitter

Old Line Velo‘s mission is to be an inclusive organization promoting off road bicycling and improving cycling in the region through advocacy, outreach and community building. OLV is partnering with local and regional bike groups to get more people out riding and is developing DAILY rides catering to cyclists of all skill levels.  If you are interested in leading a regular group ride, contact OLV.

OLV’s membership is NOW OPEN.  You can join the group online here

OLV is also present on Facebook and Twitter

County Seeks Input on Bike/Ped Improvements

Abridged from a Baltimore County Press Release

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz announced that Baltimore County’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) is seeking community input as they begin to move forward on implementing a number projects identified in the recently adopted Eastern and Western Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Plans. Members of the public are invited to voice their preferences on which projects to fund first at a Citizen Input Meeting.

Tuesday, April 16 at 5 p.m.
Jefferson Building Hearing Room (Room 104)
105 West Chesapeake Avenue, Towson, MD, 21204

The projects in the Eastern and Western Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Plans have been prioritized based on a short, medium, and long-range scale. The PBAC plans to take a closer look to identify initial projects that will provide County citizens with the greatest benefit at the lowest cost, using state, federal, and private grants. While implementation is not guaranteed, identifying these initial projects meeting the following criteria is an important first step:

• Relatively low in cost as funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects is limited. Grant funding, however, can be sought to pay for projects such as bike route signage, bike lane striping, and feasibility studies for shared use path projects, as well as sidewalks, crosswalks and other small pedestrian improvement projects.
• Link to significant destinations like schools, libraries, parks, shopping centers, employment areas or transit stations
• Community support. Not all communities are ready to become walkable and bike-friendly. The PBAC wants to target the initial projects to neighborhoods that really want them, and will use them.

“Home buyers today want to live in communities that are sustainable with a strong quality of life,” said Baltimore County Council Chair Tom Quirk. “Communities that create places where people can walk, bike, work, live and recreate are areas that will thrive and succeed. I appreciate the County Executive’s efforts in working closely with the Council and community in moving forward in this very important direction.”

Pedestrian and bicycle planning information is available at www.baltimorecountymd.gov/bikeped. The interactive map showing details of the plan for bicycle facilities can be viewed through the My Neighborhood application. For more information, e-mail Kathy Schlabach in the Department of Planning, or call 410-887-3521.

Poly Students Collect Bikes For the World

For the second year, students at Poly Western High School held a used bike drive for Bikes for the World.  Headed up locally by Joshua Spokes and Bob Armenti, last year the group collected 75 bikes in a few short hours.    Operations Manager Nick Colombo was on had to take the collected bikes to the Rockville warehouse.  In 2012, 25 shipping containers were sent oversees to non-governmental organizations to distribute the bikes, enabling others to use the bikes for transportation.  Thanks to Josh, Bob & Nick for helping old bikes find a new home.