Even George W. Bikes???

http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=35571

A Reason to Celebrate in 2008!

Last night the Exeter Supervisors voted to approve the creation of a Pedestrian and Bicycle (Non-Motorized) Task Force.

WalkBikeBerks presented a Complete Streets and Safe Routes to School Slide Show and requested that the township coordinate with WalkBikeBerks to organize the task force to address pedestrian and bicycling issues in their community.

Soon...we'll be able to walk and bike safely and conveniently throughout our home towns.

Congratulations to all who made this possible!

Invite your own township or borough to adopt a similar task force if you don't yet have one. WalkBikeBerks will be happy to join in that goal. We'll work together to create livable communities.

Happy New Year.
Michele

Every Visitor to Walk and Bike Berks County Can Comment on this blog.

Dear Reader:

Thank you for taking time to visit WalkBikeBerks. Obviously, my readers should be able to contact me directly at walkbikeberks@yahoo.com and I will make that correction immediately.

I could not more heartily support your position than had I written it myself. Indeed -- to create walkable/bikable communities, we also have to change how we address ALL traffic issues. To create walkable communities, we need PennDOT engineers to change their road designs. We need our SALDO (subdivision and land-development ordinances) to require that controlled land-development be a part of interconnected system of walkways. It all comes together nicely to create communities where people enjoy a higher quality of life. A Task Force that included the participation of all of our community's experts -- police, health professionals, zoning officers, traffic engineers, etc.-- would enable us to consider all aspects of road design. The adoption of a Ped/Bike Task Force would demonstrate the supervisors' willingness to commit to prioritizing the safety of Exeter's residents.

I just drove through Wyomissing with my family. There are some streets in that community that have traffic calming measures built into their residential street designs. Sidewalks are a small part of the overall design of walkable communities. While I still have so very much to learn, Thomas Hylton's movie and his book, Save Our Land, Save Our Town, address many of the necessary changes AMERICA -- not just Exeter -- needs to adopt to change how our communities grow and thrive. Walkable communities are created with human design...where motor-vehicles are an element, not the overall driving force of all design. Please visit http://www.walkable.org/ to learn more. Here is an excerpt from the home page of that site:

"Walkable Communities, Inc. also provides a small inventory of publications and photo CDs to assist in further educating people interested in the related issues of community planning and zoning, traffic calming, street and intersection design, specific bicycle and pedestrian facility design, ADA requirements and public involvement processes. "

I hope to see you tomorrow night at the Supervisor's Meeting. I can talk with you then, if you would like. Have a blessed New Year.

~Michele Barrett
Founder, WalkBikeBerks
610-779-9702
walkbikeberks@yahoo.com

Letter From a Reader:

To protect pedestrians and cyclists, a community must, as other communities have done successfully, stand against those things which are dangerous to those walking and biking. To apply a band aid to the problem after the fact is futile at best and will never be able to provide the necessary protection. The primary mandate should be to control the amount and speed of traffic through a community. This is one of the most basic steps in community planning and civil engineering 101. (My comments: By choosing walkable communities, we will be primarily focused on designing streets that reduce and slow traffic so that any ten-year old can safely and conveniently walk throughout their home town.)

The first concern should be to stop the construction of major highways and thoroughfares through what is basically a residential community. Right. No matter how many pedestrian walkway, precautions, etc. are added, the environment created by fast moving multi-lane thoroughfares will never be safe! The municipality MUST describe and maintain a clear plan for the community. Development both residential and commercial must fulfill a need, be well defied and fit within the profile of the community. Further, a municipal authority must determine if major road construction and developments, along with the additional tax burden which ultimately comes with such commitments, are really in the interest of the community. I agree.

Children trying to get to school, riding bikes and walking are the most vulnerable and their safety and well being should be foremost in any consideration of major road construction and municipal planning. Residents must decide what kind of environment they want to create in their community. To ask some basic questions about what is the kind of town in which they want their children to grow up? (My comments: Please attend the Township meeting tomorrow night and make these comments there. These are exactly the goals I share. These are the same questions I am asking.) Is living in the environs of a multi-land highway or next door to another strip mall the quality of life they are looking for? Do they really want their children to have to cross a multi-lane highway under any conditions?

A Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Task Force can only be beneficial if the community has already committed itself to the fundamental requirements for the safety of the residents. At this point Exeter Township has not demonstrated any desire to even address these requirements and are only looking at a short-term and very questionable financial benefit. (My comments: A Pedestrian and Bicycle (Or Non-Motorized) Advisory Task Force will focus directly on creating HUMAN SPACE...where the safety of people...not automobiles...is the first priority. Moving PEOPLE safely from one destination to another should be the driving force of transportation design. That's my dream. Coincidentally, walkable communities also bring increased economic profit to communities. They are a win-win solution for everyone involved.)

All the best for the New Year.
A Reader (name omitted to protect privacy)

December 27 -- County-wide Support

Exeter Township Supervisors
will hear
WalkBikeBerks
December 27, 2007
7:00
Exeter Township Building
4975 DeMoss Road, Reading, PA 19606

ATTEND THE MEETING TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT.

(If you are unable to attend, I invite you to write a letter of support of a Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Task Force to the supervisors. I would be happy to submit that letter for you.)

A goal of WalkBikeBerks will be to encourage all local governments to create a similar task force. Please demonstrate your COUNTY-WIDE support by attending this meeting.

Safe Routes Coordinator -- Contact Yours Today!

As we prepare to launch our campaign by requesting that our local governments adopt Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Task Forces, we need to invite the participation of the experts who can best advise and support our efforts. Please take a moment -- TODAY -- to call and write to your state SR2S Coordinator and invite their participation in our goals. This is the person who can help us find the SR2S funding we need.

Pennsylvania
Chris Metka, Safe Routes to School Coordinator
Office of Planning
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
400 North Street
6th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Phone: (717) 787-8065
Email: cmetka@state.pa.us

In addition: Write to your government elected officials and ask them to make a public, written statement supporting Complete Streets and Safe Routes to School in Berks County. Go to the Berks County League of Women Voters http://www.lwvberks.org/officials.htm resource page to get contact information for all of your elected officials. (Send the same letter to save time, but write or call all of them.)

How to Create a Pedestrian Mall

by Michelle Wallar
http://www.culturechange.org/issue14/pedestrianmall.html

"In Essen, Germany, merchants found that even on rainy days, pedestrian streets are frequented by leisurely strollers, suggesting that heavy traffic is a greater impediment to walking than bad weather. Many cities ... have all reported a visitor increase of 50% following the creation of pedestrian areas. Merchants on Copenhagen's Stroget-who initially opposed closing the street to vehicles-reported sales increases of 25-40%. An interesting phenomenon was thus observed: people in cars do not window shop, people on foot do."

Pedestrian HAWK signal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReNk2T5ay1c