Importance: ***    Resources Needed: ***  Date Initiated: 3/09

Cyclists coming from all directions need new signs to direct them to the new I-5 bridge.

Encourage PeaceHealth to support the benefits of cycling.

Letter sent to CEO Mel Pyne requesting support for commuting by bike and for activities that increase cycling among those employees who don’t. Click here to view.

3/15/09 Received from Mr. Pyne note of support for our efforts and commitment to advance the personal and planetary benefits of cycling: “Dear Jim and Colleagues,

Thank you so much for your letter and for your commitment to cycling!  As your letter states, there are tremendous benefits to bicycling, and you and PeaceHealth are enjoying those benefits.  Via this email, I am asking Phil Farrington to coordinate with the Bike Lane Coalition to explore further beneficial collaboration. 

Once again, thank you!

Mel.”

5/1/09 We were able to meet with staff who were very motivated, but there was no formal allocation of resources (staff time for the project) and so staff were unable to make two other planned meetings.

Importance:*** Resources Needed **  Date Initiated: 4/09  Addressed 8/09

In spring of 2009 we partnered with GEARs (Greater Eugene Area Riders) to ask the County for more parking spaces at the County Building. Obviously, there is shortage of funds, and so our request could have been seen as a low priority. Though it took some time, Commissioners Sorenson and Handy secured the resources needed to add six more bike parking spaces at the main entrance to the court and hearing room, a location protected from the rain.

We appreciate the help from GEARs and the Commissioners.

We sent the following letter to the Eugene City Council and Mayor Piercy: “Each year we enjoy the beauty of Fall with its display of colorful leaves. And each Fall these leaves end up in the bike lanes for several weeks. The City of Eugene has tried to address this through public education, but despite their good intentions, there is not enough room on the streets to provide adequate space for cyclists, leaves and drainage. A City diagram shows how leaves should be placed in bike lanes allowing space for cyclists, but the pile of leaves depicted is actually about one-third of the total deposited. Then, over time, wind, rain and traffic move these neat piles all which eventually cover the bike lane.”
 

“We applaud the City for encouraging residents to recycle leaves on their property. Residents should be rewarded for this behavior.”
 

“A partial solution is to designate certain streets as priority bike routes and provide regular leaf collection. As it stands now, the City divides leaf collection into geographic sections, which makes the collection more efficient. Unfortunately, this means that routes that are not in that section are not cleared for weeks.”

“As an interim step, the City should designate High and Pearl, (heavily trafficked bike arterials) as leaf collection priorities. This short section from 13th to 18th should not place an undue burden on City resources, and will, at the same time, demonstrate that the City is willing to make at least a modest effort to provide for the safety of area cyclists.”

In response, the City Council voted to allocate funds to provide leaf pick up on those routes with heavy bike travel that also have significant leaf collection needs. Here is an abbreviated response from Eric Jones, Public Affiars Manager for the City of Eugene:

“Jim -- thanks for the positive input you've provided to this discussion over the past several weeks.  We very much welcome information from the cycling community to ensure that our services are most effectively targeted to meet community needs.”

We offered to help identify the best routes to address.
 

11/24/09 Update: While the leaf collection program is going relatively well with significant improvements in the amount of leaves collected on priority routes, the public relations component has not fared so well. Letters to the editors in the R-G have ranged from support to rejection of the process, with rejection focusing mostly on the requirement that homeowners and businesses along bike lanes cannot use the bike lanes to dump leaves. In a largely supportive editorial, the R-G referred to the conflict as a “leaf war” which the cyclists have “won”.

Unfortunately, once again the efforts to support cycling have turned into an us vs. them conflict. Instead, the City should not have taken such a sudden turn in policy proposed by bicycle activists, but instead taken a measured change over a longer period. Some of what I call “radical cyclistas” are even demanding the city enforce the new policy with fines for dumping leaves even though practices the City of Eugene promoted for dozens of years have just changed.

Given that cyclists comprise about 5% of the mode share (some say 8%), and even if another 20% who don’t bike support the concept of cycling, cycling advocates must have the ability to see the larger picture that most of the public does not appreciate cycling to the degree of those who participate. As long as some select activists develop a group think mentality that leads to culture wars, the movement to increase cycling will continue to be distracted from its real goal: Cycling is for everyone’s benefit.

Following an exchange of emails, where the City engineer noted that the poles keep getting stolen, and that it was not possible due to code to paint the strip, the Director presented the problem to the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. After this presentation, the City mounted this flexible post in a manner that should make it very resistant to vandalism.

Many cyclists don’t know or don’t remember the danger of the right hook (car turning right) into them at an intersection. Install stickers at manual light triggers that warn: Danger: Right Hook.

Improve lighting at Hilyard and 13th

Importance ****     Resources Needed **    Date Initiated: 2/09

One pedestrian fatality, many near misses. Existing cobra-head street light at the NE corner of the intersection, one at the SE corner and a smaller (about 16-20' tall) globe light.

Provide Access to Jerry’s in Eugene so cyclists don’t have to go around on Hwy. 99

Importance:***  Resources Needed ** Date Initiated: 3/08 Addressed 9/08

In Spring of ‘08 a member asked if we could get an access point to Jerry’s that would negate the need to use Hwy. 99. Jerry’s was gracious enough to build the facility below.

Completed: 9/08 

Importance:*** Resources Needed **  Date Initiated: 8/09  Addressed 8/09

At a meeting of a County transportation advisory group, it was suggested that signs warning drivers of cyclists using Highway 36 from Junction City to Mapleton may be a good safety measure. We volunteered to look into how to request share the road signs. Here is the email exchange showing the support from the State for this request:

From: Jim Wilcox To: LYONS Sheila A
Subject: bike road signs on Hwy. 36. “Hi Sheila, At last night's Lane County Roads Advisory Committee, a member asked what is the best way to request and receive signs on Hwy 36 that say ‘Bikes in Roadway’. They are hoping for five signs between Junction City and Mapleton. Thanks”

Sheila forwarded the request to a state senior traffic investigator covering this territory, who replied: “Mr. Wilcox, I am the Region Traffic Investigator and I will be looking into your request concerning Bicycle Share the Road type warning signs. Are there really many bicyclists that ride between Junction City and Mapleton? Thank-you”, Kathi McConnell, Senior Traffic Investigator.

Then we received this generous offer of assistance:

BikeLane and RAC are pleased to hear the support from the State.
 

Make More Traffic Lights Respond Instantly to Cyclists

Priority: **     Resources Needed **     Date Initiated: 1/09

Many bike triggers initiate traffic signals as soon as a cyclist approaches. These should be identified and promoted.

Other lights should be changed to operate the same way.

Meeting with Tom Larsen and Steve Gallop was held in February 2009 to discuss this proposal. Will check back in April for progress.

Actually this is a problem long time in the making and a high priority in the City of Eugene Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan (section 4) Theft of bikes is rampant, accessories are often removed, and recovery is not easy. Bikes are parked in the rain, soaking seats and contributing to corrosion. We have proposed a feasibility study of a possible centralized parking facility with LRAPA, LCOG, LTD, the City of Eugene. We are asking for a $5,000 grant to fund a preliminary study to be done by the director of Bikestion, a successful centralized bike parking operation in many cities.