Our comments on the White Clay Creek State Park Master Plan

Greetings, DE State Parks. Please add our comments below to the White Clay Creek State Park Master Plan, before the 8-2-2021 deadline. Thank you very much.

In no particular order:

• There is only 1 park bench/rest stop along the paved Tri-Valley SUP (Shared Use Pthway). There needs to be more, at equal distances, so people can stop, rest and take in the views. The same goes for the entire length of the Pomeroy and Creek Road Trails; there are no benches between Cleveland Ave in Newark all the way to PA, including at the various parking areas.
  
• "Shared Zone" (or similar, MUTCD) and posted speed limit signs need to be added along Creek Road from N. College Ave to Wedgewood Roads. This is a human-scale environment shared with motor vehicles. See attached image (right). Presently there is no signage, and cars -- often times speeding -- are weaving between bike-ped traffic.
• We do NOT agree with the others who are against using stone dust, fine gravel or limestone or other packing materials on trails. Please continue to use these as a proven means to control erosion and formalize trails as needed.
• Please REMOVE the hanging cable that is blocking Tom Sharpe Lane, at Judge Morris Estate, turning in from Polly Drummond Road. This is a trip or crash hazard, and should be replaced with a removable bollard(s) or partial gate with clear bike-ped access, e.g. along Creek Rd.
• Tell DelDOT to replace the unsightly concrete barriers on Creek Road at the Pomeroy Trail bridge curve with something more aesthetically pleasing. These are an eyesore and detract from the park's otherwise beautiful scenery.
• With the advent of "Gravel" bikes and wider trail riding, park trails and pathways should be sub-grouped into the following categories, and mapped as such, e.g. 1. PAVED  2. GRAVEL  3. MTB
• The Tri-Valley SUP is very overgrown between 9 foot Rd and its southern terminus at Thompson Station/SR72, and is reduced to about 2/3 width. This is hazardous for bi-directional bike-ped traffic. Please perform maintenance, including mowing and edging. At 8', this is the min recommended width for such a facility according to FHWA.
• Improve safety for the bike-ped crossing between Creek Rd (gravel section) and Tweeds Mill (nature center). A large-sized MUTCD-approved R1-5 in each direction would be a big improvement. As it stands now, most motorists continue through the marked crosswalk, even with people standing there waiting.
• Connect via SUP the Carpenter Area with the Pomeroy Trail, and that with the Possum Hill and Middle Run Areas.
• Continue working on a WCCSP-Fair Hill connection via SUP, if that is still being considered.

Thank you so much for listening. Please let us know if there is a way to track our comments, to verify whether or not they are being considered.

--Frank Warnock & Angela Connolly

Above: A hanging cable blocks the entrance to Judge Morris Estate at White Clay Creek State Park. Bollard(s) should always be used where foot & pedal traffic is permitted. Users -- especially the disabled -- should not have to lift their bikes, step over, or cycle around a lengthy stone wall to access the Estate.

Boycott Complete Communities Live Stream on 1/27/2021

Once again, Bike Delaware and Sierra Club -- with support from the League of Women Voters among others -- are working in the interests of Developers and the Building Industry. "Complete Communities" is great click bait, except that these organizations are not talking about pathway connections between existing suburban subdivisions. It's all about maximizing developer profits with future infill projects, touting them as walkable-bikeable and/or transit-oriented and thus worthy of density waivers. This, on what few green spaces remain, particularly in New Castle County.

Home Rule governance, combined with non-existent development codes or land-use regulations over many decades time (since WW2) have all but ensured community disconnect and isolation in most cases. Most bicycle or foot traffic is forced out onto the nearest arterial road to make any kind of connection with neighboring communities, commerce and basic services. Bike Delaware, in particular, ignores any and all attempts to retrofit the built environment to accommodate them.

Unless the State is prepared to spend enormous sums and begin using eminent domain, safe connectivity for the "interested but concerned" to circumvent arterial roads and intersections as one less car will remain impossible. Govt would have to strategically condemn and raze private properties in order to install non-motorized pathway connections between developments, and designate their streets as bike boulevards. Doing so would draw the ire of adjacent residents, and trigger a frenzy of lawsuits. Except in a rare case or two, it isn't going to happen.

We urge our readers to see through the folly of organizations that purport to be environmental and alt-transportation advocates, yet their record (or lack thereof) speaks to the contrary. Send a clear message with your boycott of this and all events sponsored by them.

The Livable, Walkable, Bikeable Delaware Charade

Is Delaware protecting the natural environment? Are elected and appointed officials retrofitting the suburbs for walkability/bikeability and bringing place-making to the building and re-development of retail strips and malls? Are they providing nearby regional park access and connections for all its residents? For the privileged class living in regions such as Newark proper, Old New Castle, Pike Creek and N. Wilmington, those polled might say "yes" -- at least to some degree. For most folks who live in the vastness of Delaware's nameless faceless unincorporated suburbs, the answer is a resounding no.

Unless you live in one of these privileged regions, it could be argued that the State is going in reverse, backwards, doing the opposite. Virtually everything we see involves the wholesale destruction of the environment; suburban sprawl, loss of our last remaining green spaces, paving of wetlands and critical habit areas, and overwhelming favor lavished on automobiles as opposed to walking and biking. Despite years of talk to the contrary, New Castle County in particular remains a large, dense, disconnected auto-centric nightmare pocked with housing developments built far and away from local services, commerce, and employment centers. These require cars and driving for all of these needs, in direct contempt of climate mitigation, staggering obesity rates, disconnected family and social life, and a host of other socio-economic ills.

Below, in no particular order, is a sampling of initiatives and/or organizations found on-line, that most Delawareans do not benefit from, or even know about. Their built environment has not outwardly changed for the better, and in most cases, probably for the worse -- while any remaining "naturehood" dwindles or disappears altogether:

Livable Delaware
Direct investment and future development to existing communities, urban concentrations, and growth areas. Protect important farmlands and critical natural resource areas. Encourage redevelopment and improve the livability of existing communities and urban areas, and guide new employment into underutilized commercial and industrial sites. Protect the state’s water supplies, open spaces, farmlands and communities. Promote mobility for people and goods through a balanced system of transportation options. Provide an opportunity to promote sustainability of our economic and ecological growth and will maintain and enhance the qualities that make Delaware a unique place to live;

Blueprint for a Bicycle-Friendly Delaware
Developed through a participatory planning process, the Plan provides a framework that will inform policies and investment strategies for promoting bicycling as a safe mode of transportation in Delaware. The Blueprint envisions a more integrated approach to local land use and transportation planning.

Delaware Sierra Club
According to their website: "The Sierra Club dates back to 1892 and is the oldest and largest environmental advocacy organization in North America. Our mission is to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet. For more than 45 years, the Delaware Chapter has blazed trails to protect the environment and to provide opportunities to enjoy and explore the natural beauty of our state". NOTE: Delaware Sierra Club, Audubon, and others place corporatism before grassroots and did not support the STOP (Save the Orphanage Property) campaign to save critical habitat, wetlands and open space ideal for a regional park in Ogletown -- the last chance of its kind.

WILMAPCO (and other DE MPOs)
The Wilmington Area Planning Council is the regional transportation planning agency for New Castle County, Delaware and Cecil County, Maryland. As the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), WILMAPCO is charged with planning and coordinating transportation investments for the region based on federal policy, local input, technical analysis, and best practices. NOTE: Despite assisting with the East Coast Greenway (ECG) planning and design, this org fails to oversee improvements to the facility, often times a once in decades opportunity.

Delaware Complete Communities and Summit
The Delaware Complete Communities Planning Toolbox aims to help build local government capacity to develop complete-communities planning approaches, community-design tools,
and public engagement strategies.

Bike Delaware
An org that claims a mission of "making cycling and walking safe, convenient and fun in Delaware", yet their record speaks otherwise. The evidence shows that they are a fraudulent "Advocacy" organization that will not support reforms, including a bill proposal to update the traffic code in the interest of pedestrian (and thus bicycle pathway) safety. They have never once advocated for open space and/or to ensure all Delawareans have regional park and thus biking/walking/jogging pathway access. "Bike Delaware" lobbies for reforms with priority on new housing developments only, e.g. helping builders achieve density waivers with the promise of TOD design concepts.

Delaware Trails & Pathways Initiative
The goal is to create an interconnected network of shared-use trails and pathways that will support non-motorized travel and recreation opportunities for Delawareans and visitors. The focus is on bicycling and walking and providing safe and convenient ways to reach local work, shops, schools, recreational sites and transit.

Complete Streets in Delaware
Complete streets are planned, designed, built, and maintained to safely accommodate travelers of all ages and abilities. While the majority (89%) of Delaware’s roadways are owned and maintained by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), local government officials and “citizen planners” may wish to visualize how to balance the needs of all roadway users and transform existing roadways to complete streets. NOTE: Unfortunately, the vast majority of "Complete Streets" improvements have come in the form of "Stroads" or fitting bike lanes and/or sidewalks along arterial roads ad highways. Adjacent to 50-70 mph traffic, these appear all but abandoned given the inherent danger of distracted and aggressive driving. These are also ignored during roadway improvement projects and upgrades.

Delaware Greenways
According to their website: "We envision a State where trails, pathways and scenic corridors connect everyone to where they want to go, empowering them to live healthier lives as they discover and enjoy the outdoors. Delaware Greenways advocates for the development of trails and byways. These pathways link and build communities while winding through some of the most beautiful scenery in Delaware. Through our work on trails and pathways, we inspire people to engage in an active lifestyle". NOTE: Delaware Greenways lack of advocacy and oversight beyond privileged regions is lacking, at best.

Delaware Safe Routes to School Program
Safe Routes to School programs makes it safe, convenient and fun for children to walk or bicycle to school. Elementary and middle schools can receive funding through Delaware Safe Routes To School Program.

Walkable Community Workshops
Walkable neighborhoods and communities are vibrant and livable places that give their residents safe and active transportation choices. Increased walkability helps to improve safety, physical fitness and social interaction, and enhances overall quality of life.

Creating a Livable Delaware Conference
“Creating a Livable Delaware: Pathways for Enhancing Prosperity and Quality of Life". Aims to direct growth to areas that are best prepared, preserve farmland and open space, promote redevelopment, facilitate affordable housing and limit sprawl.

Walkable Bikeable Delaware Summit
The Summit will feature America’s leading engineering experts on cycling who will be in Delaware for only one day! From these pro-cycling, problem-solving engineers we will learn about practical and cost-effective solutions that can make cycling safe, convenient, comfortable and fun for people of all ages and abilities in our communities.

Sadly, combined with the cheapest gas in history, none of the above have reduced auto-dependency, emissions, obesity, disconnected social and family life, and a host of other socio-economic problems in Delaware. And, without a holistic approach from Advocates along with bold govt leadership, that will never change. The vast majority of the State's built environment consists of unincorporated and disconnected suburbs full of junk architecture, where some opportunities for improvement do exist but are few and far between. When they do come up, advocates and officials need to ACT. But they don't.

Delaware is the 4th most corrupt state in the nation, behind only Wyoming, Michigan, and S. Dakota. It consistently ranks as one of the top 5 most dangerous States to be a pedestrian, and active modes like bicycling and walking are flat or in decline. Only in Delaware is the State's so-called bike-ped "advocacy" org beholden to those responsible, and thus hastening and not helping the problem. "We" are a State where elected government is 100% committed to developer and business interests to the exclusion of all else, and whose only function is to funnel profits upward to the corporate elite and those who do their bidding. Unfortunately, none of this is going to change until resource scarcity and/or climate apocalypse takes root, and forces their hand.

Is Bike Delaware a Tool of Developer Interests? (Updated: 9/28/2019)

8 things to consider if you support Bike Delaware and believe in their mission and vision.

SB-130, Enterprise Districts

• One of Bike Delaware's top legislation pieces centers around land use. At the core is SB-130 Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Districts, which promotes large, high density mixed use developments. Selling them as multi-modal wins New Castle County Council's support to relax vehicle level of service (LOS) requirements, and put such development on the fast track. Only recently, NCC Council largely dismantled traffic impact requirements in the approval of even major building/land use projects in much the same context as Bike Delaware's SB-130.

Lobbying efforts (infrastructure)

• Lobbies almost exclusively for high profile trails and pathways projects. These benefit developers by increasing surrounding property values, and ultimately, it becomes a selling point for homes clustered nearby. Lobbying also focuses on high density housing developments, under the guise of "transit oriented developments" (aka TODs). These include land use meetings with developers and NCC Council members, more recently with the loss of the Brandywine Country Club and open space.

Dissing and undermining of on-road bicycling safety efforts

• Ignoring efforts at road bicycling education and infrastructure. Any pragmatist would agree that we need to FIX what we already have -- before heaping on more development. This would rightfully suggest that we can and should retrofit the built environment -- FIRST. Instead, Bike Delaware advocates for multi-modalism with new housing developments only, giving these a higher likelihood of density waivers and project approval (tip: doesn't work when surrounded by auto-dependent suburbs).

A project to "upgrade" the S. College Ave (SR896)
overpass at I95 has had workshops with no reported

involvement from Bike Delaware. Such a project could
include a separated bicycle facility making an in-
valuable connection between Newark and Glasgow.

Never attends DelDOT workshops

• Unless high profile as mentioned above, Bike Delaware has little known presence rallying around (much less attending) individual DelDOT reconstruction and/or pave & rehab project workshops. Projects usually include sidewalks and/or shared-use shoulders, with clear opportunities for upgrades to (e.g.) cycle tracks and/or protected bike lanes. An organization whose mission it is to build complete bicycling networks suitable for everyone would have a major presence (or at least a call to action) with each and every project, regardless of size and scope. Instead, we have roads, sidewalks and intersections routinely rehabbled and/or reconstructed using the same bad engineering practices instead of, for example, installing 8' wide asphalt multi-modal pathways. It should also be noted that Bike Delaware quashed any notion of revamping the State's badly antiquated anti-Pedestrian language in the vehicle code.

Developer-friendly Staff and Board of Directors

• In addition to their developer-friendly Executive Director, at least two of Bike DE's board members have ties to the building industry, development firms, and property management. Their profiles can be read HERE.

No record of endorsement for open space and/or regional park initiatives

• Bike Delaware has no known record supporting (never mind lobbying for) the use of DE's last remaining green spaces as regional parks, even when proven to have enormous benefits for bicycling, walking, the environment, local economy, and interconnecting communities.

Touting the impossible

• Selling an impossible vision to Delaware's bicycling community, by insisting that we can build a complete, low-stress, "protected" bicycling network locally accessible to everyone, including 8-80 year olds. The facts say otherwise. (tip: a course in home rule and county land use would also help).

Fails to appear with any charity watch organization

• Charity Navigator, CharityWatch, Universal Giving, Philanthropedia, GiveWell, Great Nonprofits, and others do not include Bike Delaware as one of their ethical, creditable non-profits worthy of charitable donations.

Conclusion:
What little open space remains in NCC is mostly what planners and developers refer to as "infill", where any type of connectivity is fiercely opposed by existing neighborhoods. Most larger tracts -- also surrounded by car-dependent sprawl -- are either off limits or being hotly contested for open space acquisition. That said, if they really are intent on paving over most of the State's remaining farmland in Kent and Sussex, it might be possible to build enough contiguous TOaD that more folks do indeed bike and walk between communities, and use transit if the State arranges and funds it. Alternatives to car usage might become a little more popular. But then you have the cheapest gas in history (inflation factored) to ruin the incentive, and examples like Stevenage to explain around.

Delaware's fall from #3 to #7 as a Bicycle Friendly State was largely due to a lack of low stress connectivity and a bicycling mode share that barely registers. Unless the State is prepared to spend enormous sums and begin using eminent domain, connectivity that the 8-80 yo "interested but concerned" folks can use to circumvent arterial roads and intersections will remain impossible. Govt would have to strategically condemn and raze private properties in order to install non-motorized pathway connections between developments, and designate their streets as "bike boulevards". Doing so would draw the ire of adjacent residents, and trigger a frenzy of lawsuits. Except in a rare case or two, it isn't going to happen.

The Oil Crisis of 1973 was the last time in U.S. history that bicycling was truly popular for transportation purposes. With mode share currently at 0.2% in Delaware, major Govt spending on bike path infrastructure by confiscating private property would be political suicide. Bike Delaware should also understand that where cities and countries have high bicycle mode share, car ownership and fuel costs are prohibitively expensive and/or inconvenient. Raising the cost of driving to encourage alternative modes would again be political suicide.

So decide for yourself what Bike Delaware's true motive is, and just who may be bankrolling their staff and for what purpose. Organizations like the White Clay Bicycle Club lavish thousands of dollars every year on Bike Delaware, knowing full well that they are anything but transparent about their activities and finances. Delaware bicyclists should consider all of the facts mentioned in this article before joining either organization. If anything discussed here can be proven as false or inaccurate, please email info@1stbikes.org or include in comments below any supporting evidence and documentation.

Dutch dreams lie at the heart of Delaware's Advocacy dissidence

The Guardian pens a masterpiece, with this brilliant follow-up to our original post Why bicycle mode share is (and will remain) less than 1%. Excerpts:

"Squint at Stevenage’s extensive 1960s protected cycleway network and you could be in the Netherlands – except for the lack of people on bikes. So why did the New Town’s residents choose the motor car over the bicycle?

The town, 30 miles north of London, had wide, smooth cycleways next to its main roads which were separated from cars and pedestrians. There were well-lit, airy underpasses beneath roundabouts, and schools, workplaces and shops were all linked by protected cycleways.

Eric Claxton, the lead designer of post-war Stevenage, had believed that use of cycleways would be high if they were well built – originally thinking that Britain’s hostile road environment discouraged people from cycling.

Stevenage was compact, and Claxton assumed the provision of 12 ft-wide cycleways and 7 ft-wide pavements would encourage residents to walk and cycle. He had witnessed the high usage of Dutch cycleways, and he believed the same could be achieved in the UK.

But to Claxton’s puzzlement and eventual horror, residents of Stevenage chose to drive – even for journeys of two miles or less. Stevenage’s 1949 masterplan projected that 40% of the town’s residents would cycle each day, and just 16% would drive. The opposite happened.

Stevenage’s 2010 master plan complained that just 2.9% of the Stevenage population cycled to work, which was “much lower than might be expected given the level of infrastructure provision”.

The borough council’s cycle strategy – not updated since 2002 – conveys no doubt as to why cycle usage is so low: “Stevenage has a fast, high-capacity road system, which makes it easy to make journeys by car."

There are safe cycle routes from homes to schools, but today only a tiny proportion of Stevenage’s children cycle each day. Many are ferried to school by car, a situation that Claxton abhorred.

Despite all the best efforts of a chief designer with empathy for would-be cyclists, “build it and they will come” failed for people on bikes in Stevenage but worked for people in cars."

As long as driving remains cheap and easy, bicycling as a significant mode share will forever stay in the realm of fantasy. And even then, pump prices are exponentially higher in England than the U.S., where this lovely pathway network has been all but abandoned. Our case has been, and always will be that Advocates whose sole focus is on costly separated facilities -- as opposed to pragmatism -- are driving the divide that prevents a united bicycling advocacy front in Delaware. Read the full article.

Check out the Facebook page "Pragmatic Bicycle Drivers", where pragmatism in bicycling advocacy lives.

What would it say to America if McDonalds became "Bike Friendly"?

From WalkBikeJersey Blog -- If you're "bike aware" (and likely you are because you're reading this blog) and have ever visited a fast food restaurant you've undoubtedly seen bikes haphazardly parked to anything secure all around the restaurant site.  A vast majority of these bikes are undoubtedly owned by members of restaurant staff who depend on their bikes to get to their jobs in the restaurant.

Knowing that a number of their employees rely on a bike to get to work everyday, one would think that these fast food restaurants would provided some official organized bicycle parking that preferably meets the basic APBP bike parking standards.  Unfortunately this is almost always not the case and the sight of bikes parked to whatever the owner can find is common sight not only in New Jersey but at most fast food and chain sit-down restaurants all across the country.  [Full article ...]

Shop Rite in S. Newark remains ignorant when it comes to bicyclist's needs. Several requests to management over the years still hasn't produced bike parking, no matter how many bikes are locked around outside. NCC ordinances that require bike parking only apply to new construction.

Why Roads Are Here To Stay (Part 2)

The Route 72 sidepath, difficult to see in this photo due to cars parked over it, was long ago abandoned by DelDOT. It provides one of a very few centrally located, safe crossings of I95. Because the road has no shoulder, the majority will still favor the path over the lane of high speed traffic - even if it means weaving through parked cars.

We conclude this series with Part 2, why on-road bicycle advocacy is critical in any Bicycle-Friendly City or State (Part 1 HERE).

Minus a webbing of abandoned railroad ROWs (right of ways), or an amicable relationship with active railroad companies to provide Rail with Trail opportunities, little exists in Delaware for real pathway continuity. The Newark to Wilmington Pathway, touted by Bike Delaware as a "Bicycle Highway" will be anything but fast and direct. DelDOT will try and cobble together existing MUPs, utility ROWs, and other open spaces in order to link the two cities. As cited in the feasibility study, segments are likely to see more use for local trips - less for commuting between the two cities. The popular choice among intermediate to advanced bicyclists will continue to be direct on-road connections, and these too deserve representation by advocates.

Project Timelines

The timeline for completion of bike path facilities is often measured in decades, even when an existing ROW is available. With an abandoned rail bed almost fully in tact, the Pomeroy Trail in Newark took over 10 years to complete. One can only guess what kind of timeline is expected on the Wilmington to Newark Pathway, where environmental impacts and private property constraints will weigh heavily. These issues - taking years to sort - can even arise where established ROW already exists.

Value for the Dollar

According to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, the cost of a 5' on-street bicycle lane can range from approximately $5,000 to $535,000 per mile, with an average cost around $130,000. The costs can vary greatly due to differences in project specifications and the scale and length of the treatment. On the other hand, bike paths cost vastly more to build and maintain. In an October 2013 blog post, we revealed spending of nearly $2M to complete a 1/4 mile section of the Northern Delaware Greenway along Talley Road. A protected bike lane could have served a similar purpose, at a small fraction of the cost.

On-Road Safety Compromised

A near total emphasis on segregated bicycle facilities can impede the work of advocates who are seeking to improve on-road safety. A 2013 PSA that bicyclists are granted equal rights as drivers was withdrawn when Bike Delaware's Executive Director contacted DelDOT in opposition. It should be noted that Bike Delaware's signature project - funding for Trails and Pathways - finds support among legislators who are weary of bicyclist's using public roads and highways. That our State's primary advocacy organization (according to LAB) is discounting roads as viable and safe for bicycling (including minor arterials which most often serve as the only alternative) is certain to feed this bias.

Environmental Impact

Adding miles of 10' wide asphalt adds more impermeable surface, and more run-off, which only contributes to worse flooding and erosion. On the other hand, both standard and protected bike lanes take advantage of existing infrastructure. Most arterial and secondary roads in Delaware can be greatly improved for biking, given overly generous lane and shoulder widths.

In Summary

Segregated bicycle infrastructure is a major component in any bicycle-friendly environment, and worthy of our enthusiastic support. But it shouldn't be the only focus. The most bicycle-friendly places here and abroad take a holistic approach, by including on-road bicycle facilities as part of the overall network. Anything less will impede the bicycle as a truly viable transportation alternative.

Why Roads Are Here To Stay

Are off-alignment bike paths going to become so common, and so widespread someday that bicyclists can simply eliminate the need for road riding? At least one of Delaware's top bicycling advocates believes this can happen. For those of us that ride for transportation today, however, we know this is pure fantasy.

Above: Wilmapco's NCC Bike and Pathways Plan. Even the most optimistic outcome still forces most residents onto arterial roads and intersections to gain pathway access at both ends of their journey (click HERE to view in pdf).

Any successful bicycle advocate will attest that an off-road network of trails and pathways is crucial to any bicycle plan, but it must be combined with rigorous Complete Streets implementation. Only then can we tap into the "Enthused and Confident" segment of the bicycling public, and measurably increase non-motorized transportation modeshare. Unfortunately, Delaware is opting almost exclusively for Trails and Pathways - at the expense of on-road facilities - with the hope that we can increase the number of "interested but concerned" that might try bicycling. This will have little impact on commuting and every day trips from home - in other words, reducing auto dependency. Most of these bicyclists will only rack up and drive to the nearest pathway/trail head.

Issues with Multi-User Pathways

Many, if not most of the facilities in the map above follow the ROW (right of way) of existing roads. Where a pathway that is 8'+ wide travels alongside a road, it becomes known as a parallel Multi-User Path (MUP). It is misleading to describe these facilities as "bike paths" or "bicycle highways", because they are shared by multiple user types - including dog walkers and skaters. Where these exist, the addition of bike lanes and/or shared roadway signs is paramount. Left out, many drivers will view the road as theirs, and bicyclists avoiding the path as arrogant. Angrily, they will try to enforce their own imaginary version of a sidepath law.

Above: Route 4 in Ogletown, in front of the new Delaware School for the Deaf. This is a classic example of a parallel MUP, which also happens to be designated as part of the East Coast Greenway. 

When a parallel MUP is present, it may be viewed by DelDOT as an adequate replacement for on-road facilities, such as bike lanes. In the above photo, a new CVS retail store was just built on Route 4 in S. Newark at the corner of Marrows Road - without bike lanes.

Trumped Bike Lanes: Like so many others, both of the new construction sites above had their New Castle County Code bike lane requirement waived. Though we have been unable to confirm this, a likely reason involves the parallel MUP filling the role as a bicycle facility. Similar thinking - that DOTs can make bicyclists separate but equal - is what spawned the Vehicular Cycling movement back in the 1970s.

Rights Sacrificed: Those who choose to bike a parallel MUP instead of the road relinquish their rights as a legal vehicle under Title 21, and must stop for traffic at all intersections, side roads, and driveways. Too often, curb ramps are narrow and designed only for pedestrians. These facilities do serve a role for those who wouldn't bike otherwise, or to connect services, but intermediate and advanced bicyclists riding for distance won't hesitate to use the road instead.

Maintenance & Rehab: Even the most popular MUPs are the last to receive any kind of maintenance or surface repair, unless under local jurisdiction. Parks and Recreation does a magnificant job with upkeep on the James F. Hall and Pomeroy Trails in the City of Newark. For the remainder of Delaware, which is mostly unincorporated, MUPs are built and then left to decay until they become hazardous and no longer bikeable.

Above: The MUP along Route 72, from Route 4 South to Old Baltimore Pike. What used to be an 8' wide parallel MUP 20+ years ago is reduced to approx 6' or less from erosion and lack of edge control. Because there are no shoulders, the MUP is the only choice bicyclists have, unless they ride in the high speed lane of traffic.

Above: Numerous sections of the Route 72 MUP are being reclaimed by mother nature, as seen here. It is also full of utility cuts and potholes. I have been advocating for DelDOT to repave this facility, starting when the road itself was last repaved about 10 years ago. It has fallen on deaf ears, no matter what enthusiasm our state has for Trails & Pathways.

Cycling in the US from a Dutch perspective

Cross-posted from Upworthy.com

Apart from being able to deliver the nicest reprimand of all time, this Dutch cyclist's conclusion is inescapably accurate: America doesn't take bicycles seriously. If anyone out there sees a downside to more Americans riding bikes, please enlighten me. If you need me, I'll be the one lodged firmly underneath a truck tire.

 

Poster's note: So true. We still have a very long way to go in America. Our bike infrastructure remains full of design and engineering flaws, and our legal system shields dangerous drivers from any real consequences. Gas prices are a pittance, and don't come close to paying the true cost of driving. As long as these remain the case, bicycling will stay less than 1% of mode share for all trips, now and for generations to come.

Most DOT's still struggle with even the most basic concepts, i.e. bike lanes through dedicated turn and bypass lanes. Treatments like the above, in this case pointing bicyclists off the road, is worse than nothing at all.

This "bike lane" has been on the ground in Newark for many years. No one should expect bicycling to be taken seriously when the facilities they need actually relegate them to 2nd class citizens.

Robocars - pipe dream or possibility?

The loose nut behind the steering wheel could soon be eradicated. How this impacts bicycling and the need infrastructure is a huge unknown.

Quickrelease.tv -- The day is near when we’ll wonder how we ever let humans pilot heavy and fast machines on the public highway next to unprotected humans. (In fact, I wonder that now). When all cars are self-driving, equipped with Light Detecting and Ranging LIDAR and 360-degree cameras, there will be no more ’sorry, mate I didn’t see you’, or SMIDSYs. And the autonomous car will also know when it’s unsafe for the ‘driver’ to exit: dooring of cyclists will be history.

With cars that don’t kill, taxis without cabbies, and HGVs driven by computers not blindspot-afflicted drivers, there will less need for hard infrastructure. Many bicycle advocates believe we’ve started on a Dutch-style 40-year trajectory to getting segregated cycle paths almost everywhere but driverless cars will be here long before the end of that. Why build bike lanes when robocars and driverless trucks will be programmed to know all about space4cycling?

That’s one vision of the future. A more dystopian one involves platoons of speeding robocars making roads even more deeply unpleasant and motor-centric than they often are today. Pedestrians and cyclists may have to be restricted “for their own safety.” After all, if you knew the tipper truck barrelling towards you will automatically brake if you wobbled out in front of it, you’d have little incentive to stay in the gutter and every incentive to play one-sided chicken.  [full article ...]

Also, check out this city in Bolivia that passed a law making it compulsory to ride bikes one day per week.