01.18.10
Posted in Bike Commuting, East Bay, General, Tales from the Trenches
by jackmadden at 1:00 pm
I had to run an errand in Riverside yesterday so I decided to use the bike path. Previous attempts to use the path have been difficult because of the snow cover we have had this winter. The recent warmer temperatures have had a clearing effect; and even though the above picture shows one of the occasional stretches of ice and snow, the rain we had in the last twenty four hours have probably cleared the lingering cover. Overall it felt great to get out there along the Bay.
I love winter for riding and exploring. The world seems a little more desolate and wild. With the trees bare of leaves, secret places reveal themselves to you and are more accessible. On my way to Riverside I pulled off the path to get a look at one of those places. A path led me out to a rocky outcrop on the waters edge. There was a tanker unloading on the Providence side and I watched as the tugboats did their work on the massive ocean going ship. I pulled out my phone and took a panorama of the entire scene. I would post the pictures but when I was stopped by the East Providence Police and Homeland Security, I volunteered to delete them. Apparently, I seemed pretty suspicious to the Coast Guard security boats positioned around the tanker. I didn’t get a half mile from the scene before they were all over me. Impressive. They were both Professional and Polite and sent me on my way after running my ID.
So a notice to all bike path users: the path is clear for now; but if you happen to see an oil tanker on the bay and you want to get a closer look, the smaller boats with the big blue lights motoring towards you probably aren’t trolling for stripers.
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03.24.09
Posted in Advocacy, Aquidneck Island, East Bay
by Mark Dieterich at 9:33 pm
According to a Projo article in today’s paper, the
U.S. Navy [is] poised to dispose of nearly 400 acres of prime real estate — much of it on, or with views of, Narragansett Bay
I’m guessing this land is all in the Middletown or Newport areas. I was glad to see that
the visions include a bike path, nature trails, a waterfront park with a fishing pier, windmills, a mixed-use commercial/residential development near the Claiborne Pell Bridge and an expansion of marine-related businesses at Melville.
Bikes are actually mentioned, but I’m really concerned about what might come of Burma Road, a great ride for those trying to make their way down Aquidneck Island. Right now, it’s a beautiful, quite road where you can enjoy an ocean view and a great pedal. But the second half of this paragraph states that
the visions also include promoting intermodal transportation through better access to the Newport Secondary rail line and an alternative north-south automobile corridor to help relieve traffic congestion on the western side of the island.
Uh oh… cars being routed along these roads to relieve traffic congestion? I have little faith that without pressure from cyclists that these roads will be built with bicycles in mind. For those who live in Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport, I’d strongly encourage you to reach out and start letting them know there are cyclists in the area. Those of us outside the area can do some, but the most strength comes from advocates that live in the affected areas.
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02.18.09
Posted in East Bay
by Mark Dieterich at 9:10 am
I happened to be reading an article about a Barrington Bridge repair that won’t be covered under the recent stimulus package when I noticed:
Mr. Farhoumand said there are two other projects of local interest that will receive federal stimulus money — the hazard elimination project for Route 114 from I-195 in East Providence to Massasoit Avenue in Barrington, and a series of repairs to the East Bay Bike Path bridges. The Route 114 project carries an estimated cost of $3 million, while the bike path work will cost about $500,000.
I assume they are talking about the two wooden bridges which currently have old road signs screwed down to cover gaping holes in them.
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01.29.09
Posted in East Bay
by Mark Dieterich at 8:23 pm
My wife discovered a new sign today at our local library, Rogers Free Library. Posted next to the entrance near the bike rack was a sign reading, “No Lock? Come to the children’s circulation desk and we’ll lend you one”. How cool is that? She asked one of the librarians about it and found out that the kids had been stashing their bikes in the bushes. Apparently, in the process they were also tramping down some of the plantings. Rather than just post a sign saying bikes must be parked at bike rack, someone thought outside the box and decided to actually solve the real problem. Lend the kids locks so their bikes will be safe and at the same time, keep their plantings from getting trampled. Kudos to whomever came up with this solution!
It made me wonder how many other situations there were like this? Could schools implement a similar program and would that encourage more kids to ride? I know, locks don’t cost a whole lot, but they are a pain to haul around. What if you could be confident there was a lock waiting for you at your destination, would you carry one with you?
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07.25.08
Posted in Advocacy, East Bay
by Mark Dieterich at 7:37 am
From an article in today’s projo, the Barrington town council
approved spending up to $10,000 to construct a new bike shelter so people can safely store their bicycles before catching a RIPTA bus to work.
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is offering to finance the design of the project, which will include the installation of about 10 bike racks and a covered shelter.
The location would be near where the bike path connector meets County Road, according to Town Planner Philip Hervey. There is already a shelter for bus riders.
Another town that is starting to understand how bicycles can be used for transportation. If all goes well, this project should end up costing the town very little as
the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority has offered to commit $40,000 if Barrington chips in 20 percent of the cost.
The only question I have here is whether or not RIPTA can afford to do this. At a time when they are discussing route cuts to cover bugetary shortfalls, should they be spending money on bike racks? Hopefully, this means RIPTA has secured other funding to continue their full compliement or routes.
Are you looking for some way to reach out to your local community? I’d suggest each of us can contact our local officials, make sure they know what Barrington is doing and ask whether your town can do the same!
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05.19.08
Posted in Advocacy, Bike Commuting, East Bay
by Margherita at 7:17 am
Inertia at the Top
Belated, Patchy Response Further Hamstrung By Inadequate Federal Attention, Experts Say
By Susan Levine and Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 19, 2008; A01
The problem at first was that the problem was ignored: For almost two decades, young people in the United States got fatter and fatter — ate more, sat more — and nobody seemed to notice. Not parents or schools, not medical groups or the government.
But since the alarm was finally sounded in the late 1990s, the problem has been the country’s reaction: a fragmented, inchoate response that critics say has suffered particularly from inadequate direction and dollars at the federal level.
“The sense of this as a national health priority just doesn’t come through,” said Jeffrey P. Koplan of Emory University, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and chairman of the Institute of Medicine’s 2004 study of childhood obesity. The top recommendation of that seminal report was for the government to convene a high-level, interdepartmental task force to guide a coordinated response. No such body has been assembled.
Read the rest of this entry »
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03.05.08
Posted in East Bay
by Mark Dieterich at 4:30 pm
From an EastBayRI.com article:
The long-studied Warren Bike Path will be delayed yet again, as a review of the proposed site by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has triggered a request for an archaeological study by the Narragansett Indians.
The survey was recommended to the town in a March 3 letter. Because of the survey, about four to six weeks will be added to the bike path’s completion time. This will allow the town’s engineering firm, the PARE Corporation, to request a survey from the Public Archaeological Laboratory and to complete the survey.
The $2.5 million project was most recently pitched and planned after a re-design by PARE in April 2006. The first idea for a trail came in 1987, with the idea morphing into a bike path in the 1990s. However, the state’s engineering firm went bankrupt, which required Warren to hire PARE to complete the work. The path would stretch 4,500 feet, from the Warren-Fall River railroad bed near Long Lane to the end of the Kickemuit River.
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11.12.07
Posted in East Bay
by Mark Dieterich at 9:19 pm
The Projo had a recent article about how the Bristol Town Council is considering building some bathrooms at the end of the East Bay Bike Path. For those of us who commute via the bike path, this would be a welcome addition. Hopefully, other towns along the path will follow suite, especially at the Northern end of the path.
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