BIKE: God's speed bumps are on the way

[Jeb Boyt]

I think that speed bumps on Shoal Creek would be a bad idea.  I also think 
that we should see what happens once we actually get the stripes and curb 
extensions in place (Tomorrow, tomorrow.  They'll be there tomorrow.  
They're always a day away.)

Also, the Allandale N.A. will shortly be entering into the City's 
neighborhood planning process (or what is left of it).  That process will 
provide an opportunity to discuss traffic calming.  Traffic calming is 
certainly needed in other areas of the neighborhood such as along Northland 
and at the intersection of Hancock, North Loop, and Woodview.

Jeb

----Original Message Follows----
From: Roger Baker <rcbaker>
To: Austin Bikes <forum>
Subject: BIKE: God's speed bumps are on the way
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 11:55:36 -0600

I think Shoal Creek would be a good candidate for speed bumps. I imagine 
that speed bumps should be in great favor among bicyclists because they slow 
down cars, and make them much less dangerous to bicyclists. (Wherever you 
have speed differentials among vehicles guided by humans, you tend to run 
into problems). Do you really need bike lanes, for safety, under these 
conditions?

But as the article in yesterday's Statesman said, the city is out of money 
for speed bumps. Is this necessarily a tragedy? No, and not just because the 
city of Austin has erected an opulent new hall building for us to debate the 
issue.

The guys running the planning tell us the city can't afford to put in mere 
speed bumps -- while at the same time we are building billions of dollars 
worth of toll roads on credit to serve Williamson County sprawl. What the 
city doesn't want you to know is that when mayor Wynn signed off on the toll 
roads, he was really committing to something like a $1.6 billion gap in 
secondary roadway improvements to handle the implied traffic (see the 
approved Texas Metropolitan Plan on TxDOT's website for more details).

Remember that there will, by the nature of the process involved, be some 
very big bond investors will now be lobbying the city council to facilitate 
the toll roads, whenever such interests might conflict with neighborhood 
concerns about fast, cut-through traffic, etc.

If the city can't even afford to build speed bumps to calm down neighborhood 
traffic as desired by central city taxpayers, then we can probably guarantee 
that the secondary road network maintained by Austin and expected to serve 
as toll road helpers will fall into disrepair.

In other words potholes, or God's speed bumps as I think of them, will soon 
be on the way to help slow down traffic as Austin's red ink gets worse. 
Maybe ten years ago, something similar happened when the city got way behind 
on maintenance but then the high tech cash started rolling in and the city 
caught up in road repair But I suspect a similar road neglect phase is now 
under way.

Some neighborhoods in other cities have resisted repair of potholes as 
conducive to safer conditions, as they see things. Like somewhere, they even 
tried to declare a pothole a historic structure. Bicyclists would learn to 
avoid potholes better than cut-through car traffic, I think, because their 
trips tend to be shorter, slower and on more predictable routes. If you 
can't get speed bumps, then nuture your potholes. You could even spray-paint 
nearby in big letters a kindly warning to motorists and bikes.


                    *****************************************

PS -- Just by the way, the latest prediction for a global peak in oil 
production is in 2007. (Google ASPO and ODAC and their excellent oil links) 
Of course the reason why a 42 gallon barrel of oil is currently selling at 
about $50 per barrel is because world supply cannot keep up with growing 
demand even today, before it peaks, much less after the peak when price will 
rise sharply.

I don't have time to warn of global dimming, but here's the link to some 
scary science.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/dimming_trans.shtml>
Maybe the high cost of energy and subsequent industrial collapse will reduce 
this threat along with global warming. -- Roger












On Jan 18, 2005, at 10:11 AM, Lane Wimberley wrote:

>Shoal Creek Blvd. is *usually* a nice, safe place to ride/drive/walk.  But,
>I suspect the expert cyclist I helped load into the ambulance a few years 
>back
>after he'd been doored might be somewhat leery of that statement, as might
>be the three people I know to have been hit by cars on SCB in the past 
>several
>years.  There have also been a few car accidents on SCB in that time, 
>although
>I'm not aware of any injuries to motorists.  I also am not aware of
>any accidents
>or injuries to pedestrians.
>
>It seems to me (at least) that SCB could be made a safer corridor for
>cyclists, and
>that there's possibly good reason for doing so.
>
>And, again: on a shared, public resource, cyclist safety IS more important 
>than
>resident parking convenience.
>
>-Lane

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