Dec. 5, 2011 Dear Civic Leaders, ! As the City of Eugene moves forward in adopting the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and it becomes incorporated into our Regional Transportation Plan I wanted to highlight some of the important aspects of the plan that will help get more families and kids walking and biking and that will provide real choices in a balanced transportation system. ! ! -Sixty One Miles of Bike Boulevards- A robust Bike Boulevard system is one of the plans primary goals. Bike Boulevards can provide an inexpensive way to build a safe and comfortable corridor for cyclists of all levels to travel through our transportation system. When implemented well the system can become a ‘bike freeway’ that is also welcoming to walkers, neighbors, and residents. One example would be 15th street from Jefferson to Walnut. With the completion of a strong bike boulevard on this corridor we could link the Fern Ridge Path, Amazon Path, and the Riverbank Trail (via High Street, see below) and be well on our way to a world-class active transportation system. ! -Separated Facilities - Separated facilities like cycle tracks (or physically separated bike lanes) have been shown in many locations around the world to increase ridership as well as safety for all road users. The High Street Cycle Track is one example of this kind of facility in the plan. From the well utilized Amazon Path to the incredibly popular Ruth Bascom Riverbank Trail this separated facility would link schools, parks, businesses, and neighborhoods with a family friendly and comfortable active transportation corridor. The potential to create one of the nations strongest active transportation systems lies in this link. ! There are other locations not currently called out in this plan that could benefit from this kind of facility. One of those is West Amazon Drive, which would serve 10 schools in the area and connect the Ridgeline to the River with a family friendly 4.5 mile active transportation corridor. Imagine kids riding from school up to the Ridgeline Trail, down to the river, or over to the library, all on safe comfortable and separated bikeways. ! -Sidewalk Infill - With this plan we have a complete list of where the broken links are in our sidewalk system. However, what we don’t have is a funded sidewalk infill program to start to fill in those gaps. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan has a Shane MacRhodes * 541-556-3553 * [email protected] * www.eugenesrts.org prioritization list that is a great start once we allocate dedicated funding to complete our walking network, especially near schools and parks. Please Support With Funding For these projects to come to fruition (and the many others listed in the plan) they need to be more than a line in a long range plan. They need support and prioritized funding at the local, county, state, and federal levels. Many of these projects came from 20 year old plans and could very well go into another plan in 20 years if they aren’t built because of a lack of funding and support. Our community needs to work towards building a true balanced transportation system that gives people choices in how they move around and that can only be accomplished by changing how we spend our transportation dollars. If we keep spending it the way we have been we’ll keep our current unhealthy system. If we want more people to feel safe and comfortable walking and biking we need to fund a system that supports that. To get kids back on bikes and families out on their feet we need facilities that make that an easy choice! Bang for the Buck There are approximately $60 million of projects in the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan. For the price of a two-mile stretch of freeway we could build an active transportation system that would easily double the number of people walking and biking in our community. I have seen this effect directly. By spending small amounts in our local schools we have doubled (or more) the number of kids walking or biking to some schools. The desire is there, the system is not. Build it and they WILL come. I encourage you to continue your work to build a safe, sustainable, and livable community by supporting a strong active transportation component in our Regional Transportation System Plan as well as allocating specific funding to support those projects that give people healthy transportation options. Thank you for your time and your work, Shane MacRhodes Program Manager Safe Routes to School Eugene School District 4J Shane MacRhodes * 541-556-3553 * [email protected] * www.eugenesrts.org.